FIGURE 14 - uploaded by Catherine Sadler
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Source publication
Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 1978) is as controversial as it is beloved. Whether due to the tear-jerking hit song 'Bright Eyes' or its notorious representation of violence inflicted by and upon animated rabbits, the film retains the ability to move and shock audiences of all ages, remaining an important cultural touchstone decades after its origin...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... is also a device that shifts us from any feelings of fear and upset to feelings of consolation and thrill at the prospect of a rabbit afterlife and a 'continuation' of Hazel-rah. The moment of death, that transition and transformation from being alive to being dead, is depicted by the movement of Hazel's body as we see it/him breathing in and out, followed by the stilling of the breath and the slump of the ears as we watch Hazel's 'spirit' rise from the unmoving body he leaves behind to join the Owsla of El-ahrairah (Figure 14.1). It might have been the first time that I had seen anything approximating a realistic death, and even now, over forty years later, that stilling of the body and the fall of the ears is the moment at which everything shifts emotionally in the scene. ...
Context 2
... and her 2011 work Claire: Last Days is a project of mourning that documents the body, belongings and artefacts of the life and death of her companion rabbit. Claire: Last Kiss (after Beuys) depicts Schlosser holding the body of Claire in her arms, her hair obscuring her face as she is bent over the rabbit's body in this kiss (Figure 14.2). This is a familiar pose, of both demonstrating and hiding grief, and a composition that is seen often in depictions of mourning in art. ...
Context 3
... is also a device that shifts us from any feelings of fear and upset to feelings of consolation and thrill at the prospect of a rabbit afterlife and a 'continuation' of Hazel-rah. The moment of death, that transition and transformation from being alive to being dead, is depicted by the movement of Hazel's body as we see it/him breathing in and out, followed by the stilling of the breath and the slump of the ears as we watch Hazel's 'spirit' rise from the unmoving body he leaves behind to join the Owsla of El-ahrairah (Figure 14.1). It might have been the first time that I had seen anything approximating a realistic death, and even now, over forty years later, that stilling of the body and the fall of the ears is the moment at which everything shifts emotionally in the scene. ...
Context 4
... and her 2011 work Claire: Last Days is a project of mourning that documents the body, belongings and artefacts of the life and death of her companion rabbit. Claire: Last Kiss (after Beuys) depicts Schlosser holding the body of Claire in her arms, her hair obscuring her face as she is bent over the rabbit's body in this kiss (Figure 14.2). This is a familiar pose, of both demonstrating and hiding grief, and a composition that is seen often in depictions of mourning in art. ...
