Cardullo, B 2001, “André Bazin on Film Technique: Two Seminal Essays”, Film Criticism, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 40-62.

In Bazin’s essay “Will CinemaScope Save the Film Industry”, he focusses mainly on the decline of American cinema as a result of increasing penetration of television in households. It is his last paragraphs which are to be highlighted as he speaks about how editing has become the “alpha of cinematic language, the omega being framing” and essentially dismisses this notion. He believes that editing is an unnecessary, secondary element to film and observes that there is a downward trend in editing, using Jean Renoir to exemplify this. It is apparent Bazin advocates realism in the cinema, and he spotlights works like Citizen Kane in which most of the shots are the same length as how they were captured. He concludes that film should grow away from being abstract and move towards revealing reality.

Bazin’s approach toward editing as existing to support realism is not isolated idea but one that seems minor in comparison to most of the readings I have done. As a result, the contrast of his ideas with a multitude of other theorists who talk about the power of editing is refreshing, and encourages consideration towards both sides of the argument.

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