Features of the theater of the absurd: origins, representatives, features of the dramatic structure (S. Beckett, E. Ionesco).
Theater of the absurd - a trend in Western European drama and theater that arose in the middle of the 20th century. In absurd plays, the world is presented as a meaningless, logicless pile of facts, deeds, words and destinies. The principles of absurdism were most fully embodied in the dramas The Bald Singer (1950) by the playwright Eugene Ionesco and Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.
It is believed that theater of the absurd is rooted in the philosophy of Dadaism, poetry from non-existent words and avant-garde art of the 1910-20s. Despite sharp criticism, the genre gained popularity after World War II, which pointed to the considerable uncertainty in human life. The term introduced was also criticized, and there were attempts to redefine it as "anti-theater" and "new theater". The movement of the "theater of the absurd" (or "new theater"), apparently, originated in Paris as an avant-garde phenomenon associated with small theaters in the Latin Quarter, and after a while gained worldwide recognition.
In practice, theater of the absurd denies realistic characters, situations and all other relevant theatrical techniques. Time and place are uncertain and changeable, even the simplest causal relationships are destroyed. Pointless intrigues, repetitive dialogues and aimless chatter, dramatic inconsistency of actions - everything is subordinated to one goal: to create a fabulous, and maybe even terrible, mood.
The formation of the drama of the absurd was influenced by surreal theatricality: the use of bizarre costumes and masks, meaningless rhymes, provocative appeals to the audience, etc. The plot of the play, the behavior of the characters are incomprehensible, similar and sometimes designed to shock the audience. Reflecting the absurdity of mutual understanding, communication, dialogue, the play stresses in every possible way the lack of meaning in the language, and the latter, in the form of a kind of game without rules, becomes the main carrier of chaos.
For the absurdists, the dominant quality of being was not concise, but disintegration. The second significant difference from the previous drama is in relation to a person. A person in an absurd world is the personification of passivity and helplessness. He cannot realize anything except his own helplessness. He is deprived of freedom of choice. The absurdists developed their concept of drama - antidrama. The drama of the absurd is not a discussion of absurdity, but a demonstration of absurdity.
Eugene Ionesco - the pioneer of absurdism in French drama.
The situations, characters and dialogues of his plays follow images and associations of dreams rather than everyday reality. The language, with the help of funny paradoxes, cliches, sayings and other word games, is freed from the usual meanings and associations. The surrealism of Ionesco's plays traces its origins to circus clowning, films by Ch. Chaplin, B. Keaton, the Marx brothers, ancient and medieval farce. A typical technique is a pile of objects that threaten to swallow the actors; things take on life, and people turn into inanimate objects. In the absurdist plays, catharsis is absent, E. Ionesco rejects any ideology, but the plays were brought to life by deep concern for the fate of the language and its speakers.
Premiere of "The Bald Singer" took place in Paris. The success of "The Bald Singer" was scandalous, no one understood anything, but watching absurdist plays gradually became a good form.
In the anti-play (this is the genre designation), there is no bald singer at all. But there is an English couple of Smiths and their neighbor by the name of Martin, as well as a maid Mary and a fire brigade captain who accidentally dropped in for a minute to the Smiths. He is afraid to be late for the fire, which will start at such and such hours and some minutes. There is still a clock that strikes as it pleases, which apparently means that time is not lost, it simply does not exist, each is in its own time dimension and carries, accordingly, nonsense.
The playwright has several techniques for whipping up the absurd. There is confusion in the sequence of events, and a heap of the same names and surnames, and the spouses' lack of recognition of each other, and the castling of hosts-guests, guests-hosts, countless repetitions of the same epithet, a stream of oxymorons, a clearly simplified construction of phrases like in the English textbook for beginners. In short, the dialogues are really funny.
The situations, characters and dialogues of his plays follow images and associations of dreams rather than everyday reality. The language, with the help of funny paradoxes, cliches, sayings and other word games, is freed from the usual meanings and associations. The surrealism of Ionesco's plays traces its origins to circus clownery, films by C. Chaplin, B. Keaton, the Marx brothers, ancient and medieval farce. A typical technique is a pile of objects that threaten to swallow the actors; things take on life, and people turn into inanimate objects.
When asked about the meaning of his drama, Ionesco replied that he wanted to “explain all the absurdity of existence, the separation of man from his transcendental roots,” to show that “when talking, people no longer know what they wanted to say, and that they are talking so that nothing to say that language, instead of bringing them closer together, only divides them even more ", to reveal" the unusual and strange nature of our existence "and" parade the theater, that is, the world. "
The task of his drama is to create a fierce, unrestrained theater, he proposes to return to theatrical origins, namely to old puppet shows, in which caricatured improbable images are used, emphasizing the roughness of reality itself. Ionesco proclaimed a sharp disagreement with the existing theater, of all the playwrights he recognized only Shakespeare. Modern theater, in his opinion, is not capable of expressing the existential state of a person. Theater must move as far as possible from realism, which only obscures the essence of human life.
Beckett.
Beckett was Joyce's secretary and learned to write with him. “Waiting for Godot” is one of the basic texts of absurdism. Entropy is presented in a state of expectation, and this expectation is a process, the beginning and end of which we do not know, i.e. it makes no sense. The state of expectation is the dominant in which the heroes exist, while not wondering whether to wait for Godot. They are in a passive state.
The heroes (Volodya and Tarragon) are not completely sure that they are waiting for Godot in the very place where they need it. When the next day after night they come to the same place to the withered tree, Tarragon doubts that it is the same place. The set of objects is the same, only the tree blossomed overnight. Tarragon's boots, which he left on the road yesterday, are in the same place, but he claims that they are larger and of a different color.
Waiting for Godot.
Identification with Christ, the redeemer of human sins, with God the Father. "There is nothing more real than nothing." This is the symbol of Nothing. Nothing for existentialists comes with a plus sign. The central characters are Vladimir and Estragon, vagrants. They are tired of waiting and cannot help but wait. A boy appears and announces that Godou's appearance has been delayed again. Lucky and Potso are figures, realists, pragmatists, they personify everyday vanity. Owner and E. are forced to eat pasture, they have no home, they spend the night in the open air. Lucky and Potso are surrounded by civilization items. But all the characters find in the process of existence only disease.
Vladimir and Estragon are distinguished by emasculated consciousness, they lack education, and Potso and Lucky even think on command. Vladimir and Estragon are friends, but they ask themselves if it is not better for them to live apart. Potso and Lucky also need each other. Different types of human and human development.
None of the options are paying off. Often the characters, if they are looking for something else, are on the other side of the border. Vladimir and Estragon love to look at their own things. They hope to find something there, but they find nothing. They don't try to create something on their own. To see in Nothing not only an expression of weakness, but also an expression of strength.
Beckett is the decline of human nature. Ionesco - the decline of the human spirit.
What is "theater of the absurd"? Which performances are allowed to be illogical, and which directors are allowed to turn nonsense into revelation? Our review contains exemplary performances of the most original genre. The ones to watch first.
Adherents of the absurd in art in general, following the founders of the genre (Ionesco, Beckett), assert the meaninglessness of human existence and perceive the world as a dump of waste ("heap of deeds, words and destinies" —
Wikipedia). Causal relationships in their creations are often absent, and the characters cannot understand each other. Although the "theater of the absurd" in its direct and precise meaning is rare, the absurdist aesthetics is becoming noticeably more popular. It already extends not only to the classics of the absurd, but also to the classics in general. The recognized master here, of course, is Yuri Pogrebnichko, whose performances "Yesterday came suddenly ..." and "The penultimate concert of Alice in Wonderland" by Milne and Carroll, respectively, have long turned into a cult. But today Butusov also "tailors" Shakespeare, Krymov turns Chekhov into a modern horror film, and in the Gogol Center and the MTYuZ they are imbued with love for Kharms and Vvedensky. What they all do in the end is highly deserving of the audience's attention. The kitsch, which any flirtation with the genre of the absurd could well turn into, is absent here. Instead - taste, style and philosophical depth.
« » Satyricon
Excessive, eccentric, master of stage shocking. Yuri Butusov turned Shakespeare's Othello into something unimaginable. In a kind of theatrical mass that connects the incompatible: Shakespeare's turned inside out (in three translations at once: Soroka, Leitin and Pasternak), Pushkin, Chekhov and Akhmatova. An energetic mix of such power that not every spectator can stand it. A phenomenal find is the black paint that the white-skinned Othello-Denis Sukhanov applies to his face and hands. As if hell demonstrates its rights, with such a “mark” it will no longer be possible to live as before. There are also crowds of women with leaked mascara, breasts invitingly popping out of deep cleavage, with frenzied melancholy in their eyes. Lurid men-cowards and silent servants-invisible ... An excerpt from "Ruslan and Lyudmila", dancing on the piano and even "nudity". Butusov makes riddles, but does not even hint at the answers. Only the artist Alexandra Shishkin has mastered the insane cipher of the director's thought. There are mountains of rubbish on the stage. Cardboard boxes, hangers, crumpled coats of unknown production year, artificial flowers, beds, a skull and even a ship on wooden cables ... From so many things dazzle in the eyes, the meaning of each of them on stage is unclear. But the chaos of this world is discernible and “patented”. Only in a landfill does love so quickly turn into hatred, and speculation into a sentence.
photo by Ekaterina Tsvetkova
« » Near
Absurdity in the theater. Source: Absurdity in the theater.
The performance, which connects Volodin's play Don't Part with Your Beloved, with the main scenes from Dostoevsky's novel, is both a philosophical statement about the eternal and the most satire on our worthless, absurd everyday life, terrible past and unknown future. Here in front of us is a string of married couples, whose "love boat has crashed against everyday life." "Drinks, beats", "got a woman", "changed", "there are no common interests" ... their explanations in court are familiar to the ear, do not evoke emotions. But Pogrebnichko and Pogrebnichko are to turn everyday dramas into frantic and eternal absurdity. So, mental anguish in the presence of a judge (Olga Beshulya plays her flawlessly) turns into a homerically funny show called “divorce in a Soviet country”. Scenes from Dostoevsky's novel seemingly "by chance" creep into this show (fortunately, there is no need to change clothes - crinolines of the 19th century and quilted jackets from the times of the scoop were always perfectly combined in this theater). Porfiry Petrovich brings Raskolnikov to the surface, Raskolnikov explains with Sonechka Marmeladova, etc. Then suddenly again the metaphysical abysses are replaced by the Soviet "everyday", and then completely - the choral performance of hits from the past: "Daisies hid, buttercups drooped." All this "mess" in an incomprehensible way sounds hysterical, but without pathos. At what it sounds about the most important thing: about the pain that is eternal in people and their relationships. About how terrible it is that no one knows how to pain this and does not want to calm it down.
photo by Victor Pushkin
« » School of Dramatic Art
Absurdity in the theater. Source: Absurdity in the theater.
The play is based on one single phrase from “Three Sisters” (“Balzac got married in Berdichev”), the rest is a genius horror from Dmitry Krymov, a master of stage puzzles and visual metaphors. His fantasy does not obey any theatrical laws or even simple logic. Chekhov for him is just an excuse for his own experiment. Krymov and his team turned the Chekhov sisters into ugly clowns, a kind of witches from a fantastic horror story. Masha got bumps on her legs, Anna Akhmatova's nose appeared from somewhere. Irina's ears became gigantic, and Olga turned into a gray plump bun. Ugly, miserable. As, however, and everyone else. Judge for yourself: Vershinin is without an arm. Salty - with three. Andrey in a woman's dress and with a pregnant belly, Chebutykin in the guise of an inept maniac doctor. The heroes are clearly not aware of their own inferiority - they cheerfully eat a watermelon on stage (ah, what a scene!), Hypnotize tea cups, make fun of each other, burn a paper city in a copper basin. There is no trace of dialogues from the play, as well as the viscous atmosphere of "doing nothing". On the stage, something happens all the time, now hilariously funny, now piercingly sad, and sometimes tragic. The director deliberately deprives the viewer of a foothold - everything that happened on stage is funny or scary - is ultimately not obvious. Not a single scene in the new play can be predicted. Perhaps you won't even be able to understand right away. But the meaning, the idea is impossible not to grasp. We are all funny little freaks who live as if they are immortal, and grief does not exist. But sooner or later, both death and grief happen. And sorry for everyone.
photo by Mikhail Guterman
The term "theater of the absurd" was first used by theater critic Martin Esslin ( Martin Esslin), who wrote a book with that title in 1962. Esslin saw in certain works the artistic embodiment of the philosophy of Albert Camus about the meaninglessness of life at its core, which he illustrated in his book The Myth of Sisyphus. It is believed that the theater of the absurd is rooted in the philosophy of Dadaism, poetry from non-existent words and avant-garde art - x. Despite sharp criticism, the genre gained popularity after World War II, which pointed to the considerable uncertainty in human life. The term introduced was also criticized, and there were attempts to redefine it as "anti-theater" and "new theater". According to Esslin, the absurdist theatrical movement was based on the performances of four playwrights - Eugene Ionesco ( Eugene Ionesco), Samuel Beckett ( Samuel beckett), Jean Genet ( Jean genet) and Artyur Adamov ( Arthur Adamov), however, he emphasized that each of these authors had their own unique technique that goes beyond the term "absurd". The following group of writers is often distinguished - Tom Stoppard ( Tom stoppard), Friedrich Dürrenmatt ( Friedrich Dürrenmatt), Fernando Arrabal ( Fernando arrabal), Harold Pinter ( Harold pinter), Edward Alby ( Edward albee) and Jean Tardieu ( Jean tardieu).
Alfred Jarry ( Alfred jarry), Luigi Pirandello ( Luigi pirandello), Stanislav Vitkevich ( Stanislaw Witkiewicz), Guillaume Apollinaire ( Guillaume Apollinaire), surrealists and many others.
The movement of the "theater of the absurd" (or "new theater"), apparently, originated in Paris as an avant-garde phenomenon associated with small theaters in the Latin Quarter, and after a while gained worldwide recognition.
In practice, theater of the absurd denies realistic characters, situations and all other relevant theatrical techniques. Time and place are uncertain and changeable, even the simplest causal relationships are destroyed. Pointless intrigues, repetitive dialogues and aimless chatter, dramatic inconsistency of actions - everything is subordinated to one goal: to create a fabulous, and maybe even terrible, mood.
New york Untitled Theater Company No. 61 (Untitled Theater Company # 61) announced the creation of a "modern theater of the absurd", consisting of new productions in this genre and transcriptions of classic plots by new directors. Other undertakings include conducting Festival of works by Eugene Ionesco.
“The traditions of the French theater of the absurd in Russian drama exist on a rare and worthy example. We can mention Mikhail Volokhov. But the philosophy of absurdity is absent in Russia to this day, so it has to be created. "
Theater of the absurd in Russia
The main ideas of the theater of the absurd were developed by members of the OBERIU group back in the 30s of the XX century, that is, several decades before the appearance of a similar trend in Western European literature. In particular, one of the founders of the Russian theater of the absurd was Alexander Vvedensky, who wrote the plays "Minin and Pozharsky" (1926), "God is all around" (1930-1931), "Kupriyanov and Natasha" (1931), "Christmas tree at the Ivanovs" (1939), etc. In addition, other OBERIUs worked in a similar genre, for example, Daniil Kharms.
In the drama of a later period (1980s), elements of the theater of the absurd can be found in the plays of Lyudmila Petrushevskaya, in the play "Walpurgis Night, or Steps of the Commander" by Venedikt Erofeev, and in a number of other works.
Representatives
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Notes
Literature
Martin Esslin, The Theater of the Absurd (Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1962)
Martin Esslin, Absurd Drama (Penguin, 1965)
E. D. Galtsova, Surrealism and Theater. On the Theatrical Aesthetics of French Surrealism (Moscow: RGGU, 2012)
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Theatrical art
In 1808, Emperor Alexander went to Erfurt for a new meeting with the Emperor Napoleon, and in the highest Petersburg society there was a lot of talk about the greatness of this solemn meeting. In 1809, the closeness of the two rulers of the world, as Napoleon and Alexander were called, reached the point that when Napoleon declared war on Austria that year, the Russian corps went abroad to assist its former enemy Bonaparte against the former ally, the Austrian emperor; to the point that in high society they talked about the possibility of a marriage between Napoleon and one of the sisters of Emperor Alexander. But, in addition to external political considerations, at this time the attention of Russian society was drawn with particular vividness to the internal transformations that were being carried out at that time in all parts of the government. Meanwhile, the real life of people with their essential interests of health, illness, work, rest, with their interests of thought, science, poetry, music, love, friendship, hatred, passions, went on as always independently and outside of political closeness or enmity with Napoleon Bonaparte, and beyond all possible transformations. Prince Andrew spent two years without a break in the village. All those enterprises by names that Pierre started at himself and did not bring to any result, constantly moving from one case to another, all these enterprises, without showing them to anyone and without noticeable difficulty, were carried out by Prince Andrew. He had in the highest degree that practical tenacity that Pierre lacked, which, without scope and effort on his part, set things in motion. One estate of his three hundred souls of peasants was listed as free farmers (this was one of the first examples in Russia), in others corvee was replaced by rent. In Bogucharovo, a learned grandmother was discharged at his expense to help the women in childbirth, and the priest taught peasant and household children to read and write for a salary.
1. The concept of "theater of the absurd". Features, paradoxes and symbols of the "theater of the absurd".
2. Swiss playwright absurdist F. Dürrenmatt. The problem of the cost of an individual's life, redemption of past debts in the drama "The Visit of the Old Lady".
3. Opposition of romantic-adventurous and philistine-cozy models of existence in M. Frisch's drama "Site Cruise".
4. E Ionesco is a representative of the French "theater of the absurd". The depiction of the spiritual and intellectual devastation of modern society in the play "Rhinos".
5. General characteristics of the life and work of S. Beckett.
The concept of "theater of the absurd". Features, paradoxes and symbols of the "theater of the absurd"
In the early 50s of the 20th century, unusual performances began to appear in French theaters, the performance of which was devoid of elementary logic, the remarks contradicted each other, and the meaning that was reproduced on the stage was incomprehensible to the audience. These unusual performances also had a strange name - the theater of the "absurd", or the art of the "absurd".
The press immediately came out with support for this trend in theatrical art. With the help of criticism and advertising, works of the theater of the "absurd" quickly penetrated the theaters of many countries of the world. During its existence, the theater of the "absurd" is firmly entrenched in a number of modern modernist trends in art.
Although the theater of the "absurd" originated and emerged in France, the art of the "absurd" did not rely on the phenomena of French national art. The initiators of this direction were writers - Romanian Eugene Ionesco (Ionesco) and Irishman Beckett, who lived and worked in France at that time. In different periods, they were joined by some more playwrights - the Armenian A. Adamov, as well as the English writer G. Pinter, N. Simpson and others who lived in Paris.
The performances of the theater of the "absurd" were scandalous: the audience was indignant, some did not perceive, some laughed, and some of the spectators were carried away. There were no positive characters in the plays of the playwrights of the absurdists. their characters are devoid of human dignity, downtrodden internally and externally, crippled morally. At the same time, the authors did not express either sympathy or indignation, they did not show or explain the reasons for the degradation of these people, did not disclose specific conditions that proved a person to the loss of human dignity. The absurdists tried to affirm the idea that a person himself is to blame for his misfortunes, that she is not worth the best participation, if she is not able and not able to change life for the better.
This method of opposing the personality to society was borrowed by playwrights from the philosophy of existentialism, which was the basis of the art of "absurdity."
Artists of the "absurd" borrowed from existentialist philosophers a view of the world as such, did not subject them to understanding and in which chaos reigned. Like the existentialists, the authors of the art of "absurdity" believed that people were powerless and could not influence the environment, and society, in turn, could not and should not have influenced human life: "No society alone is able to reduce human suffering , no political system can free us from the burden of life, "preached E. Ionesco.
According to the philosophy of existentialism, E. Ionesco argued that all problems and social problems are the result of human action.
Using the means of art inventively, the figures of the theater of the "absurd" reflected in their works the main provisions that they borrowed from existentialist philosophers:
o isolation of a person from the outside world;
o individualism and isolation;
o inability to communicate with each other;
o invincibility of evil
o inaccessibility for a person of the goal set for himself.
Existentialist ideas inherent in the theater of "absurdity" were easily traced in the analysis of works of art of "absurdity".
Since the emergence of the theater of "absurd", the name itself bore a double meaning: on the one hand, it expressed the creative method of playwrights - bringing certain features and provisions to the point of absurdity, depriving them of any logical connection and content, and on the other, it clearly defined the authors' worldview, their understanding and the embodiment in his works of reality as a world, existed without logic, - the world of the absurd.
In the dictionary "Culturology of the XX century" the concept of absurdity was interpreted as such, which went beyond our understanding of the world. The absurdity is not the absence of content, but the content is implicit.
The absurd for our world can be perceived elsewhere, as something that has little content that can be comprehended by the mind. Absurd thinking became an impulse for the formation of another world, while simultaneously expanding the boundaries of the irrational basis of thought, and the absurd itself acquired content that could be expressed and comprehended. The absurdity in the theater existed on the substantive and formal levels. He looked like philosophical ideas (which combined the drama of the absurd with the works of F. Kafka and existentialist writers) and artistic paradoxes that testified to the use of the traditions of folklore, black humor, and blasphemy.
In the dictionary-reference book of literary terms, the concept of absurdity was interpreted as "nonsense, nonsense." The term in this sense was used by literary historians and critics, who analyzed the behavior of characters in fiction from the standpoint of plausibility. The absurd acquired its terminological status in the phrases "literature of the absurd", the theater of "absurd", which were used to conventionally name works of art (novels, plays) that depicted life as a kind of chaotic heap of accidents, seemingly meaningless situations. Underlined illogism, irrationalism in the actions of characters, mosaic composition of works, grotesque and buffoonery in the means of their creation have become characteristic signs of such art.
The term "absurd literature" could have been more unconventional in its semantic load.
E. Ionesco gave his definition of absurdity in an essay about F. Kafka: "Everything that has no purpose is absurd ... Torn from his religious and metaphysical roots, a person felt confused, all her actions became meaningless, insignificant, burdensome."
The theater of the "absurd" is the most significant phenomenon of the theatrical avant-garde of the second half of the 20th century. Of all the literary movements and schools, he was the most modern literary group. The fact is that its representatives not only did not create any manifestos or programmatic works, but did not communicate with each other at all. Moreover, there were no more or less clear chronological boundaries, not to mention the areal boundaries.
The term theater of "absurdity" entered the literary circulation after the appearance of the monograph of the same name by the famous English literary critic Martin Esslin. In his monumental work (the first edition of the book "Theater of the Absurd" appeared in 1961) M. Esslin combined playwrights from different countries and generations on several typological grounds.
The literary critic noted that under the name of the theater of the "absurd" there was "no organized direction, no art school", and the term itself, according to its "discoverer", had an "auxiliary meaning", since it only "contributed to the penetration into creative activity, did not give comprehensive characteristics, nor was it comprehensive and exceptional. "
The dramas of absurdists, which shocked both viewers and critics, neglected dramatic canons, outdated theatrical norms, and conventional restrictions. The revolt of the authors of the theater of the "absurd" is a revolt against any regulation, against "common sense" and normativity. Fiction in the works of absurdists was mixed with reality: in the Ionesque play "Amadeus" a corpse was growing for more than 10 years, lying in the bedroom, for no apparent reason the characters of S. Beckett were blinded and numb; beasts spoke humanly ("The Fox - Postgraduate Student" by S. Mrozhek). They mixed the genres of works: in the theater of "absurd" there were no "pure" genres, "tragicomedy" and "tragicomedy", "pseudo-drama" and "comic melodrama" reigned here. The playwrights-absurdists almost unanimously asserted that the comic was tragedy is ridiculous. J. Genet remarked: “I believe that tragedies can be described as follows: burst of laughter, interrupted by sobs, which brings us back to the source of all laughter - to the thought of death. The works of the theater of the "absurd" combined not only elements of different dramatic genres, but in general - elements of various spheres of art: pantomime, chorus, circus, music hall, cinema. Paradoxical alloys and combinations were possible in them: the plays of the absurdists could reproduce both dreams (A. Adamov) and nightmares (F. Arrabal). The plots of their works were often deliberately destroyed: the eventuality was reduced to an absolute minimum ("Waiting for Godot", "Endgame", "Happy Days" by S. Beckett). Instead of dramatic natural dynamics, static reigned on the stage, in the words of E. Ionesco, "agony where there is no real action. " The speech of the characters suffered destruction, which, by the way, quite often simply did not hear and did not see each other, speaking "parallel" monologues ("Landscape" by G. Pinter) into the void. Thus, playwrights tried to solve the problem of human amenity. Most of the absurdists are agitated by the processes of totalitarianism - first of all, the totalitarianism of consciousness, the leveling of the personality, led to the use of only language clichés and clichés ("The Bald Singer" by E. Ionesco), and as a result - to the loss of a human face, to the transformation (quite conscious) into terrible animals ("Rhinos". E. Ionesco).
Latent important philosophical problems shone through the apparent absurdity:
o a person's ability to resist evil;
o reasons for shaming people (according to their own convictions, "got infected", pulled in by force)
o human tendency to hide from unpleasant evidence;
o manifestation of world evil - "pandemic of mass madness".
During the first years of the existence of the "theater of the absurd", its figures managed to attract the attention of the masses with their illogical, unusual works. The novelty of the techniques played an important role here. The audience showed curiosity rather than deep interest in the "theater of the absurd". In the auditorium of the La Huchette theater, which specialized in staging plays by E. Ionesco, French speech was heard less and less often: this theater was visited by foreign tourists - the performances were seen as a kind of attraction, but not as a serious achievement of French art. However, over time, the attitude towards the theater of the "absurd" has changed.
The theater of the "absurd" did not receive wide, mass recognition and could not get it. Art could not find its mark in the whole people, it is inherent only in some who understood it.
The classic period of such a theater was the 50s - early 60s. The end of the 60s was marked by the international recognition of the "absurdists" E. Ionesco was elected to the French Academy, and S. Beckett received the title of Nobel Prize laureate.
Now J. Genet, S. Beckett, E. Ionesco were no longer alive, but G. Pinter and E. Alby, S. Mrozhek and F. Arrabal continued to create. E. Ionesco believed that the theater of the "absurd" will always exist: the absurd filled reality and itself became reality. Indeed, the influence of the theater of the "absurd" on world literature, especially on drama, can hardly be overestimated. After all, it was precisely this direction, which forced to pay attention to the absurdity of human existence, liberated the theater, armed drama with new techniques, new techniques and means, introduced new themes and new heroes into literature. The theater of the "absurd" with its pain for a person and his inner world with his criticism of automatism, philistinism, conformism, deindividualization and amenity has already become a classic of world literature.
It's hard to argue with the claim that this "crazy, crazy, crazy" world has gone a little crazy. And if anyone else doubts it, you should watch at least one of the great films that are collected in this "top ten". However, it is not surprising if someone wants to see or revise all the films. You will definitely not regret it!
1. The film "Love and Death"
director Woody Allen Without a doubt, a cult comedy from the master of this genre Woody Allen. Just a fountain of sparkling and at the same time intellectual humor on a very interesting topic. And the topic is the following. A certain Russian landowner from a district town in every possible way is trying to evade the call to fight Napoleon. Because all he has in his arsenal is a long and sharp tongue. Unparalleled self-irony, philosophy for dummies, politics and once again politics - made this film forever beloved, especially in our country. Whether the hero managed to avoid the army or not, see for yourself.
2. The film "Log"
director Jan Schwankmeier This level of surrealism is perhaps only found in Lynch. Jan Schwankmeier translated the Czech scary tale into screen language and it looks funny. Out of hopelessness, a young childless couple had an idea to have a stump of a tree instead of a child ... Which grows quickly and eats a lot, and it eats everything. Even a man for a sweet soul. And if the newly-made parents take care of their logs in every possible way, then their wonderful neighbors, on the contrary, do not pay attention to their "live" daughter. As they say, the contrast is obvious.
3. The film "Dress"
directed by Alex Van Warmerdam How sometimes the imagination of creators admires, to what extent their visualization reaches! An ordinary dress, even in bright colors, but what a stir around it! People just go crazy, tear it apart and still it pushes everyone to madness. It excites some, leads to the death of others, and at first glance is just a rag. What will happen to him next?
4. The film "City of Zero"
director Karen Shakhnazarov The plot of the film seems to be copied from some novel by the Strugatsky brothers, where the hero finds himself in an unknown city, in which everything is turned upside down, different concepts and completely different morality. As in a biblical parable, he is presented with his head on a platter, only the head is not someone else's, but himself ... And there is only one way out, you need to get used to it urgently, so as not to go crazy. However, there is also wisdom in the film. Which in the end will be pulled apart by all and sundry.
5. Film "Investigation in the case of a citizen beyond any suspicion"
director Elio Petri A film that won an Oscar. Comedy! Not a drama about Jews or a hard war. This alone suggests that he is worth something. And there really is something to see. Just imagine - the hero kills his woman, leaves evidence and goes to surrender to the police. In any other case, he would have already been convicted, but that was not the case. The fact is that he is the chief of police himself and no one wants to even suggest that it was him. Who said he wants to go to jail? Not at all, he has other plans ...
6. The film "Firemen's Ball"
directed by Milos Forman The last film of the famous Czechoslovak director filmed in his homeland. And knowing this, one can already assume what could have caught fire in them. That all this red absurdity, this serious circus is like a mirror of the communist regime in which the country lived then. Brave guys, excellent firefighters really set out to hold their own beauty contest at the holiday!
7. The film "Black cat, white cat"
director Emir Kusturica A sparkling, unrestrained, crazy comedy from the genius of Kusturica! Gypsy fun will also raise the dead from the grave, and what does it do with the living ... Here they shoot and sing at the same time, they love and steal brides, and what they will not do for money. Two old mafiosi are fast asleep as their children fight furiously. But for the sake of the happiness of the young, they, of course, will wake up.
8. The film "Doctor Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Atomic Bomb"
director Stanley Kubrick Intellectual, but no less absurd comedy from the cult director Stanley Kubrick. Imagine a very real situation: the country is allegedly in danger and a military general sends nuclear bombers to his enemy. But the danger is imaginary, and the planes are already in the air approaching the enemy's borders. And then it also turns out that the enemy has an automatic response - and the country that sent the bombers may have been erased from the Earth to the devil's grandmother ... Did you imagine the seriousness of the situation? This is a tragedy! But not in this case.
9. The film "Castle"
director Alexey Balabanov The film is, of course, based on the famous novel by Franz Kafka. The hero arriving at his destination discovers that no one is waiting for him and no one needs him here. Metaphorically speaking, a castle under a castle. However, curiosity seizes him, he decides to stop here and try to find out what's the matter. Stays so long that he even manages to get married. But it never makes sense. Or is he just inattentively looking? A phantasmagoria from Balabanov, a ghostly plot and lurid characters, a motley texture of the surrounding world, it would seem that everything is there. But where is the answer to be found then?
10. The film "Tootsie"
director Sydney Pollack Everything is very simple. The guy can't get a foothold in the film business, he is not taken anywhere. Then he disguises himself as a woman and gets the desired role. But to play, he needs to stop being himself. But he has a girlfriend, and she, of course, has a father. How then to be? In addition, dad suddenly began to like him in a new image ... An awkward situation, isn't it. And no one knows what will happen when the truth breaks out. A crazy comedy starring Dustin Hoffman and charming Jessica Lange.
For those who want something more serious, we have collected.
