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An art film (also called an “art cinema”, “art movie”, or in the US, an " Independent Film " or “art house film”) is a typically serious, noncommercial, independently made Film that is aimed at a Niche audience, rather than a Mass Audience .http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861685559/art_film.html Film critics and film studies scholars typically define an “art film” using a “...canon of films and those formal qualities that mark them as different from mainstream Hollywood films.”http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:dt0bjkF9gCsJ:www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0412/is_3_33/ai_n15944886+%22art+cinema%22+definition&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9 Art film producers usually present their films at specialty theatres (repertory cinemas, or in the US "arthouse cinemas") and Film Festivals . The term "art film" is much more widely used in the United States than in Europe, where the term "art film" is more associated with "auteur" Films and " National Cinema " (e.g., German national cinema). Art films are aimed at small Niche Market audiences, which means they can rarely get the financial backing which will permit large production budgets, expensive special effects, costly Celebrity actors, and huge advertising campaigns, as are used in Widely-released mainstream Blockbuster films. Art film directors make up for these constraints by creating a different type of film, which typically uses lesser-known film actors (or even amateur actors) and modest sets to make films which focus on reflective dialogue sequences. For promotion, art films rely on the publicity generated from film critics' reviews, discussion of their film by arts columnists, commentators, and bloggers, and "word-of-mouth" promotion by audience members. Since art films have small initial investment costs, they only need to appeal to a small portion of the Mainstream viewing audiences to become financially viable. HISTORY OF "ART FILM" The antecedents of art films included D. W. Griffith 's film ''Intolerance'' (1916) and Sergei Eisenstein 's films.WILLIAM C. SISKA. ''The Art Film'' Art films were also influenced by films by Spanish avant-garde creators such as Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí (e.g., ''L'Age d'Or'' from 1930) and Jean Cocteau (e.g., ''The Blood of a Poet'', also from 1930). In the 1920s, film societies began advocating the notion that films could be divided into an "...entertainment cinema directed towards a mass audience and a serious art cinema aimed at an intellectual audience". In England, Alfred Hitchcock and Ivor Montagu formed a Film Society and imported films that they thought were "artistic achievements," such as "Soviet films of dialectical montage, and the expressionist films of the Universum Film A. G. (UFA) studios in Germany."WILLIAM C. SISKA. ''The Art Film'' Cinéma Pur , a 1920s and 1930s French Avant-garde film movement also influenced the development of the idea of "art film." The cinema pur film movement included Dada artists, such as Man Ray ('' Emak-Bakia '', '' Return To Reason ''), Rene Clair ('' Entr'acte ''), and Marcel Duchamp ('' Anemic Cinema ''). The Dadaists used film to overturn traditional narrative techniques and bourgeois conventions, and conventional Aristotelian notions of time and space by creating a flexible montage of time and space. Pure Cinema was influenced by such German "absolute" filmmakers as Hans Richter , Walter Ruttmann , and Viking Eggeling . In the 1930s and 1940s, John Ford argued that Hollywood films could be divided into the "...artistic aspirations of literary adaptations like Sean O'Casey 's ''The Informer'' (1935) and Eugene O'Neill 's ''The Long Voyage Home'' (1940)", and the money-making "popular genre films" such as gangster thrillers. William Siska argues that Italian Neorealist films from the mid- to late-1940s, such as ''Open City'' (1945),'' Paisa'' (1946), and '' The Bicycle Thief '' can be deemed as another "conscious art film movement."WILLIAM C. SISKA. ''The Art Film'' In the late 1940s, the US public's perception that Italian neorealist films and other serious European fare were different from mainstream Hollywood films was reinforced by the development of "arthouse cinemas" in major US cities and college towns. After the Second World War, "...a growing segment of the American filmgoing public was wearying of mainstream Hollywood films," and they went to the newly-created art film theaters to see "...alternatives to the films playing in main-street movie palaces".Barbara Wilinsky. ''Sure Seaters: The Emergence of Art House Cinema''. 2001 (Commerce and Mass Culture Series). Review available at: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:YfgZ-fYl8LAJ:www.upress.umn.edu/Books/W/wilinsky_cinema.html+history+%22art+film%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=46 Films shown in these art cinemas included "... British, foreign-language, and independent American films, as well as documentaries and revivals of Hollywood classics." Films such as Rossellini's ''Open City'' and Mackendrick's ''Tight Little Island'', ''The Bicycle Thief'' and ''The Red Shoes'' were shown to substantial US audiences.Barbara Wilinsky. ''Sure Seaters: The Emergence of Art House Cinema''. 2001 (Commerce and Mass Culture Series). Review available at: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:YfgZ-fYl8LAJ:www.upress.umn.edu/Books/W/wilinsky_cinema.html+history+%22art+film%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=46 The term "art film" is much more widely used in the United States than in Europe. In the US, the term is often defined very broadly, to include foreign-language (non-English) "auteur" films, Independent Film s, Experimental Film s, documentaries and short films. In the 1960s "art film" became a Euphemism in the US for racy Italian and French B-movies . By the 1970s, the term was used to describe Sexually Explicit European films with artistic pretensions such as '' I Am Curious (Yellow) ''. In the US, the term "art film" is sometimes used very loosely to refer to the broad range of films shown in repertory theaters or "arthouse cinemas." With this approach, a broad range of films, such as a 1960s Hitchcock movie, a 1970s experimental underground film, a 1980s European auteur film, and a 1990s US "Independent" film all fall under the rubric of "art film." By the 1980s and 1990s, the term became conflated with " Independent Film " in the US, which shares many of the same stylistic traits with "art film." Companies such as Miramax Films distributed Independent Films which were deemed commercially unviable at the major studios. When major motion picture studios noted the niche appeal of independent films, they created special divisions dedicated to non-mainstream fare, such as the Fox Searchlight division of Twentieth Century Fox , the Focus Features division of Universal , and the Sony Pictures Classics division of Sony Pictures Entertainment . Film critics have debated whether the films from these special divisions can truly be considered to be "independent films", given that they have financial backing from major studios. DEVIATIONS FROM MAINSTREAM FILM NORMS Film scholar "stock" characters. 's '' The Apu Trilogy '' (1955-1960) tells the story of a poor country boy's growth to adulthood]] In contrast, Bordwell states that "...the art cinema motivates its narrative by two principles: , and fantasies. In some art films, the director uses a depiction of absurd or seemingly meaningless actions to express a philosophical viewpoint such as Existentialism . The story in an art film often has a secondary role to character development and an exploration of ideas through lengthy sequences of dialogue. If an art film has a story, it is usually a drifting sequence of vaguely defined or ambiguous episodes. There may be unexplained gaps in the film, deliberately unclear sequences, or extraneous sequences that are not related to previous scenes, which force the viewer to subjectively make their own interpretation of the film's message. Art films often "...bear the marks of a distinctive visual style" and Authorial approach of the director.http://www.bu-london.co.uk/FT316reading6-SocialCinema.pdf An art cinema films often refuse to provide a "...readily answered conclusion," instead putting the audience member the task of thinking about "...how is the story being told? Why tell the story in this way?"''Memories of a Revolutionary Cinema'' by Allison Arnold Helminski. Available at: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:sjqrtDAfKUUJ:www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/00/2/memories.html+%22art+cinema%22+definition&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=34 Film theorist Robert Stam argues that “art film” was a film genre based on artistic status, in the same way that film genres can be based on aspects of films such as their budgets ( Blockbuster movies or B-movies ) or their star performers (Fred Astaire movies).http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:DljIMs_w9BAJ:www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html+%22art+film%22+definition&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=47 TIMELINE OF NOTABLE FILMS The following list is a small, partial sample of films with "art film" qualities, compiled to give a general sense of what directors and films are considered to have "art film" characteristics. The films in this list demonstrate one or more of the characteristics of art films: a serious, noncommercial, or independently made film that is not aimed at a mass audience. Some of the films on this list are also considered to be "auteur" films, independent films, or experimental films. In some cases, critics disagree over whether a film is mainstream or not. For example, while some critics called Gus Van Sant 's '' My Own Private Idaho '' (1991) an "exercise in film experimentation" of "high artistic quality", the Washington Post called it an ambitious ''mainstream'' filmwww.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/myownprivateidahorhowe_a0b352.htm Some films in this list have most of these characteristics; other films are commercially-made films produced by mainstream studios that nevertheless bear the hallmarks of a director's "auteur" style, or which have an experimental character. The films in this list are notable either because they won major awards or critical praise from influential film critics or because they introduced an innovative narrative or filmmaking technique. For example, Kurosawa's Rashomon shows the same events as witnessed by four different people. 1920s-1950s 's '' Un Chien Andalou '' (1929), just before Buñuel slits the woman's eye with a razor.]] In the 1920s and 1930s, filmmakers did not set out to make "art films", and film critics did not use the term "art film." However, there were films that had more sophisticated aesthetic objectives, such as Carl Theodor Dreyer 's silent film '' The Passion Of Joan Of Arc '' (1928), and surrealist film such as Luis Buñuel 's '' Un Chien Andalou '' (1929) and '' L'Âge D'Or '' (1930). In the late 1940s, UK director Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger made '' The Red Shoes '' (1948), a film about ballet that stood out from mainstream genre films. In the 1950s, some of the well-known films with artistic sensibilities include '' The Seventh Seal '' (1957) by Ingmar Bergman In the same year, Bergman also directed '' Wild Strawberries '', a film about an old medical doctor and professor whose nightmares make him reevaluate his life. and '' The 400 Blows '' (1959) by François Truffaut . As well, less well-known films such as '' A Generation '', '' Kanal '', '' Ashes And Diamonds '', '' Lotna '' (1954-1959), by Andrzej Wajda showed the Polish Film School style. In Asia, Indian director Satyajit Ray 's '' The Apu Trilogy '' (1955-1960)tells the story of a poor country boy's growth to adulthood. Japanese directors produced a number of films that broke with convention. Akira Kurosawa 's '' Rashomon '' (1950), depicts four witnesses' contradictory accounts of a rape and murderIn 1952, Kurosawa directed '' Ikiru '', a film about a Tokyo bureaucrat struggling to find a meaning for life. Other Japanese films from this era include '' Tokyo Story '' (1953) by Yasujiro Ozu and '' Ugetsu '' (1953) by Kenji Mizoguchi . 1960s The early 1960s saw the release of a number of groundbreaking films. Jean-Luc Godard 's '' Breathless '' (1960) used innovative visual and editing techniques such as jump cuts and hand-held camera work. Michelangelo Antonioni 's '' L'avventura '' from the same year is notable for its slow pacing and unusual narrative structure. Other films by Antonioni from the 1960s include '' L'eclisse '' (1962), about a young woman who is unable to form a solid relationship her boyfriend because of his materialistic nature; and '' Blowup '' (1966), a film about a photographer's involvement in a murder case which was his first English-language movie. Federico Fellini 's '' 8½ '' (1963) was a black and white exploration of creative and marital difficulties.Fellini also directed the film '' La Dolce Vita '' (1960), which depicts a series of nights and mornings in Rome as seen by a jaded, demotivated gossip columnist. 's '''' (1968).]] '' (1968) wowed audiences with its scientific realism, pioneering use of special effects, and unusual visual imagery. In Iran, Dariush Mehrjui 's '' The Cow '' (1969), about a man who becomes insane after the death of his beloved cow, sparked the new wave of Iranian Cinema . 1970s 's '''s dreamlike, surreal '' Eraserhead '' (1977). 1980s In 1980, director Martin Scorsese shocked audiences who had become used to the escapist blockbuster adventures of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas with the gritty, harsh realism of his film '' Raging Bull ''. Robert DeNiro took method acting to an extreme to portray a boxer's decline from a prizewinning young fighter to an overweight has-been nightclub owner. Japanese director Akira Kurosawa also used a realism approach to portray the brutal, bloody violence of Japanese samurai warfare of the 1500s in '' Ran '' (1985). Other directors in the 1980s chose a more intellectual path, exploring philosophical issues. Andrzej Wajda 's '' Man Of Iron '' (1981) is a critique of the Polish communist government which won the 1981 Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival. Another Polish director, Krzysztof Kieślowski released '' The Decalogue '' in 1988, a meditative and melancholy film series that explores ethical issues and moral puzzles. The Cult Film '' Pink Floyd The Wall '' (1982) explored political issues such as fascism and totalitarianism using the Progressive Rock band Pink Floyd 's music and metaphorical images to spin a non-linear storyline. Another approach used by directors in the 1980s was to create bizarre, surreal alternate worlds. Martin Scorsese 's '' After Hours '' (1985) is a comedy thriller that depicts a man's baffling adventures in a surreal nighttime world of chance encounters with mysterious characters. David Lynch 's '' Blue Velvet '' (1986), is a Film Noir -style thriller mystery filled with symbolism and metaphors about polarized worlds and distorted characters that are hidden in the seamy underworld of a small town. Peter Greenaway 's '' culture in Thatcherian Britain. 1990s In the 1990s, some directors created bizarre, surreal alternate worlds, as was done in the 1980s with '' Blue Velvet '' and '' The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover ''. In 1990, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa 's '' Akira Kurosawa's Dreams '' depicted his imaginative reveries in a series of vignettes that range from idyllic pastoral country landscapes to horrific visions of tormented demons and a blighted post-nuclear war landscape. In 1991, director Joel Coen 's '' Barton Fink '', which won the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival , told an enigmatic story about a writer who encounters a range of bizarre characters including an alcoholic, abusive novelist and a serial killer. David Lynch 's 1997 film '' Lost Highway '' is a psychological Thriller that explores fantasy worlds, bizarre time-space transformations, and mental breakdowns using surreal imagery. Other directors in the 1990s explored philosophical issues and themes such as identity, chance, death, and existentialism. The 1990s films '' My Own Private Idaho '' and '' Chungking Express '' explored the theme of identity. Gus Van Sant 's '' My Own Private Idaho '' (1991) is an independent film gay road movie/buddy movie about two young street hustlers which explored the theme of the search for home and identity. It was called a "high-water mark in '90s independent film"Filmcritic.com critic Jake Euler, a "stark, poetic rumination"Reviewer Nick Schager, and an "exercise in film experimentation"critic Matt Brunson of "high artistic quality"allmovie.com. Wong Kar-wai 's '' Chungking Express '' (1994) Prior to Chungking Express, he directed '' Days Of Being Wild ''. Later in the 1990s, Kar-wai directed'' Happy Together (film) '' (1997). explores the themes of identity, disconnection, loneliness, and isolation in the "metaphoric concrete jungle" of modern Hong Kong. The film uses a symbolism-imbued pop music video visual style influenced by the French New Wave . While the British Film Institute called it one of the best Asian films of contemporary cinema, it is considered to be a film for cineophiles, because it is "largely a cerebral experience" which you enjoy "because of what you know about film." Several 1990s films explored existentialist-oriented themes related to life, chance, and death. Robert Altman 's 1993 film '' Short Cuts '' (1993) explore themes of chance, death, and infidelity by tracing ten parallel and interwoven stories. The film, which won the Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival, was called a "many-sided, many mooded, dazzlingly structured eclectic jazz mural" by Chicago Tribune critc Michael Wilmington. Krzysztof Kieslowski 's '' Three Colors '' trilogy (1993-1994), which was co-written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz , was called an exploration of "...unabashedly spiritual and existential issues"Critic Emanual Levy, at Emanuallevy.com that created a "truly transcendent experience" Matt Brunson. Matthew Barney 's '' The Cremaster Cycle '' (1994-2002) is a cycle of five symbolic, allegorical films that create a self-enclosed aesthetic system that aims to explore the process of creation. The films are filled with allusions to reproductive organs and sexual development, and they use narrative models drawn from biography, mythology, and geology. Abbas Kiarostami 's film '' Taste Of Cherry '' (1997) In 1990, Kiarostami directed '' Close-up ''. about a man trying to hire a person to bury him after he commits suicide is shot in a minimalist style, with long takes. The film won the Palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival. Some 1990s films mixed an ethereal or surreal visual atmosphere with the exploration of philosophical issues. Krzysztof Kieslowski 's '' The Double Life Of Véronique '' (1991) is a drama about the theme of identity and a political allegory about the East/West split in Europe which features stylized cinematography, an ethereal atmosphere, and unexplained supernatural elements. -inspired,"... eerie " Eraserhead "-like world"http://www.filmthreat.com/index.php?section=reviews&Id=997 shot in "black-and-white, which lends a dream-like atmosphere to all of the proceedings", which explore issues such as "metaphysics and spirituality" Critic James Berardinelli 2000s
RELATED CONCEPTS Art television A genre or style of " Art Television " has been identified, which shares some of the same traits of art films. Television shows such as David Lynch 's '' Twin Peaks '' series and BBC 's '' The Singing Detective '' also have "...a loosening of causality, a greater emphasis on psychological or anecdotal realism, violations of classical clarity of space and time, explicit authorial comment, and ambiguity." Other television shows that have been called "art television," such as '' The Simpsons '', use a "...flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show."Thompson. Available at: http://www.kamera.co.uk/books/new_hollywood_cinema.html SEE ALSO
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