Yustyna Koval

English C1: Academic Writing SS 19

Argumenative Essay
Can cinematography be called an art too?

Riciotto Canudo, who was an Italian film theoretician of the 20th century,
defined cinematography as a synthesis of three rhythmic arts (music, dance, poetry)
and three plastic arts (painting, sculpture, architecture). Nowadays cinematography is
not only more and more frequently called as one of the art forms; it seems like it tops
a list. Many people may not visit museums or art galleries and are "too busy" to find
time for reading, but on Sunday evening they often invite their friends to watch
movies together. No one will argue that cinematography is a great part of modern
culture, but a lot of people seem to be skeptical about the possibility of it being equal
to poetry or painting. Anyway, there are some arguments which prove that
cinematography can be called an art too.
One of the most common arguments against calling films a form of art is that
cinematography brings nothing but entertainment. However, this point of view is too
generalized. Usually, when people say so, they most likely mean low-quality
"romcoms" or Hollywood-blockbusters. But there are other kinds of movies that raise
very important topics such as gender- and race-based discrimination ("The Help"),
history of slavery ( "Django Unchained"), World War I and II ("The Book Thief").
Now we can travel in time, see things, learn lessons from them without physical
consequences.
Another one popular argument is that movies, unlike poetry, are sparkling
bubbles: they don't make you meditate, using your imagination. But is it true? Many
movie lovers would say that cinematography makes them experience strong
emotions, inspire them and bring to new ideas. We go out of the cinema, but we carry
the story, we have just seen, with us, maybe, for many days or even forever. Jean
Epstein, a french cinema critic concluded that cinema is “poetry’s most powerful
medium”1. Some directors include poetry in their movies through visual details (Wes
Anderson), another - through exciting dialogues (Quentin Tarantino). And there is
nothing more fascinating than "reading" this poetry between the... scenes.
And the final argument advanced by proponents of the critical view against
cinematography is that watching movies can make emotionally immature individuals
(such as teenagers) withdrawn or even aggressive. However, research supports
exactly the opposite conclusion. Noah Uhrig, who is a professor at the University of
1
Fernbach, E (2017). "Cinema has been called the seventh art". 23.07.2019:
https://www.ngnews.ca/community/cinema-has-been-called-the-seventh-art-66123/
Essex, wrote in his 20052 paper that cinematography has unexpectedly positive
effects on mental health and is kind of therapy through the visual stimulation. He also
mentions one study3 that found that cinema attendees have particularly low mortality
risks. Of course, not every single movie has a healing effect, but we cannot claim that
every book or painting has such.
Cinematography has a big impact on modern society. And many pieces of
evidence support the idea of it being a high-grade type of art. Movies can make us
think, make us feel, make us see as much as poetry, paintings or theatre if not more.
But without the collaboration of directors and writers, actors and entire crew, movies
would be just sequences of pictures. There's a thing about art: it's not a divine
phenomenon; it's being created by humans which makes it imperfect, but alive. In my
opinion, the cinematography is one of the greatest examples of it. To quote Derek
Jarman: "Oh how Shakespeare would have loved cinema!".

2
Uhrig, S.C. Noah (2005). "Cinema is good for you: the effects of cinema attendance on self reported anxiety or
depression and 'happiness'," ISER Working Paper Series 2005-14, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
3
Konlaan, B.B., Bygren, L.O. and Johansson, S.E. (2000). "Visiting the Cinema, Concerts, Museums or Art Exhibitions as
Determinant of Survival: A Swedish Fourteen-Year Cohort Follow-Up". Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.