| Abstract [eng] |
By applying structural semiotic and psychoanalytic analysis, this study examines the expression of aggressiveness and sexuality in Paul Verhoeven's film „Elle“ (2016). This film was chosen as the object of analysis because aggression and sexuality are not only portrayed openly but are also ambivalently intertwined. This raises the question of whether aggression is opposed to sexuality or is an inseparable part of it. The aim is also to demonstrate that in Verhoeven's films, violent sexual relationships are linked to the reflection of the gaze. This thesis adopts the premise that understanding Verhoeven's film requires a psychoanalytic approach. This perspective allows both exploration of characters' behaviours’ motivation and the construction of the film as a cinematic work. For this purpose, fundamental psychoanalytic concepts are employed: the Oedipus complex, the life and death drives (Eros and Thanatos), sadism-masochism, voyeurism, and the primal scene. Structural semiotic analysis reveals that all relationships between the film's characters are either paternal or partner based. Thus, they are all connected to sexuality in one way or another. Moreover, a detailed examination of the film shows that all characters are inseparable from aggressiveness: they either inflict psychological or physical violence upon one another, are allies of aggressors, or even act as their doppelgangers. Aggressive actions transform the characters' will, drawing attention to the conscious and unconscious repetition of the past, particularly to the involuntary compulsive repetition described by Sigmund Freud. The study examines how the roles of sadist and masochist circulate within the film. It also explores Christian Metz's theory of identification in cinema, in which he incorporates psychoanalytic concepts such as the mirror stage and the primal scene. According to Metz, the viewer can comprehend cinema only because they have already experienced the mirror stage, and during film-watching, they identify with the all-seeing camera. While watching Elle, the viewer is metaphorically observing a primal scene – voyeuristically witnessing a sexual relationship. Meanwhile, for the film's characters, voyeuristic observation of primal scenes triggers aggression. They dissociate the ambivalence of violent sexual relationships, perceiving only violence and entirely separating it from sexuality. However, it ultimately becomes evident that violence in the film is staged during sexual acts. The analysis of Verhoeven's film revealed that the connection between aggressiveness and sexuality is exposed through the role of traumatic past experiences, as well as through fantasy, play, and performance. This reinforces the notion defended in Freud's and especially Lacan's psychoanalysis that the foundation of sexuality lies not in the instinct for reproduction but in imagination, fantasy, and fiction. In the film, sexuality is also linked to the two fundamental drives – Eros and Thanatos. The violent, death-drive-driven relationship transforms into performance, where violence is merely staged during the sexual act. However, the characters in the film who represent the life drive perceive it differently, creating opposition. Since Verhoeven's films are characterized by a recurring open depiction of sexuality and aggression, further research could benefit from analysing his other works to explore what new meanings might emerge from intertextual repetitions. This study may be valuable for those interested in non-stereotypical portrayals of violence in cinema, as well as in the combination of psychoanalytic and semiotic methodological tools in film analysis. |
