The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice

Abstract

La Strada (1954), 8 1/2 (1963), Wild Strawberries (1957), The Seventh Seal (1957), Persona (1966), Ashes and Diamonds (1958), Jules et Jim (1962), Knife in the Water (1962), Vivre sa vie (1962), Muriel (1963): Whatever else one can say about these films, cultural fiat gives them a role altogether different from Rio Bravo (1959) on the one hand and Mothlight (1963) on the other. They are “art films,” and, ignoring the tang of snobbishness about the phrase, we can say that these and many other films constitute a distinct branch of the cinematic institution. My purpose in this essay is to argue that we can usefully consider the “art cinema” as a distinct mode of film practice, possessing a definite historical existence, a set of formal conventions, and implicit viewing procedures. Given the compass of this paper, I can only suggest some lines of work, but I hope to show that constructing the category of the art cinema is both feasible and illuminating.

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