The Elements of Classical and Alternative Cinema in The Big Sleep Essay

The Elements of Classical and Alternative Cinema in The Big Sleep - Essay Example The difference between art cinema and classical cinema is clearly delineated. Art cinema is the most acknowledged area within film studies due to the recognition it receives from celebrated filmmakers, specific films or cinema types, as well as from select writers and the target audience. Art cinema is commonly located within the auteur category of films, with examples including L’Avventura (1960). In contradistinction to art cinema, David Bordwell and other filmmakers coined the term ‘classical cinema. Their focus tends to be on the metteurs-en-scene category of art or film. As such, classical cinema has been broadly disseminated because of the dominance of these film types, and most filmmakers choose to make films in this style. Art cinema is presented in small film theatres, compared to classical cinema, which is conducted in large multiplexes. Art cinema screen new films with repertory functions, drawing their audiences from a highly educated urban demographic. This differs from classical cinema, which is indicative of popular culture and attracts a less educated, rural demographic (Kolker 1980). 3. Who are the movie brats and what do they have to do with auteurism? Movie brats include directorial luminaries such as Michelangelo Antonioni (b. 1912), Federico Fellini (1920–1993), Jean-Luc Godard (b. 1930) and Ingmar Bergman (b. 1918). Their respective films L’Avventura, 8? (1963), About de souffle (Breathless, 1960) and Det sjunde inseglet (The seventh seal, 1957) played a critical role regarding the impact that auteurism has had film production. It is evident that a new generation of movie brats exercised greater controls in the creative process and production of their films (Grist 2000). The recent works of the movie brats have challenged the romantic and individualistic ideologies portrayed in earlier works that conform to aspects of auteurism. As pointed out by David Cook (1996), auteurism was exploited along with the rise of c ollege-level film to entice patronage. Further, Timothy Corrigan (1994) also notes that the appearance of the United States (US) studio system made the deployment of auteurism a potential outcome in the marketing of movies within a system other than that using studio signatures. The movie brats also tended to focus on the role of auteurism in enhancing the economies of distribution. Therefore, the article focuses on the place of auteurism and its struggle against the organization of film production in the first few years. They have thus deployed auteurism to assert the prerogative of the professional-managerial class against, not only the studios but also the film unions.