Film - one of the 7 major forms of Arts

art film​ noun  ​

Definition of ​art film

1

: a motion picture produced as an artistic or experimental venture

: a film documentary depicting works of art or artists at

Is a film or video considered to be a piece of art?

Film is the most advanced form of art so far created by man. It not only involves visual
images (which is the classic term for what "art" actually meant). However, art now
includes sound and movement. Which film expresses at the highest possible level.

All human art was related to imagery in some form. All examples of human art are visual.
Especially from any era where writing was not available. However, writing is also visually
related. Music is also an "art" but was not considered so until only the last 500 years.
Even dramatic performance was not considered as high art until recently.

Film is the highest form so far developed for visual expression. Art was always
maintained as a form of human expression. With various levels of refinement. Film is
now at the point where any concept imagined in the human mind can be expressed in
film. Something not possible prior to our era. The only element missing from film are 5
dimensional reality. which may not be far off. Then it may become difficult to tell the
difference between what is art and what is reality.

/Clarence-Sherrick
Quora Forum
-------------
“movie”, “film”
"Film" (singular) is often used in a more 'high-brow' sense, in the same way "literature"
might be used instead of "books". So an arts student might study 'film' rather than
'movies'

movie

= moving picture; also, a moving-picture show; a cinema; pl. (freq. the movies), motion
pictures as an industry, an art-form, or a form of entertainment; a cinema or a
cinema-show.

film

A cinematographic representation of a story, drama, episode, event, etc.; a cinema

performance; pl. the cinema, the ‘pictures’, the movies.

[Link]
d-motion-picture

===========

Difference between Movie and Film

Movie and Film are the pictures as considered to be a common word. But
technically both are different. The basic purpose of making the picture
differs in them. Film is generally made for artist and is informative with a
lesson. The purpose behind Film is not to earn profit. Movie is generally
made for entertainment attracting the maximum audience. The purpose
behind Movie is to earn profit.

What is Film?

Film is a picture which is not aimed for profit but it is a piece of art
conveying the information and lesson to the audience. It is mostly liked and
watched by artist type people or the people who belongs to the literature.
Blue Velvet is a film as it is an art film.
What is Movie?

Movie is the source of entertainment, attracting the audience as it is made

according to the liking of the audience. It is aimed for the maximum profit.
Star Trek is a movie, as it is not an art and attracting the audience for
entertainment.

Key Differences

1. Film is an art picture while movie is not an art movie.

2. Film is not aimed for profit earning but movie is aimed for profit
earning.

3. Movie is the source of entertainment but film is not the source of

entertainment.

4. Film is the source of too information but movie is not too much
informative.

5. Film has a great lesson behind it but the lesson behind movie is not
too high.

6. Target audience of film are artists while target audience of movie are
common people.

7. Blue Velvet is a film as it is a piece of art while Star Trek is a movie

as it is an entertainment.

8. “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2004)” ​is a film as it is an art

while “​The Empire Strikes Back (1980)” ​is a successful movie as it
attracted the common people and earned a lot of profit as well.

Comparison between Film and Movie:

 Film Movie

It is a term used for

It is a term used for
movies of an artistic or
commercial cinema
educational nature and is
Definition aimed at a large viewing
not expected to have
audience, in hopes of
broad, commercial
making profit.
appeal.

It may or may not have

Dialogue It has dialogue.
dialogue.

A feature film has a

running time of more
than 60 minutes and a A movie does not have a
Running time.
short film has a running required running time.
time of 40 minutes or
less.

Action movies, comedy

Silent movies,
Examples movies, romantic
biographies, etc.
movies, etc.
A Disease Worse Than Ebola

An unknown infection in a young girl affects her body, which results in her turning into a
monster.

Art film
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Carl Theodor Dreyer​, pictured here in 1965, directed the 1928 film T
​ he Passion of Joan of Arc​, which is 
widely regarded as a landmark of cinema. 

An ​art film​ is typically a serious, ​independent film​, aimed at a n

​ iche market​ rather 

than a ​mass market​audience​.[1]​

​ It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often 

experimental and not designed for mass appeal",​[2]​ "made primarily for aesthetic 

reasons rather than commercial profit",​[3]​ and contains "unconventional or highly 

symbolic content".​[4] 

Film critics​ and f​ ilm studies​ scholars typically define an art film as possessing 

"formal qualities that mark them as different from mainstream Hollywood films".​[5] 

These qualities can include (among other elements): a sense of s

​ ocial realism​; an 

emphasis on the authorial expressiveness of the director; and a focus on the 

thoughts, dreams, or motivations of characters, as opposed to the unfolding of a 

clear, goal-driven story. Film scholar ​David Bordwell​ describes art cinema as "a f​ ilm 

genre​, with its own distinct conventions".​[6] 

Art ​film producers​ usually present their films at special theaters (​repertory cinemas 

or, in the U.S., art-house cinemas) and at f​ ilm festivals​. The term ​art film​ is much 

more widely used in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia, compared to 
the mainland Europe, where the terms ​auteur films​ and n
​ ational cinema​ (e.g. German 

national cinema) are used instead. Since they are aimed at small, niche-market 

audiences, art films rarely acquire the financial backing that would permit large 

production budgets associated with w

​ idely released​ ​blockbuster​ films. Art film 

directors make up for these constraints by creating a different type of film, one that 
typically uses lesser-known film actors (or even amateur actors), and modest sets to 

make films that focus much more on developing ideas, exploring new narrative 

techniques, and attempting new film-making conventions. 

A certain degree of experience and knowledge is generally required to fully 

understand or appreciate such films. Film critic ​Roger Ebert​called ​Chungking 

Express​, a critically acclaimed 1994 art film, "largely a cerebral experience" that one 

enjoys "because of what you know about film".​[7]​ This contrasts sharply with 

mainstream blockbuster films, which are geared more towards ​escapism​ and pure 
entertainment. For promotion, art films rely on the publicity generated from film 

critics' reviews; discussion of the 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 

mainstream​ audiences to become financially viable. 

Contents 
History

Antecedents: 1910–1920s 

 
  

Theatrical posters for L

​ 'Inferno​ and I​ ntolerance​, often credited by cinema historians as the first art 
films. 

The forerunners of art films include Italian silent film ​L'Inferno​ (1911), D
​ . W. Griffith​'s 

Intolerance​ (1916) and the works of Russian filmmaker S

​ ergei Eisenstein​, who 

influenced the development of European cinema movements for decades.​[8]​[9]​[10] 

Eisenstein's film ​Battleship Potemkin​ (1925) was a revolutionary propaganda film he 

used to test his theories of using f​ ilm editing​ to produce the greatest emotional 

response from an audience. The international critical renown that Eisenstein 

garnered from this film enabled him to direct ​October​ as part of a grand 10th 

anniversary celebration of the O

​ ctober Revolution​ of 1917. He later directed ​The 

General Line​ in 1929. 

Art films were also influenced by films by Spanish ​avant-garde​ creators, such as L
​ uis 

Buñuel​ and ​Salvador Dalí​ (who made ​L'Age d'Or​ in 1930), and by the French 

playwright and filmmaker J

​ ean Cocteau​, whose 1930's avant-garde film ​The Blood of 

a Poet​ uses ​oneiric​ images throughout, including spinning wire models of a human 

head and rotating double-sided masks. In the 1920s, film societies began advocating 

the notion that films could be divided into "entertainment cinema directed towards a 
mass audience and a serious art cinema aimed at an intellectual audience". In 

England, ​Alfred Hitchcock​ and I​ vor Montagu​ formed a film society and imported 

films 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".​[8] 

Cinéma pur​, a French avant-garde film movement in the 1920s and 1930s, also 
influenced the development of the idea of art film. The ​cinema pur​ film movement 

included several notable ​Dada​ artists. The Dadaists used film to transcend narrative 

storytelling conventions, bourgeois traditions, and conventional Aristotelian notions 

of time and space by creating a flexible montage of time and space. 

U.S. photographer and filmmaker ​Man Ray​ (pictured here in 1934) was part of the ​Dadaist​ "​ cinéma pur" 
film movement, which influenced the development of the art film. 

The c
​ inema pur​ movement was influenced by German "absolute" filmmakers such as 

Hans Richter​, W
​ alter Ruttmann​ and V
​ iking Eggeling​. Richter falsely claimed that his 
1921 film ​Rhythmus 21​ was the first a
​ bstract film​ ever created. In fact, he was 
preceded by the Italian F
​ uturists​ ​Bruno Corra​ and ​Arnaldo Ginna​between 1911 and 

1912​[11]​ (as reported in the F

​ uturist Manifesto of Cinema​[11]​), as well as by fellow 

German artist Walter Ruttmann, who produced ​Lichtspiel Opus 1​ in 1920. 

Nevertheless, Richter's film R
​ hythmus 21​ is considered an important early abstract 

film. 

1930s–1950s 

In the 1930s and 1940s, Hollywood films could be divided into the artistic aspirations 

of literary adaptations like ​John Ford​'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), P

​ aisa​ (1946), and B
​ icycle Thieves​ can 

be deemed as another "conscious art film movement".​[8] 

In the late 1940s, the U.S. 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 U.S. cities and college 

towns. After the Second World War, "...a growing segment of the American film going 

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".​[5]​ 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 
(​Whisky Galore!​), ​Bicycle Thieves​ and T
​ he Red Shoes​ were shown to substantial U.S. 

audiences.​[5] 

In the late 1950s, F

​ rench filmmakers​ began to produce films that were influenced by 

Italian Neorealism​[12]​ and c

​ lassical Hollywood cinema​,​[12]​ a style that critics called 

the ​French New Wave​. Although never a formally organized movement, New Wave 

filmmakers were linked by their self-conscious rejection of classical cinematic form 

and their spirit of youthful ​iconoclasm​, and their films are an example of ​European 

art cinema​.​[13]​ Many also engaged in their work with the social and political 

upheavals of the era, making their radical experiments with editing, visual style and 

narrative part of a general break with the conservative paradigm. Some of the most 

prominent pioneers among the group, including F

​ rançois Truffaut​, J
​ ean-Luc Godard​, 

Éric Rohmer​, C
​ laude Chabrol​, and J
​ acques Rivette​, began as critics for the film 

magazine ​Cahiers du cinéma​. Auteur theory holds that the ​director​ is the "author" of 

his films, with a personal signature visible from film to film. 

1960s–1970s 
  

Actress ​Lena Nyman​ from the Swedish film ​I Am Curious (Yellow) 

The French New Wave movement continued into the 1960s. During the 1960s, the 

term "art film" began to be much more widely used in the United States than in 

Europe. In the U.S., the term is often defined very broadly to include foreign-language 

(non-English) "​ auteur"​ films, ​independent films​, e

​ xperimental films​, documentaries 

and short films. In the 1960s, "art film" became a e

​ uphemism​ in the U.S. for racy 

Italian and French ​B-movies​. By the 1970s, the term was used to describe ​sexually 
explicit​ European films with artistic structure such as the Swedish film I​ Am Curious 

(Yellow)​. In the U.S., the term "art film" may refer to films by modern American artists, 

including ​Andy Warhol​ with his 1969 film ​Blue Movie​,[14]​

​ [15]​[16]​but is sometimes used 

very loosely to refer to the broad range of films shown in repertory theaters or "art 

house cinemas". With this approach, a broad range of films, such as a 1960s 

Hitchcock​ film, a 1970s experimental underground film, a European auteur film, a 

U.S. "independent" film, and even a mainstream foreign-language film (with subtitles) 

might all fall under the rubric of "art house films". 

1980s–2000s 
By the 1980s and 1990s, the term "art film" became conflated with "independent film" 

in the U.S., which shares many of the same stylistic traits. Companies such as 

Miramax Films​ distributed i​ ndependent films​ that were deemed commercially viable. 

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 Pictures​ division of ​Twentieth Century Fox​, the ​Focus Features​ division 

of ​Universal​, the S
​ ony Pictures Classics​ division of ​Sony Pictures Entertainment​, and 

the ​Paramount Vantage​ division of ​Paramount​. Film critics have debated whether 

films from these divisions can be considered "independent films", given they have 

financial backing from major studios. 

In 2007, Professor C
​ amille Paglia​ argued in her article "Art movies: R.I.P." that 

"[a]side from F
​ rancis Ford Coppola​'s ​Godfather​ series, with its deft flashbacks and 

gritty social realism, ...[there is not]... a single film produced over the past 35 years 

that is arguably of equal philosophical weight or virtuosity of execution to ​Bergman​'s 

The Seventh Seal​ or ​Persona​". Paglia states that young people from the 2000s do not 

"have patience for the long, slow take that deep-think European directors once 

specialized in", an approach which gave "luxurious scrutiny of the tiniest facial 

expressions or the chilly sweep of a sterile room or bleak landscape".​[17] 

According to director, producer, and distributor R

​ oger Corman​, the "1950s and 1960s 

was the time of the art film's greatest influence. After that, the influence waned. 

Hollywood absorbed the lessons of the European films and incorporated those 

lessons into their films." Corman states that "viewers could see something of the 

essence of the European art cinema in the Hollywood movies of the seventies... [and 

so], art film, which was never just a matter of European cinema, increasingly became 

an actual world cinema—albeit one that struggled to gain wide recognition". Corman 
notes that, "Hollywood itself has expanded, radically, its aesthetic range... because 

the range of subjects at hand has expanded to include the very conditions of 

image-making, of movie production, of the new and prismatic media-mediated 

experience of modernity. There's a new audience that has learned about art films at 

the video store." Corman states that "there is currently the possibility of a rebirth" of 

American art film.​[18] 

Deviations from mainstream film norms

Film scholar David Bordwell outlined the academic definition of "art film" in a 1979 

article entitled "The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice", which contrasts art 

films with the mainstream films of classical Hollywood cinema. Mainstream 

Hollywood-style films use a clear ​narrative​ form to organize the film into a series of 

"causally related events taking place in space and time", with every scene driving 

towards a goal. The ​plot​ of mainstream films is driven by a well-defined protagonist, 

fleshed out with clear characters, and strengthened with "question-and-answer logic, 
problem-solving routines, [and] deadline plot structures". The film is then tied 

together with fast pacing, a musical soundtrack to cue the appropriate audience 

emotions, and tight, seamless ​editing​.​[19] 

In contrast, Bordwell states that "the art cinema motivates its narrative by two 

principles: r​ ealism​ and authorial expressiveness". Art films deviate from the 

mainstream "classical" norms of film making in that they typically deal with more 

episodic narrative structures with a "loosening of the chain of cause and effect".​[19] 
Mainstream films also deal with moral dilemmas or identity crises, but these issues 

are usually resolved by the end of the film. In art films, the dilemmas are probed and 

investigated in a pensive fashion, but usually without a clear resolution at the end of 

the film.​[20] 

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 the a

​ uthorial​approach of the 

director.​[21]​ An art cinema film often refuses to provide a "readily answered 

conclusion", instead putting to the cinema viewer the task of thinking about "how is 

the story being told? Why tell the story in this way?"​[22] 

Bordwell claims that "art cinema itself is a [film] genre, with its own distinct 

conventions".​[6]​ Film theorist ​Robert Stam​ also argues that "art film" is a film genre. 

He claims that a film is considered to be an art film based on artistic status in the 

same way film genres can be based on aspects of films such as their budgets 

(​blockbuster​ films or ​B-movies​) or their star performers (​Adam Sandler​ films).​[23] 

Art Film and Film Criticism

There are scholars who point out that mass market films such as those produced in 

Hollywood appeal to a less discerning audience.​[24]​ This group then turns to film 

critics as a cultural elite that can help steer them towards films that are more 

thoughtful and of a higher quality. To bridge the disconnect between popular taste 

and high culture, these film critics are expected to explain unfamiliar concepts and 

make them appealing to cultivate a more discerning movie-going public. For 

example, a film critic can help the audience—through his reviews—think seriously 

about films by providing the terms of analysis of these art films.​[25]​ Adopting an 

artistic framework of film analysis and review, these film critics provide viewers with 

a different way to appreciate what they are watching. So when controversial themes 

such as lesbianism or torture are shown, the public will not immediately dismiss or 

attack the movie where they are informed by critics of the film's value such as how it 

depicts realism. Here, art theaters or art houses that exhibit art films are seen as 

"sites of cultural enlightenment" that draw critics and intellectual audiences alike. It 

serves as a place where these critics can experience culture and an artistic 

atmosphere where they can draw insights and material. 

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, non-commercial, 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 G
​ us Van 

Sant​'s ​My Own Private Idaho​ (1991) an "exercise in film experimentation" of "high 

artistic quality",​[26]​ ​The Washington Post​ called it an ambitious mainstream film.​[27] 

Some films on 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 on 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 film-making technique. 

1920s–1940s 

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 

sophisticated aesthetic objectives, such as C

​ arl Theodor Dreyer​'s ​The Passion of 

Joan of Arc​ (1928) and ​Vampyr​ (1932), surrealist films such as Luis Buñuel's ​Un 

chien andalou​ (1929) and ​L'Âge d'Or​ (1930), or even films dealing with political and 

current-event relevance such as S

​ ergei Eisenstein​'s famed and influential 

masterpiece ​Battleship Potemkin​. The U.S. film ​Sunrise: A Song of Two 

Humans​(1927) by G
​ erman Expressionist​ director F
​ . W. Murnau​ uses distorted ​art 

design​ and groundbreaking cinematography to create an exaggerated, fairy-tale-like 

world rich with symbolism and imagery. ​Jean Renoir​'s film ​The Rules of the Game 

(1939) is a c
​ omedy of manners​that transcends the conventions of the its genre by 

creating a biting and tragic satire of French upper-class society in the years before 
WWII; a poll of critics from ​Sight & Sound​ ranked it as the fourth greatest film ever, 

placing it behind ​Vertigo​, C ​ okyo Story​.​[28] 

​ itizen Kane​ and T

The poster for Dreyer's ​The Passion of Joan of Arc 

Some of these early, artistically-oriented films were financed by wealthy individuals 

rather than film companies, particularly in cases where the content of the film was 

controversial or unlikely to attract an audience. In the late 1940s, UK director ​Michael 

Powell​ and ​Emeric Pressburger​ made ​The Red Shoes​(1948), a film about ballet, 

which stood out from mainstream-genre films of the era. In 1945, ​David Lean​directed 

Brief Encounter​, an adaptation of ​Noël Coward​'s play ​Still Life​, which observes a 

passionate love affair between an upper-class man and a middle-class woman 

amidst the social and economic issues that Britain faced at the time. 
1950s 

In the 1950s, some of the well-known films with artistic sensibilities include ​La 

Strada​ (1954), a film about a young woman who is forced to go to work for a cruel 

and inhumane circus performer in order to support her family, and eventually comes 

to terms with her situation; Carl Theodor Dreyer's O

​ rdet​ (1955), centering on a family 

with a lack of faith, but with a son who believes that he is J

​ esus Christ​ and 

convinced that he is capable of performing miracles; ​Federico Fellini​'s ​Nights of 

Cabiria​ (1957), which deals with a prostitute's failed attempts to find love, her 

suffering and rejection; ​Wild Strawberries​ (1957), by Ingmar Bergman, whose 

narrative concerns an elderly medical doctor, who is also a professor, whose 

nightmares lead him to re-evaluate his life; and ​The 400 Blows​ (1959) by François 

Truffaut, whose main character is a young man trying to come of age despite abuse 

from his parents, schoolteachers, and society. In Poland, the ​Khrushchev Thaw 

permitted some relaxation of the regime's cultural policies, and productions such as 

A Generation​, K
​ anal​, A
​ shes and Diamonds​, L
​ otna​ (1954–1959), all directed by ​Andrzej 

Wajda​, showed the P

​ olish Film School​ style. 

Asia 
In ​India​, there was an art-film movement in ​Bengali cinema​ known as "​Parallel 

Cinema​" or "Indian New Wave". This was an alternative to the mainstream 

commercial cinema known for its serious content, ​realism​ and naturalism, with a 

keen eye on the social-political climate of the times. This movement is distinct from 

mainstream ​Bollywood​ cinema and began around the same time as ​French​ and 

Japanese New Wave​. The most influential filmmakers involved in this movement 

were ​Satyajit Ray​, M

​ rinal Sen​ and ​Ritwik Ghatak​. Some of the most internationally 

acclaimed films made in the period were T

​ he Apu Trilogy​ (1955–1959), a trio of films 

that tell the story of a poor country boy's growth to adulthood, and ​Satyajit Ray​'s 

Distant Thunder​ (1973), which tells the story of a farmer during a ​famine in 

Bengal​.​[29]​[30]​ Other acclaimed B

​ engali​ filmmakers involved in this movement include 

Rituparno Ghosh​, A
​ parna Sen​ and G
​ outam Ghose​. 

Japanese filmmakers​ produced a number of films that broke with convention. ​Akira 

Kurosawa​'s R
​ ashomon​ (1950), the first Japanese film to be widely screened in the 

West, depicts four witnesses' contradictory accounts of a rape and murder. In 1952, 

Kurosawa directed ​Ikiru​, a film about a Tokyo bureaucrat struggling to find a 

meaning for his life. ​Tokyo Story​ (1953), by Y

​ asujirō Ozu​, explores social changes of 

the era by telling the story of an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown 

children, but find the children are too self-absorbed to spend much time with them. 

Seven Samurai​ (1954), by Kurosawa, tells the story of a farming village that hires 

seven master-less samurais to combat bandits. ​Fires on the Plain​ (1959), by K

​ on 

Ichikawa​, explores the Japanese experience in World War II by depicting a sick 

Japanese soldier struggling to stay alive. ​Ugetsu​ (1953), by K

​ enji Mizoguchi​, is a 

ghost story set in the late 16th century, which tells the story of peasants whose 

village is in the path of an advancing army. A year later, Mizoguchi directed ​Sansho 

the Bailiff​ (1954), which tells the story of two aristocratic children sold into slavery; in 
addition to dealing with serious themes such as the loss of freedom, the film 

features beautiful images and long, complicated shots. 

1960s 

The 1960s was an important period in art film, with the release of a number of 

groundbreaking films giving rise to the European art cinema. Jean-Luc Godard's ​À 

bout de souffle​ (​Breathless​) (1960) used innovative visual and editing techniques 

such as ​jump cuts​ and h

​ and-held camera​ work. Godard, a leading figure of the 

French New Wave, would continue to make innovative films throughout the decade, 

proposing a whole new style of film-making. Following the success of ​Breathless​, 

Goddard made two more very influential films, ​Contempt​ and P

​ ierrot le fou​, in 1963 

and 1965 respectively. J

​ ules et Jim​, by François Truffaut, deconstructed a complex 

relationship of three individuals through innovative screenwriting, editing, and 

camera techniques. Italian director M

​ ichelangelo Antonioni​ helped revolutionize 

filmmaking with such films as ​La Notte​ (1961), a complex examination of a failed 

marriage that dealt with issues such as ​anomie​ and sterility; ​Eclipse​ (1962), about a 

young woman who is unable to form a solid relationship with her boyfriend because 

of his materialistic nature; ​Red Desert​ (1964), his first color film, which deals with the 

need to adapt to the modern world; and ​Blowup​ (1966), his first English-language 

film, which examines issues of perception and reality as it follows a young 

photographer's attempt to discover whether he had photographed a murder. 

Swedish director​ Ingmar Bergman began the 1960s with chamber pieces such as 

Winter Light​ (1963) and ​The Silence​ (1963), which deal with such themes as 
emotional isolation and a lack of communication. His films from the second half of 
the decade, such as P
​ ersona​ (1966), S
​ hame​ (1968), and A
​ Passion​ (1969), deal with 

the idea of film as an artifice. The intellectual and visually expressive films of 

Tadeusz Konwicki​, such as ​All Souls' Day​ (​Zaduszki​, 1961) and S

​ alto​ (1962), inspired 

discussions about war and raised existential questions on behalf of their everyman 

protagonists. 

Italian director ​Federico Fellini 

Federico Fellini's L
​ a Dolce Vita​ (1960) depicts a succession of nights and dawns in 

Rome as witnessed by a cynical journalist. In 1963, Fellini made 8

​ ½​, an exploration of 

creative, marital and spiritual difficulties, filmed in black-and-white by 

cinematographer G
​ ianni di Venanzo​. The 1961 film L
​ ast Year at Marienbad​ by 

director ​Alain Resnais​ examines perception and reality, using grand tracking shots 

that became widely influential. R

​ obert Bresson​'s ​Au Hasard Balthazar​ (1966) and 

Mouchette​ (1967) are notable for their naturalistic, elliptical style. Spanish director 
Luis Buñuel also contributed heavily to the art of film with shocking, surrealist satires 

such as ​Viridiana​ (1961) and ​The Exterminating Angel​ (1962). 

Russian director​ A
​ ndrei Tarkovsky​'s film A
​ ndrei Rublev​ (1966) is a portrait of the 

medieval Russian i​ con painter​ of the same name. The film is also about artistic 

freedom and the possibility and necessity of making art for, and in the face of, a 

repressive authority. A cut version of the film was shown at the 1

​ 969 Cannes Film 

Festival​, where it won the ​FIPRESCI prize​.​[31]​ At the end of the decade, ​Stanley 

Kubrick​'s ​2001: A Space Odyssey​ (1968) wowed audiences with its scientific realism, 

pioneering use of special effects, and unusual visual imagery. In 1969, Andy Warhol 

released ​Blue Movie​, the first adult art film depicting explicit sex to receive wide 

theatrical release in the United States.​[14]​[15]​[16]​ According to Warhol, ​Blue Movie​ was 

a major influence in the making of L

​ ast Tango in Paris​, an internationally 

controversial erotic art film, directed by ​Bernardo Bertolucci​ and released a few years 

after ​Blue Movie​ was made.​[16]​ In S

​ oviet​ ​Armenia​, S
​ ergei Parajanov​'s ​The Color of 

Pomegranates​, in which ​Georgian​ actress S

​ ofiko Chiaureli​ plays five different 

characters, was banned by Soviet authorities, unavailable in the West for a long 

period, and praised by critic ​Mikhail Vartanov​ as "revolutionary";​[32]​ and in the early 

1980s, ​Les Cahiers du Cinéma​ placed the film in its top 10 list.​[33]​ In 1967, in ​Soviet 

Georgia​, influential Georgian film director T

​ engiz Abuladze​ directed V
​ edreba 

(Entreaty), which was based on the motifs of ​Vaja-Pshavela​'s literary works, where 

story is told in a poetic narrative style, full of symbolic scenes with philosophical 

meanings. 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 
In the early 1970s, directors shocked audiences with violent films such as ​A 

Clockwork Orange​ (1971), Stanley Kubrick's brutal exploration of futuristic youth 

gangs, and L
​ ast Tango in Paris​ (1972), B
​ ernardo Bertolucci​'s taboo-breaking, 

sexually-explicit and controversial film. At the same time, other directors made more 

introspective films, such as ​Andrei Tarkovsky​'s meditative science fiction film ​Solaris 

(1972), supposedly intended as a Soviet riposte to 2

​ 001​. In 1975 and 1979 

respectively, Tarkovsky directed two other films, which garnered critical acclaim 

overseas: T
​ he Mirror​ and S
​ talker​. ​Terrence Malick​, who directed ​Badlands​ (1973) and 

Days of Heaven​ (1978) shared many traits with Tarkovsky, such as his long, lingering 

shots of natural beauty, evocative imagery, and poetic narrative style. 

Another feature of 1970s art films was the return to prominence of bizarre 

characters and imagery, which abound in the tormented, obsessed title character in 

German New Wave​ director W

​ erner Herzog​'s ​Aguirre, the Wrath of God​ (1973), and in 

cult films​ such as ​Alejandro Jodorowsky​'s psychedelic ​The Holy Mountain​ (1973) 

about a thief and an alchemist seeking the mythical ​Lotus Island​.​[34]​ The film ​Taxi 

Driver​(1976), by M
​ artin Scorsese​, continues the themes that ​A Clockwork Orange 

explored: an alienated population living in a violent, decaying society. The gritty 

violence and seething rage of Scorsese's film contrasts other films released in the 

same period, such as ​David Lynch​'s dreamlike, surreal E

​ raserhead​ (1977). In 1974, 

John Cassavetes​ offered a sharp commentary on American blue-collar life in A

​  

Woman Under the Influence​, which features an eccentric housewife slowly 

descending into madness. 

Also in the 1970s, ​Radley Metzger​ directed several ​adult art films​, such as ​Barbara 

​ urrealistic​ "Buñellian" atmosphere,​[35]​ and T

Broadcast​ (1977), which presented a s ​ he 

Opening of Misty Beethoven​ (1976), based on the play ​Pygmalion​ by ​George Bernard 

Shaw​ (and its derivative, ​My Fair Lady​), which was considered, according to 

award-winning author ​Toni Bentley​, to be the "crown jewel" of the ​Golden Age of 

Porn​,​[36]​[37]​an era in modern American culture that was inaugurated by the release of 

Andy Warhol's ​Blue Movie​ (1969) and featured the phenomenon of "​porno chic​"​[38]​[39] 

in which ​adult erotic​ films began to obtain wide release, were publicly discussed by 

​ ohnny Carson​and ​Bob Hope​)​[40]​ and taken seriously by film 

celebrities (such as J

critics (such as ​Roger Ebert​).​[41]​[42] 

1980s 

In 1980, director ​Martin Scorsese​ shocked audiences, who had become used to the 

escapist blockbuster adventures of ​Steven Spielberg​ and G

​ eorge Lucas​, with the 
gritty, harsh realism of his film ​Raging Bull​. In this film, actor R
​ obert De Niro​ took 

method acting​ to an extreme to portray a boxer's decline from a prizewinning young 

fighter to an overweight, "has-been" nightclub owner. R

​ idley Scott​'s ​Blade 

Runner​(1982) could also be seen as a science fiction art film, along with 2
​ 001: A 

Space Odyssey​ (1968). B

​ lade Runner​ explores themes of e
​ xistentialism​, or what it 

means to be human. A box-office failure, the film became popular on the arthouse 

circuit as a ​cult oddity​ after the release of a "director's cut" became successful via 

VHS​ home video. In the middle of the decade, Japanese director Akira Kurosawa 
used realism to portray the brutal, bloody violence of Japanese samurai warfare of 

the 16th century in R

​ an​ (1985). R
​ an​ followed the plot of K
​ ing Lear​, in which an elderly 

king is betrayed by his children. ​Sergio Leone​ also contrasted brutal violence with 

emotional substance in his epic tale of mobster life in ​Once Upon a Time in America​. 

While extensive sets are associated more with mainstream than with art films, Japanese director Akira 
Kurosawa had many sets built for his 1985 film R
​ an​, including this recreation of a medieval gate. 

Other directors in the 1980s chose a more intellectual path, exploring philosophical 

and ethical issues. ​Andrzej Wajda​'s ​Man of Iron​ (1981), a critique of the Polish 

communist government, won the 1981 ​Palme d'Or​ at the C

​ annes Film Festival​. 

Another Polish director, ​Krzysztof Kieślowski​, made T

​ he Decalogue​ for television in 

1988, a film series that explores ethical issues and moral puzzles. Two of these films 

were released theatrically as ​A Short Film About Love​ and A

​ Short Film About Killing​. 

In 1989, ​Woody Allen​ made, in the words of ​New York Times​ critic V
​ incent Canby​, his 

most "securely serious and funny film to date", ​Crimes and Misdemeanors​, which 

involves multiple stories of people who are trying to find moral and spiritual 

simplicity while facing dire issues and thoughts surrounding the choices they make. 

French director ​Louis Malle​ chose another moral path to explore with the 

dramatization of his real-life childhood experiences in ​Au revoir, les enfants​, which 
depicts the occupying Nazi government's deportation of French Jews to 
concentration camps during World War II. 

Kieślowski was not the only director to transcend the distinction between the cinema 

and television. ​Ingmar Bergman​ made F

​ anny and Alexander​ (1982), which was 

shown on television in an extended five-hour version. In the United Kingdom, ​Channel 

4​, a new television channel, financed, in whole or in part, many films released 

theatrically through its ​Film 4​ subsidiary. ​Wim Wenders​ offered another approach to 

life from a spiritual standpoint in his 1987 film ​Wings of Desire​, a depiction of a 

"fallen angel" who lives among men, which won the ​Best Director Award​ at the 

Cannes Film Festival​. In 1982, experimental director ​Godfrey Reggio​ released 

Koyaanisqatsi​, a film without dialogue, which emphasizes cinematography and 

philosophical ideology. It consists primarily of ​slow motion​ and t​ ime-lapse 

cinematography of cities and natural landscapes, which results in a visual ​tone 

poem​.[43] 
​

Another approach used by directors in the 1980s was to create bizarre, surreal 

alternative 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), a f​ ilm 

noir​-style thriller-mystery filled with symbolism and metaphors about polarized 

worlds and inhabited by distorted characters who are hidden in the seamy 

underworld of a small town, became surprisingly successful considering its highly 

disturbing subject matter. ​Peter Greenaway​'s ​The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her 

Lover​ (1989) is a fantasy/​black comedy​ about ​cannibalism​and extreme violence with 

an intellectual theme: a critique of "​elite​ culture" in T

​ hatcherian​ Britain. 

According to ​Raphaël Bassan​, in his article "​The Angel​: Un météore dans le ciel de 

l'animation",​[44]​ P
​ atrick Bokanowski​'s ​The Angel​, shown at the ​1982 Cannes Film 

Festival​, can be considered the beginning of contemporary animation. The 

characters' masks erase all human personality and give the impression of total 

control over the "matter" of the image and its optical composition, using distorted 

areas, obscure visions, metamorphoses, and synthetic objects. 

1990s 

In the 1990s, directors took inspiration from the success of ​David Lynch​'s ​Blue Velvet 

(1986) and P
​ eter Greenaway​'s ​The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover​ (1989) and 

created films with bizarre alternative worlds and elements of surrealism. Japanese 

director Akira Kurosawa's D

​ reams​ (1990) 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. The ​Coen 

brothers​' ​Barton Fink​ (1991), which won the ​Palme d'Or​ at the ​Cannes Film Festival​, 

features various literary allusions in an enigmatic story about a writer who 

encounters a range of bizarre characters, including an alcoholic, abusive novelist and 

a serial killer. ​Lost Highway​ (1997), from the same director as ​Blue Velvet​, 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. ​Gus Van Sant​'s ​My Own Private Idaho 

(1991) and W
​ ong Kar-wai​'s ​Chungking Express​ (1994) explored the theme of identity. 

The former is an independent road movie/buddy film about two young street 

hustlers, which explores the theme of the search for home and identity. It was called 

a "high-water mark in '90s independent film",​[45]​ a "stark, poetic rumination",​[46]​ and 

an "exercise in film experimentation"​[47]​ of "high artistic quality".​[26]​Chungking 

Express​[48]​ explores themes of identity, disconnection, loneliness, and isolation in the 

"metaphoric concrete jungle" of modern Hong Kong. 

Daryush Shokof​'s film ​Seven Servants​ (1996) is an original high art cinema piece 

about a man who strives to "unite" the world's races until his last breath. One year 

after ​Seven Servants​, A ​ aste of Cherry​ (1997),​[49]​ which won 

​ bbas Kiarostami​'s film T

the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, tells a similar tale with a different twist; 

both films are about a man trying to hire a person to bury him after he commits 

suicide. ​Seven Servants​ was shot in a minimalist style, with long takes, a leisurely 

pace, and long periods of silence. The film is also notable for its use of long shots 

and overhead shots to create a sense of distance between the audience and the 

characters. ​Zhang Yimou​'s early 1990s works such as J

​ u Dou​ (1990), R
​ aise the Red 

Lantern​ (1991), T
​ he Story of Qiu Ju​ (1992) and ​To Live​ (1994) explore human 

emotions through poignant narratives. T

​ o Live​ won the Grand Jury Prize. 

Several 1990s films explored existentialist-oriented themes related to life, chance, 

and death. ​Robert Altman​'s ​Short Cuts​ (1993) explores themes of chance, death, and 

infidelity by tracing 10 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​ critic 

Michael Wilmington. ​Krzysztof Kieślowski​'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; the film features stylized cinematography, an ethereal atmosphere, and 

unexplained supernatural elements. 

Darren Aronofsky​'s film P

​ i​ (1998) is an "incredibly complex and ambiguous film filled 

with both incredible style and substance" about a paranoid mathematician's "search 

for peace".​[50]​ The film creates a D

​ avid Lynch​-inspired "eerie E
​ raserhead​-like 
world"​[51]​ shot in "black-and-white, which lends a dream-like atmosphere to all of the 

proceedings" and explores issues such as "metaphysics and spirituality".​[52]​ M

​ atthew 

Barney​'s ​The Cremaster Cycle​ (1994–2002) is a cycle of five symbolic, allegorical 

films that creates a self-enclosed aesthetic system, aimed to explore the process of 

creation. The films are filled with allusions to reproductive organs and sexual 

development, and use narrative models drawn from biography, mythology, and 

geology. 

In 1997, ​Terrence Malick​ returned from a 20-year absence with ​The Thin Red Line​, a 
war film that uses poetry and nature to stand apart from typical war movies. It was 

nominated for seven ​Academy Awards​, including Best Picture and Best Director. 

Some 1990s films mix an ethereal or surreal visual atmosphere with the exploration 

of philosophical issues. ​Satantango​ (1994), by the H

​ ungarian director​ ​Bela Tarr​, is a ​7 

  

1​
⁄​2​-hour-long film, shot in ​black and white​, that deals with Tarr's favorite theme, 

inadequacy, as ​con man​Irimias comes back to a village at an unspecified location in 

Hungary, presenting himself as a leader and ​Messiah figure​ to the gullible villagers. 

Kieslowski's T
​ hree Colors​ trilogy (1993–4), particularly ​Blue​ (1993) and ​Red​ (1994), 

deal with human relationships and how people cope with them in their day-to-day 

lives. The trilogy of films was called "explorations of spirituality and 

existentialism"​[53]​ that created a "truly transcendent experience".​[54]​ ​The Guardian 

listed ​Breaking the Waves​ (1996) as one of its top 25 arthouse films. The reviewer 

stated that "[a]ll the ingredients that have come to define ​Lars von Trier​'s career (and 

in turn, much of modern European cinema) are present here: high-wire acting, 

innovative visual techniques, a suffering heroine, issue-grappling drama, and a 

galvanising shot of controversy to make the whole thing unmissable".​[55] 

2000s 

A number of films from the 2000s with art film qualities were notable for their use of 
innovative filmmaking or editing techniques. M
​ emento​(2001), a psychological thriller 

directed by ​Christopher Nolan​, is about a man suffering from short-term memory 

loss. The film is edited so that the plot is revealed backwards in ten-minute chunks, 

simulating the condition of memory loss. ​Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless 

Mind​(2004) is a romance film directed by ​Michel Gondry​ about a man who hires a 

company to erase the memory of a bad relationship. The film uses a range of special 

effects techniques and camera work to depict the destruction of the man's 

memories and his transitions from one memory to another. 

Timecode​ (2000), a film directed by M

​ ike Figgis​, uses a split screen to show four 

continuous 90-minute takes that follow four storylines. R

​ ussian Ark​ (2002), a film 

directed by ​Alexander Sokurov​, took Figgis' use of extended takes even further; it is 

notable for being the first feature film shot in a single, unedited take. ​Waking Life 

(2001), an animated film directed by Richard Linklater, uses an innovative digital 

rotoscope​ technique to depict a young man stuck in a dream.​[56] 

  

The stars and director of the film ​Mulholland Drive​ at the 2001 C
​ annes Film Festival​. Left to right: 
Actress ​Naomi Watts​, director D
​ avid Lynch​, and actress L
​ aura Harring​ and actor J
​ ustin Theroux​. 

Several 2000s-era films explored the theme of a

​ mnesia​ or memory, but unlike 

Memento​, they did so through the use of narrative techniques rather than filmmaking 

and editing methods. M

​ ulholland Drive​(2001), directed by D
​ avid Lynch​, is initially 

about a young woman who moves to Hollywood and discovers that an amnesiac is 

living in her house; as the plot progresses, it becomes apparent that the film is 
holding something deeper in terms of its plot and characters. ​Oldboy​ (2003), directed 

by ​Park Chan-wook​, is about a man imprisoned by a mysterious and brutal captor for 

15 years. After his abrupt release, he must then chase his old memories. P
​ eppermint 

Candy​ (2000), directed by ​Lee Chang-dong​, starts with the suicide of the male 

protagonist, and then uses reverse chronology (similar to ​Memento​) to depict the 

events of the last 20 years, which led the man to want to kill himself. 

Some notable films from the 2000s are considered to possess art film qualities yet 

differed from mainstream films due to controversial subject matter or narrative form. 

For example, G
​ us Van Sant​'s film E
​ lephant​ (2003), which depicts m
​ ass murder​ at a 

high school and echoes the C

​ olumbine High School​ massacre, won top prize at the 

Cannes Film Festival. Other films of his include ​Gerry​, ​Last Days​, and ​Paranoid Park​. 

Todd Haynes​' complex deconstruction of ​Bob Dylan​'s persona, ​I'm Not There​ (2007), 

tells its story using non-traditional narrative techniques, intercutting the storylines of 

the six different Dylan-inspired characters. Mexican director ​Guillermo del Toro​'s film 
Pan's Labyrinth​ uses ​computer-generated imagery​ (CGI) to create a fantastical world, 

imagined by a ten-year-old girl to block out the horror of the ​Spanish Civil War​. 

Lewis Beale of ​Film Journal International​ stated that Australian director A

​ ndrew 

Dominik​'s western film ​The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 

(2007) is "a fascinating, literary-based work that succeeds as both art and genre 

film".​[57]​ Unlike the action-oriented J

​ esse James​ films of the past, Dominik's 

unconventional epic perhaps more accurately details the outlaw's relinquishing 

psyche during the final months of his life as he succumbs to the paranoia of being 

captured and develops a precarious friendship with his eventual assassin, R

​ obert 

Ford​. In 2009, director P

​ aul Thomas Anderson​ claimed that his film P
​ unch-Drunk 

Love​ about a shy, repressed rage-aholic was "an art house A

​ dam Sandler​ film", a 

reference to the unlikely inclusion of "frat boy" comic Sandler in the film; critic Roger 

Ebert claims that P

​ unch Drunk Love​ "may be the key to all of the Adam Sandler films, 

and may liberate Sandler for a new direction in his work. He can't go on making 

those moronic comedies forever, can he? Who would have guessed he had such 

uncharted depths?"​[58] 

2010s 

The CNN review of Thai director A

​ pichatpong Weerasethakul​'s ​Uncle Boonmee Who 

Can Recall His Past Lives​ (2010) called it "an art film for everyone", unlike his earlier 

films, which were "considered inaccessible art house fare". This film, which won the 

2010 Cannes Palme d'Or, "ties together what might just be a series of beautifully 

shot scenes with moving and funny musings on the nature of death and 
reincarnation, love, loss, and karma".​[59]​ Weerasethakul is an independent film 

director, ​screenwriter​, and film producer, who works outside the strict confines of the 

Thai film studio system. His films deal with dreams, nature, sexuality, including his 

own ​homosexuality​,[60]​
​ and ​Western​ perceptions of ​Thailand​ and Asia. 

Weerasethakul's films display a preference for unconventional narrative structures 

(such as placing titles/credits at the middle of a film) and for working with 

non-actors. 

Terrence Malick​'s ​The Tree of Life​ (2011) was released after decades of 

development and won the Palme d'Or at the 2

​ 011 Cannes Film Festival​; it was highly 

praised by critics. At the Avon Theater in ​Stamford, Connecticut​, a message was 

posted about the theater's no-refund policy due to "some customer feedback and a 
polarized audience response" to the film. The theater stated that it "stands behind 

this ambitious work of art and other challenging films".​[61]​ D

​ rive​ (2011), directed by 

Nicolas Winding Refn​, is commonly called an ​arthouse action film​.[62]​

​ Also in 2011, 

director ​Lars von Trier​ released ​Melancholia​, a movie dealing with ​depression​ and 

other mental disorders while also showing a family's reaction to an approaching 

planet that could collide with the Earth. The movie was well received, some claiming 

it to be Von Trier's masterpiece with others highlighting ​Kirsten Dunst​'s performance, 

the visuals, and realism depicted in the movie. 

Jonathan Glazer​'s ​Under the Skin​ was screened at the ​2013 Venice Film Festival​ and 

received a theatrical release through indie studio ​A24​ the following year. The film, 

starring S
​ carlett Johansson​, follows an ​alien​ in human form as she travels around 

Glasgow​, picking up unwary men for sex, harvesting their flesh and stripping them of 

their humanity. Dealing with themes such as sexuality, humanity, and objectification, 

the film received positive reviews​[63]​ and was hailed by some as a masterpiece;​[64] 

critic ​Richard Roeper​ described the film as "what we talk about when we talk about 
film as art".​[65]​ This decade also saw a re-emergence of "art horror" with the success 

of films like B
​ lack Swan​ (2010), S
​ toker​ (2013), E
​ nemy​ (2013), T
​ he Babadook​ (2014), 

Only Lovers Left Alive​ (2014), A

​ Girl Walks Home Alone at Night​ (2014), G
​ oodnight 

Mommy​(2014), I​ t Follows​ (2015) and ​The Witch​ (2015).​[66]​[67]​[68]​[69] 

Roma​ (2018), is a film by ​Alfonso Cuarón​ inspired by his childhood living in 1970's 

Mexico​. Shot in black-and-white, it deals with themes shared with Cuarón's past 

films, such as mortality and class. The film was distributed through ​Netflix​, earning 

the streaming giant their first ​Academy Award​ nomination for ​Best Picture​.