“I believe in the future resolution of those two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality”
- André Breton ‘The First Manifesto of Surrealism’
WHAT IS SURREALISM ?
Surrealism is one of my favorite artistic styles and movements. Surrealism is a pure psychic automatism intended to express the true function of thought. It is a movement that encourages the absence of control bared by reason, logic and morality. Surrealism exposes the subconscious mind and liberates imagination with dream-like images, juxtapositions and symbolic depictions.
The art movement began in France during the 1920s after World War 1. During the aftermath of the war, artists who came together in Paris had mistrust in materialism and the modern bourgeois society, believing they were responsible for the war and life after. These thinkers and artists began to free themselves from the control of reason and gain a new perspective of their world. Eventually, the interests of some of these early surrealists expanded from purely artistic means to more social and political ideas. Through surrealism they intended to bring social and psychological change.
Surrealists shared some Dadaist ideals, but set out to create a more organized movement relevant to the real world. Surrealists worked towards creating an internal image - saying something, without saying it. Their abstract works would remain relevant to a subject and a message they wanted to convey. Surrealism is meant to encourage playfulness, creativity, spontaneity and one’s internal intellectual freedom. For surrealists, it was a way of life.
“The more arbitrarily the elements were brought together, the more dramatic and poetic the results”
- Max Ernst
SURREALISM IN CINEMA
Surrealist cinema began as artists moved to new mediums away from paintings, collages, photographs, spoken words and sculptures. Surrealism is more than randomness and bold pictures. In surreal films, the audience second guesses what is real and what is not through imaginative images and storytelling.
Some of the first surreal films include Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou (1929) and L’Âge d’Or (1930). Super weird. Un Chien Andalou is made up of different dreams and random thoughts between both Dalí and Buñuel. It’s pretty plotless with illogical imagery, an avant garde tone and non linear storytelling. It really is a look into the imagination. The most iconic reference from this film is the slicing of the main character’s eye with a razor. It’s meant to be grotesque and makes you want to look away.
Surreal works embrace the dream state and filmmakers use this in unique ways to tell their stories and POVs without being so didactic. Surreal films use irrationality to cause shock and humor, forcing original storytelling, it's refreshing. Today, surrealism continues to be a popular artistic choice for movies, tv shows and music videos. The experimental taste of many directors inspires viewers to think differently and more creatively. Many surreal works today use references from past filmmakers and artists who formulated their own styles.
