Rob Dufour - Transcendental Style in Film

In our text book, Transcendental Style in Film, I began reading the section that discussed a working towards the definition of transcendental film. The author tells us that many have attempted to employ the transcendental style but only few have the devotion and the fanaticism to truly capture the style exclusively. We start to see a definition arise when it is said that the transcendental style seeks to maximize the mystery of existence; it avoids all conventional interpretations of reality, which are said to be seen through aspects of realism, naturalism, romanticism, expressionism, impressionism, and rationalism. The text brings up a statement by Amedee Ayfre who said that “If everything is explained by understandable causal necessities, or by objective determinism, even if their precise nature remains unknown, then nothing is sacred.” So to these transcendental artists, these conventional interpretations of reality are emotional and rational constructs to dilute the transcendental. These constructs are easily seen by thinking about how many films give clues which help the viewer “understand” the event and the plot. However, in the transcendental style, these elements are “nonexpressive” as they are being reduced. We then see that the transcendental style stylizes this reality through eliminating these elements that are primarily expressive of our experiences, which end up robbing us of the interpretations of reality of their power.