The history of cinema has evolved from visual entertainment to experimenting with the possibilities of artistic expression. André Bazin’s realist aesthetic was particularly influential in establishing cinema as an important artistic tool for recreating and interpreting reality.
The history of cinema has been one of experimenting with artistic possibilities and discovering its own means of expression beyond its beginnings as a curious eye-candy. While early movies were technological marvels that showed simple movements, they gradually evolved into a new art form that conveyed narrative and emotion. In the process, aesthetic debates and practices were repeatedly developed. Among them, the French film critic André Bazin played a major role in establishing the realist aesthetic.
André Bazin explains the history of plastic arts in relation to the ‘mummy complex’. The mummies created by the ancient Egyptians were imbued with the desire to preserve life beyond death, and this “desire to replicate” has been a powerful force in the plastic arts, including painting. Until the Renaissance, this desire was balanced by the artist’s will to express themselves. However, with the advent of perspective, which brought us closer to realistic representation of objects, painting’s attention shifted toward the desire for reproduction.
The situation changed once again with the invention of photography. The reliability of photography’s ability to mechanically reproduce an object without human subjectivity was no match for painting. With photography, the plastic arts were finally freed from the desire to reproduce. The invention of photography posed new questions for artists. It was no longer a question of what art should do beyond mere reproduction, but what it could do and how it could do it. This change led artists to explore different means of expression, which in turn influenced the emergence of cinema.
The advent of cinema marked another milestone in the representation of objects. André Bazin sees cinema as an evolutionary art that perfected the technical objectivity of photography in time, allowing for a living, breathing representation of the subject. The ability to reproduce over time provided a reality that more closely resembled a fingerprint. According to André Bazin, cinema and reality have an intrinsic affinity. Cinema is an extension of reality in that it embodies it in time, and it is the essence of reality in that it reveals its hidden meanings and gives it density.
Bazin’s view held out the possibility that cinema could have an artistic depth beyond mere entertainment. He saw cinema not only as a faithful representation of reality, but also as a tool for the audience to reinterpret reality. In this process, cinema has a special significance in that it conveys to the viewer the complexity and multifacetedness of reality, allowing them to expand their own experience.
André Bazin believes that formalistic techniques can distort reality by violating its complexity and ambiguity. He advocates the long take technique of filming a single shot rather than excessive editing techniques that alter the true nature of reality. A single shot is a continuous unit of time from the beginning to the end of a single camera movement, as it respects the spatial unity of an event and ensures its value as a realistic event. He also advocates for shots that provide spatial depth, from foreground to background. He believes that by creating multiple layers on the screen, revealing all elements equally, we can truthfully reflect reality and give freedom to the viewer’s gaze.
The belief that cinema should humbly follow reality while remaining open to interpretation lies at the heart of André Bazin’s cinema. It’s a view that continues to be a pillar of cinematic practice today, even in the face of so many formal sophistications. His realist perspective has also had a profound influence on subsequent film theorists and directors, spurring them to continue to explore the possibilities of cinema as art beyond mere commercial entertainment. Bazin’s philosophy was instrumental in emphasizing that cinema is an active art that does not merely imitate reality, but rather illuminates and reshapes it in a new light.
