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Kendall Phillips has noted that, ‘Genres are…“a loose evolving system of
that certain Horror films ‘resonate’ with audiences and make up a ‘collective
nightmare’.3 These films capture cultural anxieties, fears and become part of
1
…quoted in Kendall Phillips Projected Fears: Horror Films and American Culture
p.5
2
ibid
3
ibid p.3
these cultural anxieties.4
It is the position of this essay that, this being the case, Naked is the obverse
from the beginning is logically incoherent. I will not argue for or against the
of identity through the displacement of the Other into the horrific and
play between a system of analysis which locates the effects of film in terms
of its ‘content’: that is, its symbolic functioning within the individual and
culture, and a system of analysis which looks to its ‘form’: that is, its
Implicit within this analysis are the political ramifications of films and film
theory. That is, the effect films have on collective ideas of identity
cultural theorists to bring these effects out and apply them to the schema of
exclusion: that is, the Othering of certain aspects of society or the world,
4
ibid
One method of critique, and the one, it has been argued, that has been used
It is the argument of this essay that both the work of Kristeva and Deleuze
operate from a general, not closed, economy, one which goes beyond the
5
Babara Creed ‘Alien and the Monstrous Feminine’ in Annette Kuhn Alien Zone:
Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema p.140
6
Anna Powell Deleuze and Horror Film p.17
7
Sara Beardsworth ‘From Revolution to Revolt culture’ p.53
representation.8 In terms of my argument concerning Naked as the obverse
of Horror, I will argue that the psychoanalytical reading of Horror film, has a
great deal to say, but should be qualified, not only by its own logical fluidity
will utilise Deleuze’s understanding of the place of the viewer and the
relation between the viewer, the film, and culture—the material and
impossible. Further I will utilise Kristeva’s Idea of abjection, to show how the
JOHNNY: I tend to skip a day now and again—you no what I mean? I used to be
a werewolf, but I’m all right NOW!!
Naked has certain parallels with the Horror genre, concerning motifs found
in both. This I would argue comes from Mike Leigh’s grounding within a neo
nineteenth century novel genres. The majority of his films have been about
the working class and their relationship to the upper, and upwardly mobile
8
For a greater explication of this see Jacque Derrida Writing and Difference p.348
9
Mike Leigh cited in …’’The Future is Now’: Naked
and further as Michel Coveney has noted ‘about alienation, sexual violence
and the city’. In this sense it is very much different to Leigh’s other films,
not evoke such consonances with the Gothic novel at the turn of the
nineteenth century, which was concerned with the sense of fin de siecle, so
apparent in Naked.10
The two clearest motifs found in Naked, which have consonances with both
Gothic and Horror films and novels, are the ‘literary double’ and the ‘city of
they are locked into a realist paradigm they never slip into the monstrous or
fantastical, but maintain the horrific in a certain use of style and framing
which, I will argue later, through a reading of Deleuze, utilise the visual and
Firstly then, there is the ‘city of dreadful night’, a term I take from Lynda
late Victorian England, and how these were cast through a relation between
the reality of London streets and the literary descriptions found in the Gothic
stories such as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Jake the Ripper, who was thought
to be a ‘‘west end toff’ who enjoyed ‘slumming it’ in the debauched east
10
Linda Dryden The Modern Gothic Novel and Literary Doubles p.1
11
ibid p.15 and 74—108
12
ibid
end’.13 This was seen to further represent the inherent duality at the heart of
the late Victorian Metropolis. It was the Labyrinth of London, its ‘dark
“savages” which resided in the very heart of the civilised world, and even in
This locates the Gothic novels themes within a social context, which
intersects fears of the other, the masses, the alienation of modernity and
the threat of savagery, all of which are motifs that can be found in Naked. I
would argue however, that Mike Leigh takes these fears and turns them
where the fears are repeated with unnerving similarity—utilising these fears,
Where the Gothic novel articulated the fears of Victorian England, I would
Jeremy.
This leads on to the second Gothic motif: the literary double. In Naked this
motif is displaced into a realistic sphere, where the double is not Dr Jekyll
13
ibid p.50
14
ibid p.43
15
R. Mighall quoted in Linda Dryden The Modern Gothic Novel and Literary Doubles
p.44
turning into Mr Hyde through a bizarre experiment, but the setting of the
two male protagonists in a relation, not in the story of the film, but in the
structure of the film and in the symbolic reflection of the literary double.
Johnny and Jeremy seem to hold quite well to the distinction of the
streets, are degenerate and misogynistic, and the defining difference is their
with a confident stride and snobbish air of self importance and ownership
‘quotable gestures’, which Leigh uses in most of his films to depict the upper
erratically, slouches, and despite his verbal attacks has the air of an
insecure boy with a massive chip on his shoulder. Where they differ from the
Classic idea of a literary double is in the fact that Johnny is articulate, quite
real and authentic a human being, where as it is Jeremy who comes across
monster.
type character, found in the Gothic genre, is placed at a more human level
than the calculated violence of Jeremy through the realism given to Johnny
and denied Jeremy: Jeremy is made monstrous through the style of acting.
The literary double motif is also used within the character of Johnny himself,
more werewolf than Jekyll and Hyde, with the opening scene showing Johnny
dark alley, hand held it comes up on a view of Johnny’s back ‘to witness the
off and runs with the limping intensity of an animal on the run.
In the next scene we find him in London, in the morning where he engages
in a witty, flirtatious and fun dialogue with Sophie, a pretty and fun filled flat
mate of (we find out later) Johnny’s ex girlfriend Louise. The final part of the
dialogue Johnny says: ‘Will you tell me something, love? Are you aware of
‘Er… yeah’ to which Johnny replies, ‘thought so’20. At this point we cut
machine in a brightly lit gym. I will come back to this scene, and the cutting
of the scenes between Johnny and Jeremy throughout the film, in Deleuze’s
19
Garry Watson The Cinema of Mike Leigh: A Sense of the Real p.105 [quoting Mike
Leigh Naked]
20
Mike Leigh Naked p.10
understanding of the montage, for now it is enough to say that Johnny’s
werewolf characteristics sustains the ambiguity in his character, and the cut
occurs both on screen and in us at the same time, and actually blurs any
If we look then at Naked, we find the aspects concurrent with the Gothic
the scenes of sexual violence, and indeed the physically violent scenes, also
have this effect. They overload us, as we enter into this dialectics of
affection, ‘it is a matter of something too powerful, or too unjust, but also
sometimes too beautiful, and which hence forth outstrips our sensory–motor
that is, the use of cutting and framing in the technique of film—the relation
and parallel velocity of Johnny and Jeremy in Naked, shows a use of montage
which disturbs the fit of both characters.25 The film maintains a separation of
the two stories with Jeremy’s holding a much smaller place. The first few
are forced to compare them, face their similarities and differences, until
21
Gilles Deleuze Cinema 1: The Movement Image p.2
22
ibid
23
Anna Powell Deleuze and Horror Film p.110—111
24
Gilles Deleuze quoted in Anna Powell Deleuze and Horror Film p.119
25
Gilles Deleuze Cinema 1: The Movement Image p.34
they finally converge in Sophie and Louise’s flat, in the final scenes of the
film. Johnny having been living on the streets for two days after having had
violent, though consensual, sex with Sophie. Badly beaten and ill, he sits
collapsed on the floor, Jeremy, Louise and Sophie standing over him: Jeremy,
in just tight black underpants. We have seen Jeremy rape a waitress, and,
after having let himself into the house, raped Sophie and stayed almost
oblivious to the damage he’s done: though enjoying himself non the less.
The two stories converging at this point, when Johnny has reached the very
bottom of his self loathing and abjection, Jeremy the very pinnacle of his
narcissism, and further; after we have been vicariously put through both;
parallel lines.26 Jekyll finally meeting Hyde, but only Johnny recognizes the
other, they have never met, the recognition is beyond the film: outside of
the frame. Johnny has a fit, looks at Jeremy ‘A look of recognition and terror
creeps into his eyes.’27 Speaking to Jeremy, Johnny says ‘I know, I know, you
told me. I’m…I’m not here yet. I’m still wet.’ ‘(Tears well in Louise’s eyes.)’ 28
Johnny asks ‘What did she mean? Why not my brother? (crying) will it be
quiet now?’ ‘(He reaches for Jeremy’s hand)’29 Jeremy recoils, shouts ‘fuck’,
but maintains his detachment, stating after a while, ‘Your rather disgusting
aren’t you?’30
26
ibid
27
Mike Leigh Naked p.76
28
ibid
29
ibid p.77
30
ibid
A recognition of sorts, however the melodrama does not maintain a
pastiche you can’t help smiling with incredulity at his complete innocence to
the whole situation. But only the animal appears human. As viewer we are
pulled through this dialectical tension and irresolvable duality, with nowhere
Both Johnny in himself, and the two in relation, place the viewer in a state of
Abjection.
Another central aspect of the film is Johnny’s dialogues, throughout the film
the various characters are bombarded with Johnny’s wit and scathing
observations, not only does this make the viewer ambivalent towards
Johnny; he is charming, yet ruthlessly unkind, but the other characters share
this ambivalence, and as much as they are involved with the character react
the film brings us into a relationship with Johnny, and how we react will say
abjection: flawed and disturbing, with no place of certainty for either him,
Abjection betrays the inherent instability at the heart of identity found in the
by that which it excludes: that which it names as Other and banishes in the
name of the law, of meaning, but by the ‘conflicts of drives [that] muddle its
bed, cloud its water, and bring forth everything that, by not being integrated
sacred, thus maintaining cultural certainty and meaning, but in this somatic
inscription, sets the point of transgression, sets the coordinates for the
managed by the Other, “subject” and “object” push each other away,
31
Julia Kristeva Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection p.14
confront each other, collapse, and start again—inseparable, contaminated,
interrogations come from nowhere, they are applied to all the characters no
matter there position in his life, whether they are vunerable or not. His
the world in which he finds himself and it attacks any certainty and identity,
which his subjects try to find. He attacks Louise for seeking stability in her
job and derides her for settling for such a boring station:
And later:
Louise: …What are you doing in London, Johnny?
Johnny: What are you doing in London?
Louise: I’ve told you what I’m doing in London.
Johnny: You’ve told me nothing.
Louise: The last time I saw you, I told you—
(He throws the book down)
Johnny: Fuckin’ hell! Were you born irritatin’? What have you come downstairs
for anyway?
Louise: I fell asleep with the window open. I was cold. I came down. I’ad a
32
ibid p.18
33
Mike Leigh Naked p.12
pee. I’ve made some tea. I’m ‘ere All right?
Johnny: What’s that? The greatest story ever told?
Louise: I live ‘ere (pause) So what ‘appened? Where you bored in Manchester?
Johnny: Was I bored? No, I wasn’t fuckin’ bored. I’m never bored. That’s the
trouble with everybody—you're all so fucking bored. You’ve ‘ad nature
explained to you and you’re bored with it. You’ve ‘ad the living body
explained to you and you’re bored with it. You’ve ‘ad the universe explained
to you and you’re bored with it. So now you want cheap thrills and plenty of
‘em, and it dun’t matter ‘ow tawdry or vacuous they are as long as it’s new,
as long as it flashes and fuckin’ bleeps in forty fucking different colours. Well,
whatever else you can say about me, I’m not fuckin’ bored!
Louise: Yeah all right.
Johnny: So, ‘ow’s it goin’ for you?
Louise: It’s a bit borin’ actually. 34
In these dialogues we can see not only Johnny’s invective cutting wit and his
Louise’s role in the film. She understands and can handle Johnny, and at the
end of the film she offers him the opportunity to go back to Manchester, and
Garry Watson has argued that Johnny comes in a long line of ‘Abject hero’s’.
Who get their authority from the double ancestry of the ‘Kings fool’ and the
‘wild man from the dessert.’35 Watson sees in Johnny what Bataille called
‘unemployed negativity’ that is someone who has found that history has
finished, and there isn’t any work which is worth doing. 36 Johnny then
34
ibid p.20-21
35
Gary Watson The Cinema of Mike Leigh: A Sense of the Real p.107
36
ibid p.108
37
ibid
nevertheless haunted by the same concern—to touch the intimate nerve, to
‘semantic ambivalence…pair the high and low, the sublime and the abject’
uncovers the Horror, the merciless loss and lack in the social, not in a
critique, which involves himself more than anyone else. His invective
dialogue pierces the assumptions that hold people in the dark world of
hopeless desperation and alienation we find in Naked, where the hopes and
they cannot communicate with each other, lost, adrift; sad. Johnny’s
which causes horror to exist and at the same time take us away from it, grip
us with fear and in this very fright change language into a quill, a fleeting
mark of death.’40
38
Julia Kristeva Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection p.137
39
ibid p.138
40
ibid
Conclusion: The Viewers Naked Abjection
and carnival.’42 Johnny, his interlocutors, the audience, and even the actors,
are left abject, traumatised, adrift. Gary Watson has noted how Naked tear’s
41
ibid p.141
42
ibid p.141
‘a hole in the symbolic order’.43 He notes how it received vicious attacks in
reviews when it first came out.44 And I have, speaking with friends, found a
poly–vocal response, with some saying that there parents found it very easy
dismiss the film: ‘where was the plot?’ was a response from one friend.
emotional investment on the part of the actor, led to several of the main
actors needing a form of personal closure. This led to ‘Leigh spending the
day Naked had finished shooting, doing improves with Lesley sharp [who
about being abandoned once again.’45 David Thewlis said of his experience:
"You have to address the question - what's the meaning of life - but I was
asking it every day. Everything in life was called into question. I ate very little
in order to stay wired and spent all my time reading or smoking. I became
obsessed with death and kept thinking I was having heart attacks. I was so
freaked out, so distressed - I couldn't sleep."46
obverse of horror because, where horror displaces our fears into the
such a display is displaced in the very fragility and dynamism of the film and
the liminal position abjection places the viewer/ analyst. Films are, at once,
43
Gary Watson The Cinema of Mike Leigh: A Sense of the Real p.15
44
ibid
45
Amy Taubin quoted in Gary Watson The Cinema of Mike Leigh: A Sense of the
Real p.29
46
David Thewlis quoted in an interview by Charlotte O'Sullivan Plays and Players
(1994), Transcribed by Ceirdwyn, on http://david-thewlis.com/playsandplayers.php
symbolic and somatic, corporeal but bound within representation: Form
cannot be split from content. The form of naked cannot be split from the
symbolic functions within the viewer and culture. Yet they are distinct, in a
relation of proximity, and Naked lays this relation apparent, placing one in a
Bibliography
Beardsworth, Sara ‘From Revolution to Revolt culture’ in (ed) Tina Chanter
and Ewa Plonowska Zirarek Revolt, Affect, Collectivity: the Unstable
Boundaries of Kristeva’s Polis p.37–56
Creed, Babara ‘Alien and the Monstrous Feminine’ in Annette Kuhn Alien
Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema