French impressionism, is also know as
The First Avant-Garde or Narrative Avant-Garde, and refers to a movement of
French films and filmmakers that operated between 1918 and 1928. (Thompson and
Bordwell, 1994) Avant-Garde basically aims to break traditions, as such, it
explores cinema as a form of art. (Hayward, 2013) It reflects a new personal
vision of the artist while considering cinema as a cinema of 'intellectuals for
intellectuals' as it rejected the inspirational potential stage of drama or
literacy adaptations. Based on its extensive influence in the cinema of today,
French Impressionism is considered as an important movement of early
international cinema.
French impressionism in film developed in France after
World War I (WWI). At this time, much of the film industry in France slumped as
human resources were drafted and studios shifted for the use of war. (Bordwell
& Thompson, 2013, p.473) French cinema begun to be flooded by American
films around the period of 1915 and it continued to dominate the market until
the end of 1917. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p.473) Several attempts have
been made by the French filmmaking industry in efforts to bring back its
audiences, mainly by imitations of Hollywood production methods and genres. (Bordwell
& Thompson, 2013, p.473) On the other hand, this situation has hence brought
forth the beginnings of a movement known as French impressionism which consists
of several younger directors such as Abel Gance, Louis Delluc, Germaine Dulac,
Marcel L’Herbier and Jean Epstein. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p.473)
However, it has to be understood that this movement
didn’t just bloom out of nothingness in the film industry. Its beginnings can
be traced back to a period not far from its start in film, in fact, it begun
with the most basic yet complex forms of art –through paintings. The name
“Impressionism” originated from a painter known as Claude Monet due to a
painting of a sunset he painted, entitled Impressions
as shown in Figure 1 below. (Mauclair
& Konody, 2004)
Figure 1:
Monet, C. (Artist). (1872). Impressions
[painting], Retrieved August 5, 2014, from:
http://www.claude-monet.com/impression-sunrise.jsp#prettyPhoto
Emerging around the period of 1860 until 1900 with much controversy; the movement was accused of madness for deliberately neglecting the “laws of beauty” set by the French Academy of Fine Arts. (Mauclair & Konody, 2004) As so, it was treated with much hostility. Impressionist paintings were excluded from exhibitions in Salons, banned from awards and even official purchases, they were only allowed to exhibit their creations at a special room known as the Salon des Refusés, which when translated, literally means exhibition for rejects. (Mauclair & Konody, 2004)
As such, the French impression movement is not only
limited to film and paintings, basically it applies to all forms of art
including but not inclusive of literature such as poems and plays but also
music as well. Simply what impression implies is the capture of momentary
“impressions” –such as feelings, state of mind and emotions, which flit through
the mind of a character. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p.473) However,
because the movement was looked down upon at that moment in time, composers
that shows impressionistic composition in their music refuses to be known as
Impressionist so not to be associated by the artists exhibiting in the Salon des Refusés. (Palmer, 1974) One such example is the famous pianist
and composer, Claude Debussy. Debussy is known to use whole-tone scales and
platonic scales in order to depict feelings, mood and emotions. For instance
one of his compositions known as Voiles (Sails)
evokes a feeling of vagueness that is quite similar to impressionistic
paintings. (Machlis and Forney, 1995)
It was only years later after the year 1900 that people
begun to develop an increasing appreciation towards the French impressionistic
art. Mast and Kawin (2008) stated that around the 1920s, Paris was the
avant-garde capital of the world in art, literature, music, drama and the like,
inspiring many artists such as Salvador and Dali, of Stravinsky and many, many
more around the world. This may be the explanation towards the formation of the
French impressionism movement in film which started to develop between 1918 and
1928. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p.473) At this point in time, young filmmakers
claimed that arts were a vehicle for feelings and that cinema is an art form
that is comparable to poetry, paintings and music. (Bordwell and Thompson,
2013) This, aided with modernism increased the urge and desire for young
filmmakers and directors to experiment and create new forms as well as
challenge existing artistic norms in existing forms of art such as in music,
painting, sculpture and much more, bringing forth works that are devoted to
form and sensation as well as unconventional logic that provided new ways to
convey meaning. (Mast & Kawin, 2008)
Perhaps what it was the willingness of the Impressionists
to experiment that is a contributing factor that led to the start of the French
Impressionist movement. According to Mast & Kawin (2008), modernisation,
arose from the urge to experiment, to create new forms and challenge artistic
norms led to Paris being the city of many movements. The French Impressionists
embraced this desire to experiment much to their advantage. One famous
Impressionist, Abel Gance, experimented with new technology by testing out new
lenses, experimenting with Polyvision –also known as multi frame images, and
was the first to use the widescreen ratio in film, which is done mainly during
the production of his epic Napoleon (1927).
(Bordwell & Thompson, 2013) Impressionists also associated the camera as a
form of representation of the human eye, as such, cameras were strapped to
moving vehicles, machines and the like, causing cameras that provided more
frame mobility –basically cameras with smaller sizes, to be favoured. (Bordwell
& Thompson, 2013) This was also used by Gance in the same movie whereby he
strapped the camera on roller skates.
In honour to the movement, and in hopes of being able to
further explain the characteristics of the movement with a higher degree of
ease, we have prepared and attached together a video that’s hopefully worthy
enough to pay tribute to such a significant movement that has focused on
creating works of art that are devoted to form and sensation in addition to
unconventional logic and new ways of creating meaning. (Mast & Kawin, 2008)
Entitled The Void, the video is themed around drug addiction. Its narrative
illustrates how addiction towards drugs causes one to reach for nothingness
while losing everything based in the point of view of an addict, allowing
audiences to experience a first person view of an addict’s mental state and
experiences.
One characteristic of Impressionist films is that they
are devoted to giving higher degree of subjective depth in the narration of
their film by capturing momentarily impressions that passes through a
character’s mind.(Bordwell & Thompson, 2013) Impressionists believed that
cinema should depict various emotional states with increased concentration on
the intimacy of psychological stories of their characters, oftentimes using
small numbers of characters that are quite frequently involved in a love
triangle as these situations brings out fleeting moods and seemingly ever
changing sensations. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013) Some examples are Gance’s La Diexieme symphonie (1918) and
Delluc’s L’Inondation (1924). To achieve this, external action is
replaced by explorations of the inner lives of the characters via use of
flashbacks, dreams, fantasies and mental states. (Bordwell & Thompson,
2013) For instance, Dulac’s The Smiling
Mme. Beudet (1923) concentrates mainly at the main characters’ emotional
escape from a dull marriage. In the case of the prepared video tribute, at a
glance, the video seems to not present any form of narrative. Like a painting,
one might have to go over it again to understand the narrative deeper. Once the
audience has established that the whole video happens in the mind of the addict
while he is intoxicated, the narrative becomes more understandable and carries
more meaning towards the audiences.
Besides the narration of film, Impressionists also played
with editing techniques and ways it can enhance the pace of an experience that
is felt by the character. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013, p.474) For example,
the amount of frames for a scene whereby a character is feeling sad and
depressed would be much higher when compared to a scene where the character is
feeling angry or violent. In addition, editing also suggests the pace, on which
time is taken place in the film. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013) In this case,
faster scenes like a chasing scene would far lesser frames than scenes that
focus on softer actions, such as a love scene.
Other
than the pace, editing also contributes to one of the movements’ subjective
style. Unlike the German Expressionists that uses the mise-en-scene in hinting
to the audience about the characters mental states, the Impressionists instead
depended on cinematography and editing to evoke to the audiences about the
mental states of the character. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013) This is done by
adding optical effects and editing techniques such as superimposition –where
images are layered on top of each other in order to create multiple
perspectives in a frame, to suggest a characters moods and thoughts. (Bordwell
& Thompson, 2013, p.175) This effect can be seen in Gance’s La Roue (1922) where the image of Norma
is layered over smoke from a locomotive to represent the drivers’ fantasy as he
is in love with her. The video tribute we’ve created also uses this technique
in a similar manner, multiple frames of a masked woman dancing is superimposed
on top of one another, this is not only to show that the addict is intoxicated,
but also it together with the high-key lighting serves as a symbol of love and
support that the woman has over him and her determination to stop him from
being further involved with drugs.
In addition, Impressionists also used editing to portray
the characters optical impressions as well. To show a characters state of
perception, filmmakers utilises camera movements and shots that are filmed and
cut to the point-of-view of the characters. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013)
This can be seen in the video tribute whereby the hands grabbing into
nothingness is filmed in from an angle that is from the point-of-view of the
addict, and shaky camera movements that is present. These factors work as hints
that suggest the fragile state of mind for both characters. Thus, it assists
the narration of the film by giving it form and depth.
Despite
such innovation, it lacked in popularity and appeal in the American market
despite managing to attract the French public. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013)
Moreover, with the invention of sound in film, the French film industry
tightened its belts and reduced its funding as it lacked the money to risk for
experimentation. This, added with the rise in production costs and the
free-spending habits of certain Impressionist filmmakers caused many filmmaking
companies to either go out of business or get absorbed by bigger companies,
brought forth the downfall of the movement. (Bordwell & Thompson, 2013)
The
movement may have had a short lifecycle with a span of less than a decade long,
but its influence in filmmaking in the exploration of psychological narrative
and subjective style became a legacy towards the future generation. (Bordwell
& Thompson, 2013) It is said by Mast and Kawin (2008) that the maturity of
French films after the 1930s is partially contributed by its growth during the
1920s. Not only that, the movements influence can also still be seen in films
by renowned directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Maya Deren (Bordwell and
Thompson, 2013) It’s diverse influence can also be seen as well as in films of
today such as Memento (2000) by Christopher Nolan and Happy Together (1997) by Wong Kar-Wai.
As such, it can be concluded that the movement have influenced greatly in the
history of film development and would continue to assist in the advancement of
filmmaking of the future.
