Scientific journal
Название журнала на английском
ISSN 2500-0802
ПИ №ФС77-61154

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«EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE» - THE INTERPRETATION OF EXISTENTIAL DRAMAS IN THE WESTERN CINEMA DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH AND IN THE BEGINNING OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Voronetckaia-Sokolova J.G. 1
1 St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television
The main topic of the research is the representation of «exceptional people», i.e. disabled people, in fictional films, an issue, which hitherto has been little investigated by Russian scientists. The subject of this article is the cinematic portrayal of the revealing of the inner drama of «exceptional people» in an encounter with the death. The research aims to identify the particularities of the directorial interpretation of an existential drama, which has a main focus on a sedentary character with an incurable disease. The article reviews the artistic cinematic interpretation of the mentioned topic in the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century and discusses the problems of personal choice of the director in accordance with his or her view and the corresponding socio cultural context. The study identified three main trends of dramatic conflict resolution. The cinematic realizations include approaches to euthanasia which are related to certain concepts of religious and atheistic existentialism as well as Christian dogmas of individual decisions about a person’s life and death.