Modernist film is related to the art and philosophy of modernism as early modernist film came to maturity in the era between World War I and World War II, with characteristics such as montage and symbolic imagery, manifesting itself in genres as diverse as expressionism and surrealism (as featured in the works of Fritz Lang and Luis Buñuel) while postmodernist film – similar to postmodernism as a whole – is a reaction to modernist works, and to their tendencies (such as nostalgia and angst).
Aesthetics Modernist cinema has been said to have "explored and exposed the formal concerns of the medium by placing them at the forefront of consciousness." The auteur theory and idea of an author creating a work from their singular vision became a central characteristic of modernist filmmaking. It has been said that "To investigate the transparency of the image is modernist but to undermine its reference to reality is to engage with the aesthetics of postmodernism.""Reading the Postmodern Image: A Cognitive Mapping," Screen: 31, 4 (Winter 1990) by Tony Wilson The modernist film has more faith in the author, the individual, and the accessibility of reality itself (and generally has a more sincere tone) than the postmodernist film.
It also attempts to enlarge the film vocabulary against Hollywood's escapist entertainment and its reliance on narrative trappings which dominates the medium.The Modernist World – Google Books (ch."Cinema Modernisms in Canada and the United States")
List of notable modernist films
20th century Fantômas: The Dead Man Who Killed (1913)Modernism by Cody Lang · LetterboxdZones of Anxiety: Movement, Musidora, and the Crime Serials of Louis Feuillade (review) Cabiria (1914) Silent Witnesses (1914) The Birth of a Nation (1915)What Is Modernism, Exactly? And Is It Still alive? Children of the Age (1915) Leon Drey (1915) Les Vampires (1915-1916) Children of the Age (1915) Intolerance (1916) The Fire (1916) A Life for a Life (1916) The Dying Swan (1917) The King of Paris (1917) Deviy Gory (1918) Энциклопедия авангардного кино L'âtre (1919)Black modernism and the making of the twentieth century: Paris, 1919 J'accuse (1919)J’accuse (1919) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) Manhatta (1921) Rhythmus 21 (1921)Film and Early Modernism – Artforum Nosferatu (1922)The vampire who created the modern world Nanook of the North (1922)Films for Class: Nanook of the North Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922)Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) Ballet Mécanique (1923) La Roue (1923)Music for La Roue (1923; Fr.; Abel Gance) - The Realm of Silence The Extraordinary Adventures of Mr. West in the Land of the Bolsheviks (1924) Humor as Parody, Eccentrism, and Satire in Soviet Film after World War I The Last Laugh (1924) Sherlock Jr. (1924) L'Inhumaine (1924) Symphonie Diagonale (1924) Aelita (1924)“Modernism” and “Albers and Moholy-Nagy” Battleship Potemkin (1925) Feu Mathias Pascal (1925)Crypto-Modernism / Enigmatic Pulp, list by Mephisdopeles The Marriage of the Bear (1925) The Gold Rush (1925)Modernités de Charlie Chaplin: Un Cinéaste dans l’Œil des Avant-Gardes Mother (1926) Review : Vsevolod Pudovkin: Selected Essays Faust (1926)Руководство для кинорежиссёра: "Фауст" (1926)|Geeks - Vocal Media A Sixth Part of the World (1926)Michel AubryLa Sixième Partie du monde 2014 The General (1926) The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926)The Adventures of Prince Achmed The Lodger (1927) Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) Metropolis (1927) Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927) College (1927) Napoleon (1927)MODERNISM WITHOUT ORGANS: ANTONIN ARTAUD The Jazz Singer (1927) Zvenigora (1928)Zvenyhora (1928): Ethnographic Modernism The Crowd (1928) Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1928) The Cameraman (1928)Buster Keaton’s Modern Dance: A Review of Camera Man Un Chien Andalou (1929)Faber_Bunuel_s_Impure_Modernism_1929-1950.pdf (PDF) Buñuel’s Impure Modernism (1929–1950) Man with a Movie Camera (1929) Blackmail (1929)Four films: crossing the boundaries of modernism and postmodernism Arsenal (1929)Arsenal (1929): Ukraine in Revolution Queen Kelly (1929) Earth (1930)Philosophy, Iconology, Collectivization: Earth L'Age d'Or (1930) À propos de Nice (1930)What the genius who died young left behind. The biographical film "Vigo" and two feature films ("Zero for Conduct" and "L'Atalante"). Frankenstein (1931) Dracula (1931) M (1931) The great secret: Silence, cinema and modernism Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (1931) Tokyo Chorus (1931) City Lights (1931) La Natation par Jean Taris (1931) Two Happy Hearts (1932) The Blood of a Poet (1932) I Was Born, But... (1932)Against Modernism, In Favor of Tofu: Three Silent Comedies by Ozu The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) Zero for Conduct (1933) Land Without Bread (1933) Lot in Sodom (1933)CAPSULE: LOT IN SODOM (1933)|366 Weird Movies Passing Fancy (1933) The Tale of Tsar Durondai (1934)What Inspired UPA It Happened One Night (1934) The Modernism of Frank Capra and European Ethical Thought A Story of Floating Weeds (1934)Ozu Yasujirō’s A Story of Floating Weeds and the Art of Being Behind L'Atalante (1934) Coal Face (1935) (PDF) Alberto Cavalcanti: Experimental Realism in Coal Face Peter Ibbetson (1935) Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) Modern Times (1936)Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times and the Minstrel Tradition| Modernist Modernity Arigato-San (1936) The Life of Emile Zola (1937) Lenin in October (1937)Ленин и двойное дно / Котомодерн смотрит Daffy Duck and Egghead (1938) Olympia (1938) You Can't Take It With You (1938) La vuelta al nido (1938) Thugs with Dirty Mugs (1939) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) Stagecoach (1939) Rebecca (1940)Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) Fantasia (1940)“Fantasia”: A Modern Approach to a Timeless Film The Great Dictator (1940) Tarantella (1940) The Heckling Hare (1941) Citizen Kane (1941)Welles, Orson (1915–1985) The Maltese Falcon (1941) Hellzapoppin' (1941)Hellzapoppin’ (H. C. Potter, 1941) Cat People (1942) The Dover Boys at Pimento University (1942) Casablanca (1942)Модерн, Постмодерн и Метамодерн в кино на примере сигарет за 17 минут Meshes of the Afternoon (1943) Who Killed Who (1943) The Phantom Baron (1943) Screwball Squirrel (1944) Double Indemnity (1944) Hell-Bent for Election (1944) Rome, Open City (1945) Leave Her to Heaven (1945) Detour (1945) La Fiancée des ténèbres (1945) Gilda (1946) A Matter of Life and Death (1946) It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Lonesome Lenny (1946) The Killers (1946) Out of the Past (1947) The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Monsieur Verdoux (1947) Spring in a Small Town (1948) Spring in a Small Town review – powerful, exquisite drama Bicycle Thieves (1948) The Naked City (1948) The Boy with Green Hair (1948) Corridor of Mirrors (1948) Ragtime Bear (1949) The Third Man (1949) Gerald McBoing-Boing (1950) Giddyap (1950) The Asphalt Jungle (1950) Sunset Boulevard (1950)Sunset Boulevard Modernism Rashomon (1950) Orpheus (1950) The Fall of Berlin (1950)Эзотерический Троцкий и культ революции / Котомодерн смотрит The Peachy Gobbler (1950) Los Olvidados (1950) Rooty Toot Toot (1951)What is Your favorite "Mid Century" Designed Cartoon Short or Series?|Cartoon Research Symphony in Slang (1951) Miracle in Milan (1951)Framing the Real: Lefèbvre and Neo-Realist Cinematic Space as Practice Son of Paleface (1952) Singin' in the Rain (1952) Magical Maestro (1952) Fear and Desire (1952)Review: Stanley Kubrick's Fear and Desire on Kino Lorber Blu-ray – Slant Magazine High Noon (1952) Limelight (1952) Hurlements en faveur de Sade (1952) The First Time (1952) Duck Amuck (1953) Tokyo Story (1953) The Moon is Blue (1953)Bachelor Modern: Mid–Century Style in American Movies – National Building Miuseum The Tell-Tale Heart (1953) Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot (1953) Glen or Glenda (1953)The World's Worst Director Statues Also Die (1953) Susan Slept Here (1954) La Strada (1954) A Star is Born (1954) The River and Death (1954) Voyage to Italy (1954) Magnificent Obsession (1954) Rear Window (1954) Jail Bait (1954) La Pointe Courte (1955) A ‘Feeling of Suspension’: Tradition and Modernity in La Pointe Courte Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Artists and Models (1955) All That Heaven Allows (1955) Le amiche (1955) The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959) The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) Kiss Me Deadly (1955) Bride of the Monster (1955) Mr. Arkadin (1955) And God Created Woman (1956) Night and Fog (1956)The Pursuit of Freedom: The New Wave, Jazz and Modernism The Killer Is Loose (1956)Film Noir:The Killer Is Loose Momma Don't Allow (1956) The Girl Can't Help It (1956) On the Bowery (1956) The Jaywalker (1956) The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1956) The Killing (1956)KUBRICK AND COLD MODERNISM Bob le flambeur (1956) Shadow (1956) Paths of Glory (1957) Kanał (1957) La cravate (1957)Videology 2 Wild Strawberries (1957) Desk Set (1957) N.Y., N.Y. (1957) Flebus (1957) Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) Glimpse of the Garden (1957) Nights Of Cabiria (1957) The Cranes Are Flying (1957) Veronika fuses out: Rape and medium specificity in The Cranes are Flying The Seventh Seal (1957) Sweet Smell of Success (1957) Mars and Beyond (1957) What's Opera, Doc? (1957)BOMB Magazine|Amid Amidi's Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animation Lettre de Sibérie (1957) 12 Angry Men (1957) Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) Vertigo (1958) Bell, Book and Candle (1958) Ashes and Diamonds (1958)Perilous Betweens: On Andrzej Wajda's “Ashes and Diamonds” (1958) Samac (1958)Пространство в анимационных фильмах Мимица Ватрослава на HSE Desigh The Lovers (1958) Shadows (1958) Night of the Ghouls (1958) Murder by Contract (1958) Touch of Evil (1958) Mon Oncle (1958)Mon Oncle: M. Hulot is puzzled by Modernism Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) Ballad of a Soldier (1959) Hiroshima mon amour (1959)Screening Modernism: European Art Cinema, 1950-1980 The 400 Blows (1959) Night Train (1959)Modernism, a list of films by Vaughn Hayes • Letterboxd The Wind (1959)Modernity and Modernism in the Cinema of the Soviet Thaw: Image, Performance, History, ASEEES, Boston, 2018 North by Northwest (1959)Midcentury Modernism in Film – Metropolis Pillow Talk (1959) Nazarín (1959) The Best of Everything (1959) We Are the Lambeth Boys (1959) Les liaisons dangereuses (1959) Pickpocket (1959) Les Cousins (1959) Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Look Back in Anger (1959) Le petit soldat (1960) Peeping Tom (1960) L'Avventura (1960) Innocent Sorcerers (1960) La dolce vita (1960) The Spleen of Rome: Modernism in Fellini's La dolce vitaAlienation in Modernist Film (LKIM analysis) - College Film & Media Studies Breathless (1960)Модернизм и постмодернизм в кинематографе: Влияние и Различия Ocean's 11 (1960) Rocco and His Brothers (1960) Splendid Days (1960) Zazie dans le Métro (1960) The Sinister Urge (1960) Psycho (1960) Shoot the Piano Player (1960) The Bellboy (1960) Les Bonnes Femmes (1960) Eyes Without a Face (1960)Les Yeux Sans Visage, aka Eyes Without A Face (1960) Night and Fog in Japan (1960)IN THE REALM OF OSHIMA - Hammer to Nail Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) Viridiana (1961) Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) The Ladies Man (1961) Cuba Sí! (1961) Il posto (1961) Lover Come Back (1961) The Connection (1961) Last Year at Marienbad (1961) A Taste of Honey (1961) West Side Story (1961) The Human Pyramid (1961) One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)The Making and Impact of One Hundred and One Dalmatians|The Walt Disney Family Museum2010 at the Arthouse: White Material and The Illusionist – The Long Take Allures (1961) La Notte (1961) A Woman Is a Woman (1961) Surogat (1961) The Errand Boy (1961) Paris Belongs to Us (1961) Big Troubles (1961) The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) Boys' Night Out (1962) Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962) Jules and Jim (1962) Gay Purr-ee (1962) Experiment in Terror (1962) Adieu Philippine (1962)