Analysis and Interpretation of Art Cinema

Viewing art cinema means looking for moments in which the stylistic features interrupt the narrative flow, and drawing attention away from the fabula (story) and highlights its own role. Therefore the style of an art film is intrusive the use of unusual camera movements, angles and unreality lighting and settings situated with a disjointed soundtrack all come together too puzzle the audience and complicate the narrative. Art films pose questions that guide us in fitting material into an ongoing structure, features such as flash forwards are unconventional in classical cinema as it creates a disruption in the narrative. This results in the audience being required to think about the narrative and film itself as they try and solve the ‘puzzles’ presented to them. As art cinema is targeted for a niche audience more confusing films acceptable as the audience will most likely be looking for something that requires them to think. Although art cinema must include a set of conventions in which audiences are able to understand more or less easily and straight away otherwise the genre wouldn’t survive as audiences rely upon familiarity within a film as a part of escapism and enjoyment. However, art cinema challenges the audiences knowledge in such a way that its results in the audience being more aware and engaged in the film. Within this essay, there will be a close analysis of the films The Tango Lesson (Sally Potter, 1997) and Performance (Nicolas Roeg, Donald Cammell, 1970) and their relation to art cinema.

The Tango Lesson is a stereotypical new wave film focusing on the power of dance and relationships between people and the art of dance. As the film is part of art cinema is showcases unconditional ideas including its cinematography as it has the freedom to experiment as the audience expects this from this type of cinema. Though the use of minority representations the film allows for a more open-minded interpretation from the audience such as the representation of female filmmakers and them being the more dominant character in a role/relationship. These kinds of films require audiences to be active instead of passive as most likely a particular ideology or political agenda is put forward within the film. For example in The Tango Lesson, there are multiple references to how female filmmakers are not accepted in Hollywood as directors, which is a comment on the Hollywood studio system of being a male-dominated area- comments such as these were uncommon in this era of film except for select alternative art films. The use of artistic moments gives an impact to the audience as they perceive the film as art cinema such moments include the use of mirrors as a means of reflection of characters and moments in the film. As well as the use of a job style interview as a means of communicating with characters and the audience as the film is meta-textual as it's a film within a film.

The Tango Lesson switches from black and white to colour which most audiences would expect that to represent a flashback/ flash forwards or a change in the narrative although at this point in the film it is unclear to the audience and a puzzle for them solve. Although the film adheres to Todorov’s narrative structure it ends with a soft ending where nothing is really solved or concluded the film just ends. The start of the film is to purposely confuse the audience as we are not aware that sally is a filmmaker, her character role is not defined form the start which is typical of art cinema as the audience is expected to solve this puzzle compared to Hollywood in which the role of each character in the movie is defined in the first act. As well as the film constitutes an episodical narrative which shows little acts within acts and therefore creates a Flexi-narrative in which the audience has to focus on this also results in no cause an effect unlike Hollywood cinema such as the work of Spielberg. During a scene in the film, Pablo becomes offended by the term work as he wants to be apart of the art which is unusual as in mainstream films the roles are reversed as stereotypically a woman would be considered to me art whilst a man would just work. This could be confusing for the audience as they would have to figure out why the roles have reversed and the unconventional character functions. It is clear that Pablo wants to be the masculine character, he has a desire to be in control which is conventional of the film although this is contrasted with an equally headstrong female character - Sally, this results in Pablo demonstrating an insecure character trait which once again may puzzle the audience. Sally Potter has a “passive” role in the tango, she finds ways when dancing to assert herself, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Where Pablo is constantly giving Potter the message that she must subvert herself – her will, her feelings, her energy in which creates a tension that in turn makes the tango work. This is especially emphasised in the film when, while Potter and he are rehearsing to perform together, Pablo berates her for “doing too much.” He constantly tells her over and over to “let go,” but she seems unable to fulfil his demand. This implies that she isn’t ready to be fully passive to him, in general, she still wants this control in which is unconventional but common in art cinema as it suggests that each character isn’t what they seem. One again suggesting that they have a more three-dimensional personality and characteristics in which the audience must see through to understand the character and film itself.

The film can be considered to be covertly feminist as the role of the man is taken and subverted by Sally as the film progresses so does her character, she becomes the one who objectifies and takes advantage of her relationship with the dance teacher as he becomes her muse- she has switched as what Mulvey stated as the male gaze into a female gaze. Her body language implies that she is in control of the situation and this results in insecurities within the teacher as he is used to being the one who dominates his students. This is unconventional of mainstream films but typical in art cinema as stated before the narrative and character functions develop as the film progresses. Characters are shown in an oppressing light and subverting roles which goes against audience expectations and maybe ‘puzzling’ at first but becomes clear towards the end of the film. The back and forth arguments within the film suggest a complicated relationship with Sally and Pablo emphasising the idea that both of them are active in terms of having the control over each other- they both want to be intimate at different points in the narrative.

At first glance Performance’s is about a violent gangster who seeks refuge from the mob in the Bohemian home of a former rock star but in reality, the film is so much more complex by addressing issues of politics, gender sexuality and the government influence of that time. Performance has a simple symbolic journey which takes Chas from a narcissistic repressed homosexual within the opening sequence to open liberated sexuality of the final minutes of the film. During the opening sequence, there is a soulless display of sexual pyrotechnics as Chas and Dana engage in liberated contemporary sex. Whereas Chas sexuality may be known as the being on the film but there is a more complex agenda to him and his sexuality due to his repressed homosexuality. This is what art cinema is for, to question the audience's thoughts and feeling of each character, to second guess what is presented to them. Performances’ politics aren’t about epiphenomena of parties and governments and the reality of class exploitation as England is represented as a country enthralled to a vicious and cynical ruling class. The lawyer and the gangster are, despite differences of language and social class, united in their common exploitation of people only glimpsed on streets and offices. The only area which lies outside this control is the house, the locus of sex and drugs and music which has the potential to transform society. This concept isn’t obvious to the audience unless you take the time to deconstruct the film and its politics. Although this is expected in art cinema as it is a means of broadcasting ideological beliefs through a visual medium, as these beliefs are puzzling to the audience once they are understood there is a greater appreciation of the film and understanding of politics.

The final shot in performance is highly important as it generalises the whole story, it indicates that the film has moved, during its course, from a purely realistic level a purely allegorical level. The audience is able to see Chas from the back getting into a white Rolls-Royce, as the car passes by the camera the figure inside in the red wig looks out of the window - it's Turner. There is then a cut to a close high angle looking down on the street and the Central Park West, the shot continues as the car turns into Central Park and showcases the New York Skyline. Considering the film is based in England this ending not only confuses the audience but makes them question where the film is actually set. Unlike contemporary Hollywood films, art cinema tends to leave the ending open or ‘soft’ as it up for interpretation by the audience suggesting that art cinema is a puzzle for the audience to solve by creating their own ending. ‘The camera’s penetration of Turner’s body, it is shattering of Borges’ image and its transgression of every rule of spatial construction mean that the final eerie minutes of the film are entirely our invention.’ This lack of integration results in the audience creating their own conclusions within the ending of the film and therefore it could be argued that art cinema is a means of engagement through the audience.

Performance is as challenging to listen to as it is to watch, as the soundtrack that is perhaps the most influential and groundbreaking aspect of the film. This is because rather than being a total composed source or collection of found songs, Jack Nietzsche’s soundtrack mixes together disparate and impure musical forms into a non-diegetic soundtrack. The creates a self-awareness that the audience is situated in the structure of the film experiments with the idea of what we know as a contemporary music video. As well as the use of music showcasing the narcism of the performer as the songs in the film represent Turner as a self-obsessed musician who is better than Chas as well as highlighting the cultural significance of that time. ‘Like classical narrative, art-film narration poses questions that guide us in fitting material into an on-going structure.’ Performance is evident of this as it constitutes a classical narrative but distorts it so that the audience is required to solve the ‘puzzle’ presented to them. As well as the editing in the film is focused around the idea of montages and the colour red and the use of blood is signified and considered a motif within the film, this is typical of Roeg’s style as the film as connections to the film Don’t Look Now. The result of this a film which has no temporal or spatial awareness as the audience is so engaged in the sex, drug use and explicit imagery they become lost in a film. There is a scene where Chas is escorted out of Powis square and within that scene, one shot has been reversed, these small details all have the same purpose which is to puzzle the audience.

Art cinema tends to alienate the audience as what is being told compared to what the audience is being shown can be completely different and therefore the audience may not get the satisfaction that they have with mainstream films until they are able to solve the puzzle set out by the film and director. Performance is evident of this as the narratives sole purpose is to confuse the audience, by having each character express multiple personalities the audience finds it harder to follow each narrative. Each character function (Propp) is hard to distinguish between characters you are unable to decipher who is the protagonist and antagonist but also each character at some stage become both- this is also evident in The Tango Lesson. Subjective realism refers to the depiction of characters with an emphasis on their psychological state, as art film protagonists lack clear cut characteristics and motives compared to mainstream Hollywood films, therefore it is the audiences job to solve the puzzle of what the role of the character is and how it influences the narrative.

The psychological state of each character is represented through mise-en-scene techniques such as posture, convert glances and small facial expressions. This is evident in Performance when Turner constantly but also subtlety glances at the woman when Chas is in the room. Their mental states are represented through subjective images such as hallucinations and dreams within Performance Chas is under the influence of hallucinogenics where the audience is subjected to his state of mind which is confusing. It is evident that both films, The Tango Lesson and Performance are purposely constructed to confuse the audience at first glance but this confusing aspect is what draws an audience in to think deeper and engage more with the narrative. An audience who finds pleasure in art cinema must find pleasure in solving a puzzle whilst watching the film. That may be evident through challenging cinematography or delicate actions within the mise-en-scene as well as the chaotic choppy editing this results in an audience being identified as a cinephile as they have the required knowledge and fascination for a film.

A puzzle must be solved as ‘An art film is the construction of the narration which becomes the object of spectator hypotheses:’ Therefore as an audience we have a duty to solve the ‘puzzle’ in this case the narratives and their purpose of each film, although there is room for an audience interpretation which is evident and reliant in both films discussed. This idea of a ‘puzzle’ to an audience is exciting and may favour in terms of the film success as audiences like to be challenged as well as being shown familiar elements such as a location through iconography (London and Los Angeles) this is due to the ‘challenge’ making the audience engage in the film as well as target a more sophisticated audience.