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My wikipedia project on surrealist cinema:

Absurd, bizarre, unconventional, ‘weird, strange, unreal… these are all ways one might initially describe Surrealism after watching some of the movement’s works. According to dictionary.com, the definition of surreal is; “having the qualities of surrealism; bizarre.” And according to Mariam webster: marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream …And according to the Cambridge dictionary: strange; not seeming real; like a dream. After doing a little more investigation on surrealism, labeling it as ‘bizarre’ or ‘weird’ seemed to constrict the abyss of the concept. Especially as one of the most influential movements in the twentieth-century world of art and exploration of thought.

The poet and art critic Guilliame Apollinaire in his 1917 play; Les Mamalles Tiresias, which translates to The Breasts of Tiresias, was one of the first works where the term “surrealism” was spotted. Initially, in his works, he used the terms  « supernaturalist » and « supernaturalism » and then decided to replace them using « surréaliste » et « surréalisme ». He hesitated for a long time before finally adopting the famous neologism. The main motivation Apollinaire felt towards the implementation of the word surrealism into his work, was to replace the previous label his work had been associated with; the cubism movement, which was a more abstract way of painting practiced by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in the early years of the 1900s. Essentially, he wanted to avoid erroneous categorization. He wrote; « Quand l’homme a voulu imiter la marche, il a créé la roue qui ne ressemble pas à une jambe.Il a fait du surréalisme sans le savoir. » “When Man wanted to imitate walking, he created the wheel, that does not look like a leg. He ‘did’ surrealism without knowing it. - Guilliame Apollinaire

Surrealism and surrealist work and creation were seen to have similarities stemming from the  Dada movement,  which originated in Zurich and Berlin, in efforts to disrupt the conventionality of modern life, in addition to the abstract and fragmented Cubism movement, as mentioned before. Post world war 1, the wave of surrealist creation around the 1920s held the nucleus of this movement in Paris with collective energy, imagination and ponder like never seen before taking place.  

The proper efforts of ‘Surrealism’ had its beginnings as poetry, done by André Breton, Paul Eluard, Philip Soupault, and Louis Aragon, who wrote in a more automatic or stream-of-consciousness style, without filtering and regulating the flow of expression. These poets admired Guilliame Apollinaire,  and thus named the movement "Surrealism" in his honor. In the poetry of these ‘surrealist minds, they explored the links and realities between the subconscious and conscious life of humanity, and the creative power of sublimated imagination. Their poetry attempted to liberate language from meaning, common sense and any ‘traditional way’ of thinking or perception.  "No word will ever again be subordinated to matter," wrote Paul Eluard.

Andre Breton’s writings of 1924, included the first Surrealist Manifesto, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism", automatism; is dictionary defined as “the performance of actions without conscious thought or intention.”

Antonin Artaud, who wrote the screenplay for what may be considered the first authentic Surrealist film, The Seashell and The Clergyman (1928) directed by Germaine Dulac. The film posed as a product of attempting to liberate the image from the language. "We must find a film with purely visual sensations ..." The seashell and the clergyman is around a 40-minute film in black and white. When the film was first released, it was banned in the U.K. by the BBFC famously. They said “The film is so cryptic, it is rendered completely meaningless. If the film does have a meaning, it is doubtlessly objectionable.” Not only does that make me roll my eyes with frustration, as watching surreal films is precisely the opposite.

Salvador Dalí, an artist whose artwork adopted and focused on exploring the parameters of the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination, contributed to the 21 minute black and white surrealist film, Un Chien Andalou, or an Andalusian dog, made in 1929 directed by Luis Buñuel, and scripted by Salvador Dali. the film was a partnership of two beings who despised rationalism and literary realism and believed that the conscious mind repressed imagination and creativity - the common mindset adopted by the great surrealist; created a film that was eye-opening - literally.

The film’s intent was to put together a visual interpretation of surrealistic dreams they had each experienced. Of course, surrealistic dreams would be impossible to transcribe into the footage, especially with the minimal budget these two had, however, there was little to no restriction put upon what these two could possibly create.  The only rule they made about writing the script, was to exclude anything that could be interpreted as having a logical meaning.  This left their end product with the intent of being an inherently meaningless film. Yes, devoid of any hidden meaning,  just a pure stream of unconsciousness. Even genuine attempts to decode the enigmatic film would be considered subjective bullshit to Bunuel and Ironically, this film has become one of the most over-analyzed pieces of film in cinema history, which I believe takes away from the capacity this film holds to enthrall and swallow the audience in its pure, independent reality of surrealist glory.

However, this demand for allowing such a creation to go without meaning is an interesting realm in the art world. It is not wrong of individuals to search for meaning, as they search for clarity, understanding, and relatability to what one might see as a pure absurdity. But this poses the question of whose role, the audience or the artist, the consumer or the creator, is it to have provided meaning for the product’s work? Who determines the value of the work or it’s worth? What could this film be without a disobedient audience finding meaning in what was supposed to be without meaning? If it was supposed to be without meaning, why is it worth watching?  

There are other surrealist films that were produced in the 1920’s such as

• Entr'acte, 1924,  a French short film directed by René Clair
• The Starfish (L'Étoile de Mer) in 1928, Directed by Man Ray and written by Robert Desnos

And more pieces of cinematic expression that attempted to free cinema from its reliance on a traditional story-telling structure, but instead create the possibility of cinema itself as an independent and unique visual art form.

More recently, David Lynch and his works portray motivations and undertones of surrealist cinema, in films such as Erasure head in 1977, which was commonly referred to as the weirdest most bizarre film ever seen but loved unconditionally as a surreal work of art.

Actually, a Czech director Věra Chytilová works show surrealistic resemblances in the cinematography and sequential layouts of her films, such as a more recent work Daisy (Sedmikrásky) released in 2013, or Fruit of paradise released in 1970.  

However, in the present, there are attempts to reference the surrealistic styles of cinema but are not seen to be labeled as traditionally surreal.

To truly understand the world of surrealism, perhaps one might have to free their mind of any conventional thought, judgment or predetermined value they have set upon the world around them, and accept the beauty of the limitless realm of the irrational thought. To approach these works of the 1920s portraying dreamlike sequences of human activity, desire, and love - even insane love, amour fou, as a space for the mind to Frolik and wonder.

Works Cited

“André Breton Art, Bio, Ideas.” The Art Story, 2019, www.theartstory.org/artist/breton-andre/.

“Apollinaire Et Le Surréalisme: Un Précurseur.” Centerblog, 6 Apr. 2008, lireenpremiere.centerblog.net/4536648-Apollinaire-et-le-surrealisme-un-precurseur.

Moffat, Charles. “The Origins of Surrealism.” The Origins of Surrealism, Aug. 2011, www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/surrealism/Origins-of-Surrealism.html.

Park West Gallery. “What Is Surrealism? How Art Illustrates the Unconscious.” Park West Gallery, Park West Gallery, 6 Nov. 2019, www.parkwestgallery.com/what-is-surrealism-art/.

“Surrealist Film - Concepts & Styles.” The Art Story, The Art Story Contributors, 2019, www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealist-film/history-and-concepts/.

“Surrealist Film Movement Overview.” The Art Story, The Art Story Contributors, 2019, www.theartstory.org/movement/surrealist-film/.