Theory of the film : (character and growth of a new art) (1952)

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268 PROBLEMS OF STYLE this is that we well know the dimensions of normal men and unaccustomed largeness is therefore all the more striking. The colossi of ancient Egypt impress us as monumental because in their faces, in the corners of their eyes and lips, there is something individual, an almost intimately alive human expression. Without this they would be merely rocks resembling human beings, and rocks can be any size. As it is, they are human beings which resemble huge rocks and they impress us as superhuman because we can identify the human being and human proportions in them. If the outlines of a mountain remind one of the outlines of a human body, the mountain will appear smaller than its actual size. But if the statue of a man reminds one of a mountain through the weight of its forms, then it appears larger than its actual size — or in other words it will be monumental. The secret of the monumentality of the Ravenna mosaics is that they appear as individual portraits, although in reality they are huge architectural shapes formed out of stone. A film can never be made 'monumental' by the number of extras in crowd scenes or the size of the set, but only by the weight of its theme or the personality of its hero. The most intimate human experiences can be the result and reflection of great historical events. The question is only whether the author can see and show them as such without any pedantic explanations. STYLE AND STYLIZATION The question of stylization in the film is exceptionally complicated because the technique of photography had from the start determined unstylized naturalness as the basic principle of filmic presentation. But there is no art which could evolve its styles without stylization. Nevertheless there is a difference between style and stylization. We designate as style the formal characteristics of every art The peculiarities of the artist's personality and those of his people, his class and his time are all reflected in the formal style of the work of art. As there is no work of art in which the personality of the artist, the ideology of his class, the