Biography of Andre Bazin

Andre Bazin (April 18, 1918-November 11, 1958) was a famous and influential French film critic and film theorist.

Bazin was born in Angers, France. He started to write on film in 1943 and was co-founder of the Cahiers du cinema in 1951. As a spiritual father of the Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) he was also a personal friend to Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Robert Bresson, Luis Bunuel, Marcel Carne, Jean Cocteau, Henri Langlois, Luchino Visconti and Jean Renoir. He died in Nogent-sur-Marne , Ile-de-France.

Bazin practically invented film studies – two of his translated collections of criticism are mainstays of film courses; What is Cinema, volumes 1 & 2. He wanted the film picture to be treated respectfully and believed in the unveiling potential of film: the possibility to depict reality. Bazin is known as a proponent of “appreciative criticism,” wherein only critics who like a film can write a review of it, thus encouraging constructive criticism.