When was the last time you shed a tear while watching a film? Can you recall the specific scene? Many describe this as a “good cry.” How can a cry be good? Many people have pent up emotions from various events in life. Art can evoke an emotional release of these emotions also known as catharsis. Catharsis can be an overwhelmingly emotional experience. Film’s that create catharsis can move an audience to tears while also leaving them completely satisfied. What is catharsis and how is this possible? Let’s find out.
What is catharsis?
Catharsis literary definition
Catharsis is a term widely used throughout art and its origins date as far back as art itself. What is the meaning of catharsis? Let’s define catharsis and analyze how its origins have led to the catharsis definition we have today.
CATHARSIS DEFINITION
What is catharsis?
Catharsis is the release and relief of strong or repressed emotions. The term “catharsis” derives from the Greek word katharsis meaning “purification” or “cleansing.” In the realm of psychology, the American Psychological Association defines catharsis as "the discharge of effects connected to traumatic events that had previously been repressed by bringing these events back into consciousness and re-experiencing them."
As it applies to film and art, emotional catharsis can be the result of the emotional effect of a tragic drama. Heroes in cathartic films often experience a cathartic release that leads to a restoration.
What is catharsis composed of in storytelling?
- Emotional build up
- Relatable experiences
- Connection to characters
- Moving performances
What does catharsis mean?
History of emotional catharsis
What is the meaning of catharsis? To answer this question we must take a look back. The term catharsis is as old as the Ancient Greeks. The Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, described catharsis as the emotional purge of fear and pity aroused by tragedy.
The term was then adopted by psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Josef Bruer. For them, catharsis was a therapeutic technique used to reduce a psychological complex by recalling it to conscious awareness and allowing it to be expressed.
Today, however, the term has become more synonymous with art. People often describe art that evokes emotion as cathartic. Music, plays, novels, and film can have cathartic components that tie in to the psychology of the audience. Art can elicit an emotional cathartic release in an audience by connecting to their personal experiences.
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Catharsis Examples
Catharsis in Art and Literature
The vast majority of artists want to make their audience feel something. Thus, catharsis is everywhere, in all kinds of artforms. Let’s look at a few examples of catharsis in literature and beyond.
Catharsis in Romeo and Juliet
We all know the general plotline of Shakespeare’s most famous play. But why is that? Because its cathartic climax is so powerful. Juliet fakes her death, and when Romeo finds her, he believes she’s actually dead, so he poisons himself, resulting in Juliet waking up and doing the same.
It’s tragedy on tragedy on tragedy, and the avoidability of it all makes it all the more heartbreaking.
Catharsis in Death of a Salesman
Not all catharsis has to be massively depressing, but we have to include Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller’s play ends with, well, the death of the titular salesman, and it is devastatingly cathartic. Take the final soliloquy from the salesman, Willy Loman:
“Now when you kick off, boy, I want a seventy-yard boot, and get right down the field under the ball, and when you hit, hit low and hit hard, because it’s important, boy. (He swings around and faces the audience.) There’s all kinds of important people in the stands, and the first thing you know... (Suddenly realizing he is alone.) Ben! Ben, where do I... ? (He makes a sudden movement of search.) Ben, how do I... ?”
Willy is talking to his dead brother Ben, having fully become untethered from reality. The final speech from Willy is desperate and, as Miller notes, elegiac, a poignant end to Willy’s arc.
Catharsis in Citizen Kane
We may not be rooting for Charles Kane in Orson Welles’s masterpiece, but by the end of the film, his demise is certainly cathartic. He has worked all his life to amass wealth and power, but in the end, he passes away plagued with loneliness and a longing for loved ones and simpler times.
Kane is a great example of a catharsis being created even with an unlikeable character.
catharsis examples in film
What is catharsis in film?
Various art forms can create catharsis. Music, novels, and plays can be incredibly emotional. But there are specific qualities to the medium of film that allows it to effectively elicit an emotional response in an audience.
The first quality is the film’s ability to condense time. Through editing, film can allow weeks, months, even years to unfold before us over a matter of seconds. When done effectively, films can connect audiences to characters within a short span of time.
When an audience connects to a character, everything that character experiences becomes much more emotional. The best technique to do this is the montage. Montage condenses time and events to create a narrative sequence. This montage from Pixar’s Up, connects us to these characters, only to have tragedy befall them.
Up • Catharsis Example
What is so incredible about this montage is how it elicits so much emotion in the first ten minutes of the film. The reason being the emotions of love and grief are a part of the human experience. Humans have an innate connection to both of these emotions. The filmmakers use both to build our emotions up and release them at an incredibly cathartic moment.
Film is also an incredibly visual medium. It allows us to see characters experience emotions. Sure plays are visual as well, but film utilizes the close up shot. This allows us to see the details of a character's emotions, further eliciting an emotional response in us.
In Good Will Hunting , Will has a cathartic moment as he releases his repressed emotions to his friend and psychologist. He builds up emotions by establishing Will’s abusive childhood and the effects of it on his life. Take a look at this catharsis example as well as brilliant performance and execution.
Good Will Hunting • Emotional Catharsis Example
The audience's ability to visually witness his cathartic moment up close through filmmaking, creates a cathartic moment for both Will and the audience. We imported the Good Will Hunting script to StudioBinder's Screenwriting Software to see how this scene plays out in screenplay.
Good Will Hunting 'It's Not Your Fault Scene' • Read Full Scene
Naturally, for this scene to hit the emotional peak it does, we need to recognize everything that lead up to the moment. Remember, the greater the build-up and repression, the greater the release.
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The Purpose of Conflict in Story
Catharsis can make a film incredibly memorable and moving. However, some films can function without it. One device that every story must have is conflict. What is conflict and what is its purpose? We examine the definition of conflict and how stories use it in the next article.
