Is film an art form?

Is film an art form, part of the entertainment industry, or a repository of the cultural zeitgeist?

‘I think that the entertainment industry itself has a history of chasing success. Any time a hit product comes out, all the other companies start chasing after that success and trying to recreate it by putting out similar products.’

This quote by Shigeru Miyamoto (2007) illustrates how the fundamental goal of any products that are made as part of an entertainment industry is commercial success and profit. Supply equals demand and the public demands a constant distraction from their at times menial and depressive lives. Hollywood is known as the ‘dream factory’ as explained in the book of the same name (1950 P.38) where films are produced as explosive and intriguing methods of escapism to the public. Hollywood films detach the viewer away from their reality into a more exciting world in an attempt to lure them into an addictive cycle of false needs a notion that Marcuse (1964. P.5) suggests In ‘One Dimensional Man’ is made up of money, objectified violence, sex and cheap laughs.

The entertainment industry is a money making machine which utilises the public needs in a specific way that replaces the true needs of ‘nourishment, clothing, lodging at the attainable level of culture’ (1964. P. 5) with false fetishizes of money, power and quick fixes to happiness. These quick fixes don’t maintain themselves however and the viewer needs to keep topping themselves up with more glorified delights on the screen (1964. P.5). The result is a self-perpetuating cycle that’s only resolve is more false needs. Furthermore Marcuse presents the idea that this cycle of fake needs keeps the consumer from questioning the system:

‘Their satisfaction might be most gratifying to the individual, but this happiness is not a condition which has to be maintained and protected if it serves to arrest the development of the ability (his own and others) to recognize the disease of the whole and grasp the chances of curing the disease.’ (1964. P.7)

The entertainment industry strives to lead the viewer away from subversive thoughts through what Marcuse coins repressive de-sublimation. By this I mean that the viewer’s political repressiveness is de-sublimated through sexual material. Freud even suggested ‘strengthening of sexuality would necessarily involve weakening of aggressiveness’ (1964. P. 81). 

Ultimately I believe the entertainment industry is there to make money and prevent the people from tampering with the cogs that drive it. By attributing film to commercial profit the entertainment industry makes films franchises of commodities that people use as extensions to their identities as Marcuse proposes in his book ‘The Crisis of Marxism’:

‘The people recognize themselves in their commodities; they find soul in their automobile, hi-fi, split-level home, kitchen equipment’ (1984. P.243)

I don’t believe that all films contribute to this capitalist system of false needs and de-sublimation of political energy because many films aren’t part of the entertainment industry and therefore many films do not have success, profit and control as their main goal. This isn’t to say either that all films in the entertainment industry utilise this system that Marcuse proposes. I believe that many films completely go against this basis and are ideologically influential in fact in exposing the inauthenticity of the system from both outside the entertainment industry and from within. The latter films are harder to pinpoint as anarchic to the system because although they propose anti-systematic notions they are still a part of the system that they are attacking. A good example of one of these films is the Dark Knight which provides an in depth criticism of capitalism which we watch in a cinema chain whilst drinking from a Dark Knight themed box of popcorn.

A prime example of the entertainment industries ‘dream factory’ is the cinema of the golden age of Hollywood in the 1930’s. This was at the time of the depression in America and as a method of escaping their harsh realities people would go to the cinema. Cinema wasn’t too expensive; E. W. Hammons of Educational Films said that people ‘’can always afford the price of a seat’ (1971 P xii) to watch fantasy films such as The Wizard of OZ and Snow White which was the highest grossing film of 1938. Films such as these would embody the ‘rags to riches’ (1971 P xii) journey of the American dream and infuse hope into the depressed society. These films are perfect examples of films that are escapist in their nature and are made for commercial profit yet have strong ideologies running throughout them. Although they were made for success and profit I would argue that they are far more a repository of the cultural zeitgeist shown by the inclusion of the trends of thoughts of the time.

Andrew Bergman proposes that these types of films should not even be called escapist due to how much the viewers could relate them to them: ‘‘People do not escape into something they cannot identify with. Movies were meaningful because they depicted something lost or desired.” (1971 P. xii). Unbeknownst to the viewer they were not just being shown a fantasy land they were being shown a world that they aspired to live in and an ideological story that they aspired to come true. This is what the entertainment industry does so well; it hides how ideological it is in plain sight by posing as innocently non-ideological, the act of ‘stepping out of ideology is our very enslavement to it' (1994: P.6). Furthermore as Taylor explains: ‘liberal democracy frequently achieves its most powerful ideological effects through the appearance of being non-ideological’ (2010 p.g 1)

By maintaining the politics, ideologies and as Arthur Schlesinger put it the ‘vital connection with American emotions’ (1971. P. xii) the entertainment industry in the early depression era was part of the repository. Films such as those were as Schlesinger put ‘the operative centre of the nation’s consciousness’ (1971 P.xii) which in my mind is what a repository of a cultural zeitgeist consists of; the artefacts of the nation’s consciousness at that time.

I would like to talk about how film noir each exemplifies the American consciousness in the 1940’s. Film Noir was born out of the depressed mood in America from the lead up and aftermath of World War Two. It reflected the nihilism of the American public within the presentation of the pessimistic outlook of the main antagonist. It is a repository of the cultural zeitgeist in this sense because it was as Abraham Polansky refers to film noir a ‘representation of the anxiety caused by the system’ (Rocco Acee, 2013) that was rife at the time especially amongst war veterans.

Film Noir criticised capitalism and the American dream, the viewer’s bitterness that they felt informed what would be on the screen. The morality of the characters and often the hero reflected the darker side of human nature as they went down a downward spiral against an uncaring fate; a harsh and confusing reality that the mirrored the publics fears and misfortunes. James Agee states how ‘every piece of entertainment… has a nightmarish accuracy as a triple distilled image of a collective dream, habit or desire’ (1971 P.xii). Even the morbid stories and the duality of man were matched in the dark aesthetic and the black and white low-key lighting.

The film Double Indemnity serves as a criticism of the American Ideal. Both Neff and Dietrichson the two main characters pursue an American dream of gaining sexual and material gains. The line ‘I killed him for money – and a women – I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the women. Pretty isn’t it? (Double indemnity 1944) sums up the fact that it’s not all as easy as it seems in chasing the American dream.

Film Noir is a great example of a repository of a cultural zeitgeist that originally was not a huge part of the entertainment industry starting off as cheap B-side films with very small budgets. The Frankfurt school; a Marxist group of thinkers proposed that the entertainment industry seeks to ‘reconcile the masses to the system that exploits them’ providing an ‘ideological justification for capitalism’ (1994 P.146-147). To do this the Frankfurt school believes that Hollywood manufactures the cultural myth of hope in their films to offer the image of ‘society as a kind of giant lottery in which any one can win the big payoff’ (1994 P.147). Films such as Snow White and The Wizard of OZ that I mentioned earlier tantalized the viewer with a hope that realistically would be unfruitful.

Film Noir is unique in that it is so devoid of hope that it doesn’t play into this system. Film Noir would go on to become commercially successful and I believe some Film Noir films are part of the entertainment industry, however I see the genre more as a Marxist art form. I say art form because I believe Film Noir is a good example of a genre that at times goes into the category of art film. The American Heritage, Dictionary of the English language says how an art film is ‘intended to be serious artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal’ (American Heritage Dictionary, 2009). Another dictionary says that art films are ‘made primarily for aesthetic reasons rather than commercial profit’ (Random House Kernerman Websters College Dictionary, 2010). Film Noir fits the criteria because it was a very experimental genre that wasn’t made for commercial profit. Artistic works often contain profound politics and ideologies that other mediums don’t cover so subversively and I believe that Film Noir had a strong ideological motive that it penetrated into the hum-drum of post-war society.

Adorno and Horkheimer propose that ‘How formalized the procedure is can be seen when the mechanically differentiated products prove to be all alike in the end... The same applies for Warner and Metro Goldwhy Mayer productions’ (1972 P.2). Often films are created that are all of the same framework and I see this formalization as a main part of solely the entertainment industry:

‘The details are interchangeable. The Short interval sequence which was effective in a hit song, the hero’s momentary fall from grace (which He accepts as good sport), the rough treatment which the beloved gets from the male star… ready-made clichés to be slotted in anywhere; they never do anything more than fulfil the purpose allotted them in the overall plan.’ (1972 P.3)

Films that are works of Art I believe bypass all of these interchangeable boxes with an originality and authenticity and instead of filling each box with, as Marcuse would put fake needs. Walter Benjamin discusses reproduction in relation to aura in his essay ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’. He coins the word Aura as a feeling that something has if it maintains ‘its presence in time and space’ and a ‘unique existence at the place where it happens to be’ (2008 P.214-216), in other words it’s authenticity.

This is not found in films as they are a reproduced medium; If there is no single original piece of film then it is not really fully present because all copies are reproductions. He did however highlight some positive effects of reproduction; this being the pieces of work that are reproduced and disconnected from its past role and reintroduced into new the current culture with a new use. Films of the entertainment industry contain such common and predictable tropes. This means that when they are viewed 40 years later or even when a new film comes out that contains exactly the same ideologies as films that have come out every year for the last decade then they don’t have an as poignant message on the current culture.

Film Noir was so full of different and subversive messages combined with a unique style that when it is viewed 70 years later or reproduced in Neo-Noir films such as Blade Runner its notions are brought into a new life in our current culture. When we view pieces of Russian Socialist Realism Art films from the 1930’s such as ‘The Youth of Maxim’ we get the same transfer of political message to current times as we do when we watch a Film Noir.

I would consider Blade Runner an Art film, a repository and a part of the entertainment industry. Its artistry is in how beautiful it is; the rainy neon landscape was fundamental in defining the genre of cyber punk. It is full of thematic explorations that are conveyed through its visual symbols and aesthetic. The opening consists of an introduction in writing that explains most the plot so that even before we see any shots and we are plunged into a plethora of big ideas. Themes of post colonialism, social-hierarchy and social decay and questions such as what does it mean to be human? All of these themes and questions are answered in a visual language of symbols such as eyes and cages and in the atmosphere that encompasses the moments after and before relevant action. This is what art film such as Blade Runner and Under the Skin do so well, they linger on shots of landscapes a long time after the dialogue finishes enabling the viewer to examine and dwell on the emotional context of hope or in Blade Runners case unease. 

Blade Runner embodies the nihilistic message that it has inherited from its Film Noir forefathers that bares the same relevance to the uncomfortable relationship that we have with our identity mixed or a feeling that is prevalent in our modern times; a fear of alienation. The latter message is exemplified as a zeitgeist of the 1980’s by the highest grossing releases of the same year; E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

A good conductor of what lies in a cultures fears is the dangers and enemies on screen and when they become real the fear is even more horrific as Taylor suggests: ‘9-11 tragedy was so traumatic, precisely because the images of that day had already appeared in a spate of Hollywood movies…. Hollywood executives' decision immediately after 9-11 for to postpone such films as Big Trouble ,Collateral Damage , Sidewalks of New York, and The Big Castle for exactly that reason.’ (2010 P. 2) Bearing in mind that the great socioeconomic changes of the 1980’s decade combined with its technological advances resulted in the manufacturing industry moving to Japan, China and Taiwan the abundance of Asian faces in the lower classes of Blade Runner stands as a clear repository.

Blade Runner is part of the entertainment industry in the way that it had a great commercial success grossing 6.1m in the first week (New York Times. 2007) and a 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Rotten Tomatoes. 1982). This would have earned Ridley Scott a great amount of money, resources and good reputation that would allow him to pursue other films in the future. It provided a glimpse into the future for a generation of people who just a year before the film’s release witnessed the first Space Shuttle launch.)

Carl Marx discussed how social relationships in the shadow of capitalism are reduced to the relationships between commodities such as a seven dollars and a ticket to view a film (2007 P.56). Ironically with films such as Blade Runner and The Dark Knight they testify against this system yet buy into the franchising that promotes what Marcuse says about people attributing themselves to commodities as an extension of their identities (1984. P.243). In the Dark knight the Joker exposes the so-called ordered system of justice as a system bent on primal instincts and existential anarchy. He proves this point by setting up a number of scenarios that pit the people’s morality against their will to survive such as having the bank robbers kill each other for a higher percentage profit and threatening to blow up hospitals if people don’t kill a person of his interest, the latter makes cops go corrupt and causes citizens to attempt murder. This goes with what Marx says about commodity fetishism; relationships lose their sentimental value when they turn into mere transactions of commodities.

Blade Runner would have earned Ridley Scott a great amount of money, resources and good reputation that would allow him to pursue other films in the future. Hitchcock’s commercially successful films were important in his continuation as an experimental filmmaker. They made a huge profit for the picture company, not only did this enable Hitchcock to ask them for a bigger budget but it also gained him a good enough reputation for the picture companies to take bigger risks and allow him more creative freedom.

In the 1940’s Francois Truffait noted in his works ‘Une Certaine Tendance’ that the commercial apparatus of filmmaking can be used in the same way as a writer or artist uses a pen (Trufait. P. 1954). It also claimed that the director of the film is its primary creator and they will leave their unique signature this being their own stylistic themes and aesthetics. An example of this is how in Tim Burton films all of his films the main antagonists are often outcasts and the aesthetics are always very dark and gothic. Directors who are considered auteurs are in my opinion akin to artists in the way that just by viewing one of their films you can tell that they created it just from its look and feel. With this in mind certain works that are created by Auteurs are forms of art and certain production companies that’s goal is to create generic money making films are a saturation of the director’s work discrediting them as auteurs.

Hitchcock is the ultimate auteur. He uses a plethora of visual symbols in his works such as birds and eyes, a homing in on personal themes of harsh worldviews and an incorporation of certain actors. With the brunt of his work he gained a respect and sway with the production companies allowing the art form of film and the entertainment industry to work in unison. I would like to conclude by saying that film is all three of the notions in the title. I think that the medium of film is to broad in its roles, viewers and motives to be pinned down to one and furthermore I would like to say that each notion needs each other. Ridley Scott and Hitchcock need the entertainment industry as a platform for their artistic endeavours and they also need the profit and success that it generates to enable them to create more. The zeitgeist of a culture is the result of the poignant political ideas that it’s Art presents and yet also the zeitgeist will inform an artistic works political direction. Art and the entertainment industry is so linked to a cultures zeitgeist that at times a film or genre of the entertainment industry will even inform the zeitgeists future as in the case of Zizeks interpretation of 911 (2010 P.2).

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