Theory of the Film: Character and Growth of a New Art

by Béla Balázs

English, Hungarian (translation)

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Art

291 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Béla Balázs born Herbert Bauer, was a Hungarian-Jewish film critic, aesthete, writer and poet.

Balázs was the son of German-born parents, adopting his nom de plume in newspaper articles written before his 1902 move to Budapest, where he studied Hungarian and German at the Eötvös Collegium.

Reviews

[Tommaso Beneforti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Importante compendio critico sulla valenza del cinema come mezzo artistico, sociale e morale, non solo di intrattenimento.

Balázs analizza e sviscera la poetica del linguaggio cinematografico e la sua filosofia per dimostrare che il "mezzo film" ha un lungo futuro e infinite possibilità.

Come dargli torto.

Molto interessante, letto oggi, per comprendere meglio la valenza di molti espedienti espressivi dei film che spesso vengono dati per scontati.

[Hossein Norouzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential book for whom cares for theory of the cinema.

[Isaac Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like film! Interesting makes you think even though this is a bit old timey

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly enlightened writer whose theories on cinema are still as relevant and unmatched to this day

Unfortunately Balázs was quite a traditionalist and as a result it harms his text. Claiming that Man Ray, psychoanalytic film and by extension all avantgardism is a symptom of a degenerate society (p. 181) effectively means that film should neither strive forward artistically (which he spends the latter half of the book encouraging) nor explore themes pertinent to the director. He also seems obsessed with other art-forms and how the film compares, so as a result a few contradictory statements arise. Due to a clear admiration for the theatrical classics, Balázs claims that film narration is the ideal mode of expression (p. 241), despite having written extensively on how visual language is the ideal language of cinema. Also held back by theatre, Balázs claims that sound cannot be isolated (p. 211) and simply reading such a statement brings to mind countless instances of films prior to the release of this book when isolated sounds were used effectively. The latter third of the book primarily focuses on sound and does not hold up well compared to the rest of the text. Balázs sets up an arbitrary ideal of what the sound film should strive towards, and criticises cinema for not meeting said ideal, going as far to claim the sound film had not developed in its 20 year history.

With this said Theory of the Film is perhaps the best tool available in teaching theoretical and practical filmmaking tools to students and enthusiasts. The structure of the paragraph topics lends itself to brief reading and condenses ideas elegantly by a very talented and expressive writer (and not doubt a talented translator also). The audacity to heavily critique movements such as Soviet montage but to also back up such critique with valid and well informed arguments (p. 128, 266) is magnificent. The individual deconstruction of cinematic techniques as well as tying each technique together to establish the ideal whole is absolutely unmatched in this text.

Besides the before mentioned flaws, the other issue of the book is that there is categorically no contextual awareness whatsoever. That is to say that while contemporary critics might write a chapter or introduction on the development of film or establishing the climate of the era they are focusing on, Balázs does not. There is no credence given to those going into the book without prior knowledge of certain movements or genres, therefore while the content may appear accessible to a newcomer, in actuality the book may be alienating to those not already fairly familiar with film history.

[isavii ☾༒︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the film theorists that made me appreciate the technique of close ups and sound design in a film. Especially in silent era.