Viva Las Vegas! City, stage and city-stage in Francis Ford Coppola’s One From the Heart

Sol, Hermínia; Sol, Luísa Alexandra Pimenta Ferreira

http://hdl.handle.net/10451/11842

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Authors

Sol, Hermínia

Sol, Luísa Alexandra Pimenta Ferreira

Abstract(s)

In the early 1980s the music video came to prominence thanks to a phenomenon that would change American pop culture irrevocably — MTV. Born out of the necessity to stimulate record sales in a recession ridden America, music videos’ impact on contemporary film, fashion and radio quickly became a reality. Based on this premise, we aim to analyze the alliance fostered by music videos and the film industry in order to develop a merchandizable version of the American Dream within a hyperreal setting — that of the city. Taking a cue from Umberto Eco and Jean Baudrillard, we will look into Francis Ford Coppola’s Las Vegas in One from the Heart (1982) so as to explore the notion of city as stage, as a hyperreal architectural construction whose constant flux and renovation aim to fill the historical void that has always haunted the USA. We shall also explore the innovative character of the film, visible in its theatre-like aesthetics and in its use of the soundtrack as a Greek chorus. The portrayal of Las Vegas as a city immersed in a soundtrack has led One from the Heart to launch a new cinematic approach to city portrayal which will then be propagated by music videos. Such an approach allows for a tighter viewer-involvement with a collective imagery which combines music, image, fashion and life-style. Lastly, emphasis will be given to the representation of Las Vegas as a city of overindulgence and sensory overstimulation which leads the characters to seek a formula for love and affection that has no real existence.