Ben Burr

Film Journal
Film 340
June 4, 2007

Realism in Film

French film critic Andre Bazin once said, “Photography does not create eternity,

as art does; it embalms time, rescuing it simply from its proper corruption1.” Film does

just that, it captures a moment in time and in many cases, it captures, or attempts to

capture, real life on film. The films that were viewed in class seemed to try to capture real

life on film, though the “life” may be exaggerated to a slight degree. The realist

movement that Bazin often championed was supposed to capture life on film by means of

deep focus photography and long takes. The films of American director Orson Welles

(Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil) and French director Jean

Renoir (The Rules of the Game, Grand Illusion) are perfect examples of this theory in

action. The goal was to reflect life as it was “happening.” The long takes and large depths

of field allowed for the viewer to choose what exactly they are looking at and this makes

for every viewing experience to be different. The opposite of this is a much defined film

with very little room for personal interpretation. That being said, this theory continued to

carry on through the films of the French New Wave, which was influence by Renoir,

Welles and Italian Neorealism and through the films of Ingmar Bergman.

Jean-Luc Godard’s film “Contempt” has many realist elements running through it.

One of the first instances of this is an early scene where Prokosch (Jack Palance) is

giving a speech about the film industry. It is shot in a very long take with Prokosch

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pacing back and forth in the frame, eventually walking towards his car. Another instance

is when Paul and Camille (Michel Piccoli and Brigitte Bardot) are in their apartment after

they get back from meeting with Prokosch. The scene takes up almost a half an hour and

is shot entirely in long takes and wide shots. This treatment of the situation allows for the

viewer to pick which character they want to follow and decide what it is that they are

feeling, though the overall feel of the scene is contempt, which Camille is slowly

discovering she has for Paul. That scene, coupled with the ending of Prokosch and

Camille dying in a car accident and the actor in the onscreen film looking off to see

Ithaca seem to give the film an existential feel; a theme that is also reoccurring through

most of these films. It could be safe to assume that one of the major questions at the

bottom of this film is “What does it mean to love?” and at the heart of love is

interpersonal relationships. It also explores how people fall in and out of love and why.

Ingmar Bergman’s films deal with existentialism and realism, though it seems as

if he isn’t necessarily going for realism, it is that it is required in order to make the points

that he wants. The realism really seemed to start to develop around Wild Strawberries

(1957), as it seems he had taken existentialism as far as he could in the normal narrative

with The Seventh Seal (1957). From 1957 on, Bergman mixed existentialism and realism

to come up with a formula that was different than almost any other filmmaker, past or

present. Of the two Bergman films screened in class, Cries and Whispers was much more

realist than The Virgin Spring. Cries and Whispers had many more long takes, including

the memorable opening scene where Agnes is in bed and in extreme pain for over three

minutes. Bergman could have easily cut to close ups of her eyes or her mouth but it

seemed that he wanted to make the viewer feel exactly what Agnes was feeling. As was
discussed in class, this film thrives on viewer interact. Its purpose is to make you

uncomfortable, to make you think about her situation and yours. It is a kind of “cinematic

empathy.” There are plenty of scenes in the film that are the same way. In at least two

scenes, Anna is holding Agnes while she is screaming in pain. This shows the affection

that Anna has, but Karin and Maria lack. More examples of existentialism in Cries and

Whispers are when Karin and Maria begin to express affection towards one another,

Karin cuts herself with a broken glass and Agnes comes back to life, briefly. These vary

from other examples in the film because unlike Agnes Varda’s Cleo from 5 to 7, he

shows their thoughts with actions instead of words. This should be a valuable lesson for

modern filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino. Bergman proves you can show the

deepest human emotions without a single word being spoken. The final scene cannot go

without mention, simply because it is too great of a scene. One continuous shot of Agnes

and her sisters in their younger days, as Anna is reading from Agnes’ diary. It’s

heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. The viewer on one hand knows that those

days are gone for ever, but on the other hand it’s a message to them to enjoy the special

moments in life, such as family.

As for The Virgin Spring, it seems to have a more traditional narrative but with

the usual Bergman themes. The realism in this film is hidden, but it’s still there. The most

pronounced scene of realism is the rape and murder scene. It is a longer shot, with both

adult men in the scene and the child watching off to the side. The film does get into every

viewer's head and gets them asking, “What if I was in that situation? What if my daughter

had been raped and murdered? What would I do?” The best scene in the film comes at the
end, when the father is embracing his dead daughter. Again, no words are spoken but the

message is conveyed.

Varda’s Cleo From 5 to 7 is full of realism and existentialism. She seemed to use

the devices of realism extremely well; only using them when they would have the most

impact. One of the most memorable scenes is at the end when the doctor is driving away

from Cleo and her male friend and the camera is in the car. A long shot, though it tracks

away at a very quick pace, that has similarities to that last shot of Contempt. Both are

long shots that make a point. They are both moving away from the characters, though in a

different sense. It always is reminiscent to the final shot of Easy Rider (1969).

Stylistically the shots are very similar but in the context of the film, they are quite

different. In Cleo’s case, she found out that she does have cancer but they seem like they

can treat it, though no one will ever really know. In Easy Rider, Captain America and

Billy are both dead, where as at least Cleo has a shot. Cleo From 5 to 7 also has many

existential conversations about life, death and happiness.

The only film that was screened and is omitted from this is Bunuel’s Simon of the

Desert. That film was more of a “religious surrealism” that cannot properly be defined in

realistic terms. Ironically, it was based on a real-life Catholic saint. This film really

doesn’t seem to fit with all of the other films that we screened. There is an internal battle

in the film, good and evil, with evil eventually winning. Or maybe evil didn’t win, maybe

evolution won and good and evil are two sides of the same coin.

All of these films are great examples of realism in film. And there are great

examples of existentialism in these films as well. The French New Wave directors and
Ingmar Bergman all made films that could be classified as similar, even though they may

have had different ways about going about it.