Modernism marks the break with the previous artistic conventions in favour of experimentation with the medium. Subjectivity, fragmentation and non-linearity are some of the aspects manifested in different fields of cultural production. In the early 20th century, several cinematic movements were inspired by the formal innovations of avant-garde artists in other visual arts. The intersection between cinema and other visual arts has resulted in experimentation with cinematic language. The advent of modernist cinema marked a significant turning point as it paved the way for experimentation with the visual styles, forms, narrative structures, and cinematic language. Drawing on comparative literature theory, Nikica Gilić demonstrates the continuity of modernist tendencies from early avant-garde cinematic movements through the present day, including some “arthouse” movies. Although the main point of interest is the evolution of specific narrative and stylistic forms in modernist cinema, the author’s definition of modernism encompasses a wider social, political and cultural context that shaped film production throughout the 20th century. Each chapter examines the specific conditions under which modernist films were produced. The author provides essential social, political, and ideological frameworks for understanding modernist poetics, particularly in Eastern European countries.
The book comprises a collection of Gilić’s lectures held at the University of Zagreb, where he has been teaching the theory and history of cinema for over two decades. Although the author occasionally draws on works by prominent film scholars and philosophers who have written about (post)modernism in cinema, such as Hrvoje Turković, András Bálint Kovács, Linda Hutcheon, and Paul Schrader, he synthesises their major arguments, making the book easily comprehensible to different audiences: film students, curators, archivists, and cinephiles. At times, the author’s discourse takes the form of an informal discussion, in which he poses questions, expresses his personal doubts and preferences on films and directors, and addresses the reader with an invitation to (re)think some of the ideas expressed in his lectures (chapters of the book). The book also contains an invaluable appendix with a comprehensive filmography including titles from Croatian, (post)Yugoslav, European, and world cinemas.
Although the focus is on films made between the 1950s and 1970s, the book is not structured as a historical overview, as modernism “is not perceived as a historical period” (20). Therefore, the author’s approach to the topic is not thematic but stylistic; the book seeks to demonstrate that there are modernist films even outside the historical period we associate with modernism. The book is divided into nine thematic chapters which deal with different topics, directors, or cinematic periods in the history of Croatian and world cinema.
The first chapter provides a theoretical framework and a general overview of three types of modernist cinema: allegorical, associative, and naturalistic. The proposed typology, based on particular formal and stylistic features, is further developed in subsequent chapters. The introduction of the three main categories of modernist cinema is Gilić’s main innovation in this book. Allegorical modernist films tend to focus more on extradiegetic references than on structure, commenting on the complexities of human nature, society, or religion. Besides the works of well-known European allegorical modernist directors Krzysztof Kieślowski, Ingmar Bergman, Michael Haneke, and István Szabó, the author demonstrates a long-term modernist legacy in Croatian cinema through the works of Veljko Bulajić and Vatroslav Mimica, who used cinema as a tool for allegorical rethinking of social and political reality in Yugoslavia. A similar allegorical tendency is present in recent Croatian movies (Show Must Go On, Nevio Marasović, 2010; Celestial Body / Nebo, sateliti, Lukas Nola, 2000). In associative modernist films, shots are linked according to “ideological, emotional and atmospheric connections that can’t be reduced to narrative or character development” (37). The rejection of traditional narrative structure allowed filmmakers to explore new ways of storytelling; instead of linear storytelling, they opted for non-linear, fragmented and sometimes ambiguous narratives. Another essential characteristic of associative modernist cinema is the “freedom of editing” (35) that often leads to a disjointed narrative. Although experimental cinema offers the best examples of “associative structures”, the author examines wider bodies of work and practices across different film genres (Nashville, Robert Altman, 1975; Mother and Son / Mat i syn, 1997, Father and Son / Otets i syn, 2003, Aleksander Sokurov; Prospero’s Books, Peter Greenway, 1991; An Andalusian Dog / Un chien andalou, Luis Buñuel, 1929; Dreams / Yume, Akira Kurosawa, 1990; Alain Resnais’ and Chris Marker’s movies). Naturalist cinema “emphasises naturalist conventions and tendencies (often documentary tendencies)” (41). Naturalist movies emphasise realism and authenticity by representing poverty, ugliness, dilapidated buildings, violence, psychopathologies, while reflecting upon political, social, and cultural contexts. An interesting case study for naturalist modernist cinema is the Yugoslav Black Wave of the late 1960s and early 1970s, whose prominent representatives (Živojin Pavlović and Aleksandar Petrović) were inspired by Italian neorealism. The author distinguishes two tendencies in Yugoslav cinema of that period: the first, a subversive tendency reflected in the representation of the lowest and poorest parts of society, and the second, a documentary approach to reality. However, the author argues that naturalist modernist cinema is not limited to the Yugoslav Black Wave since similar tendencies are visible in (post)Yugoslav cinemas (Emir Kusturica’s early movies, recent Serbian films The Life and Death of a Porn Gang / Život i smrt porno bande, Mladen Đorđević, 2009; A Serbian Film / Srpski film, Srđan Spasojević, 2010). The proposed typology also includes hybrid Croatian movies, in which different types of modernist cinema are intertwined (Dead Man Walking, Tomislav Gotovac, 2002; Occupation in 26 Pictures / Okupacija u 26 slika, Lordan Zafranović, 1978).
The second chapter is dedicated to the analysis of documentary tendencies in modernism, in which the author tackles problems related to objectivity, truthfulness, ethics of representation and the impact of technology on the development of experimental documentary cinema. The fact that “the characters are aware of being filmed and they interact with the camera and the filmmaker, is a strong mark of modernist documentary cinema” that the author traces back to the beginnings of documentary filmmaking. Another important feature of modernist cinema is hybridity; the intertwining of fiction and non-fiction. Blurred boundaries between fiction and non-fiction together with metafilmic elements are visible in older and more recent Croatian feature films (What Iva Recorded on October 21st / Što je Iva snimila 21. listopada 2023, Tomislav Radić, 2003; A Brief Excursion / Kratki izlet, Igor Bezinović, 2017, The Staffroom / Zbornica, Sonja Tarokić, 2021), but similar tendencies can be seen in contemporary French, Iranian and Romanian cinemas, whose poetics stem from the modernist tradition.
In the third chapter, “Personality and modernism”, Gilić identifies subjectivity and self-reflexivity as important characteristics of modernist cinema and stresses “intimism” as one of its essential characteristics. These qualities are found in early classical narrative cinema (D. W. Griffith), experimental cinema, video art, “cinematic impressionism”, “narrative avant-garde”, and “the first French avant-garde” (80) and even in some contemporary films, which demonstrates the author’s thesis that modernist tendencies in cinema should not be limited exclusively to a certain historical period. Personal perspectives, subjective narratives, internal focalization, an unreliable narrator, unstable characters whose psychological states are reflected in “neurotic rhythm and montage” (91) or through the use of colour and music, are essential elements of modernist cinema (The Spider’s Stratagem, Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970; 81/2, Federico Fellini, 1963; Fight Club, David Fincher, 1999; Being John Malkovich, Spike Jonze, 1999; Love Unto Death / L’amour à mort, Alain Resnais, 1984; Quit Staring at My Plate / Ne gledaj mi u pijat, Hana Jušić, 2016).
Two subsequent chapters showcase the works of Theodore Dryer and Robert Bresson, who, according to Nikica Gilić, share similar poetics that he describes as “transcendental style”, quoting the idea of Paul Schrader. Modernist tendencies in Bresson’s works are reflected in camerawork, interest in existentialism and metaphysics, choice of maladjusted or awkward characters, and avoidance of conventional representation of human emotions and psychology (115). Dryer, argues the author, is a representative of “metaphysical cinema” whereas Bresson could be considered a representative of “allegorical Christian cinema” (119). The modernist style and poetics of both directors have influenced many contemporary European directors such as Chantal Akerman, Béla Tarr, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and others. Bresson’s later works, characterised by slow rhythm, a limited number of events and characters, have played a vital role in the development of slow cinema.
The work of the Croatian experimental filmmaker and performer Tomislav Gotovac (Tomislav Gotovac, 1996; Prophets / Proroci, 2004; Dead Man Walking, 2002), and the poetics of the internationally acclaimed Zagreb animation school (The Substitute / Surogat, Dušan Vukotić, 1961; Don Quixote / Don Kihot, Vladimir Kristl, 1961; Cat / Mačka, Zlatko Bourek, 1971) are analysed in two separate chapters. Tomislav Gotovac is considered one of the most influential modernist filmmakers and video artists in the former Yugoslavia, whose self-reflexive experimental movies combine associative and allegorical storytelling, home movies, archival footage, old photographs and other personal items. Besides subversive and provocative images, Gotovac used innovative techniques of editing, creating his own “aesthetics of shock” (166) and “symbolic space” (172).
The Zagreb Animation School is one of the most prolific periods in the history of Croatian cinema. The movies made within the school often “did not use narration as a basic element of the structure” (177) and preferred associative connections and an allegorical mode of representation. These movies challenged conventions in Disney animation of the 1950s and 1960s and introduced innovative narrative structures, self-referentiality and hybridity. The directors belonging to the Zagreb animation school (Dušan Vukotić, Borivoj Dovniković, Vatroslav Mimica, Zlatko Bourek, Vladimir Kristl and others) preferred using reduced animation with fewer movements and simple graphics to convey the stories. Modernist aesthetics is reflected not only in the form but also in the topics of animated movies in which “anxiety, nausea, fear, depression, loneliness and discomfort become essential features” (187).
The last chapter on postmodern cinema highlights the influence of modernist cinema on a wide range of contemporary filmmakers and film movements. According to the author, postmodernism and modernism are intrinsically linked periods. Many postmodern directors have incorporated elements of modernism into their work. Challenging established cinematic norms and emphasising personal perspectives, for example, continues to be a key element of postmodern cinema. Besides the interest in the form and style, modernist and postmodern filmmakers share an interest in politics and ideology, although they express it in different ways. Quoting Jean-François Lyotard, Nikica Gilić highlights that postmodern directors discard metanarratives and demonstrate a high level of scepticism towards progress or changes in society (205). Postmodern cinema, Gilić argues, is similar to experimental cinema due to the common interest in the medium, the presence of “irony, self-referentiality, and criticism of big ideological discourses” (208). The author examines the work of Stanley Kubrick, as representative of modernist cinema, situating his later works at the intersection of modernism and postmodernism. Recurring to various past forms, genres, and styles (film noir, classical Hollywood cinema), breaking down the distinction between “high art” and popular culture, intertextuality, parody and pastiche are some of the elements of postmodern cinema.
The influence of modernist tendencies has spread over decades, as the author underlines in all the chapters, providing examples of older and recent films and stressing the continuity of modernist cinematic tendencies in (post)modern cinema of the 21st century. The author tackles different aspects of modernist cinema, not limiting his analysis to acclaimed directors only, but mentioning also lesser-known European and Croatian modernist films belonging to different genres: documentary, animation, experimental, and narrative feature films. Nikica Gilić’s book is a valuable study of modernist cinema aimed at a wide audience. Although the book does not directly engage with many critical or scholarly sources in the main text, it contains a comprehensive bibliography of publications on modernist cinema in English and Croatian. Since the films are largely introduced descriptively, the book is an accessible and valuable contribution to the study of the topic, particularly in Croatia and in the region. Lectures on Modernist Cinema provides a comprehensive overview of modernist cinema from a broader perspective, addressing the complexities of the political and economic systems (especially in former Yugoslav cinemas), and the particularities of film production and social realities relevant for the selected topics, directors or film movements. Modernist tendencies in cinema are analysed in a comparative transnational framework, highlighting specific national and transnational contexts. The book is a bold attempt to discuss and problematise the convergence of modernist tendencies in Croatian and world cinema.
Etami Borjan
University of Zagreb
eborjan@ffzg.hr
Etami Borjan is Associate Professor of Film Studies at the University of Zagreb in Croatia, specialising in theory and history of documentary cinema, ethnographic film, Italian cinema and post-Yugoslav cinemas.
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Borjan, Etami. 2025. Review: “Nikica Gilić: Lectures on Modernist Cinema”. Apparatus. Film, Media and Digital Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe 21. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.17892/app.2025.00021.407.
URL: http://www.apparatusjournal.net/
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