In a simplistic framing, European cinema and US films appear to be worlds apart: while most European films are supposed to reach a limited more highly educated audience, the Hollywood cinema is generally considered to be more oriented for entertainment and storytelling.
Is it fair to make such a divide between “US-entertaining cinema” and “European more profound and artistic cinema”?
In the next section of this post, we will reflect on the evolution of these two trends during the period of the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s of the 20th century.
The history of cinema in Europe has been profoundly influenced by the artistic circles and by the idea of conveying feelings, emotions, and a message or reflection on society. The European cinema is also known as having a strong focus on the visual aspect, in which every minimal detail is important.
From the 1970s to the 1990s the main driving force amongst European filmmakers was the Germans Volker Schlondorff, Wolfgang Petersen, and Wim Wenders; and the Spanish Carlos Saura and Pedro Almodovar. The use of video cassette recorders (VCR) and cable television brought a lot of changes. One great example is how these new technologies opened a path for the European cinema to expand all around the world.
In this post, we are going to summarize the broad impact of these extremely important filmmakers in the development of cinema as an art form in Europe.
Beginning with the work of Volker Schlondorff, Wolfgang Petersen, and Wim Wenders. Their films are illustrative examples of the so-called “New German Cinema”. Alongside others, they were declared as a group of young and radical West German filmmakers. They wanted to create a new film language founded on artistic excellence rather than commercial interests. A majority of the work developed during this period is the expression of the filmmakers' political views and social critic. These young creators had the ambition but unfortunately, the industry was facing economic stagnation which gave them extremely low budgets. Although they had to face many difficulties, they also conquered many achievements.
Volker Schlondorff won an Oscar as well as the Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival for The Tin Drum (1979). This was one of the most successful German films in history.
Carlos Saura Atarés and Pedro Almodóvar are counted among Spain’s most renowned filmmakers.
By the 1970s, Saura was the best-known filmmaker working in Spain. His films employed complex narrative devices and were frequently controversial. He won Special Jury Awards for La Prima Angélica (1973) and Cría Cuervos (1975) in Cannes; and an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film nomination in 1979 for Mama Cumple 100 Años. His films are a sophisticated expression of time and space fusing reality with fantasy, past with the present, and memory with hallucination.
Pedro Almodóvar achieved international recognition for his black comedy-drama film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988) which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and went on to more success with the dark romantic comedy film Tie me UP! Tie me Down (1990).
Any art form can only survive if it captivates the public and has commercial sustainability. European cinema is not immune to this trend. But in the genesis of its essence is the desire to remain an art form, of criticism and social and political reflection. As such, it differs from Hollywood cinema that aims to entertain larger audiences.
Comments