The role of fantasy in individual identity formation in four New Zealand films

Abstract

Four New Zealand films are used as case studies for analysing the role of film noir fantasy in individual identity formation. The Scarecrow (director, Sam Pilsbury, 1982), Scarfies (director, Robert Sarkies, 2000), Perfect Strangers (director, Gaylene Preston, 2004) and Predicament (director, Jason Stutter, 2010) can each be seen as fantastic films. The films are each set in the real world, in recognizable parts of New Zealand, at recognizable periods of history. In each film there is a sense hesitation between the rational and the supernatural, and this feeling is shared by characters in the films. A psychoanalytic theory of fantasy is used, which sees fantasy as key to transactions between subjects' inner world and their actions in the external world. Particular attention is given to the Freudian fantasy-moulding processes of condensation and displacement, as well as the uncanny experience. It is argued that fantasy functions to fortify individual identity against threats. Each film is about people whose everyday lives are interrupted and transformed by social intruders, who seem to have extraordinary powers. In each of the films the protagonists' repressed feelings are condensed into fantasy characters and displaced on to objects. Uncanny and fearful experiences are shown to revive infantile beliefs within the characters.