The materialist aesthetics of cinema according to François Bégaudeau

Abstract

François Bégaudeau is, in contemporary French literature, among the most recognized writers who are cinephiles. This article seeks to show, mainly through the analysis of film reviews published by the writer, how a materialist aesthetic constitutes the guiding thread of this cinephilia. I begin by unfolding the characteristics of Bégaudeau’s materialism applied to cinema. Three motifs in particular stand out: the body, the celebration of matter, and above all the raw, in which situations are staged as nakedly as possible. I then examine the formal options that Bégaudeau criticises, which could be described as “anti-materialist”; from these I deduce five axioms that form the basis of his materialist aesthetic, in particular long shots, the dilation of sequential duration, and the availability to one’s environment at the time of shooting. Finally, I seek to bring to light the political dimension that Bégaudeau's cinematic materialism can take on in certain cases. He thinks in particular that the capture of matter in a film allows us to see society better. As a Marxist, he also argues that the material conditions of existence must be taken into account when understanding films.