The Architecture of Power in Dystopian Cinema

Abstract

The research analyses existing characteristics and relationships between cinema and architecture, referring to imaginary dystopian societies. In order to focus the study, the phenomenon of brutalist architecture, understood according to the majority contemporary interpretation of buildings that transmit impressive and disturbing monumentalities, is analysed first. Dystopia in cinema is studied from a first analysis of the concept of ‘utopia’, from which it emerges as a contraposition related to societies of the future in which various situations occur that produce disorders in power or the environment. In order to understand the scope of this genre, several representative literary and cinematographic works depicting dystopias are reviewed. After a detailed study of several films, we conclude the reasons why a certain type of architecture appears in dystopian films. They have to do with the scale and monumental character of exposed reinforced concrete works to represent power, as well as to show societies in decay and with symptoms of dehumanisation.