IM Reading week 6

This weeks reading was all about the Essay Film.
The article was “The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments” written by Laura Rascaroli.

While I read the whole document, and don’t get me wrong it was pretty interesting, I found the most straightforward concept of the Essay Film was when Rascaroli quoted Nora Alter. I would like to include this quote as a summary for anyone who is yet to read the article.

“Unlike the documentary film, which presents facts and information, 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 Ritcher, 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”  (27).

Throughout the article, Rascaroli continues to note that the Essay Film is ‘sitting at a crossroads’, but does maintain it’s own place within genres (though it is also noted that it should probably be more likely referred to as a mode). But what crossroads is it sitting at? Laura states that it is stuck between the concepts of fiction, non fiction and experimental film. (43)

I am jumping a bit ahead first, but who doesn’t like to know where a story is going to end up, right?
If we go back to the beginning of the piece, Rascarloi states that “an essay is neither fiction nor fact, but a personal investigation involving both the passion and intellect of the author” (24), that basically forgets about all traditional concepts and boundaries.

But how did it come about? Rasaroli uses Astruc to explain this.
Astruc doesn’t so much announce the birth of the essay film, however he speaks of cinema “gradually becoming a language” (28).

Astruc also touches on the concept of how film will be able to express thoughts in the same way that literature does, which is why, “the role of the scriptwriter and that of the filmmaker must merge: “Direction is no longer a means of illustrating or presenting a scene, but a true act of writing. The filmmaker/author writes with his camera as a writer writes with his pen” (28).

There are two primary concepts that define what a Film Essay contains. Rascaroli speaks of multiple critics and film reviewers who attempt to define the film essay, and noticeably finishes with two “primary markers”. These are subjectivity and form-reflectivity.
In regards to Subjectivity, the idea is pretty self explanatory. “…an essay is the expression of personal, critical reflection on a problem or set of problems” (35).
Ad Rascroli explains, the Film Essay is in fact almost a dance with the viewer, as similar to a written essay, it “…urges (the viewer) to engage individually with the film, and reflect on the same subject matter that the author s mussing about. This structure accounts for the “openness” of the essay film” (35).

Although I could carry on with this post for many more thousands of words, these have been some of the key points I felt were a prominent part of the article.
All notes, pictures and quotes were taken from the document found at this address: http://www.mediafactory.org.au/integrated-media-01/files/2014/04/05Rascaroli.pdf