Conceptual Instability: Gradations and Transformations of Cinematic Realism

Text starts with the concept of cinematic realism, as defined by the pioneer of contemporary film thought André Bazin, and then deals with the key historical episodes of its development. Different viewpoints on representation of reality, based on everlasting tendencies of cinema to capture life “as it is”, are dealt with particularly through the opposition between the fixed concept of classical realistic film and the inherently changeable phenomenon of aesthetically motivated realism. The research into historical shifts of understanding film realism leads to an understanding of a constituent instability of its progressive, aesthetically motivated mode of existence. Within this instability, constant transformation is not only a defining characteristic of our “incriminated” concept and basic elements of its articulation, but also of social relations by themselves, both its subject and result of its creative interventions.

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