Modernist Film Criticism
Criticism is one of the fundamental concepts in Modernism and is defined by “the intensification, almost exacerbation, of [a] self-critical tendency” that began with Kant,…
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Film Subject Overview
The Film Section includes entries on a variety of modernist genres, periods, movements, directors, films, and critical modes aligned with modernist aims and intellectual attitudes.…
Kerr, Alfred (1867–1948)
Born Alfred Kempner, Alfred Kerr is remembered as one of Germany’s most important theatre and film critics and as a writer with literary ambitions who…
Truffaut, François (1932–1984)
François Truffaut was a French film director, actor, and film critic, best known for being one of the founders of the French New Wave—a movement…
Daney, Serge (1944–1992)
Serge Daney was regarded as one of the greatest film critics in French intellectual culture. For Jean-Luc Godard, his untimely demise signalled the end of…
Pereira dos Santos, Nelson (1928--)
Nelson Pereira dos Santos (born in 1928 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian actor, screenwriter, film critic and theorist, producer, and director. He can be…
Montage
As an aesthetic principle, montage, defined as the assemblage of disparate elements into a composite whole often by way of juxtaposition, is most often associated…
Surrealism Overview
Soupault’s publication of Manifeste du Surréalism in 1924. Rising in the wake of the First World War, Surrealism revolted against a world that had become…
Agee, James (1909–1955)
James Agee was an American film critic, journalist, and novelist, who, like his modernist contemporaries, pushed against the constraints of his genres. Born in Knoxville…
Rohmer, Éric (1920–2010)
Éric Rohmer (born Jean-Marie-Maurice Schéer) was a French film director, screenwriter, and film critic, best known for his association with the French New Wave, and…
Jacobs, Lewis (1906–97)
Lewis Jacobs (1906–97) was an American film critic, historian, and filmmaker. Jacobs initially studied painting and design, and his first foray into cinema was through…
Rocha, Glauber (1939–1981)
Glauber Rocha de Andrade (Vitória da Conquista, 1939–1981) was a Brazilian film critic, screenwriter, producer, and director. Arguably the most important director of the cinema…
Delluc, Louis (1890–1924)
A prolific film reviewer and director of eight films in the early 1920s, Louis Delluc is renowned for being France’s first film critic—a justifiable status…
Bazin, André (1918–1958)
André Bazin (born April 18, 1918, Angers, France–died November 11, 1958, Nogent-sur-Marne, France) was an influential French film critic who was active during the development…
Auteur Theory, The
The auteur theory is a way of critically analyzing a film or corpus of films through viewing its director as the film’s author and principal…
French New Wave
The French New Wave is a term associated with a group of French filmmakers and the films they directed from the late 1950s until the…
Epstein, Jean (1897–1953)
Born in Warsaw in 1897 to a Jewish Franco-Polish family, Jean Epstein was an early queer filmmaker, poet, and theorist. Epstein is best remembered for…
Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives (“Anthology” hereafter) is an experimental film institution that was founded in 1970 by experimental filmmakers Jonas Mekas, Jerome Hill, Peter Kubelka, Stan…
Iranian New Wave
The Iranian New Wave began when a group of young Iranian directors—following developments in the Iranian cultural arena with origins in the political and social…
French Impressionist Cinema
French Impressionist Cinema describes an avant-garde film movement lasting approximately from 1918 to 1929. It was characterised by camera and editing techniques which both augmented…
Klaxon (São Paulo, 1922–1923)
Klaxon (São Paulo, 1922–1923) was the first and most important of Brazil’s avant-garde artistic journals. It comprised a total of nine issues, published on a…
Melodrama
With its origins in the novel and the theater, melodrama appeared in late 18th-century Europe and reached maturity at the turn of the 20th century.…
Furukawa, Roppa (1903–1961)
Furukawa Roppa was a Japanese comedian, film actor, and essayist, who was known for his round face with Lloyd’s glasses. He was active before and…
The Birth of a Nation
One of the most watched and debated American films in history, The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 silent film by D. W. Griffith…
Osaki Midori [尾崎 翠] (1896–1971)
Osaki Midori was a writer of short stories, poetry, essays, dramatic works, and a novel. Characterized as a Modern Girl, she is often discussed alongside…