A short essay for “Wide-screen Baroque”

The term “Wide-screen baroque” refers to a subgenre of science fiction, especifically for space opera. The term was introduced by Brian Aldiss in 1973, and here is his definition.

Their plots are elaborate and generally preposterous, their inhabitants have short names and short lives. They traffic as readily in the impossible as the possible. They obey a dictionary definition of baroque; which is to say that they have a bold and exuberant rather than a fine style, they are eccentric, and sometimes degenerate into extravagance. They like a wide screen, with space and possibly time travel as props, and at least the whole solar system as their setting.

Brian Aldiss coined the term as a reaction to the way space opera had been dismissed as a “grinding, stinking, outworn space-ship yarn”. He includes works like The Demolished Man and Tiger! Tiger! in space opera and calls this ‘new wave space opera’ as “Wide-screen baroque”. However, the term quickly faded into obscurity in the English-speaking world, where the term space opera was already widely used and had got out of a derogatory term.

In Japan, however, the term not only survived, but took on a different meaning. I`ll summarize SF writer GenGen Kusano’s analysis briefly. In 1980, Brian’s book was introduced to Japan, but in 1981 Catchworld by chris boyce including the reinterpretation of “Wild-screen baroque” as “dizziness caused by a torrent of ideas” (アイデアの奔流によるめまい) was published. That reinterpretation became more popular in Japan. Thus, “Hard SF” is centered on so-called scientific precision and accuracy, while “Wide-screen baroque” is centered on preposterous imagination and extraordinary ideas.

This is just my speculation, but it may have something to do with the Japanese translation for description of “Wide-screen baroque” becoming “too cool and handsome”. Here’s what Brian Aldiss said about an another description of “Wide-screen baroque” in original English.

It plays high, wide, and handsome with space and time, buzzes around the solar system like a demented hornet, is witty, profound, and trivial all in one breath

On the other hand, the Japanese wiki has this translation.

時間と空間を手玉に取り、気の狂ったスズメバチのようにブンブ飛びまわる。機知に富み、深遠であると同時に軽薄 // It holds time and space in one hand and kites around like a mad hornet. It has full of witty moments, also be profound & frivolous at the same time.

My personal speculation is that everyone couldn`t resist against using this “too cool and handsome” term, even cooler than its original phrase.

While there may be a “Wide-screen Barouqe” trend in Japanese SF from the ’80s and beyond, it is Kazuki Nakajima(the screenwriter of Gurren Laggan and Kil-la-kill) who actually revamped the phrase today. He explains that Gurren Laggan and Kil-la-kill are not exactly “Wide-screen Baroque” fictions, But they are stylistically written in “Wide-screen baroque” way. So, stylistically speaking, that “Hold tight! We’re gonna space and beyond now!” style of the trigger animation adds another meaning to the unclear but intuitive term “Wide-screen baroque”.

I would like to propose here a point at which we can unify the various tributaries of “Wide-screen Baroque”, and that is by returning the core of “Wide-screen Baroque” to “Wide screen”. “Wide screen” is clearly a word referring a block burster films. The film industry is still creating spectacles with all kinds of technologies such as 4D, Imax, and Dolby Cinema, but the history of film as a spectacle is a long one. For example, two films made in 1900, “The House That Jack Built” and “How It Feels To Be Run Over”, were created to surprise audiences through reverse playback or rapid typography technique.

Then, that traveling through space and time and having the entire solar system as a backdrop, in English “Wide-screen baroque”, are just some examples of Wide screen = Cinematic spectacle. Also the torrent of extraordinary ideas, in Japanese “Wide-screen baroque”, is aimed at creating such spectacle. In this way, we can simply unify the concept of “Wide-screen baroque,” which has been in a unstable state, splitting into two tributaries — English and Japanese. However, it should be noted that “Wide-screen baroque” belongs to science fiction and is at least closely related to space opera.

To summarize my research so far, the definition of “Wide-screen baroque” is “a genre of speculative fiction that is (preposterous) idea-driven for making epic scale and spectacle, also closely related to space opera”.

By this definition, we can call TV anime serieses Guren Laggan, Kill la kill, and Battle Athletes Victory as a ‘Wild-screen barouque’ work. We also can say that animated films like Knights of Sidonia and the Revue Starlight The Movie and the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once as “Wide-screen baroque”. Speaking of video games, the first title of Bayonetta series is an example of “Wide-screen baroque”, especially due to its self-described genre name “∞ (non-stop) climax action”. The meaning of “non-stop climax action” is unclear but intuitive, So the meaning of “Wide-screen baroque” is.