Previously at the ICA - Seasons

David Lynch, Mulholland Dr., 2001

ICA Cinematheque: Consider the Fugue

6 Aug 201327 Aug 2013

Throughout August, the ICA Cinematheque is hosting a series of Tuesday night screenings exploring the concept of the psychogenic fugue state and its relationship to classical cinema narratives, ranging from the pioneering Technicolor fantasy constructions in The Wizard of Oz to the surreal identity-splitting work of David Lynch.

The psychogenic fugue is a unique form of amnesia in which the subject, when faced with an unbearable traumatic situation, retreats into a fictional narrative, a fantasy of their mind’s creation, to avoid the horrors of reality. Often discussed in relation to psychoanalytic thought, the notion of the fugue state as extended daydream or fantasy construction has a particular resonance with the escapist lure of the cinema experience, where spectators are invited to disassociate from reality and immerse themselves in an audio-visual narrative.

In this season each film consciously holds to light the mechanics of fantasy construction, emphasizing the parallels between these psychological daydreams and the filmmaking process itself.

Each screening is accompanied by supplementary reading materials and a brief introduction from ICA Film & Cinema Co-ordinator James King that encourage the audience to engage in radical and alternative readings of these established works.

On the ICA Blog, read ICA Film & Cinema Co-ordinator James King's analysis of Mulholland Dr. and its relation to Consider the Fugue

  • Otto Preminger, Laura, 1944

    ICA Cinematheque: Laura

    6 Aug 2013

    Consider the Fugue commences with Otto Preminger's classic film noir Laura (1944), a deceptive thriller which follows New York police detective Mark McPherson as he investigates the murder of glamorous Manhattan advertising executive Laura Hunt.

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  • David Lynch, Mulholland Dr., 2001

    ICA Cinematheque: Mulholland Dr.

    13 Aug 2013

    Starting life as a rejected pilot episode, Mulholland Dr. (2001) is arguably Hollywood surrealist David Lynch's most accomplished, acclaimed and emotionally resonant work to date.

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  • Victor Fleming, The Wizard of Oz, 1939

    ICA Cinematheque: The Wizard of Oz

    20 Aug 2013

    This classic from the Golden Age of early Hollywood formed the structural blueprint of a fantasy-construction narrative that would be later emulated in the works of David Lynch.

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  • Adrian Lyne, Jacob's Ladder, 1990

    ICA Cinematheque: Jacob's Ladder

    27 Aug 2013

    Tim Robbins stars as Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran now eking out an existence as a postal worker on the downtrodden streets of Brooklyn, who begins to experience flashbacks and violent, disturbing hallucinations.

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When

E.g., 02-08-2021
E.g., 02-08-2021