This blog post explores how film evolved beyond mere entertainment into an art form that recreates reality.
The history of cinema has been a journey from its origins as a novelty spectacle, through experimentation with artistic possibilities, to the discovery of its unique means of expression. Early films were limited to the technical marvel of showing simple motion, but gradually began to evolve into a new art form capable of conveying narrative and emotion. This process involved repeated debates and practices on the aesthetic level. Among these, the French film critic André Bazin played a significant role in establishing the aesthetics of realism.
André Bazin explains the history of the plastic arts in relation to the ‘mummy complex’. He argues that the mummies created by the ancient Egyptians embodied a desire to preserve life beyond death, and that this ‘desire for replication’ has exerted a powerful influence on the plastic arts, including painting. This desire maintained a certain balance with the artist’s will for self-expression until the Renaissance. However, with the advent of perspective, which brought painting closer to the realistic representation of subjects, the focus of painting shifted toward the desire to replicate.
This situation changed dramatically once again with the invention of photography. The reliability of imitation achieved by photography, which mechanically reproduced subjects while excluding human subjectivity, was incomparable to that of painting. Photography finally liberated the visual arts from the desire to replicate. The invention of photography posed new questions to artists: What should art do beyond simple representation, and how could this be achieved? This shift prompted artists to explore expressive means from multiple angles, significantly influencing the emergence of cinema.
The advent of film drew another line in the representation of subjects. André Bazin viewed film as an advanced art form that enabled the living, breathing representation of subjects by completing photography’s technical objectivity within time. The ability to represent subjects over time resulted in providing a reality that was even more like a fingerprint. According to André Bazin, film and reality possess an essential affinity. Film is an extension of reality in that it temporally embodies it, and it is the essence of reality in that it reveals its hidden meanings and provides it with density.
Bazin’s perspective suggested the possibility that film could possess artistic depth beyond mere entertainment. He viewed film not only as a faithful means of reproducing reality but also as a tool enabling audiences to reinterpret it. In this process, film holds special significance by conveying reality’s complexity and multifaceted nature to viewers, thereby allowing them to expand their own experiences.
André Bazin believed that formalistic techniques could distort reality by infringing upon its complexity and ambiguity. He favored the long take technique—a single, extended shot—over excessive editing techniques that alter reality’s true form. A shot is a continuous unit of a single frame, from the moment the camera begins recording until it stops. This respects the spatial unity of an event and ensures its value as a real occurrence. He also advocates for shots that provide spatial depth, from foreground to background. By forming multiple layers within the frame and revealing all elements equally, reality can be truthfully reflected, and the audience’s gaze is granted freedom.
The belief that cinema must follow reality with humility while guaranteeing openness to interpretation lies at the core of André Bazin’s cinematic vision. This perspective continues to garner significant support even today, amidst the development of numerous formal techniques, forming one axis of cinematic practice. His realist perspective profoundly influenced subsequent film theorists and directors, becoming a driving force that continually explored cinema’s potential as an art form beyond mere commercial entertainment. Bazin’s philosophy played a crucial role in emphasizing that film is not merely a mimicry of reality, but an active art form capable of illuminating and reconstructing that reality from new perspectives.
