Essay Films

This weeks reading The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments by Laura Rascaroli presents the complications involved in determining this style and the ways in which a lack of a definition presents filmmakers with opportunities to experiment.

These films are thought to contain two features of reflectivity and subjectivity. They originate from the literary essay, abandon the guidelines of documentary and encourage an audience to emotionally and intellectually interpret the content.

Rascaroli quotes Nora Alter who states “… the essay film produces complex thought that at times is not grounded in reality but can be contradictory, irrational, and fantastic. This new type of film, according to Richter, no longer binds the filmmaker to the rules and parameters of the traditional documentary practice, such as chronological sequencing or the depiction of external phenomena. Rather, it gives free reign to the imagination, with all its artistic potentiality. The term essay is used because it signifies a composition that is in between categories and as such is transgressive, digressive, playful, contradictory, and political”.

The authorial voice presented in a film essay can prompt the viewer to reflect individually, rather than form an understanding based on perceptions from other viewers. This style can also establish issues, without providing a resolution.

This thoughtful and creative form of filmmaking can not be distinguished. Many have tried to categorise it, but the complicated and varied style of these films does not permit them to fit into certain genres.