Tom Skoulding
Can a Building be a Character? Exploring the Role of Architecture in the Films High-Rise and Parasite
In cinema, architecture is often used to create a sense of place, social standing, and status; the presentation of architectural spaces and buildings shapes viewers’ understanding of the narrative and societal aspects of the work. Whilst the interdisciplinary c onnections between 1 architecture and film studies are well established,the study of character, using a systematic 2 theoretical framework, in architectural studies and, perhaps more surprisingly, in film studies, is relatively sparse.
This paper examines the question of whether a building can be regarded as a character in a film by exploring the role of structures at the centre of two films: High-Rise and Parasite. How do they - the eponymous high-rise and the Parks’ house in Parasite - communicate with, and contribute to, the narrative of these films? Can the buildings be analysed as characters using methodology developed for the analysis of film characters, in the more commonly recognised sense of human, or human-like entities? In what ways are existing methods of character analysis useful? By undertaking such an analysis, can we achieve a greater understanding of the role that architectural ‘characters’ play in film? Can we use the vocabulary that we use for human characters in film to describe buildings as, for example, villains, victims, heroes etc?
For the purposes of this paper, I will refer to buildings which fulfil the criteria to be regarded as characters as ‘Character Buildings’. In the absence of a specific methodology for analysing Character Buildings, this paper draws on academic frameworks used for ‘human’ characters in films, in particular the work of philosopher and film theorist Murray Smithand German writer and professor of 3 aesthetics of audiovisual media Dr Jens Eder. The methodological frameworks of Smith 4and Eder are distinct in emphasis but using both allows for a balanced investigation of whether buildings can be examined as characters.
This paper outlines the methodological frameworks of Smith and Eder, before moving on to explore them in more detail by 3 applying them to an analysis of the Parks’ house in Parasite and the tower block in High Rise. The films which have been chosen as case studies - High-Rise and Parasite - both feature prominent and memorable buildings. In High-Rise, the 2015 movie directed by Ben Wheatley and based on JG Ballard’s novella of the same name, Dr Robert Laing (played by Tom Hiddleston) moves into an apartment block created by the architect Anthony Royal (played by Jeremy Irons).
During the movie the societal divides created by Royal within the tower block break down and chaos and anarchy ensue. Parasite, a 2019 Oscar-winning Korean film directed by Bong Joon-ho, charts the tale of the Kims, a poor family living in a shabby semi-basement apartment in Seoul, and their parasitical infiltration of the wealthy Parks family, who live in a striking modern house in a wealthy suburb. The choice of films of different genres and cultures (High-Rise being a British dystopian thriller and Parasite a South Korean dark comedy) is deliberate, allowing conclusions to be drawn which transcend what might be regarded as genre, culture or film specific.
This paper examines the question of whether a building can be regarded as a character in a film by exploring the role of structures at the centre of two films: High-Rise and Parasite. How do they - the eponymous high-rise and the Parks’ house in Parasite - communicate with, and contribute to, the narrative of these films? Can the buildings be analysed as characters using methodology developed for the analysis of film characters, in the more commonly recognised sense of human, or human-like entities? In what ways are existing methods of character analysis useful? By undertaking such an analysis, can we achieve a greater understanding of the role that architectural ‘characters’ play in film? Can we use the vocabulary that we use for human characters in film to describe buildings as, for example, villains, victims, heroes etc?
For the purposes of this paper, I will refer to buildings which fulfil the criteria to be regarded as characters as ‘Character Buildings’. In the absence of a specific methodology for analysing Character Buildings, this paper draws on academic frameworks used for ‘human’ characters in films, in particular the work of philosopher and film theorist Murray Smithand German writer and professor of 3 aesthetics of audiovisual media Dr Jens Eder. The methodological frameworks of Smith 4and Eder are distinct in emphasis but using both allows for a balanced investigation of whether buildings can be examined as characters.
This paper outlines the methodological frameworks of Smith and Eder, before moving on to explore them in more detail by 3 applying them to an analysis of the Parks’ house in Parasite and the tower block in High Rise. The films which have been chosen as case studies - High-Rise and Parasite - both feature prominent and memorable buildings. In High-Rise, the 2015 movie directed by Ben Wheatley and based on JG Ballard’s novella of the same name, Dr Robert Laing (played by Tom Hiddleston) moves into an apartment block created by the architect Anthony Royal (played by Jeremy Irons).
During the movie the societal divides created by Royal within the tower block break down and chaos and anarchy ensue. Parasite, a 2019 Oscar-winning Korean film directed by Bong Joon-ho, charts the tale of the Kims, a poor family living in a shabby semi-basement apartment in Seoul, and their parasitical infiltration of the wealthy Parks family, who live in a striking modern house in a wealthy suburb. The choice of films of different genres and cultures (High-Rise being a British dystopian thriller and Parasite a South Korean dark comedy) is deliberate, allowing conclusions to be drawn which transcend what might be regarded as genre, culture or film specific.