What Is “Catharsis”?

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

Literary Definition of Catharsis

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

What Is Catharsis?

Catharsis is the release and relief of strong or repressed emotions. The word “catharsis” comes from the Greek word “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, which have previously been repressed, by bringing these events back into consciousness and re-experiencing them.”

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

What makes up catharsis in a story?

• The buildup of emotion

• Related experiences

• Connection with characters

• Moving performances

The History of Emotional Catharsis

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle described catharsis as the emotional purification of fear and pity brought about 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, theater, novels, and film can all contain cathartic elements that relate to the audience’s psychology. 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 forms of art can produce catharsis. Music, novels, and theater can be incredibly emotional. But film as a medium has specific qualities that can effectively trigger emotional responses in viewers.

The first of these is film’s ability to condense time. Through editing, a movie can present weeks, months, or even years to us in a matter of seconds. When done effectively, a film can connect the audience to its characters in a short period of time.

When audiences form a connection with characters, everything those characters go through becomes more emotional. One of the best techniques 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 to 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 love and grief are part of the human experience. Humans have an innate connection to these two emotions. Filmmakers use both to heighten our emotions and then release them in an incredibly cathartic moment.

Film is also an incredibly visual medium. It allows us to see characters experiencing emotion. Of course, theater is also visual, but film uses the close-up. This lets us see the nuances of a character’s emotions and further triggers our emotional response.

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

By allowing us to witness his cathartic moment up close through filmmaking, the film creates a cathartic moment for both Will and the audience.

Of course, for this scene to reach an emotional peak, we need to understand everything that leads up to it. Remember: the greater the buildup and repression, the greater the release.

The Value of Catharsis

When asked about Marvel movies, director Martin Scorsese famously compared them to theme parks, saying: “That’s not 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 kinds of experiences films can create.

Some films are purely escapist, allowing audiences to get away from reality for at least an hour. These types of films have immense value. Nonetheless, there is a clear distinction.

Other films are a more inward experience. As Scorsese puts it, film can convey emotional and psychological experiences. This is a defining characteristic of Scorsese’s directing style. What is the significance of catharsis? Why is it so important in film? Through catharsis, movies can form an intimate bond with their audiences.

Cathartic films often linger in our minds. They not only affect how we see the world, but very likely how we see ourselves. The value of catharsis in film lies not in the size of the audience, but in how the film stays with viewers after they’ve seen it.