Primary criticisms of American Cinema and Griffith's montage by Sergei Assignment

Primary criticisms of American Cinema and Griffith's montage by Sergei Eisenstein - Assignment Example At the core of their opinions, the ideas have come out of different philosophies asserting the importance of arts and esthetic medium to provide education or entertainment to people. In later age, as the American cinema was highly influenced with its industrial structure American Cinema tended more and more towards the entertainment which could provide good returns of investment in filmmaking. On the other hand, Russian cinema had devoted much to the ideas which regarding cinema as a medium of awareness and provoking. Due to such difference of opinions, Sergei Eisenstein, who was most profound of early Russian filmmakers had critiqued some of the concepts developed and defined by D.W. Griffith. One very important part of that criticism was Eisenstein’s criticism of Griffith’s theory of montage. In the modern day theory of montage Sergei Eisenstein’s assumption for montage are widely accepted for providing a ground for cinematic understanding for fast cutting and expression through montages. As followers to Griffith’s theories Sergei Eisenstein had developed Montage theory according to his philosophical set back based in Hegel and Marx. Although, developed over Griffithian grammar, Eisenstein’s theory to montage shows some contrasting difference as well. Utilization of montages in Griffithian Cinema In a modern day scenario, the term montage briefly suggest a number of small sized shots arranged in a manner to express a particular part of story or an effect. The montages are quite common is almost all the movies made nowadays. Depending on its use and requirement montage may be musical, action packed, blurred or deluding. A profound example of modern montages include David Fincher’s ‘Fight Club’ (Pitt 1999) using a sequence of shots expressing protagonist Jack’s nausea from its surrounding and further his remembrance of his own past that he had been unaware of. Another example contains Martin Scorsese’s depiction of police training in ‘The Departed’ (Nicholson 2006). D.W. Griffith’s earlier movies are supposed to set the basic grammar of cinema. There are number of occasions when Griffith has used sequencing shots without a direct connectivity of moment. Griffith’s montages were involved in compressing the happening of an event. However, without giving much for dialectical montages or other philosophical esthetical presentations, Griffith had designs the base for montage which could already establish montage as a different and particular approach to cinematic timeline. Anyways, the conceptualization and development of those theories is due to Sergei Einstein. How Eisenstein could identify power of Griffithian montage and could be motivated to enhance his own montage theory comes out in his quote I can’t recall who speaks with whom in one of the street scenes of the modern story of Intolerance. But I shall never forget the mask of the passer-by with nose pointed forward between spectacles and straggly beard, walking with hands behind his back as if he were manacled. As he passes he interrupts the most pathetic moment in the conversation of the suffering boy and girl. I can remember next to nothing of the couple, but