André Bazin (; 18 April 1918 – 11 November 1958) was a renowned and influential French

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outl ...

and

film theorist Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for unde ...

. Bazin started to write about film in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951, with

Jacques Doniol-Valcroze Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (; 15 March 1920 – 6 October 1989) was a French actor, critic, screenwriter, and director. In 1951, Doniol-Valcroze was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine ''Cahiers du cinéma'', along with André Bazin and Jo ...

and

Joseph-Marie Lo Duca Joseph-Marie Lo Duca (; 18 November 1905 or 1910 – 6 August 2004) was an Italian-born journalist, novelist, art critic, and film historian best known as the co-founder in 1951 of the influential French magazine ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' with André B ...

. He is notable for arguing that

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

is the most important function of cinema. His call for objective reality, deep focus, and lack of

montage Montage may refer to: Arts and entertainment Filmmaking and films * Montage (filmmaking), a technique in film editing * ''Montage'' (2013 film), a South Korean film Music * Montage (music), or sound collage * ''Montage'' (Block B EP), 201 ...

are linked to his belief that the interpretation of a film or scene should be left to the spectator. This placed him in opposition to film theory of the 1920s and 1930s, which emphasized how the cinema could manipulate reality.

Life

Bazin was born in Angers, France in 1918. He met future film and television producer Janine Kirsch while working at Labour and Culture, a militant organization associated with the French Communist party during World War II and eventually they married in 1949 and had a son named Florent. He died in 1958, age 40, of leukemia.

Film criticism

Bazin started to write about film in 1943 and was a co-founder of the renowned film magazine '' Cahiers du cinéma'' in 1951, along with

and

. Bazin was a major force in post-World War II film studies and criticism. He edited ''Cahiers'' until his death, and a four-volume collection of his writings was published posthumously, covering the years 1958 to 1962 and titled ''Qu'est-ce que le cinéma?'' (''What is cinema?''). A selection from ''What Is Cinema?'' was translated into English and published in two volumes in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They became mainstays of film courses in the English-speaking world, but never were updated or revised. In 2009, the Canadian publisher Caboose, taking advantage of more favourable Canadian copyright laws, compiled fresh translations of some of the key essays from the collection in a single-volume edition. With annotations by translator Timothy Barnard, this became the only corrected and annotated edition of these writings in any language. In 2018, this volume was replaced by a more extensive collection of Bazin's texts translated by Barnard, ''André Bazin: Selected Writings 1943-1958''. A new collection of Bazin's essays were released in 2022 under the title ''André Bazin on Adaptation: Cinema's Literary Imagination''. The long-held view of Bazin's critical system is that he argued for films that depicted "objective reality" (such as documentaries and films of the

Italian neorealism Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...

school or as he called it "the Italian school of the Liberation"). He advocated the use of

deep focus Deep focus is a photographic and cinematographic technique using a large depth of field. Depth of field is the front-to-back range of focus in an image, or how much of it appears sharp and clear. In deep focus, the foreground, middle ground, and ...

(

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), ''The Best Years of ...

), wide shots ( Jean Renoir) and the "shot-in-depth", and preferred what he referred to as "true continuity" through ''

mise-en-scène ''Mise-en-scène'' (; en, "placing on stage" or "what is put into the scene") is the stage design and arrangement of actors in scenes for a theatre or film production, both in visual arts through storyboarding, visual theme, and cinematography, a ...

'' over experiments in editing and visual effects. For example, he extensively analyzes a scene in Wyler's ''

The Best Years of Our Lives ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (also known as ''Glory for Me'' and ''Home Again'') is a 1946 American epic drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Rus ...

'' (with cinematography by

Gregg Toland Gregg Wesley Toland, A.S.C. (May 29, 1904 – September 28, 1948) was an American cinematographer known for his innovative use of techniques such as deep focus, examples of which can be found in his work on Orson Welles' ''Citizen Kane'' (19 ...

) to illuminate the function of deep-focus composition: The concentration on objective reality, deep focus, and lack of

are linked to Bazin's belief that the interpretation of a film or scene should be left to the spectator. This placed him in opposition to film theory of the 1920s and 1930s, which emphasized how the cinema could manipulate reality. According to Dudley Andrew, Roman Catholicism and Personalism are two strong influences on Bazin's outlook of cinema. Victor Bruno pins that these influences—especially Roman Catholicism—are the wellspring from which flows the essence of Bazin's understanding of "realism," which, according to him, is more closely linked with

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

realism than with corporeality (also called realism by certain scholars). Another academic,

Tom Gunning Thomas Francis Gunning (March 4, 1862 – March 17, 1931) was a professional baseball catcher and umpire. He played six seasons in the major leagues, from 1884 until 1889. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed. Gunning umpired 44 maj ...

, identifies yet a third influence on André Bazin: Hegelianism. According to Gunning, Bazin's preference for the

long take In filmmaking, a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate bl ...

is akin to Hegel's understanding of the unfolding of history in time. This idea has been dismissed by certain authors, since Bazin privileged the long take as a means of liberty and Hegel understood that the unfolding of history would conclude in a perfectly systematized paradigm. At any rate, Bazin's personalism led him to believe that a film should represent a director's personal vision. This idea had a pivotal importance in the development of the

auteur theory An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...

, the manifesto for which François Truffaut's article "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema" was published by his mentor Bazin in ''Cahiers'' in 1954. Bazin also championed directors like Howard Hawks,

and

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

In popular culture

* François Truffaut dedicated ''

The 400 Blows ''The 400 Blows'' (french: Les Quatre Cents Coups) is a 1959 French coming-of-age drama film, and the directorial debut of François Truffaut. The film, shot in DyaliScope, stars Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, and Claire Maurier. One of ...

'' to Bazin, who died one day after shooting began on the film. * Richard Linklater's film ''

Waking Life ''Waking Life'' is a 2001 American experimental adult animated film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the ...

'' features a discussion between filmmaker

Caveh Zahedi Caveh Zahedi (; born April 29, 1960) is an American film director and actor. Early years Zahedi was born in Washington, D.C., to Iranian immigrant parents. He studied philosophy at Yale University. Upon graduation, Zahedi moved to Paris, Fran ...

and poet David Jewell regarding some of Bazin's film theories. There is an emphasis on Bazin's Christianity and the belief that every shot is a representation of God manifested in creation.

Bibliography

In English

* Bazin, André. (2018). ''André Bazin: Selected Writings 1943-1958'' (Timothy Barnard, Trans.) Montreal: caboose, * Bazin, André. (1967–1971). ''What is cinema? Vol. 1 & 2'' (Hugh Gray, Trans., Ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. * Bazin, André. (1973). ''Jean Renoir'' (François Truffaut, Ed.; W.W. Halsey II & William H. Simon, Trans.). New York: Simon and Schuster. * Bazin, André. (1978). ''Orson Welles: a critical view''. New York: Harper and Row. * Andrew, Dudley. ''André Bazin.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 1978. * Bazin, André. (1981). ''French cinema of the occupation and resistance: The birth of a critical esthetic'' (François Truffaut, Ed., Stanley Hochman, Trans.). New York: F. Ungar Pub. Co. * Bazin, André. (1982). ''The cinema of cruelty: From Buñuel to Hitchcock'' (François Truffaut, Ed.; Sabine d'Estrée, Trans.). New York: Seaver Books. * Bazin, André. (1985). ''Essays on Chaplin'' (Jean Bodon, Trans., Ed.). New Haven, Conn.: University of New Haven Press. LCCN 84-52687 * Bazin, André. (1996). ''Bazin at work: Major essays & reviews from the forties and fifties'' (Bert Cardullo, Ed., Trans.; Alain Piette, Trans.). New York: Routledge. (HB) (PB) * Bazin, André. (Forthcoming). ''French cinema from the liberation to the New Wave, 1945-1958'' (Bert Cardullo, Ed.)

In French

*''La politique des auteurs'', edited by André Bazin. Interviews with

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson contributed notably to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, ellipses, and sparse use of scoring have l ...

, Jean Renoir,

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock,

Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...

, Michelangelo Antonioni, Carl Theodor Dreyer and

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

*''Qu'est-ce que le cinéma?'' (4 vols.), by André Bazin, originally published 1958–1962 (1958, 1959, 1961, 1962). New edition: Les

Éditions du Cerf ''Éditions du Cerf'' (French: "Editions of the Deer") is a French publishing house specializing in religious books. It was founded in 1929, and operated by the Dominican Order. The name is a reference to Psalm 42 (41): As the hart panteth ...

, 2003. *''André Bazin - Écrits complets'' (2 vol.), éditions Macula, 2018

References

External links

Archaism and Hegel in the Supply Reel - A Philosophical Look at André Bazin's Realism (article on ''In Media Res'')André Bazin - Divining the real (page on BFI)
* ttp://horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/bazin_intro2.html André Bazin: Part 2, Style as a Philosophical Idea*

Online essays

''What Is Cinema'' Vol. 1and 2 on Internet Archive"The Life and Death of Superimposition" (1946)"Will CinemaScope Save the Film Industry?" (1953)André Bazin on René Clement and literary adaptation: Two original reviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazin, Andre 1918 births 1958 deaths Film theorists French film critics French Roman Catholics People from Angers 20th-century French male writers École Normale Supérieure alumni Cahiers du Cinéma editors Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in France