Surrealism is an artistic cinema style that purposely deviates from traditional, Hollywood-style film conventions. Originally a literary movement, surrealism was first introduced to cinema in the 1920s by filmmakers André Breton, Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. Early filmmaking was often experimental, with directors and producers exploring the technical processes of mise en scène, narratives and post-production alterations. Surrealist cinema was adventurous, challenging audience perception through the use of shocking, irrational and unreasonable imagery. A surreal film characteristically does not make sense or follow mainstream cinematic codes and conventions. The French film, Entr'Acte (1924) by Erik Satie and René Clair, …show more content…
Entr'Acte inspired a new cinematic style, followed closely by films such as Le fantôme du Moulin-Rouge (1925), Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) and The Holy Mountain (1973). Decades later, these unconventional techniques have reappeared in Hollywood Blockbusters in order to keep audiences interested. This is evident with contemporary films such as Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (2010), Christopher Nolan’s, Inception (2010) and Juan Solanas' Upside Down (2012). Characteristics of style - what they are and their effects on audience
Surrealist cinema was closely derived from the corresponding avant-garde literary and artistic movement that emerged in Paris from 1921 to 1941. The movement drew upon bizarre, evocative imagery and purposefully avoided logic and rationality. The imagery aimed to liberate the creative power of the unconscious mind. Various techniques were used to illustrate the subconscious such as dreamscapes, hallucinations and random image generation (source 1). Surrealist film is very similar to surrealist art, and lacks a narrative or structure. It focuses on drawing the audience's