Cinéma vérité

Cinéma vérité (/ˈsɪnɪmə vɛrɪˈteɪ/; French: [sinema veʁite]; 'truthful cinema') is a style of documentary filmmaking, invented by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with the use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subjects hidden behind crude reality.[1][2][3]

Cinéma vérité in relationship to direct cinema and observational cinema
For other uses, see Cinéma vérité (disambiguation).

It is sometimes called observational cinema,[4][5] if understood as pure direct cinema: mainly without a narrator's voice-over. There are subtle, yet important, differences among terms expressing similar concepts. Direct Cinema is largely concerned with the recording of events in which the subject and audience become unaware of the camera's presence: operating within what Bill Nichols,[6] an American historian and theoretician of documentary film, calls the "observational mode", a fly on the wall. Many therefore see a paradox in drawing attention away from the presence of the camera and simultaneously interfering in the reality it registers when attempting to discover a cinematic truth.

Cinéma vérité can involve stylized set-ups and the interaction between the filmmaker and the subject, even to the point of provocation. Some argue that the obvious presence of the filmmaker and camera was seen by most cinéma vérité filmmakers as the best way to reveal the truth in cinema.[7][8][9] The camera is always acknowledged, for it performs the raw act of filming real objects, people, and events in a confrontational way. The filmmaker's intention was to represent the truth in what he or she was seeing as objectively as possible, freeing people from any deceptions in how those aspects of life were formerly presented to them. From this perspective, the filmmaker should be the catalyst of a situation. Few agree on the meanings of these terms, even the filmmakers whose films are being described.

Pierre Perrault sets situations up and then films them, for example in Pour la suite du monde (1963) where he asked old people to fish for whale. The result is not a documentary about whale fishing; it is about memory and lineage. In this sense cinéma vérité is concerned with anthropological cinema, and with the social and political implications of what is captured on film. How a filmmaker shoots a film, what is being filmed, what to do with what was filmed, and how that film will be presented to an audience, all were very important for filmmakers of the time.

In all cases, the ethical and aesthetic analysis of documentary form (see docufiction) of the 1950s and 1960s has to be linked with a critical look at post-war propaganda analysis. The best way to describe this type of cinema is probably to say that it is concerned with notions of truth and reality in film. Also feminist documentary films of the 1970s often used cinéma-vérité techniques. Soon this sort of 'realism' was criticized for its deceptive pseudo-natural construction of reality.[10][11]

Edgar Morin coined the term around the time of such essential films like 1960's Primary[12] and his own 1961 collaboration with Jean Rouch, Chronicle of a Summer.[13]

Filmmakers associated with the style
Pioneers
Others

Selected cinéma-vérité films

Legacy

Many film directors of the 1960s and later adopted use of the handheld camera, techniques and cinéma vérité styles for their fiction films based on screenplays and actors. They often had actors using improvisation to get a more spontaneous quality in their talks and action. Influential examples include director John Cassavetes, who broke ground with his film Faces.[37] The techniques (if not always the spirit) of cinéma vérité can also be seen in fiction films from The Blair Witch Project[38] to Saving Private Ryan.[39]

Cinéma vérité was also readily adapted to use in TV fiction programs, such as Homicide: Life on the Street, NYPD Blue,[40] both the UK and American versions of The Office, Parks & Recreation[41] and Modern Family.[42] Documentary series are less common, but COPS is one of the famous non-fictional examples (even if albeit as tabloid television).[43]

It has also been the subject ripe for parodies and spoofs such as the acclaimed mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap [44] and Emmy-nominated TV series Documentary Now (the latter paying homage to the style of such CV classics as Grey Gardens and The War Room). [45][46]

See also

References
  1. Glossary of rouchinan terms at MAITRES FOUS net
  2. Ricky Leacock and “The Sense of Being There” Archived 2013-06-14 at the Wayback Machine – Article by Stephen Altobello at IMN
  3. Camera that Changed the World – Article at BBC
  4. Direct Cinema at Karamumedia12
  5. Observational documentary at Film Reference
  6. Nichols, Bill. Introducing the Documentary. Indiana University Press, 2001, p. 109
  7. Jean Rouch: Cinéma-vérité, Chronicle of a Summer and The Human Pyramid – Article by Barbara Bruni at Senses of Cinema, March 13, 2002
  8. DIRECT CINEMA: Filmmaking Style and its relationship to “Truth” – Thesis by Bernice K. Shneider, B.A., Art History University of Massachusetts, MIT (1972)
  9. Jean Rouch – The Film-maker as Provocateur – Article at Microwave
  10. A feminist critique of documentary film – Paper at Serendip Studio Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine
  11. By, For, and About: The “Real” Problem in the Feminist Film Movement – Paper by Shilyh Warren at Mediascape, UCLA
  12. The Godfather of Cinéma Vérité|The New Yorker
  13. Chronicle of a Summer (1961)|The Criterion Collection
  14. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  15. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  16. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  17. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  18. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  19. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  20. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  21. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  22. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  23. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  24. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  26. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  27. 25 New Hollywood Era Films That Projected the Hopes and Fears of the Times
  28. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  29. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  30. Happy Mother's Day at Pennebaker Hegedus Films
  31. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  32. The Plaint of Steve Kreines as recorded by his younger brother Jeff at Sundance Festival
  33. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  34. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  35. The Godfather of Cinéma Vérité|The New Yorker
  36. Chronicle of a Summer (1961)|The Criterion Collection
  37. John Cassavetes in Allmovie, accessed online on the New York Times website 23 October 2006.
  38. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  39. Best Film Editing Sequences - filmsite.org
  40. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  41. How ‘Parks and Rec’ Transcended its Mockumentary Roots – Vulture
  42. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  43. Cinema Verite: The Movement of Truth|Independent Lens|PBS.org
  44. Greatest Film Scenesand Moments - filmsite.org
  45. ‘Documentary Now!’ a spoof on docs by ‘SNL’ alums Seth Meyers, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen — Daily News
  46. Documentary Now! An ode to the funniest spoof on television|Television & radio|The Guardian
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