Post-Event Cinema Discourse: Concept, Functioning, Case Study

The problems of the organization and functioning of post-event cinema discourse are discussed in the article. Post-event discourse is shaped by the viewers and represents their response statements in a communicative interaction with the movie; it reflects the processes of perception and understanding of the film by the audience. It is discussed that if there is a real event underlying the film, the film itself becomes a post-event discourse, forming or reinterpreting the ideas about what happened depending on the cultural and historical context. The results of an empirical study that implements a case study methodology are presented. A thematic analysis of the post-event Internet discourse, expressed in the statements about a particular film (“T-34”), has been carried out. A thematic map that revealed the structure of the post-event cinema discourse and its simplified versions, due to the genre features of the film has been developed. It is shown that viewers not only interpret the plot of the film, but also rethink the events behind it, express the effects of influence, raise topics for discussion that are not directly related to the film. The structure of post-event discourse changes depending on the characteristics of the audience. It has been revealed that the significant part of the audience perceived the film in accordance with the original function of cinema as “entertainment”. This determined both the peculiarities of its understanding and the effects of the impact, mainly emotional. Another part of the audience discovered the cognitive implications of the film and demonstrated a more complex structure of post-event discourse organization; understanding the film in a broader context contributed to the comprehension and actualization of additional themes. It is assumed that the unfolding post-event discourse in the process of communicative interaction of the viewer with the film contributes to the formation of discursive reality.