Volume 41, 2016
Denise Gamble
Pages 499-526
Cinematic Realism Revisited
A Kantian Perspective
An anti-realist stance prevalent in philosophy of film, probably less familiar to analytical than continental philosophers, raises issues that are philosophically accessible and engaging. While this anti-realist stance can be historically situated many of its constituent ideas remain influential in contemporary milieus. A common claim of anti-realism is that realist art or cinema, in part by virtue of “reification,” is inherently “non-transformative.” Without rigorously refuting all manifestations of the “reification thesis,” key assumptions of anti-realism associated with it are challenged in this paper. An aesthetic and a political-ideological anti-realist thesis are identified and critiqued. Kant’s distinction between “aesthetic” and “mechanical art” provides a basis for defending a form of cinematic realism that vindicates its potential transformative power. The Kantian framework provides a reference point for a comparative analysis of Brecht’s and Lukács’s views on anti-realism versus realism as well as for a favorable reconsideration of André Bazin’s cinematic realism.