André Bazin or the Grace of the Gaze
Before entering through the gates of the University and, thus, being mutilated by the sociological scalpel, cinema was an opportunity, an encounter, a chance to be amazed. It was a world still uncontrolled by the spectator – who couldn't slow it down, stop it or play it in reverse, and who couldn't use a DVD player to start all over again, but who had to take the path that led them to the cinema once more. Amongst those who transformed films into what they are today – reputable objects, worthy of being studied, of being ranked amongst the arts –, André Bazin must have been both the most tireless and the most innocent of them all. He never even thought about having to legitimize cinema, rather, he aimed for the heights since the very beginning (thus conferring it with a clear role within the cause of furthering humanity) as well as for the lows (sharing a passion for this still-young form with anybody, from cinephiles to workers, and from communists to Hollywood maniacs). Absolute and popular – these two intensities are always part of Bazin's generous writings, whose unspoken goal was to reconcile the extremes, bringing them to reason by taking the path of patient argumentation.
Film critic and journalist; writes regularly for Dilema Veche and Scena9. He studied film theory in Grenoble, Paris, Dublin.
