Cinematic

Aaron Smuts

doi:10.7146/nja.v23i46.16383

Abstract

Is cinematicity a virtue in film? Is lack of cinematicity a defect? Berys Gaut thinks so. He claims that cinematicity is a pro tanto virtue in film. I disagree. I argue that the term “cinematic” principally refers to some cluster of characteristics found in films featuring the following: expansive scenery, extreme depth of field, high camera positioning, and elaborate tracking shots. We often use the word as a term of praise. And we are likely right to do so. We are right if we mean that the film does well what movies often do well. We are wrong if we mean that the film is good for doing what is merely distinctive of film. This issue has important implications for understanding the role of the medium in artistic evaluation. I argue that we should reject Gaut’s claim because it entails an implausibly strong medium specificity thesis.

Highlights

Former editor of Cahiers du Cinéma, director of over two dozens films, and active into his late 80’s before his death in 2010, Eric Rohmer is best known for his breakthrough feature My Night at Maud’s (1969) and most loved for The Green Ray (Le Rayon Vert, 1986)
If all you know about a film is that it is cinematic, if cinematicity is a pro tanto virtue, you would have some reason to think that the movie is good
In regards to terms such as “painterly” as applied to painting, “literary” as applied to literature, and “cinematic” as applied to film, Gaut argues that: “These terms are all evaluative, and they claim that the works in question are good in part because they exploit features that are distinctive to the medium.”33 This is partly right, but it trades on an ambiguity

Summary

Introduction

Former editor of Cahiers du Cinéma, director of over two dozens films, and active into his late 80’s before his death in 2010, Eric Rohmer (born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer) is best known for his breakthrough feature My Night at Maud’s (1969) and most loved for The Green Ray (Le Rayon Vert, 1986). If all you know about a film is that it is cinematic, if cinematicity is a pro tanto virtue, you would have some reason to think that the movie is good.

Results

Conclusion