The purpose of art film?

[Zak Forsman]

ZAK: Does that mean you didn't like Harry Potter? It was way better than the others and the best representation of the book in my opinion. I give it like an 8 or 9 probably just because it didn't butcher the book and I found it genuinely enjoyable. Which I guess is a personal thing. Or did HP6 stand for something completely different?

Also, SABI. What does it mean/stand for?

jim broadbent was great, as usual. did not care for the rest.

"Sabi" is evidence of captured time.

“It is considered that time per se, helps to make known the essence of things. The Japanese therefore see a particular charm in the evidence of old age. They are attracted to the darkened tone of an old tree, the ruggedness of a stone, or even the scruffy look of a picture whose edges have been handled by a great many people. To all these signs of age, they give the name sabi, which literally means ‘rust’. Sabi, then, is a natural rustiness, the charm of olden days, the stamp of time. Sabi, as an element of beauty, embodies the link between art and nature.” - Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time

 

[ramsaur]

I know this thread isn't about me but I have a question related to this thread.

So I work with some art filmmakers. They shoot in black light and they paint people.
Look: http://www.youtube.com/blacklightkabuki

So we were meeting yesterday for a shoot they have written for me and we got off topic to where me and one of there reps (who didn't know me well) had gone down to the Chamber of Commerce to start a new event of film into a festival we have every year. When the guy asked us what films we make their rep jumped in and said oh we make art.

Now when I say art I'm talking that link up there and all the other artsy films. Do I make art films? I don't think so. In our meeting (first meeting w/o the rep) they said, no you make art too. Didn't know what to say there. They asked me if I made costumes, yes; they asked to I use angles in my films, yes. They said then you make art... help me out, do I?

And I don't hate art films. after experiencing their films it was pretty neat. I'm just not a huge fan of it. Also, is 300, watchmen, the graphic novel films - art films?

 

[Sad Max]

'Art' is a notoriously fuzzy and observer-dependent term. Whether you want to consider the work 'art' or not is basically up to you.

re: Sabi - I also like the similarity to sabe, (saber, to know). It's a word on which you can layer meanings (presumably) not originally intended by its selection.

 

[ramsaur]

Thanks, sounds good.

 

[jpastuch]

I'd like to jump in the thread, ignoring pages 2-20, but I'd just like to say film is supposed to be an artform- and artforms at their highest speak their own language.

Zak brought up my personal choice as greatest filmmaker ever, Andrei Tarkovsky. Besides making incredibly challenging and amazing films, Tarkovsky had a lot to say about the art of cinema and art in general. The best art creates a new language, a new form of expression that makes US see in a new way...not giving us what we want. And make no mistake, these films and art won't be for everyone. If you want evidence in other artforms, look at Picasso, Van Gogh, John Berryman, John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, etc.

This doesn't mean silly, "fake" art films aren't made- ones where just strange images are strung together. Now, some of these do have merit...but ones made purely for shock value or to look "edgy" with no deep thought or technique put into them. The problem is distinguishing the genuine films from the fake ones. It's not easy!

And great films can be made in many ways- in a 3 act structure, with no structure, with a great story, with no story, with no sound. We have to keep an open mind in this artform and remember anything is possible before we kneejerk at a film that looks different. And remember that it's (supposed to be) an artform- nobody has to say "art-poetry" or "art-painting" or "art-sculpture". What does that say about the state of cinema? I say make films however you want, just make sure you don't lie to us or your self. Get deep into your life (and this is what gripes me about Spielberg and his supposed "greatness"- watch Schindler's List and then watch Tarkovsky's Nostalghia and see the big difference).

Like Cassavetes said "Film what you are. Not what you wish you were- what you are. What you are is good enough."


PS> "Experimental" film is different from an "art film", I'd say. Although all films could be considered experiments, I think experimental films deal primarily with the nature of aesthetic or formal excercises. Art and experimental films can definately overlap (and do), leading to more confusion.