Film Realism and Narrative Identity

Abstract

In order for film to provide useful insights into the nature of existential-ism, the movies discussed must be reliably realistic. This may be asking too much of films that are fictional narratives, however. Whether it is or not depends heavily on what you think ‘realism’ means; ‘real’ and its derivates are terribly vague and given to quite disparate uses. The concept is nevertheless widely used in film analysis, and in the previous chapter I have begun to situate my use of the term in the tradition of film theory. While not disagreeing with Bazin about the importance of the photographic medium to reveal the world to us, the important reality pertinent to a study of existentialism is the experience we assume of the characters, and that is often best conveyed through various stylistic techniques that Münsterberg was among the first to describe. So the emphasis on the inner world is just as important as an emphasis on the outer world, as long as it’s understood that our intent is always to reveal experience.