Cinéma vérité (/ˈsɪnɪmə vɛrɪˈteɪ/; French:
[sinema veʁite]; "truthful cinema"
is a style of film making,
invented by Jean Rouch &
inspired by Dziga Vertov's
theory about Kino-Pravda & influenced
by the films of Robert Flaherty’s, it combines
improvisation with using the camera
to unveil truths of a higher order
or to highlight subjects hidden behind reality;
Cinéma vérité in relationship to direct cinema
and observational cinema:
if understood as "pure" cinema:
without a narrator's perspective;
There are subtle, important, differences
among the terms although expressing similar concepts:
"Direct Cinema" largely concerned with
recording events in which the subject
and audience become aware of the camera's
presence: operating within what Bill Nichols,
American film historian and theoretician
of documentary film, likens the observational mode
to smashing the "fly on the wall"; many therefore seeing
a paradox
in drawing attention away from
the camera while simultaneously interfering
in the reality it registers in attempting
to discover cinematic truths
Aug 19, 2018
Aug 19, 2018 at 12:04 AM UTC
Cinéma vérité (/ˈsɪnɪmə vɛrɪˈteɪ/; French:
[sinema veʁite]; "truthful cinema"
is a style of film making,
invented by Jean Rouch &
inspired by Dziga Vertov's
theory about Kino-Pravda & influenced
by the films of Robert Flaherty’s, it combines
improvisation with using the camera
to unveil truths of a higher order
or to highlight subjects hidden behind reality;
Cinéma vérité in relationship to direct cinema
and observational cinema:
if understood as "pure" cinema:
without a narrator's perspective;
There are subtle, important, differences
among the terms although expressing similar concepts:
"Direct Cinema" largely concerned with
recording events in which the subject
and audience become aware of the camera's
presence: operating within what Bill Nichols,
American film historian and theoretician
of documentary film, likens the observational mode
to smashing the "fly on the wall"; many therefore seeing
a paradox
in drawing attention away from
the camera while simultaneously interfering
in the reality it registers in attempting
to discover cinematic truths
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