A Scale for Artistic Depth

From its beginning, cinema has experienced significant evolutions driven by visionary filmmakers. I admire those filmmakers who boldly attempt to reshape the cinema through their audiovisual choices. And, of course, I also aspire to contribute to this cinematic evolution as a filmmaker. My respect for these artists is so strong that I often ignore works that don’t fit with the experimentations I like. But, over time, I got into the filmmakers whose styles are distant from my taste. Surprisingly, I encountered films that, despite being in line with my favored audiovisual style, failed to connect with me. It was here that I noticed a more important factor at play: Artistic depth.

If an artist’s point of view captures me, I become open to various styles and preferences. Conversely, even a film within a style I typically enjoy can lose its worth in my eyes if I don’t like the filmmaker’s perspective. So, I have come to understand that what fascinates me is an artist’s distinctive viewpoint. But the problem is that whenever I encounter an approach that captures my interest, I hesitate to classify this phenomenon since it is not something that can be concretely addressed like audiovisual choices.

So, through introspection of myself and observing the evolution of other filmmakers, I have created a potential scale for evaluating an artist’s perspective, which I now present (I totally agree with the point that I haven’t exactly made an innovation, this is just some contemplating).

A Scale for Artistic Depth

1- Seeing: Gazing at the world around.

2- Connecting: Interconnecting societal threads, being part of activism, politics, and community pulse.

3- Empathizing: Inspecting the human culture, identity dilemmas, and struggles of societies.

4- Reflecting: Focusing on intimate experiences, exploring existential and individual dimensions.

5- Encompassing: Accessing universal human emotions and experiences, addressing every human being across time.

6- Transcending: Crossing beyond human boundaries, channeling a divine essence into an artistic cosmos.

On this scale, the first two depths feel superficial. Depth 3 is mediocre. Depth 4 is the sweet spot. Depth 5 reflects a position achieved by rare masters. And, depth 6 represents an unattainable state that is never reached but should always be aspired to.

But who’s gonna decide where a piece of art lands on this scale? Godard once said that “a film’s real critique is another film”, which I find to be wise words that underline how cinema evolves and develops. So, I believe an artist’s real measure comes from other artists, especially those down the road. And I dare to say that my affection for a film parallels this scale.