Formalism is pure, technical film theory. It explores how moviemaking techniques impact how audiences think and feel.
Think about fast cuts that get your heart racing, dizzying camera angles, or dreamlike sets. Formalist theory zooms in on how specific filmmaking tricks affect audiences.
Formalism contrasts with realism. A realist film aims to seem true and unfiltered. A formalist film wants us to notice every artistic choice. In a formalist film, how the story is told is just as important as the story itself.
Many movies, from blockbusters to arthouse releases, can be interpreted this way. Let’s break down the idea simply, covering formalist film style, how it conveys meaning, and the movies that define it.
What is Formalism Theory?
There are many types of film theory. Formalism is one of the oldest. It argues that a film’s meaning comes from the filmmaking techniques used to create it. This includes everything from editing and camerawork to sound effects, costumes, and sets.
Soviet director and film theorist Sergei Eisenstein saw editing as the most powerful of these tools. He said juxtaposing two shots creates new meaning in the viewer’s mind.
Lev Kuleshov took this concept further. He proved that audiences infer meaning from shot sequences.
Cut from a man’s face to a close-up of a soup bowl, and he looks hungry. Change the soup for a corpse in a coffin, and he looks sad. Replace it with a woman reclining on a sofa, and he appears to be looking at her with desire.
The expression stays the same, but the audience feels a difference depending on the shot combination. That’s the Kuleshov Effect in a nutshell.
With formalist movies, we aren’t spoon-fed the plot. We have to connect the dots and figure out what the director is actually trying to say.
What Defines the Style of Formalist Filmmaking?
Formalism in film theory doesn’t rely on a set style or genre. It can tell true stories or total fantasies. The only consistent feature is the deliberate use of filmmaking techniques to create meaning.
When a director deliberately uses filmmaking techniques like editing, camerawork, sound, costumes, and sets to create meaning, that’s formalism.
Westerns, sci-fi hits, and kitchen sink dramas can be formal. It can apply to a bright, bold, colorful movie or a stark, strange, black-and-white movie. It’s a style that doesn’t have one definition.
How does Formalism Express Meaning?
A realist film can show that a character is sad through acting and dialogue. A formalist film can show what sadness feels like through editing, cinematography, and mise-en-scène. This is why auteur directors love this style, as it gives them way more room to play around.
Take how films use music. The soundtrack can guide the audience through the emotion and meaning of a scene. Soaring strings for happiness, sinister horns for terror.
Editing and camerawork, meanwhile, can establish character relationships. How the camera looks at characters, like pointing up at one and down at another, instantly tells us who has the upper hand. The pace of the cuts between these shots can build tension, as tempers flare. We might not notice these choices, but our brains still respond to them.
Formalism in film theory investigates how meaning is created through overlapping techniques and whether the director’s choices succeed or fail.
What are some Examples of Movies that fit Formalism Theory?
Many films benefit from a formalist interpretation. Some go above and beyond in proving the power of moviemaking techniques.
Sound in There Will Be Blood (2007)
Director Paul Thomas Anderson loves character studies. His 2007 masterpiece, There Will Be Blood, focuses on oil magnate Daniel Plainview.
Plainview talks plenty later on, but we don’t hear a word from him at first. Instead, the raw background noise drops us right into the pit with him while he digs for silver. As the title screen crossfades to a shot of a desert landscape, harsh violins fill our ears. Then, we get over 5 minutes of Plainview working his shallow mineshaft.
The grunts of exertion, the clank of tools, the sizzle and hiss of a dynamite fuse. Plainview’s tumble down the shaft, and his painful cries as he hauls himself out with a broken leg. The sounds tell us about the man. His relentlessness, his ruthlessness, his ambition.
Camerawork in Goodfellas (1990)
Martin Scorsese tells true stories in a formalist way. Goodfellas draws us into its exaggerated underworld with some in-your-face flourishes.
The famous one-shot of Henry Hill walking into the nightclub through the kitchen completely sucks us in. Because the camera never cuts away, we feel his power and influence touching everything.
Symbolism in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Formalism in film theory includes the use of symbols. Sometimes symbols are subtle, hidden in a specific camera angle or character quirk. When directors do this, it’s easy to read too far into things or miss the point completely.
In contrast, Stanley Kubrick uses symbolism more bluntly. The opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey features an edit point that creates a clear symbol. An ancestor of modern man uses a bone as a weapon. We see the bone tossed into the air, then cut to a shot of a satellite in orbit. Our tools evolve with us, but their uses remain the same.
Editing in Strike (1925)
Sergei Eisenstein cuts between troops slaughtering factory workers and a bull killed in a slaughterhouse. Showing these two actions together forces the audience to link the workers with livestock.
It’s a blunt example of editing’s impact on meaning.
Camerawork & Effects in Star Wars (1977)
Formalism gives meaning to many scenes and sequences in this space epic. After the opening crawl, the camera pans down to show a planet and its moons, as the score swells. A spaceship flies in from the top of the frame, exotic exhausts glowing. Laser beams flit after it, with satisfying electronic squelch sound effects. Then a huge spaceship enters the frame, in hot pursuit, wowing us with its size.
Without anyone saying a word, the lights, sounds, and models instantly tell us exactly who’s who. The plucky Rebels, the might of the Empire, set up without dialogue.
Lighting in Obsession (2025)
Light, shadow, and shot composition create meaning in this modern horror.
A young man wishes for his female crush to love him. Low-key lighting dominates, making her look completely unhinged. Shadows fall on faces, making smiles sinister, hiding expressions, highlighting unblinking eyes.
The audience knows something supernatural has a hold over the whole movie. We can’t ignore the techniques director Curry Barker uses. It adds to our discomfort.
Editing and Mise-en-Scène in Psycho (1960)
In the famous ‘shower scene’ murder, director Alfred Hitchcock uses rapid cuts and extreme close-ups to brutal effect. It’s an assault on the senses, and the audience feels they’ve witnessed something seriously graphic.
If you pay close attention, you don’t see anything graphic. The technical camera tricks and fast cuts make us imagine the worst.
Editing and Composition in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Wes Anderson wows modern audiences with his formalist films. Obvious elements, including symmetric shot framing and hyperreal color palettes, make movies like Moonrise Kingdom (2012) stand out.
However, Anderson also adores editing’s power over meaning. He uses it extensively to show character relationships and hierarchies. The Grand Budapest Hotel does this especially well. Editing establishes how the senior concierge, Gustave H., and the new bellhop, Zero Moustafa, relate to the world around them.
Fast cuts are funny, especially because they catch us off guard right after a long, slow shot. It shows meaning being created by shot juxtaposition. But here, shot length, not the content, does the work.
Applying Formalism
Making a formalist movie means embracing all that cinema can do as an art form. Say what you mean with how the camera moves, how shots combine, how characters move, and dress.
There are levels to formalism in film theory, ranging from the subtle to the in-your-face. You can hit people over the head with big, obvious symbols, or keep them guessing with subtle clues.
Even if you reject formalism and prefer realism, the lessons it teaches about creating meaning with technical filmmaking always apply. And half the fun of knowing the rules of formalism comes from breaking them.
