Formalism Upon Cinematic Art

Running head: FORMALISM UPON CINEMATIC ART: THE STUDY ON FILM THE ICE
STORM AND CHUNGKING EXPRESS 1

Formalism upon Cinematic Art: The Study on Film The Ice Storm and Chungking Express
Adib bin Mahmud 2012102951
Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM)

Formalism upon Cinematic Art: The Study on Film The Ice Storm and Chungking Express
The author selects the theory of formalism to be analyzed to the extent of the claimed
argument of film as art. Film exist upon our need to escape from the real world dissatisfaction
such as depression and morally restricted goals. The escapism usually relates to the formalistic
film in cinema which covers the act above moral boundaries such as killing; and fantasies such
as eternal love; and beauty endures by the whole look of the film from the mise-en scene.
A Russian formalist Victor Shklovsky suggests, the technique of art is to make objects
unfamiliar, to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception because
the process of perception is an aesthetic end in itself (as cited in Ben-Shaul, 2007, p. 16). Other
film theories that may oppose the formalism is the realism which limits the content to only fact
and reality. A good example of realism could be portrayed by the documentary which bring less
and less fulfilment to the escapism as the fact resembles the reality which is dissatisfying. For
certain people depending on their demographical profile poses a different need of escapism. For
example, people in India lives in a very depressive life and by having cinema that tells the story
that ends with a happy ending provides them the escapism. However, formalism is not always
about the escapism.
Hitchcocks film, Psycho (1960) is one of the formalist film made without an entitlement
of escapism. The film ends with the protagonist locked inside a cell and also seems to be locked
inside his own mind; which means no escape. Plus, the whole idea of formalism is to create the
outside shell of the film look - and other type of art that representable and may fulfil the need
of audience; and sometime an expected act that is repeated from time to time. The outer
appearance could be represented by the way character is put onto makeup, costumes, props,
cinematography and acting. The repetition could be an expectable plotline, creation of the

character and ideologies that are fused by the film-maker. Typically blockbuster movies are
formalist films which bring the act of escaping the audience thought from the reality.
Continuum in Cinema
Paintings, drawings, and sculptures are the art. Yet, the author believes that art also exist
as the energy. As it does emit networks of possibilities to become something new. People could
make various assumption from art because it is a projection of images which could produce
thousands of assumption. An idea should continue to fabricate new one. Thus, producing
circulation of evolution of techniques and methods to display as art. One of the main
characteristic in formalism in film is the editing. The art of editing suggests the movement of
time and space of the narrative. It could be the time movement which is based on the reality of
the scene, or the time images which from the authors interpretation is a representation of time
collage. It could give the audience multiple scenes connected seamlessly on one set of space.
Which is considered a manipulation of time as audience must realize that there is boundaries
between the series of actions. Besides, formalism also has another one of its distinctive
characteristic in combining scenes into one bunch of events. It is called as Soviet montage
technique. This artistic technique is considered art because it condenses the time into fragments
of narrative to suggest a stream of memory in a more creative way. This subjects to the editing
that is deeply thought and wisely produced to serve the purpose of film as a form of art.
Moreover, it also includes the use of voice over and background music which is count as an
abstraction of non-realistic approach in condensing the plotline.
Instead of repeating the plot, character and ideology formalist film also expresses human
feelings within the world of abstraction. Instead of revealing the truth and beauty from imitation,
formalist sees art away from its nature simply denying the truth. The aesthetical point of view

between formalism and realism lies under its principle that any human-made creation is not
natural. The manifestation of art usually come from the human thinking in ways that it has
undergone the abstraction or reduction of information. For example, acting for a period film
especially if the setting is on the post-Edwardian era means a different style of acting. While the
acting could be nothing factual as to compare with the real situation, the main attitude of treating
the lower class by the upper class is accordingly as in the fact. The upper class treats the lower
class as paid servant to reinforce their aristocratic status. A closer example from the study film is
from one of the scene from The Ice Storm (Ang Lee, 1996); a film suggesting the era of women
uprising (feminism) during 1970s. Meanwhile feminism started to rise upon the total equalities
for women during that time, the independence and assertiveness of the women character in the
film is also well visualized; suggesting that the feminism also affecting the small cultural part of
the women in Connecticut. Indeed, it was clearly portrayed by Janey Carvers attitude towards
her marriage by having an affair with Ben Hood; a portrayal of freedom in relationship.
Formalism and realism are partly tied together and circulates around the main concept of
the photogenic. Ben-Shaul (2007) states, the concept of the photogenic in film was developed
by French theorist and film-maker Jean Epstein. It concerns the specific nature of the film
image (p. 3). However, the term photogenic was later claimed to be corrected by a Russian
formalist Yuri Tynjanov as cinematogenic to cope with the aesthetical part of film. Derived from
the transmutation of reality resembling qualities that is nothing purely artistic (Ben-Shaul, 2007).
Aesthetic plays an important part in the cinematogenic as well as the concept of Baudrillards
simulacrum. Baudrillard denies the reality shown by the film as film is not a reproduction of
reality. However, during the 19
th
century through the transformation of photography to
phonograph, the cinema had made an accomplishment to mechanically reproduce reality (Bazin,

1967). The kinetic process of projecting images from film on screen is according to him serve as
the simulation of reality by itself. He also perceive film as the simulated image. Traditionally,
object acts as the origin for the image representing it flat on screen. Yet, seemingly not based on
any principle, Baudrillard sees film as does not produce reality from the image projection but the
projection serves as the inception of the reality before it happens.
The illusion of time represented in film could suggest its connectivity to art because
whilst time in reality is heterogeneous, film performs oppositely and encapsulates the time like
painting encapsulate moment. Whilst early thinkers do have different opinion on considering
film as art, some others such as Arnheim who discussed about considering film as one of the art
form in his book Film as Art (1957). Likewise, film needs a very deep consideration on all part
of its making. For example, the writing, costumes, cinematography and acting. Moreover,
formalist film helps us to understand new ideas because its approaches us by eliminating the
possible choices available for the audience to see and judge subjectively; and sometime by
hiding the truth just to make the audience able to generate their own but very objective
interpretation. Such approach as stated before falls under the subject-oriented approach as the
audience become the subject for the film. In addition, melodrama like Chungking Express
suppresses the element of time. It produces the interconnection between the two different short
stories of the Cop No.223 and the Cop No.663. The two shorts are connected by a very short
interruption of the protagonists love just to suggest that the time in the film is moving in linear
stream. Meanwhile, for The Ice Storm the non-parallel editing had suggested the point of view of
the story. The audience could recognize the transition of point of view between the plots as it
proceeds to the ultimate ending. In both films, all of the time utilization supports their concept on
art because it re-present the landscape of the place. Yet, place signifies the culture that would

signifies art. In the next section the author will discuss in more depth about the theory of
formalism and the study film to explain the reason film exists as art.
Consensus to Art
If film could assemble many ideas, then it in fact exists as art. Moreover, art is the pattern
of many motifs such as painting and sculpture which becomes bigger if the pattern also become
the motif of a bigger pattern. Such portrayal of art as pattern also means that film comprises
many elements even in one shot. Yet, motifs in film could become repeatable because it would
later represent the unity in the film. Such as Chungking Express which the repetition of two main
character per story, and the reusing of low shutter speed scene in the beginning and the middle
part of the film. Film commonly is subjected to tremendous literature, ideology and emotions.
Indeed, art means to be admired, look upon its meaning and provide emotions from technicalities
which refers to the formalist. Formalist film theory Lev Kuleshov conducted many experiments
on juxtaposition which suggests different meaning in one scene. One of the famous experiment
he did was juxtaposing a neutral expression from an actor.
Giannetti (2008) states, Kuleshov and many of his colleagues believed that traditional
acting skills were unnecessary in the cinema (p. 172). Departed from the exaggeration in acting,
Kuleshov attained to link the juxtaposition of the mans neutral expression side-by-side to a bowl
of soup, coffin containing a female corpse and a little girl playing. Which depicted a different
state of emotional meaning of hunger, deep sorrow, and paternal pride from the type of editing.
The expressive pattern also exist in both of the study film; The Ice Storm and Chungking
Express. In The Ice Storm one of the scenes suggesting that after Jim Carver went home at night
after he went to Houston working on great ideas about silicon, he went to look for his sons in
their room studying. In fact, the scene was edited by combining an indirect space continuity

more likely the same like what Kuleshov had been experimented with the juxtaposition. The
audience never sees if the characters were in the same room speaking directly. But, the
juxtaposition derived the sense of space connection which suggest they were in the same room
and space. Suppose that it gives the sense of connection between the conversations, the editing is
merely a standard to act wisely on constructing the framing and the mise-en scene. Also, because
it provide more freedom in putting the artistic effort onto the clothing, props, lighting and acting
in a smaller coverage without wasting any unused area on the set.
Space and time merely a reconstruct-able part in film. Formalist use this advantage to
cope with the realist long shot depicting realism which simply too theatrical than cinematic.
However, this formalist technique may over-manipulate the spectators decision. Thus, provide
them with an already made choices (Giannetti, 2008). Which is also become a subjective
approach on presenting the narrative. Yet, it is simply become the best technique to convey
political considerations or propaganda into the community. Plus, the significant revolution in
Russia during 1917 was a success because of the foundation on formalist film montage editing. It
was supported by De Valk and Arnold (2013) in their writing about Soviet montage and
Eisenstein that, the Soviet leader, Lenin, recognized that cinema could be used for the purposes
of propaganda and to educate the people about the new socialist system now in place (p. 125).
An illustrative example from one of the study film Chungking Express was taken from the scene
while the women with blonde wig was splitting the money to the Indians illegal immigrant. The
information was provided as it is. The film leaves no choice to spectator to choose either to judge
the scene objectively as they used to do with the realist film. However, drug smuggling is not a
new international issue especially during 90s. Which makes Chungking Express from its editing
to claim that the character of the Chinese women provides the new drug mules is indeed the fact.

The art of this editing is not just about providing the information to join each plot. But, an
emphasis of selecting the shots to abstract the idea of the life in Hong Kong.
Time in film is delusive while the image projection simulates the reality. Yet, cinema also
bring the comprehension through its images. Giannetti states:
The cinema is the most comprehensive of the arts because it can incorporate the visual
conflicts of painting and photography, the kinetic conflict of dance, the tonal conflict of
music, the verbal conflict of language, and the character and action conflict of fiction and
drama. (p. 175)
Whilst the term art regarding film as one of its kind, means to be able to be understood its
meaning. Formalist film provides no choice in the scene judgment. The linking activities which
are associated by the audience. In that case, the audience would sits passively and accepts the
plotline and other logical ties such as historical fact in the cinema. Yet, art according to the
formalist lures our perception to its forms. Later, adjust our thoughts from the world surrounding
to focus and figure out the object (Ben-Shaul, 2007). It is also because art must be recognizable
even it is difficult to. Regarding the representation of sex and maturity in The Ice Storm, our
perceptions to the obsession and motivation of the characters is clear because it is place wisely
and aesthetically to be recognizable. Meanwhile, in Chungking Express even if Wong Kar-wais
own obsession about his childhood in Hong Kong lures him to make film, he also describes the
landscape of Hong Kong in the manner of dramatic and serious way. It was clear even if to other
of his films that brings the mood of nostalgia while remain intact to the idea of drama. Besides,
drama itself is recognizable as a form of art because it is an expression of feeling such as
drawing or painting. All of the emotions work together to become a pattern that would

distinguish the film made by this director to the others. All in the sense of creating identity and
basically through the expression in the form of art.
Giannetti states, art involves a certain amount of selectivity, organization, and
interpretation (p. 188). Besides, cinema is merely a bunch of selected shots that in the directors
point of view conveys the most dramatic action for his scene. Art generally put the matter of
shaping the idea, so artistically it would suggest meaning from its mean of production images
(Feldman, 1967). Formalism also suggest the approach to the photogenic concept. Yuri Tynjanov
had considered that the artless reproduction of photograph tends to bring an ordinary perception
and delivers the content of reality to the audience. His abstraction preceded him with his own
two-phased theory of film art making. Suggesting that bounded objects from being photographed
are merely become the photogenic, whereas the cinematogenic in film suggests the objects that
are not bounded to one place. Plus, along with other formalists he rejects the term of photogenic
to be used in film as film simulates motion from many frame of images. Thus, he considered the
term cinematogenic as a more accurate terminology.
Art requires many approach on getting the exact look as imagined as possible. From the
lighting to produce the mood, the director of photography has to choose which side should the
subject be lighted from; either it is left, right, front or behind. Yet, it is hidden from the audience
of all the preparation made by the technical which suggest people to study the film and to
understand the reason it is made accordingly to. In fact, film also operates on tracks or timeline
sheet which requires 24 frames per second to achieve one second. By second the author also
means the duration that imply directly to only film and no other medium such as painting or
photography which only stays as one frame. It is the art of editing which processes the temporal
duration of the film. Because editing itself is another type of art since it required many thinking

to make the series of shots make some sense to the audience or the peers before it is released as
the final copy to the audience. It is not only to provide the storyline but also to produce
emotional effects to the mind of the audience while watching the film. Yet, how it eliminates the
audience thinking about themselves and sees the character in the film as their own reflection is
another expression of film as art; because it does provide the escapism.
Conclusion
In overall, from the beginning of the writing the author had stated that film provides
escapism. Escapism also helps the audience to be able to reflect themselves onto film characters
insofar as it helps them to suppress their eagerness on the real world limitation such as the
fantasy of killing or having an eternal love. The representation of multiple items bounded in the
circle of arts mean that they could still be representing art even from an assemble. While in
cinema people sees whatever is projected due to the selection made by the filmmakers. Yet, it
was either the film is more to the subjective or objective approach. However, it is true that
formalism appeal to the audience also because they has need to manipulate the audience
thinking. It seem like the formalist filmmaker had made more decision onto their film than the
audience. In the realm of formalist film the filmmakers do not want to make the audience
disagree to anything they show and judge it based on an unlimited idea on the fact they provided
instead.
Whilst, film also provides an escape to a different world it also separates us from the
reality. People merely adapt to the realm of its time and space because it reminds us about the
possibilities that the film world is similar to the real world. The art of imitating the time and
space is only available to the moving picture or film. While film remain difficult to be analyzed
per frame, it is suggested to see the whole scene as one frame. The portrayal of art such as

painting and sculpture act as the motif in film, whereas the collaboration of the motif form a
pattern in it. Film also accept the notion of formalism because in art anything could be fabricated
from ideas. Plus, the complexity of art in film also suggest to us that even through the projection
of the object, art could be presented. Which leads to the statement that film do exist as art.

References
Arnheim, R. (1957). Film as Art. California: University of California Press.
Bazin, A. (1967). What is Cinema? (vol. 1). California: University of California Press.
Ben-Shaul, N. (2007). Film: The Key Concept. New York: Oxford.
De Valk, M. & Arnold, S. (2013). The Film Handbook. London: Routledge.
Feldman, E. B. (1967). Art as Image and Idea. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Giannetti, L. (2008). Understanding Movies (11
th
edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

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Running head: FORMALISM UPON CINEMATIC ART: THE STUDY ON FILM THE ICE

STORM AND CHUNGKING EXPRESS 1

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