On Christian Metz's Film Subject Theory

Metz's film theory plays a decisive role in the film history of the world, and the theorists generally divide it into two phases:the first Cinematographic Semiology and the second Cinematographic Semiology or the second subject Cinematographic Semiology (the latter also known as the film subject theory) of which the subject theoretical discourse of Western philosophy and human academic research from Ancient Greece to the 60's the 20th century constitute an important academic background. In addition, structuralism semiotics of F.D. Saussure & Roland Barthes, Husserl's Phenomenology, Freud's psychoanalysis, Lacan's subject theory, Althusser's theory of ideology are its direct or indirect resources.Metz bases film subject theory on his first Cinematographic Semiology and puts forward film text from Semiology by analyzing issues such as film codes, film language, film signification and syntagmatique. With the application of Husserl's Phenomenology, Metz expands and deepens his research on films by expounding film recognition projection and identity, real image and imaginary and the film's "statement effect".Metz shifts his closed research on the film text to the communication between films and the viewers. He redefines the film as "imaginary signifier". He focuses on the theater mechanism composed of the camera recognition mechanism, the eyeshot system mechanism, the audience recognition mechanism, the "Symbolic" operating mechanism, the viewing metapsychological operating mechanism and the historical discourse mechanism, under which how a film shifts from signifier to signified and reaches the climax of imaginary order and symbolic order of the viewers, i.e. the processes of Imaginary signifier. In this process, Metz profoundly reveals the viewer's inner secret of being a full desired subject after experiencing sight path and self-psychological path and metapsychological regressive behavior. At the same time, he also profoundly reveals two major roles of history and discourse:first to conceal ideology behind the desired writings and transplant it into the desired subject's consciousness; and second to visualize the subject and to inject ideology into the desired subject by wiping the man-made traces of ideological manipulation, and then to control the viewing subject by tactically connecting the signifier and the signified to induce the viewing subject's consciousness, thus corresponding the ideal signified to the newly external signified. As a result, a constructive subject of "otherness" is generated when the viewing subject is induced and willing to accept the new signified. In the disguise of narration, historical and cultural discourses conceal the self-assumed act, leaving an illusion that the viewing subject is making the film himself, and thus completing the dislocation identity of self-consciousness.Metz's theory is characterized by its science and professionals, comprehensive creativity and combination of idealism and rationalism. Metz's film subject theory is an important part of his entire film theory system, marking the completion and enhancement of the system. Metz's theory exerts a positive influence on many schools of western film theoretical criticism such as film ontological psychology, feminist film theory, ideological criticism and political film theory. Hence, a study of Metz's theory is of great implication in improving the film-making and criticism, as well as the research on film theory and filmology of contemporary China.