Realism In Rudolf Arnheim's 'The Gold Rush'

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In “Film Art, Rudolf Arnheim presents a series of theories that are applied to film, especially with silent films. Many of his main points include film should not emulate realism and the sound of film should be removed. Even though the silent film of The Gold Rush, contains many elements from Arnheim’s theories such as the lack of sound and the lack of realism (or mirroring reality), I disagree with the recommendations he made as such elements do not significantly make it better film better (the only way for film to be considered as art). One of Arnheim’s points that presented in the section revolves around the concept that film us artful if it does not emulate realism cannot and should not emulate realism. What this point entails is that film cannot reproduce reality due to differing perception of viewers. He also believes that wiewers are likely to have different views towards the realistic elements presented in film (spectators may also have different experiences and may not engage with the realism presented by the director). In the film, The Gold Rush, the director, Charlie Chaplin implements Arnheim’s view of not emulating reality on several occasions throughout the movie. For example, in …show more content…

Films are able to draw spectators towards the film as they are able to engage with certain elements featured in the film. Such elements include relating to the character and their lives and relating to props and settings presented in the mise en scene. If a spectator was to see a movie that contains elements he or she is able to relate to, that same person would engage with the film even more thus enhancing the experience of such viewers. Personally, my experience of films elevates when I can relate to some of the elements that emulate reality. There are several versions of art that emulate reality in their pieces (examples include paintings, theatre, literature,

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