A Phenomenological Meditation on Shinya Tsukamoto’s Vital
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65828/99ta3553Keywords:
Meditation, Dissection, Objective Thought, Lived Body, Thing-to-be-Dissected, Person-to-be-Loved, Causality, Beyond-the-Natural, Film PhenomenologyAbstract
The present paper pays tribute to Shinya Tsukamoto, one of Japan's best known, albeit controversial, filmmakers. To begin with, the author identifies a form of writing called the phenomenological meditation; and claims this unique form of writing as an act of rebellion against intellectual constraints. The author then proceeds to illustrate the phenomenological meditation by means of a description of Shinya Tsukamoto's (2004) film Vital. Tsukamoto's film is thus revealed as a profoundly insightful reflection on the lived body. Finally, the author contrasts the phenomenological meditation with procedural forms of doing phenomenology; and concludes that the phenomenologist's primary task is to awaken a profound sense of wonder in, and reverence for, phenomena.
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