Theory
Film theory seeks to develop concise and systematic
concepts that apply to the study of film as art. It was started by Ricciotto
Canudo’s The Birth of the Sixth Art. Formalist film theory, led by Rudolf
Arnheim, Béla Balázs, and Siegfried Kracauer, emphasized how film differed from
reality, and thus could be considered a valid fine art. André Bazin reacted
against this theory by arguing that film’s artistic essence lay in its ability
to mechanically reproduce reality not in its differences from reality, and this
gave rise to realist theory. More recent analysis spurred by Jacques Lacan’s
psychoanalysis and Ferdinand de Saussure’s semiotics among other things has
given rise to psychoanalytical film theory, structuralist film theory, feminist
film theory and others. On the other hand, critics from the analytical
philosophy tradition, influenced by Wittgenstein, try to clarify misconceptions
used in theoretical studies and produce analysis of a film’s vocabulary and its
link to a form of life.
Language
Film is considered to have its own language. James
Monaco wrote a classic text on film theory titled “How to Read a Film”.
Director Ingmar Bergman famously said, “[Andrei] Tarkovsky for me is the
greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of
film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream.” Examples of the
language are a sequence of back and forth images of one actor’s left profile
speaking, followed by another actor’s right profile speaking, then a repetition
of this, which is a language understood by the audience to indicate a
conversation. Another example is zooming in on the forehead of an actor with an
expression of silent reflection, then changing to a scene of a younger actor
who vaguely resembles the first actor, indicating the first actor is having a
memory of their own past.
0 comments:
Post a Comment