Film Theory: Experiencing Films (Films as Puzzles)
Jan 4, 2026
Bordwell, p. 189
Looking is purposeful.
What we look at is guided by our assumptions and expectations about what to look for.
These are based on previous expectations of art works and the real world.
Viewing a film image is based on and conditioned by many factors, cinematic and non-cinematic.
Our experience of art works is patterned and structured , based on expectations, education, hatitude.
Artwork and person/group experiencing it depends on one another. There is dynamic relationship between the two, with a lot of intervening variable between them.
How the audience members frame/shape certain expectations before, and then drawing inferences while wathing, and after watching a film.
Kael
An open puzzle film like Bergman’s Persona that affects some viewers profoundly, permits/encourages them to project into it so much of themselves.
Film art should be experienced, not criticized, but critical faculties are involved in the experience.
If they are not involved, it’s marketing and advertising that determines what is art.
Late 1960s–This kind of projection is now common among educated and savvy viewers
