Art Cinema and Theatre of the Absurd: A Comparative Analysis
This paper draws a comparative analysis between David Bordwell's framework for art cinema, as outlined in "The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice," and Martin Esslin's conception of the Theatre of the Absurd. The paper examines how both movements emerged as reactions against classical, mainstream narrative traditions, particularly in the post-World War II era. Key shared characteristics — including realism, authorial expressivity, psychological complexity, and deliberate ambiguity — are explored across both mediums. Ingmar Bergman's film Persona is used as a case study to illustrate how art cinema employs ambiguity around identity. The paper concludes by identifying the fundamental convergences between the two forms despite their differences in medium.
- Introduction: Two Theories of Artistic Rebellion: Introduces Bordwell and Esslin as parallel theorists
- The Rise of Art Cinema After World War II: Post-WWII conditions enabling art cinema's emergence
- Realism, Authorial Expressivity, and Ambiguity in Art Cinema: Bordwell's formal devices defining art cinema
- Identity and Ambiguity in Bergman's Persona: Persona as case study for identity and ambiguity
- The Theatre of the Absurd: Parallel Principles: Esslin's absurdist theatre compared to art cinema
- Conclusion: Shared Departures from Classical Tradition: Both movements reject classical narrative conventions
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper uses a clear parallel structure, moving systematically from Bordwell's film theory to Esslin's theatre theory, which makes direct comparison easy to follow.
- It grounds abstract theoretical claims in a concrete example — Bergman's Persona — giving the argument visual and analytical specificity.
- The conclusion ties both frameworks together concisely without overstating the similarities, acknowledging the key divergence (the role of action vs. language).
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates comparative theoretical synthesis: it places two scholarly texts in dialogue with one another by identifying their shared conceptual vocabulary (realism, ambiguity, anti-classical narrative) while also noting where the two theories diverge. This technique is particularly effective in humanities writing, where establishing a conversation between sources strengthens an original argument.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by introducing both theorists and their relationship. It then develops Bordwell's framework across two paragraphs — first the broad definition of art cinema, then its specific formal devices. A central paragraph applies these ideas to Persona as a case study. The paper then pivots to Esslin's parallel arguments, drawing explicit comparisons and noting one key difference (the role of language versus action). A brief conclusion synthesizes the comparison.
Introduction: Two Theories of Artistic Rebellion
In "The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice," David Bordwell provides a definition of what he believes constitutes art cinema in order to define the style as an artistic movement. In "The Theatre of the Absurd," Martin Esslin presents similar arguments about theatre as Bordwell does about film. Both scholars analyze the elements that distinguish art cinema and the theatre of the absurd from their mainstream counterparts, revealing a shared set of formal and philosophical commitments that cut across their respective mediums.
The Rise of Art Cinema After World War II
Several factors contributed to the rise of art cinema in the post-World War II era. Art cinema came to be recognized as an acceptable and appropriate vehicle of expression given the gravity of the historical developments that reshaped post-WWII Europe. As Bordwell explains, art cinema "as a distinct mode appears after World War II when the dominance of the Hollywood cinema was beginning to wane" (Bordwell 716). Art cinema defined itself explicitly against the classical narrative mode, and especially against the cause-effect linkage of events, wherein such "linkages become looser, more tenuous in the art film" (717). As a result, cause-effect linkages shift toward the psychological interiority of the film's characters.
Realism, Authorial Expressivity, and Ambiguity in Art Cinema
Bordwell proceeds to explain that art cinema uses realism and authorial expressivity to motivate narrative (718). One of the ways art cinema is realistic is in its depiction of psychologically complex characters who often "lack defined desires and goals" (718). These characteristics stand in stark contrast to characters in classical narrative cinema, who possess defined traits and goals and follow a goal-oriented path. Bordwell also argues that art cinema "is less concerned with action than reaction; it is a cinema of psychological effects in search of their causes" (718). This forces the audience to analyze characters in order to determine why they are the way they are.
Bordwell further states that "violations of classical conceptions of time and space are justified as the intrusion of an unpredictable and contingent daily reality or as the subjective reality of complex characters" (719). In art cinema, the auteur becomes "a structure in the film's system" and helps to define the film's narrative and style, as opposed to classical cinema, in which a studio's vision defines the film.
While Bordwell argues that realism and authorial expressivity serve to unify the individual elements of art film, he also contends that "a realistic aesthetic and an expressionist aesthetic are hard to merge" — a dilemma which is resolved through ambiguity. Ambiguity serves to fill in gaps created by the narrative or by the characters themselves, and also allows the director and author to provide an open-ended narrative.
Identity and Ambiguity in Bergman's Persona
The concept of identity becomes a major source of ambiguity in Ingmar Bergman's Persona. Elisabet Vogler is unwilling to accept her identity as a mother and wife, nor can she bring herself to embrace this identity; meanwhile, Alma is more than willing to assume these roles. Bergman presents these two women as though they were two parts of a whole, yet neither fully knows her role nor what constitutes her identity (Persona). He demonstrates how the women's identities merge into one through a split-screen shot of their faces, which portrays the two women as a single person (Persona). This formal device crystallizes art cinema's reliance on ambiguity to convey psychological depth.
Conclusion: Shared Departures from Classical Tradition
Despite the differences in medium, Bordwell and Esslin both contend that art cinema and the theatre of the absurd share several important characteristics that ultimately aim to break away from traditional definitions of classical cinema and theatre. Both movements prioritize psychological complexity, deliberate ambiguity, and a realism rooted in the incomprehensibility of human experience, marking a decisive departure from the goal-driven narratives of their mainstream counterparts.
Works Cited
Bordwell, David. "The Art Cinema as a Mode of Film Practice." Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
Esslin, Martin. "The Theatre of the Absurd." The Tulane Drama Review. The MIT Press: Vol. 4, No. 4 (May 1960), pp. 3–15. JSTOR. 4 March 2013.
Persona. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Sweden: AB Svensk Filmindustri, 1966. DVD.
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