Gilles Deleuze, who is a French philosopher, basically spares the space into three different parts where large or small actions transform to other actions. Each of it has representation of distinctions between domains of space. The physico – biological domain, the mathematical domain and the aesthetic domain constitute the distinctive structure of specific lines in the universe (Deleuze, 1986). In this sense, forms of actions are determined through the existence and features of space in which the physical or social settings occur or develop in a certain environment.
Firstly, the notion of milieu corresponds to the physico – biological domain that there is a fluid relationship between bodies where action transmits from a body to another at a distance. It designates the ambiance while surrounding a body and acts on it. One body might be related to a mechanics of this fluid relationship, it can be easily transformed to others. With this, notion of space stand for the mathematical domains that it has two different conceptions. One part of the mathematical space is about univocal places and function of elements which is a part of ambiance and called global space. The other is local space that is related with infinitesimal elements of immediate surroundings, a fragment of space. Yet, it must be understood as these fragments of space are not linked as long as there is not a connection line among them. In addition, global and local conceptions of space are not opponents, rather, there are two ways of constituting the relationshipof space according to them; different in nature and do not have specific limits. Finally, there is a notion of landscape, which is the aesthetic domain, that is the construction of the primordial void (the breath of life) and the median void (the summit of presence). For the primordial void, it can be said that it dissolves everything in a united agent as a single stroke and then, transforms into a circle-like spiral. On the other side, the median void is a part of a line in the universe, a separation between various actions which haveautonomous existence. It is called as fragments of space as wrinkled strokes. These two concepts of void are not necessarily opposites but inseparable constructions of space (Deleuze, 1986). Particularly, in Japanese cinema, Akira Kurosawa uses the life of breath as a single stroke in his films. Thisbreath, this unitedness fills the space through unifying everything in one. It is a great-breath space that all battles and duels in his films become as a circle to organize places into one from the general to the singular. Firstly, one starts from all the givens, from a landscape of the city to the streets ofcity, from the streets of city to the buildings or subjects in the streets. It is needed to know, primarily, givensin order to act accordingly.
That’s why in Kurosawa films, first there is a long exposition scene and then the action starts that space becomes a single stroke as a circle through including all the actions and givens in the situation. From the situation to the action is a way to construct the unification of space. In that sense, spaces in Kurosawa films look alike theatrical spaces since the hero has all the givens and keep them in its view to start the action. One must acknowledge all the givens in a situation to be able to extract questions which are hidden in situations. By this way, one can respond to both situation and questions, they both intertwine each other thatone firstly must absorb all the givens in a space of action. This the singularism of Akira Kurosawa filmswhere everything depends on the givens.
On the contrary, Kenji Mizoguchi is another significant Japanese director using the median void as linking fragment of spaces from one to another. Unlike Kurosawa which uses large forms of spaces, Mizoguchi prefers to deal with small pieces and linking them in particular lines. Everything starts from the background, from the singular to the general. A system of connection between spaces. For example, Mizoguchi exposures the hierarchy between man and women in classical Japanese society. Women are usually trapped the furthest back spaces in houses. Yet, these spaces are connected by sequence shots in Mizoguchi films to illustrate the oppression. All of them are heterogeneous elements to have their ownautonomy and ensure the parallelism between different spaces. Therefore, spaces in Mizoguchi films are successive voids between fragments. It is a wrinkled stroke that everything starts from the back to the general. It allows showing the misery of world through exposing backgrounds that everything is alsodisoriented.
Finally, it can be said that both primordial and median voids are constructed elements of space. They both have tendency to reach the different limits of the action image: For Mizoguchi, it is the problem of disconnection of the line between fragments; For Kurosawa, it is the problem of chaotic totality of reality tocrack the great circle.
Reference
1) Deleuze, Gilles (1986). Cinema I: The Movement-Image. Hugh Tomlinson, Barbara Habberjam(trans.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press