DOI issue:
Zwrot kinematograficzny w praktyce i teorii sztuki / The Cinematic Turn in Art Practice and Theory
DOI article:Dalle Vacche, Angela: André Bazin's film theory: art, science, religion
Citation link:https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/artium_quaestiones2020/0197
Angela Dalle Vacche
ANDRÉ BAZIN'S FILM THEORY:
ART, SCIENCE, RELIGION
André Bazin's work on film theory history and criticism is receiving an
unprecedented degree of attention after the French film specialist, Hervé Jou-
bert-Laurencin, published the critic's complete works in 2018, in two elegant
and weighty volumes (2,848 pages).1 Before this turning point, the principal
Bazin resource was the André Bazin archive developed at Yale University by
Dudley Andrew2, which consisted of photocopies of some 2,600 essays and
reviews written by the famous French film critic between 1941 and 1958.
In the wake of Joubert-Laurencin's publication, it has become possible
to appreciate the comprehensive and systematic nature of Bazin's thought,
with special attention to the role that art, science, and religion play in his
film theory Until now, only 15 percent of Bazin's work has been translated
and published in English, and in the anglophone world, teaching Bazin meant
essentially using Hugh Gray's translation of just 26 groundbreaking essays.3
This new level of access to Bazin means that scholars in other fields might
become interested in his work.
Thus, it is necessary to provide some biographical information before
launching into an overview of this thinker's ideas on photography, modernity,
mass culture, the history of vision, the position of the spectator in the movie
theater, and the relation between ethics and esthetics, high culture and pop-
ular media.4
1 A. Bazin, Ecrits complets. 2 vols., compiled by H. Joubert-Laurencin, Paris 2018.
2 The first and seminal book to bring attention to Bazin's work was Dudley Andrew's
critical biography, first issued in 1978, André Bazin, New York 2013, rev. ed. The publica-
tion of an anthology:, Opening Bazin: Postwar Film Theory and its After-Life, edited by
D. Andrew with H. Joubert-Laurencin, New York 2011, was another crucial resource. See
also: A. Dalle Vacche, André Bazin’s Film Theory: Art, Science, Religion, New York 2020.
3 A. Bazin, What is Cinema? vols. 1 and 2, trans. Hugh Gray, Berkeley 2004.
4 This essay for Artium Quaestiones is an overview of my book, André Bazin’s Film
Theory: Art, Science, Religion, New York 2020. This text was discussed on January 20,
ANDRÉ BAZIN'S FILM THEORY:
ART, SCIENCE, RELIGION
André Bazin's work on film theory history and criticism is receiving an
unprecedented degree of attention after the French film specialist, Hervé Jou-
bert-Laurencin, published the critic's complete works in 2018, in two elegant
and weighty volumes (2,848 pages).1 Before this turning point, the principal
Bazin resource was the André Bazin archive developed at Yale University by
Dudley Andrew2, which consisted of photocopies of some 2,600 essays and
reviews written by the famous French film critic between 1941 and 1958.
In the wake of Joubert-Laurencin's publication, it has become possible
to appreciate the comprehensive and systematic nature of Bazin's thought,
with special attention to the role that art, science, and religion play in his
film theory Until now, only 15 percent of Bazin's work has been translated
and published in English, and in the anglophone world, teaching Bazin meant
essentially using Hugh Gray's translation of just 26 groundbreaking essays.3
This new level of access to Bazin means that scholars in other fields might
become interested in his work.
Thus, it is necessary to provide some biographical information before
launching into an overview of this thinker's ideas on photography, modernity,
mass culture, the history of vision, the position of the spectator in the movie
theater, and the relation between ethics and esthetics, high culture and pop-
ular media.4
1 A. Bazin, Ecrits complets. 2 vols., compiled by H. Joubert-Laurencin, Paris 2018.
2 The first and seminal book to bring attention to Bazin's work was Dudley Andrew's
critical biography, first issued in 1978, André Bazin, New York 2013, rev. ed. The publica-
tion of an anthology:, Opening Bazin: Postwar Film Theory and its After-Life, edited by
D. Andrew with H. Joubert-Laurencin, New York 2011, was another crucial resource. See
also: A. Dalle Vacche, André Bazin’s Film Theory: Art, Science, Religion, New York 2020.
3 A. Bazin, What is Cinema? vols. 1 and 2, trans. Hugh Gray, Berkeley 2004.
4 This essay for Artium Quaestiones is an overview of my book, André Bazin’s Film
Theory: Art, Science, Religion, New York 2020. This text was discussed on January 20,