Avant-Garde Cinema French Impressionism Surrealism

1. French 235 Patricia L. Pecoy Avant-Garde CinemaFrench ImpressionismSurrealism

2. Avant-Garde Cinema • Goal: to explore cinema as art • New personal vision of the artist • Rejected the inspirational potential of stage drama or literary adaptations • Considered a cinema of “intellectuals for intellectuals” • Represented a collective initiative

3. Avant-garde cinema:Louis Delluc(1890-1924) • Originally a journalist and literary critic • Began by writing screenplays

4. Louis Delluc • Tried to get away from drama scenarios and literary adaptations (which dominated the film scene at the time) • Emphasized symbolic expression and psychological exploration • Died suddenly in 1924 (at the age of 34)

5. Louis Delluc: Legacy • Along with Ricciotto Canudo, is credited with forming the first significant ciné-club in France • In 1937, his name was chosen for the prize awarded each year to the best French film (Prix Louis Delluc)

6. Prix Louis Delluc • The prize is awarded on the second Thursday of December each year • In 2009, the Prix Louis Delluc went to Un Prophète (A Prophet) • See list of winners

7. Surrealist cinema • Surrealist and avant-garde cinema was often scorned • Was thought to be a cinema for intellectuals • Result: low budget films that evolved at the periphery of the industry • Displayed an overstated tendancy for psychological analysis in preference to narration

8. Cinéma d’auteurs • The authors remained closely connected to the process of production • Was the symbolic icon of all great directors, from Abel Gance to Renoir • Anticipated the French New Wave cinema of the 1960s

9. Surrealist cinema • With the surrealist auteurs, a new language of cinema emerged • Visual associations • Sudden slow motion • Overimpression • Non-linear narration • Lack of narrative sequencing • No anlytical editing

10. Surrealist cinema: Luis Buñel (1900-1983) • Was an active participant in both silent and sound Surrealist cinema • Characteristic: atmosphere designed to upset “bourgeois” cinematographic ethics • Ex: close-up of an eye being slit by a razor blade

11. An Adalusian Dog (1929)(Un chien andalou) • Short film in collaboration with Salvador Dali • Disturbing sequences • Disconnected scenes (or seemingly so)

12. Marcel L’Herbier • Advocated for diversity in technological innovation and offered extraordinary Art Déco set productions

13. Marcel L’Herbier: Art DécoMoney (L’Argent)

14. Art déco • Style launched about 1925 at the Paris Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts • Became one of the visual trademarks of Impressionist films

15. IDHEC (1943) • One of L’Herbier’s most significant contributions to film history was his responsibility for the establishment of the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) in 1943 (trans.: Institute for Film Studies) • Many filmakers began their apprenticeships there

16. Abel Gance (1889-1981) • His films were characterized by epic subject matter and historical figures

17. Early Films by Abel Gance

18. Napoleon (1927) • First conceived for a triple screen • Introduced the panoramic screen, sound perspective and the superimposition of shots • Used a version of widescreen which employed three synchronized cameras to be projected on three separate frames (triptych screen) • Premiered in Polyvision in 1927 in Paris with a full orchestra

19. Napoleon (1927)

20. René Clair (1898-1981) • Began his career as an actor • Entr’acte (Intermission)- 1924 • Featured many celebrities of the decade • Reminiscent of the automatic writing of the Surrealists • Intense emotional maniupulation

21. René Clair

22. End of the Silent Era • Two events marked the end of the silent film era: • Invention of the first “talking pictures” in the United States in 1927 • The Jazz Singer (Al Jolson) • The economic turmoil following the Wall Street crash of 1929