Publication

Abstract : Cinema has always been an art form of multiple dimensions. It is a story narrated, as well as a pointer of the socio cultural times we are in. It is a reflection of the paradigms of the society, and the questions asked thereof. A Cinema goes beyond mere fault finding. It opens a debate that will lead to social reforms, just as how Art played a significant role in the reformation of Europe during the Renaissance period. This takes us to a realization that just as painting, sculpture and architecture were the voices of social and cultural reformation in the earlier times, In the modern era cinema too comes into the scene to play a significant role. The paper attempts to study the aesthetic theory of the modern day philosopher and aesthetician Sir Roger Scruton on the reasons for the death of a city or a part thereof. To establish the theory on why and how a city dies and how it looks after it is dead, the paper studies a documentary film hosted by Sir Scruton produced by BBC as a primary text. The paper then analyses the structural and aesthetic qualities and semiotics of a dead city as portrayed in a Hollywood film.