Classicism and Art Cinema

Paper Summary:

This essay attempts to broadly define the characteristics and underlying principles of both Hollywood classicism and the art cinema. It references one film from each category - "Singin' in the Rain," directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen and "My Life to Live" (Vivre Sa Vie) directed by Jean-Luc Godard, respectively. The paper argues that the predominant stylistic distinction between the two modes lies in the art cinema's subversion of logical causality.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Hollywood Classicism
The Art Cinema
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Moreover, Godard is also situating his work in the context of New Wave cinema for his audience. This is evident towards the end of My Life to Live in which - in one of the moving, documentary-like boulevard-scanning shots that are commonplace in the film - Godard shows and has his characters comment upon a line-up of movie patrons to see Truffaut's Jules et Jim; a work by his New Wave rival. Within the broader span of cinematic history Godard situates his protagonist, Nana, in a mirror relationship to the protagonist of La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc. As Nana watches her cinematic predecessor crying in closeup there is a closeup of a tear running down Nana's face as well; a referential cinematic relationship that Godard's audience would both expect and understand."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bordwell, David. "The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice." Film Criticism. 10, no.1 (fall, 1979): 57-63.
• Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin. Film Art: An Introduction Seventh Edition. Toronto: McGraw Hill, 2004.
• Godard, Jean-Luc, dir. My Life to Live (Vivre Sa Vie). Paris: Films de la Pleiade, 1962.
• Kelly, Gene and Donen, Stanley, dirs. Singin' in the Rain. Hollywood, CA: MGM, 1952.
• Kuhn, Annette. "The Classic Narrative System," in Pam Cook, ed., The Cinema Book. London: British Film Institute, 1985: 212-215.

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