Poetic Realism: From Objective Facts to Moral Truth

Poetic Realism: From Objective Facts to Moral Truth

Jean Renoir says - to let oneself absorbed by everything around you, life itself is an infinitely more rewarding spectacle than all the inventions of the mind. 

Poetic Realism is a term that describes a style of cinema that emerged in France during the 1930s. It refers to a type of film that presents a poetic interpretation of reality, with an emphasis on emotional and psychological truths rather than objective facts. Poetic Realism is characterized by its use of atmospheric visuals, lyrical dialogue, and a focus on the inner lives of its characters. This essay will explore the origins of Poetic Realism, its key features, and its enduring legacy.

Poetic Realism emerged in the aftermath of World War I and the economic and social turmoil that followed. Many French filmmakers were disillusioned with the traditional Hollywood-style cinema, which they saw as formulaic and shallow. They sought to create a new type of film that would reflect the complex realities of the world they lived in. Poetic Realism was born out of this desire to capture the subjective experience of life in a way that was both poetic and realistic.

The key features of Poetic Realism include a focus on character psychology and emotional depth, a strong sense of atmosphere and mood, and a visual style that emphasizes natural lighting and deep shadows. This style of filmmaking often employs long takes and static camera shots, creating a sense of stillness and introspection. Dialogue is often poetic and philosophical, exploring the characters' inner lives and moral dilemmas. The plots of Poetic Realist films often revolve around doomed love affairs, social injustice, and existential crises.

One of the most famous examples of Poetic Realism is Jean Renoir's 1939 film "The Rules of the Game." Set in a country estate during a weekend hunting party, the film explores the complex relationships between a group of aristocrats and their servants. Through its nuanced portrayal of class tensions and human frailties, "The Rules of the Game" presents a poetic but realistic vision of French society on the eve of World War II. Another example is Marcel Carné's 1939 film "Le Jour Se Lève," which tells the story of a working-class man who kills his rival in a fit of jealousy. Through its use of flashbacks and dream sequences, the film explores the character's emotional and psychological state, creating a vivid portrait of a man driven to desperation by his circumstances.

Poetic Realism had a profound influence on French cinema and beyond. Its emphasis on emotional depth and subjective experience paved the way for the New Wave movement of the 1950s and 60s, which rejected traditional Hollywood-style cinema in favor of a more personal and experimental approach. Poetic Realism also inspired filmmakers around the world, from Italian neorealism to Japanese postwar cinema.

Poetic Realism is a style of cinema that combines poetic expression with a realistic portrayal of the world. Its focus on character psychology, atmospheric visuals, and philosophical dialogue creates a vivid and emotionally resonant vision of the human experience. Poetic Realism continues to inspire filmmakers today, reminding us of the enduring power of cinema to capture the complexity of human life.

Many of the best-remembered French films of the 1930s belong to a group that has been termed Poetic Realism. This was not a unified movement, like French Impression- ism or Soviet Montage; it was, rather, a looser tendency. Poetic Realism films often center on characters living on the margins of society, either as unemployed members of the working class or as criminals. After a life of disappointment, these shabby figures find a last chance at intense, ideal love. After a brief period, they are disappointed again, and the films end with the disillusionment or deaths of the central characters. The overall tone is one of nostalgia and melancholy. The simple story in these films is not as important as the brooding atmosphere, created in part. The studio-built versions of a working-class district illustrates the mixture of stylization and realism in Poetic Realism.

There's an impulse in these films towards lyric retardation, the retardation is the retarding of the plot. There's a kind of lyric impulse to celebrate what's going in front of you at the expense of the plot. As if the story stops moving at a certain point and the camera itself indulges in witnessing a spectacle so intrinsically interesting in itself that it seems to lose interest in the ongoing story. So, this tension between denotation and connotation. Denotation being the simple realism, the ongoing story, the connotation being the poetic or lyrical impulse of the film to sort of celebrate life in its complexity and its nuance without any interference from the demand that you follow a story. This tension is not only a fundamental element of poetic realism but the Italian form of this called neo realism

And in both forms, in both kinds of film there is this retarding impulse, this lyric impulse in which the story's desire to get on with itself is sometimes in conflict with the camera’s desire to look at what it sees, to revel in what it wants to look at. And so, Jean Vido, partly because of his tragic life and partly because he was the son of an anarchist who wrote about theories of anarchism as a political movement and he himself was very hostile to authority. And his films animate a kind of anarchic anti establishmentarianism, that is very distinctive. He's almost always on the side of the weak the powerless. The poetic realism is interested in the real world and in the relation between characters and the outer world. And although it will use abrupt cuts if various kinds, it won't do so at the expense of your experience of the outer world. It wants the audience to take in what it sees, and to make judgements about it. It doesn't try to in the way that certain other kinds of styles might do- to manipulate your response in quite the - in so dramatic a way.

The settings of the film or the mise en scene was of utter importance, so much so that the realistic settings other than having effect on the audience, they also had effect on the actors and performance and believability. the audience only sees the scene but for the actor it is another matter. for example, in la Grande illusion he set a scene in a muddy and hilly countryside. jean gabin and dalio were playing the part of the escape sequence. it was horribly cold and they were caked with mud. Renoir was very proud of the scene but the actors found themselves incapable of speaking the lines in such conditions. after much discussion it was suggested that the lines should be replaced by the song ' le petit navire' sung with varying expressions. the song had furnished the sound track of an earlier sequence and was symbolical of the escape. the result was splendid. in short, the setting had one and because of that everybody had won. in cinema the finest setting, the most beautiful photography, the greatest acting, he most inspired directing cannot exist in isolation, it is codependent ad intertwined. everything is bound up with everybody else. similarly, the closeups of gabin and carette on a real locomotive in la bete humaine were excellent only once was a mock up used. even though it was later realized that the mockup and the real scenes looked exactly the same but Renoir went along with the real setting of the moving locomotive for the sake of actors and the result was that it made the scene more realistic as the actors realized the noise of the locomotive is too much and they cannot hear each other, consequently they started using hand signals and gestures to talk to each other and made the scene more realistic. the setting has an indispensable influence on the actors. 

 And what follows this is in-camera editing, because what happens is that the style is committed to long take so the camera will alter its focal length, its depth of field, or it will simply move and change the object of its gaze while it’s in operation. so instead of a series of cuts that are made in the editing room it is the camera man working the camera who’s making certain decisions that in another kind of film would be made by a film editor and this creates an effect of improvisation or an effect that creates the impression that sometimes at its most compelling and powerful moments , the camera is actually almost a living witness to what it seeing and it is responding in very nuanced and sometimes very abrupt ways to what it sees and hears. so, there are moments in both poetic realists’ films and Italian neorealist films in which a noise will occur and you will suddenly see the camera turn to find out what the noise is, as if the camera is humanized. what follows from this usually the camera is set at an eye level. 

Moralism is a concept that is often associated with Poetic Realism. It refers to the belief that films should have a moral purpose, and that they should seek to promote ethical values and ideals. In Poetic Realism, moralism is expressed through the exploration of moral dilemmas and the consequences of characters' actions, as well as through the use of symbolism and metaphor to convey deeper philosophical ideas.

One of the central tenets of Poetic Realism is the idea that art can be both beautiful and morally significant. The style seeks to create a synthesis between form and content, using aesthetic techniques to explore complex ethical questions. This is seen in films like "La Grande Illusion" (1937), which explores themes of class, nationalism, and the futility of war, while also presenting a message of hope and unity in the face of adversity.

Another example of moralism in Poetic Realism is the film "Le Jour se Lève" (1939), which tells the story of a working-class man who kills his rival in a fit of jealousy. The film explores the moral implications of his actions, as well as the social and economic circumstances that led him to his desperate act. Through its exploration of the character's emotional and psychological state, the film raises questions about the nature of justice and the role of society in shaping individual behavior.

In Poetic Realism, moralism is often conveyed through the use of symbolism and metaphor. The films often use visual motifs and lyrical dialogue to explore the characters' inner lives and to convey deeper philosophical ideas. For example, in "Le Jour se Lève," the central character is trapped in his apartment as he awaits the arrival of the police. The claustrophobic setting is used as a metaphor for his psychological state, as he is consumed by guilt and despair. The film uses this visual language to convey its moral message, suggesting that our actions have consequences and that we are responsible for the impact we have on others.

In Poetic Realism, moralism is not simply about preaching a specific message or promoting a particular ideology. Instead, it is about exploring complex ethical questions and presenting different perspectives on moral issues. The films often feature characters who face difficult choices and must navigate conflicting values and priorities. Through their struggles, the films offer insights into the human condition and the complexities of moral decision-making.

For example, in the film "Port of Shadows" (1938) by Marcel Carné, the central character is a soldier who has deserted his post and is on the run from the authorities. He meets a young woman who is also struggling to find her place in the world, and the two form a bond as they try to escape their respective problems. The film explores themes of alienation, despair, and the search for meaning in life, while also presenting a moral message about the importance of human connection and compassion.

The style seeks to create a synthesis between form and content, using aesthetic techniques to explore complex ethical questions. Through its exploration of moral dilemmas and the consequences of characters' actions, as well as through the use of symbolism and metaphor to convey deeper philosophical ideas, Poetic Realism offers a powerful vision of art as a tool for moral reflection and social critique.