Cinematic experience: from moving images to Virtual Reality

Although frequently cited, the idea of “cinematic experience” has proven both productive and elusive. My chapter outlines some of the features, history, and implications of this concept. I offer an historical account of different aspects of this notion (concerning aesthetics, spectatorship, ideology, and embodiment) and a theoretical reflection on its implications and possibilities in relation to both film-philosophy/film theory and contemporary cinematic practices. In particular, I examine the transformation of cinematic experience starting from the traditional notion of aesthetic experience, theoretical inquiry into cinematic spectatorship with its critique of the notion of experience, to the recent turn toward experiential dimensions of cinematic engagement (affect, embodiment, and ethical experience). In conclusion, I consider briefly the impact of new audiovisual technologies, suggesting that the original enthusiastic embrace of cinema as an “experience machine” has returned with the rise of digital media culture.