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André Bazin: Selected Writings 1943-1958
Following its acclaimed edition of selections from André Bazin’s What is Cinema? , caboose is pleased to present a greatly expanded collection of articles by France’s foremost film critic and theorist. André Selected Writings 1943-1958 doubles the number of articles found in the earlier volume to twenty-six, making this the most comprehensive collection in English of a broad range of Bazin’s writings throughout his entire career, with extensive annotations and corrections.
The texts included here are all offered in their original version, as they were written, published and discussed in Bazin’s day in post-war France—before Bazin and in some cases his posthumous editors revised and abridged them for republication. In most cases this is the first time these articles have been republished in their original form in any language, including French. Readers will discover the essay “Découpage,” the basis of Bazin’s most famous text and the most widely-read article in cinema studies, “The Evolution of Film Language.”
The volume includes brilliant essays on major filmmakers of the classical film period, including Renoir, Welles, Chaplin, Bresson, Malraux and Wyler; essays on film and the other arts; the famous essay on Italian neo-realism; essays on documentary and science film; comedy; film language; film history; and the 'politique des auteurs’ and the role of the critic. The volume’s new translations of these texts re-assert Bazin’s status as the pre-eminent film critic and theorist of all time. Each essay is extensively annotated by Timothy Barnard, situating the man and his work in the cultural and social climate of post-war France.
The texts included here are all offered in their original version, as they were written, published and discussed in Bazin’s day in post-war France—before Bazin and in some cases his posthumous editors revised and abridged them for republication. In most cases this is the first time these articles have been republished in their original form in any language, including French. Readers will discover the essay “Découpage,” the basis of Bazin’s most famous text and the most widely-read article in cinema studies, “The Evolution of Film Language.”
The volume includes brilliant essays on major filmmakers of the classical film period, including Renoir, Welles, Chaplin, Bresson, Malraux and Wyler; essays on film and the other arts; the famous essay on Italian neo-realism; essays on documentary and science film; comedy; film language; film history; and the 'politique des auteurs’ and the role of the critic. The volume’s new translations of these texts re-assert Bazin’s status as the pre-eminent film critic and theorist of all time. Each essay is extensively annotated by Timothy Barnard, situating the man and his work in the cultural and social climate of post-war France.
503 pages, Hardcover
Published October 15, 2018
12 people want to read
About the author
André Bazin
124 books173 followersWritings of French critic and film theorist André Bazin influenced the development of cinema of New Wave.
André Bazin founded the renowned and pioneering journal, Cahiers du cinéma.
Bazin saw and argued to depict "objective reality," such as documentaries of the Italian neo-realism school and "invisible" directors, such as Howard Winchester Hawks. He advocated the use of deep focus as George Orson Welles and wide shots as Jean Renoir "in depth," and he preferred "true continuity" through mise en scène over experiments in editing and visual effects. This preference placed him in opposition of the 1920s and 1930s to those who emphasized ability to manipulate reality. Theory of Bazin to leave the interpretation of a scene to the spectator linked the concentration on objective reality, deep focus, and lack of montage.
Bazin thought to represent a personal vision, rooted in the spiritual beliefs, known as personalism, of a director. A pivotal importance of these ideas on the auteur; François Truffaut in 1954 wrote the manifesto "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema," article in Cahiers. People also know Bazin as a proponent of encouraging only "appreciative," constructive reviewers.
After World War II, Bazin, a major force, studied. He edited Cahiers until his death, and people then published a posthumous four-volume collection, titled Qu'est-ce que le cinéma? ( What is Cinema? ), to 1962. In the late 1960s and 1970s, people translated two of these volumes, mainstays of courses in the United States and England.
In response to widespread dissatisfaction with existing English translations, Caboos, the publisher of Montréal, in 2009 brought out a translation of selected essays from What is Cinema?
André Bazin founded the renowned and pioneering journal, Cahiers du cinéma.
Bazin saw and argued to depict "objective reality," such as documentaries of the Italian neo-realism school and "invisible" directors, such as Howard Winchester Hawks. He advocated the use of deep focus as George Orson Welles and wide shots as Jean Renoir "in depth," and he preferred "true continuity" through mise en scène over experiments in editing and visual effects. This preference placed him in opposition of the 1920s and 1930s to those who emphasized ability to manipulate reality. Theory of Bazin to leave the interpretation of a scene to the spectator linked the concentration on objective reality, deep focus, and lack of montage.
Bazin thought to represent a personal vision, rooted in the spiritual beliefs, known as personalism, of a director. A pivotal importance of these ideas on the auteur; François Truffaut in 1954 wrote the manifesto "A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema," article in Cahiers. People also know Bazin as a proponent of encouraging only "appreciative," constructive reviewers.
After World War II, Bazin, a major force, studied. He edited Cahiers until his death, and people then published a posthumous four-volume collection, titled Qu'est-ce que le cinéma? ( What is Cinema? ), to 1962. In the late 1960s and 1970s, people translated two of these volumes, mainstays of courses in the United States and England.
In response to widespread dissatisfaction with existing English translations, Caboos, the publisher of Montréal, in 2009 brought out a translation of selected essays from What is Cinema?
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