What Is “Catharsis”?

When was the last time you cried while watching a movie? Do you still remember the specific scene? Many people suppress their emotions because of various events in their lives. Art can evoke an emotional release of these feelings, also known as catharsis. Catharsis can be an overwhelming emotional experience. Films with a cathartic effect can move audiences to tears while also leaving them completely satisfied. What is catharsis?

The Literary Definition of Catharsis

Catharsis is a term widely used in art, and its origins can be traced back to art itself. What does catharsis mean? Let’s define catharsis and examine its origins.

What Is Catharsis?

Catharsis is the release and relief of strong or repressed emotions. The word “catharsis” comes from the Greek “katharsis,” meaning “purification” or “cleansing.” In the field of psychology, the American Psychological Association defines catharsis as “the release of affects associated with traumatic events by bringing those events back into consciousness and reexperiencing them, affects that were previously repressed.”

As it applies to film and art, emotional catharsis can be the result of the emotional effect of tragic drama. Heroes in cathartic films often experience a cathartic release that leads to restoration.

What makes up catharsis in a story?

• Buildup of emotion
• Relevant experiences
• Connection with characters
• Moving performances

The History of Emotional Catharsis

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle described catharsis as an emotional purification of the fear and pity aroused by tragedy.

The term was later adopted by psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer. For them, catharsis was a therapeutic technique used to reduce psychological complexes by bringing them back into consciousness and allowing them to be expressed.

Today, however, the word has become synonymous with art. People often describe art that evokes emotion as cathartic. Music, theatre, fiction, and film can all contain cathartic elements related to the audience’s psyche. Art can trigger emotional catharsis by connecting with the audience’s personal experiences.

Cathartic art often reflects our own experiences. It allows us to connect with the work and the artist on a deeper level. One of the best mediums for creating cathartic art is film.

What Is Catharsis in Film?

Various art forms can produce catharsis. Music, fiction, and theatre can be incredibly emotional. But the medium of film has specific qualities that can effectively elicit emotional responses from the audience.

The first of these qualities is film’s ability to condense time. Through editing, a film can present weeks, months, or even years in just a few seconds. When done effectively, a film can connect the audience with its characters in a short amount of time.

When audiences connect with characters, everything the characters go through becomes more emotional. The best technique for achieving this is the montage. A montage condenses time and events to create a narrative sequence. The montage in Pixar’s Up connects us with these characters, only for tragedy to befall them.

What’s incredible about this montage is how it evokes so much emotion in the first ten minutes of the film. The reason is that the emotions of love and grief are part of the human experience. Humans have an innate connection to these two emotions. Filmmakers use both to heighten our feelings and release them in an incredibly cathartic moment.

Film is also an incredibly visual medium. It lets us see characters experience emotion. Of course, theatre is also visual, but film uses the close-up. This allows us to see the details of a character’s emotions and further trigger our own emotional responses.

In Good Will Hunting, there is a cathartic moment when Will releases his repressed emotions to his friend and psychologist. The film builds emotion by establishing Will’s abusive childhood and its effect on his life. Take a look at this example of catharsis, along with the excellent performance and execution.

Through filmmaking, the audience is able to witness his cathartic moment up close, creating a cathartic moment for both Will and the viewers.

Of course, for this scene to reach an emotional climax, we need to recognize everything that led up to it. Remember, the greater the buildup and repression, the greater the release.

The Value of Catharsis

When asked about Marvel films, director Martin Scorsese famously compared them to theme parks, saying, “That’s not cinema, that’s something else… It’s not cinema, it’s something else… It’s not the cinema of human beings trying to convey emotional, psychological experiences to another human being.” Whether or not you agree with Scorsese, there is something to be said about the different experiences films can create.

Some films are purely escapist, allowing audiences to escape reality for at least an hour or two. These types of films have tremendous value. Even so, there is an obvious distinction.

Other films, however, are a more inward experience. As Scorsese said, films can convey emotional and psychological experiences. This is a defining feature of Scorsese’s directing style. What is the meaning of catharsis? Why is it so important in film? Through catharsis, films can form an intimate connection with the audience.

Cathartic films are often unforgettable. They not only affect how we see the world, but also likely influence how we see ourselves. The value of cinematic catharsis does not lie in the size of the audience, but in how the film lingers with viewers afterward.