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The empathy mood in this 1920’s film is set in the first scene by showing a mother and her cute cubs in the African savannah. The film then cuts to a majestic powerful lion. Suddenly the explorer man meets the lion in battle! They fight each other for a few seconds, until the man stabs the lion to death with his pocketknife. As much as the fight seemed acted, I felt bad for the lion… but I also didn’t want the man to die.
The final scene of the film shows the artifice of film. A different camera films the camera that was filming the wrestling incident. The point of view changes from voyeuristic to the presence of the film crew, and the acting of both man and animal. What I found the most intriguing was my feelings of despair and empathy for the lion. Hiroshi Sugimoto, on his artist statement for Dioramas, writes, “However fake the subject, once photographed, it's as good as real.” Film and photography, as much as we are aware of the artifice, has a powerful way for affect and to change realities.
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