Infância, subjetividade e memória no cinema contemporâneo : a construção estética do olhar infantil em Aftersun (2022)

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the aesthetic construction of the child’s gaze in Aftersun (2022), directed by Charlotte Wells. Employing film analysis as its methodological framework, the research examines how elements of cinematic language contribute to a narrative structured around a perspective formed in childhood, one marked by subjectivities and absences that become perceptible only through the process of recollection in adulthood. The study proceeds from the premise that the child’s gaze is not merely a thematic concern within the film, but rather a narrative device that shapes the spectator’s experience of viewing. In order to delimit the methodological parameters, the child’s gaze is understood as one characterized by curiosity and sensitivity, even in the face of limitations, and directly influenced by generational social dynamics, as defined by Sarmento (2009). The application of film analysis based on the division of levels, namely shot, sequence, and film, as proposed by Jullier and Marie (2009), demonstrates that the presence of the child’s gaze is constructed through deliberately arranged formal elements, such as close-up framing, the use of textured camera imagery, and shots positioned at the child’s eye level. In this way, the study contributes to scholarship on cinematic language and representations of childhood, while also engaging with contemporary themes addressed in the film.