Trees have long been symbols of life and the perennial cyclicity of nature. Since ancient times, in its position as a connecting element between earth and sky, the tree has been the subject of myths and narratives and also a recurring element in philosophical reflection. Starting from Pre-Socratic philosophy until the late medieval period, the tree has often been identified as an element that unites divine and human. The tree has also been considered an element for understanding nature and the human being, and has become useful to philosophical argumentation as analogy and metaphor. Plato’s famous definition of the human being as arbor inversa, with its roots pointing to the sky and its branches attached to the earth, served to identify a dual nature, sensual and spiritual. Philosophy itself has been represented by Cartesius as a sturdy and fruitful tree whose roots are constituted by metaphysics, while physics represents its trunk and its branches stand for all other disciplines. Through the relationship with the tree, human beings have thus rediscovered not only their deep and original connection with nature, but also the possibility of understanding the meaning of life and death. As Hermann Hesse wrote in Wandering, “Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.” From this perspective, it is Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy that makes the tree one of our direct interlocutors. For Buber, the tree is a “You” in relation to which it is possible to say the “I”, in a dialogue that allows human beings to rediscover their most authentic nature. In contemporary Italian cinema, the relationship between humans and trees has been deeply explored, both as an expression of an ecological ethics which radically opposes the idea of domination by humans over nature, and as a symbolic element in the narration of a more intimate search for identity. Reconsidering these expressive forms, the essay will focus on Cosimo Terlizzi’s cinema and, in particular, will consider his latest film Dei (2018), where the protagonist Martino maintains an intimate dialogue with the secular olive tree which stands in the middle of his courtyard.
The Tree that Therefore I Am Humans, Trees, and Gods in Cosimo Terlizzi’s Cinema
Alberto Baracco
2021-01-01
Abstract
Trees have long been symbols of life and the perennial cyclicity of nature. Since ancient times, in its position as a connecting element between earth and sky, the tree has been the subject of myths and narratives and also a recurring element in philosophical reflection. Starting from Pre-Socratic philosophy until the late medieval period, the tree has often been identified as an element that unites divine and human. The tree has also been considered an element for understanding nature and the human being, and has become useful to philosophical argumentation as analogy and metaphor. Plato’s famous definition of the human being as arbor inversa, with its roots pointing to the sky and its branches attached to the earth, served to identify a dual nature, sensual and spiritual. Philosophy itself has been represented by Cartesius as a sturdy and fruitful tree whose roots are constituted by metaphysics, while physics represents its trunk and its branches stand for all other disciplines. Through the relationship with the tree, human beings have thus rediscovered not only their deep and original connection with nature, but also the possibility of understanding the meaning of life and death. As Hermann Hesse wrote in Wandering, “Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.” From this perspective, it is Martin Buber’s dialogical philosophy that makes the tree one of our direct interlocutors. For Buber, the tree is a “You” in relation to which it is possible to say the “I”, in a dialogue that allows human beings to rediscover their most authentic nature. In contemporary Italian cinema, the relationship between humans and trees has been deeply explored, both as an expression of an ecological ethics which radically opposes the idea of domination by humans over nature, and as a symbolic element in the narration of a more intimate search for identity. Reconsidering these expressive forms, the essay will focus on Cosimo Terlizzi’s cinema and, in particular, will consider his latest film Dei (2018), where the protagonist Martino maintains an intimate dialogue with the secular olive tree which stands in the middle of his courtyard.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
