Magical Realism Magical realism is a genre of film where magic elements are a natural part in a realistic environment. However, it is most commonly used as a literary genre, magic realism can also apply to visual arts and obviously films. This type of genre began in the Latin culture and now is known world wide for its attributes. There are two people that have been credited for coining the term Magical Realism, Dudley Fits and Franz Roh. Both of them are well-recognized authors. Magical Realism is the way in which a person views the world through a type of art.
Magical realism deals with emotions, and it also discovers what is mysterious and meaningful in life. According to Franz Roh, in a painting, is the way a person a views the world through art. One example of magic realism occurs when a character in a plot continues to be alive beyond the normal length of life and the character being present throughout many generations subtly depicts this. On the surface the story has no clear magical characteristics and everything is portrayed in a real environment, but such a character breaks the rules of our real world.
The author may give accurate details of the real world such as the date of birth of a reference character, but such facts help to define an age for the fantastic character of the story that would turn out to be an abnormal occurrence like someone living for three hundred years. Magical realism in films has defined the modern fiction in which fabulous and fantastical events are included in the story. However, the film can reach beyond the confines of realism and draw upon the attributes like folk tale and myth while maintain a strong contemporary social relevance.
For example, a character in a film maybe given attributes like levitation, flight, or telekinesis to support the plot and give the film excitement. Magical Realism can be expressed as a worldview. Because it has become a worldview beyond film, Magical Realism has regained popularity as a type of fiction in the past sixty years. In a sense, Magical Realism is “fun fiction. ” It allows the director to be as creative as an author in literature, while also being intellectual and thinking about issues on different planes.
It incorporates the audience and asks him or her to look past the obvious and into the larger, brighter point on the horizon, grasping the interest in seriousness and the fancy in substantiality. I believe that Magical realism is a great genre for film. It brings action and excitement to the screen for the audience to enjoy. Without this genre I believe that some films would lack excitement in their plot. How exciting is Batman without his ability to fight off multiple thugs at once and fly from building to building.
