Andre Bazin Quotes

Reality is not art, but a realist art is one that can create an integral aesthetic of reality.

Every image is to be seen as an object and every object as an image.

The preoccupation of Rossellini when dealing with the face of the child in Allemania Anno Zero is the exact opposite of that of Kuleshov with the close-up of Mozhukhin. Rossellini is concerned to preserve its mystery.

Italian cinema is assuredly the only one to salvage, from within the very period it depicts a revolutionary humanism.

The photographer proceeds, via the intermediary of the lens, to a point where he literally takes a luminous imprint, a cast ... [But] the cinema realizes the paradox of moulding itself on the time of the object and of taking the imprint of its duration as well.

The role of cinema here is not that of a servant nor is it to betray the painting. Rather it is to provide it with a new form of existence. The film of a painting is an aesthetic symbiosis of screen and painting, as is the lichen of the algae and mushroom.
To be annoyed by this is as ridiculous as to condemn the opera on behalf of theater and music.

The 'Western' is the only genre whose origins are almost identical with those of the cinema itself.

it was montage that gave birth to film as an art, setting it apart from mere animated photography, in short, creating a language.

All films are born free and equal.

How has The Grand Illusion held up over the years? It is not enough to say that it has retained its power. Not only has the stature of the film remained undiminished by the passage of time (except in a few minor details), but the innovation, the audacity, and, for want of a better word, the modernity of the direction have acquired an even greater impact.

Photography can strip from the world that spiritual dust and grime with which our eyes have covered it.

Photography has freed the plastic arts from their obsession with likeness.