Orson Welles: A Critical View

by André Bazin, Jonathan Rosenbaum (Translator), François Truffaut (Foreword by)

Traces Welles' career from theatre and radio to Hollywood and Europe.

Genres: Film, Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Theory, Cultural

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Writings 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?

Reviews

[David Sterritt]

So many words have been printed about Orson Welles that André Bazin’s study “Orson Welles: A Critical View,” which devotes roughly equal space to biography and analysis, makes a somewhat muffled impact today. Bazin was greater as a theorist than as a critic, and by now his main insights have been reiterated and reworked by any number of subsequent writers, although his thoughts on classical vs. baroque style, his emphasis on découpage, and his interpretation of Welles’s camera angles remain fresh and valuable. Which is more than enough to keep the book alive for serious cineastes.

[Chris Hall]

Superficial and boring, but the translator’s constant correcting of Bazin is amusing.

[yener]

Sinema tarihinin en büyük yönetmenlerinden bazılarının (Truffaut, Cocteau, Rohmer vb.) ve dev sinema kuramcısı Bazín'in, dehalar dehası Orson Welles üzerine düşünce ve analizleri gerçekten de bulunmaz bir nimet. Kitabın sonunda bu isimlerin Welles ile röportajı ise on bin puanlık bonus. Sinemaseverler kaçırmasın derim.

[Nelson Zagalo]

Excellent study on the artistic persona of Orson Welles and his artworks. A delice to read.

[Jack Herbert Christal Gattanella]

Still remember reading this in college and finding Bazins criticisms nothing short of revelatory. I should hope to revisit this as with his 'What is Cinema?' books throughout my life.

[Tosh]

The best 'French New Wave' critical book on Orson Welles.