Psychological realism is the style that has historically dominated the art of cinema. However, in this landmark book, Paul Schrader brings the transcendental style to the fore and defines it—a style that, through minimalist cinematography, acting stripped of all affectation, and editing that avoids commentary, lends cinema a purely spiritual dimension. To trace the manifestations of this style, he analyzes the work of three great filmmakers—Yasujiro Ozu, Robert Bresson, and Carl Theodor Dreyer—arguing that, despite their different cultural backgrounds, these artists share a common dramatic language.
The Greek edition is based on the revised 2018 edition, in which the author, through his extensive essay “Rethinking Transcendental Style,” renews his reflections on the slow cinema of the past fifty years, updating the book’s existing theoretical framework and extending it to the work of filmmakers such as Andrei Tarkovsky, Béla Tarr, Theo Angelopoulos, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, among others.
This pivotal study by one of the most perceptive directors and thinkers in the art of cinema is an essential work of reference and is widely used in the teaching of film and art around the world. Above all, however, through his evocative prose and inventive associations, Schrader continually encourages readers and viewers to keep exploring the world of art cinema, both spiritually and intellectually.
