영화의 시점

Point of View in Films: Multiplicity and Rhetoric

‘Point of view’ is one of very difficult and complex problems in narrative theory. It is not a question of distinction between ‘first person’ and ‘third person’. It is not limited to only images or visions, either. It has something to do with relations and distance between narrating subject and narrated objects. It is also related to the narrator's mental attitude to the narrated things, narrator's perception and the quality of the informations provided by that narrator. This essay examines various opinions on point of view critically in general narrative theory and film narratology. For example, some arguments by Gérard Genette, Seymour Chatman and Susan Lanser in general narrative theory, and then by François Jost, Nick Browne, Seymour Chatman(again), and Edward Branigan in film narratology are discussed. These arguments refreshed the concept of ‘point of view’, but I think they are not quite enough. This essay presents three points of view on ‘point of view’ in films. First, we should distinguish between the point of view of representation(image and sound) and that of verbal or written narration in films. Second, ‘point of view’ should be explained by the whole effect by the interaction among various points of view because a film has multiple ways of narration(image, sound, verbal narration, written narration, and music) concurrently. Third, ‘point of view’ should be understood in dynamic system in which a text changes and moves among various points of view. If we accept this concept of point of view in films, the discussion will not stay where it only propose the classification of types of point of view and go on to the level that analyze the characteristics and rhetoric of film narration.