Formalist film theory

Formalist film theory is an approach to film theory that is focused on the formal or technical elements of a film: i.e., the lighting, scoring, sound and set design, use of color, shot composition, and editing. This approach was proposed by Hugo Münsterberg, Rudolf Arnheim, Sergei Eisenstein, and Béla Balázs. Today, formalist film theory is a recognized approach in film studies.

Overview

Formalism considers the synthesis of the multiple elements of film production, and the effects, emotional and intellectual, of that synthesis and of the individual elements. For example, a formalist views standard Hollywood "continuity editing" for how it creates a comforting effect and non-continuity or how jump cut editing becomes disconcerting.

A formalist considers the synthesis of several elements, such as editing, shot composition, and music. The shoot-out that ends Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western Dollars Trilogy is an example of how these elements work together to produce a formalist effect: the shot selection goes from very wide to very close and tense; the length of shots decreases as the sequence progresses towards its end; the music builds. All of these elements, in combination rather than individually, create tension.

Formalism incorporates ideological and auteurist branches of criticism. In both these cases, the common denominator for formalist criticism is style. Ideologues focus on how socio-economic pressures create a particular style, and auteurists on how auteurs put their own stamp on the material. Formalism is concerned with style and how the film communicates ideas, emotions, and themes rather than on the themes of a work itself.

Formalism in ideological approaches

People argue that when using an ideological approach, the style or 'language' of these films is directly affected by social, economic, and political pressures. It is this branch of criticism that gives us categories such as the classical Hollywood cinema, the American independent movement, the new queer cinema, and the French, German, and Czech new waves.

Two examples of ideological interpretations that are related to formalism are the classical Hollywood cinema and film noir.

Classical Hollywood cinema

Classical Hollywood cinema uses a style referred to as the institutional mode of representation: continuity editing, massive coverage, three-point lighting, "mood" music, and dissolves. The socio-economic ideological explanation for this is style involves Hollywood's desire to monetarily profit and appeal to ticket-buyers.

Film noir

Film noir, which was given its name by Nino Frank, is marked by lower production values, darker images, under lighting, location shooting, and general nihilism: this is because during the war and post-war years filmmakers and filmgoers tended to have a pessimistic outlook. Also, the German Expressionists immigrated to America and brought their stylized lighting effects and disillusionment due to the war to American soil.

Formalism in auteur theory

While the ideological approach is concerned with broad movements and the effects of the world around the filmmaker, the auteur theory celebrates the individual and how their personal decisions, thoughts, and style manifest themselves in the material.

This branch of criticism, begun by François Truffaut and the other young film critics writing for Cahiers du Cinéma, was created for two reasons.

First, the auteur theory was created to redeem the art of film itself. By arguing that films had auteurs, or authors, Truffaut sought to make films and their directors as accepted as art forms, such as literature, music, and painting. Each of these art forms is concerned with a sole creative force: the author of a novel, the composer of a piece of music, or the painter of a fresco. By elevating the director, and not the screenwriter, to the same importance as novelists, composers, or painters, the auteur theory is able to free the cinema from being discredited as a lesser art form.

Secondly, the auteur theory sought to redeem filmmakers who were looked down upon by mainstream film critics. This theory argues that genre filmmakers and low-budget B-movies are equally important as the prestige pictures given more press and legitimacy in countries such as France and the United States. According to Truffaut's theory, auteurs took moldable material such as a thriller, a pulpy action film, or a romance and, through their style, made the pieces their own.

See also

• Clement Greenberg
• Clive Bell
• Formalism (art)
• Medium specificity
• Neoformalism (film theory)
• Russian formalism
• Structuralist film theory

References

• Bordwell, David, Film Art: An Introduction; McGraw-Hill; 7th edition (June 2003).
• Braudy, Leo, ed., Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings; Oxford University Press; 6th edition (March 2004).
• Gianetti, Louis, Understanding Movies; Prentice Hall; 10th edition (March 2004)