Cinema is a multifaceted phenomenon that appeared back in the 19th century and became an integral part of art, an alternative to theater and books, from which it draws inspiration. Today it is a huge layer of culture. The definition of "cinematic genre" is a simple and very rough classification according to the content or style of the picture.
Film genres are varied - comedy, science fiction, melodrama and others, and each of them has its own grateful audience. But this division is rather arbitrary. Each cinematic masterpiece includes various elements of drama, thriller, comedy and more. And also any genre can be divided into several peculiar "subgroups", interpenetrating each other.
Prehistory of the term "genre of cinema"
According to Wikipedia, the definition of "film genre" evolved with the rise of Hollywood's cinematic diversity. Classification by genre has the sole purpose of guiding the viewer, who, from a brief description, will understand whether he wants to watch a particular film or not.
Initially, there were only three directions in cinema - drama, comedy and adventure film. Then came the "television" genres - TV shows, serials, concerts. Animation is a separate genre of feature films, but its content and themes are very diverse. Renowned film critic Daniel Chandler calls the attempts to classify cinema as a "theoretician minefield" - so great is the variety of contemporary trends, styles and features. The same picture can belong to several genres of cinema.
Drama and its varieties
The drama is a deep story that tells about the private life of the heroes, about their social relationships, contradictions, mental suffering. Realism and close to many viewers everyday, everyday situations - that's what distinguishes this genre of the film. Family films about complex conflicts, biographies, war films and melodramas can be attributed to the genre of drama. Although the list, of course, can be expanded.
Melodrama
Romantic cinema, perhaps, can be attributed to an independent cinema genre - and it is as diverse as others, and is often mixed with comedy, historical genre, adventure. A beautiful love story is the basis of the best works in literature, cinema also does not lag behind. Let us recall the famous "Titanic" of 1997, the bright "La-la-land" of 2016 with elements of a musical, a touching love story of two women "A Room in Rome" (2010), a light and very romantic comedy with a drop of mysticism "Between Heaven and land "2005. And only the viewer chooses which films to watch.
Military
These are also drama films. War is a dark, difficult, but integral part of history, and it should be remembered at least for edification. Such tapes can be biographical, documentary, based on literary works or real events, describing fictional situations based on the reconstruction of a particular war.
Often the plot is a combination of melodrama, biography, action movie, family drama. Examples of war films are the 2011 Japanese biographical drama Attack on Pearl Harbor, War and Peace (1965) - a great adaptation of Tolstoy's immortal classics, Schindler's List (1993) by the great Spielberg, and so on.
Family dramas
This type of film is very diverse. And the eternal conflict between fathers and children, and the difficulties of large families, and teenage difficulties, and the hardships of changes in the life of a single clan. Of course, watching other people's mistakes and drawing conclusions for yourself is useful and interesting, and these types of films are popular. The list of examples is huge. The hard and very emotional story of the breakup of the family "Fireflies in the Garden" (2008), the story of the fate of a gay man forced to lead an ordinary life "Beginners" (2010), the classic picture of a midlife crisis "American Beauty" (1999 g.), the sentimental film "Hachiko" of 2009 and many others.
Biographies
The life of famous people in artistic presentation is a wonderful way to learn about the fate of an individual, about how a person's character was formed, how he came to his outstanding achievements. Wonderful acting, magnificent reconstructions of other eras, interesting, real conflicts - all this can be found in the best biographical films.
Example: artistic interpretation of the biography of the trendsetter "Coco Chanel" (2008), the difficult story of Ramon Sampedro's struggle for the right to his eftanasia "The Sea Within" (2004), the story of the fate of Bruce Lee's teacher "The Great Master" (2013.), the recent hit of the Russian box office "Unforgiven" (2018).
Sports
As a rule, the task of movies and TV shows about sports is to popularize healthy lifestyles and tell the story of the loudest victories or tragedies, allowing viewers to understand the meaning of events, to get acquainted with the legendary personalities of sports. But sometimes sports in a film are mixed with an action movie, with a drama, with a melodrama. And there are also purely documentary sports films.
Cinema examples: a story about the death of the cult football club "MU" almost in full force in a terrible plane crash in 1958, and then about the revival of the team "Munich tragedy" (2011), the 2016 film "Willpower" (2016) - about the black athlete who, despite racism, was able to take 4 Gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, do not forget about the Rocky franchise starring Sylvester Stallone. In a word, sports movie fans always have plenty to choose from.
Horror
This genre is so deep and varied that it can be divided into a good two dozen subgenres. These are mystical horror films, both scientific and historical, based on literature and urban legends, on rumors and real nightmarish tragedies.
The films on this list are designed to scare the viewer by playing on vivid and primitive feelings of fear and disgust, and the ways in which the creators achieve this are very diverse. Maniacs and a sea of blood or a confusing story with creepy aliens, vengeful spirits or abstract beings of other dimensions, a human subconscious filled with "demons of the past" or the machine inexorableness of a cruel artificial intelligence, as well as zombies, demons, vampires, psychopaths - the choice is huge. Examples - the bloody nightmare of "Martyr" in 2008, the brilliant thriller "Cube" of 1997, the "Saw" franchise and others.
Films with a fantastic plot
Science fiction - stories based on events that cannot happen in the real world. There are subgenres - mysticism, which is based on supernatural themes (ghosts, vampires, werewolves, clairvoyance, etc.), fantasy - the worlds of magic and wizardry (films about orcs, elves, dragons) and science fiction, which tells about some still impossible progress, and its events usually take place in the distant future.
Action films by genre
Action movie
This direction of the cinematic genre is characterized by an abundance of violence. The central characters face difficulties that cannot be solved without violence. Furious chases, shooting in all directions or constant fights - the hero constantly walks along the edge, finding himself in difficult, almost hopeless situations.
Previously, action films used stuntmen and very expensive scenery destroyed during filming, but the modern genre film is filled with computer graphics, which significantly reduced the cost of entertainment, and the genre began to develop rapidly, intertwining with melodrama, science fiction, biography, and historical cinema.
Crime
There are several interesting subgenres in the crime genre. These can be court dramas, gangster action movies, and prison stories. The main thing here is the personalities of the main characters, criminals. These can be both real and fictional films. Crime films are often combined with a thriller, comedy, or family drama. It is in them that "flashbacks" are widely used - this is when the hero recalls his past and the actions that led him to current events.
Western
Western is a very popular genre, which is characterized by the realities of the Wild West - the era of American colonization in the second half of the 19th century.
Cowboys, revolvers, hats, bandits, saloons, sheriffs, Indians and bank robbers in an environment of inhospitable prairies and rare settlements accompanied by country music - these are the main features of the western, the brightest star of which is the American actor Clint Eastwood.
Thriller
This genre of cinema is characterized by complex, intricate storylines, riddles, suspense, cliffhangers (a sharp break in the story at an interesting moment) and an overall dark atmosphere. These are puzzle films where the viewer has to plunge into a sea of false information, follow the wrong tracks with the heroes, trying to guess the identity of the attacker or his true motives. In a word, this genre was created in order to tickle the nerves of the viewer from the heart. Often combined with horror, eroticism, detective and adventure.
Adventures
The spirit of adventure and passion of the discoverer, scientific riddles and a thirst to find treasures - all this is inherent in the heroes of adventure films, who have ingenuity and find themselves in various dangerous situations, and events usually take place in exotic places: jungles, other planets, lost cities. Characters are clearly divided into "bad" and "good". The prominent "representatives" of this genre are the films of Jackie Chen, the Lara Croft franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean", "The Three Musketeers" and others. Often this genre is combined with action, comedy, historical events, science fiction, horror and drama.
Detective
In detective films, the amateur or professional unravels the crime. It can be a revenge drama, an adaptation of literary classics, or a dark, half-forgotten secret of the past. The hero usually analyzes evidence, interrogates witnesses and moves towards solving the mystery, while the criminal takes all steps to get rid of the persecution. The key feature of this genre is the so-called suspense - the state of anxious expectation.
Historical
This genre of feature films tells about any significant historical events through an artistic presentation of the fate of the main characters. Sometimes they are real-life famous personalities, sometimes fictional characters.
The main feature of a historical film is a thorough reconstruction of the realities of the era in question. Often combined with military genre, action, adventure, drama and others. By the way, Westerns can also be attributed to the historical type.
Film noir
Noir - this is the name of the black-and-white crime films of the 40-50s, which relied on acting, vivid characters and a tough, intricate plot filled with vivid action films. Tough private detectives, cynical and incorruptible, rescued fatal seductive beauties from cruel and merciless bandits. Today this genre is popular again, called "neo-noir", and some directors work in it, creating new masterpieces. Lucky Number Slevin (2005), Kill Bill (2004), Sin City (2005) and others.
Documentaries
Documentary or "non-fiction" films are a genre based on real events without various embellishments and artistic components. Staged scenes are not excluded, but they usually accurately reconstruct what once happened. The purpose of this genre is propaganda, education, journalism, and so on.
Popular science films
The task of scientific films is to convey to the general public information about progress, discoveries, new directions of science without furious terminology in a simple and clear presentation. These films serve as educational and popularize science. There are, of course, and purely scientific tapes designed for specific tasks of a narrow circle of specialists.
Concert films
Films and videos covering real performances of stars, comedians and other multimedia personalities, as well as groups, broadcasts of performances, ballets, games and operas are called concert. This documentary is often mixed with biography and always presents a vivid spectacle, created not by the director of the film, but by its heroes.
Entertainment cinema
Comedy
This genre of art has its origins in ancient Greece, when on holidays in honor of the gods, people staged funny costumed performances.
The definition of comedy is simple - it is humor in all its glory, from subtle oriental irony to the toilet jokes of cheap sitcoms. Comedy is the best way to shake off stress and fatigue.
Musical
A film of this type is almost any plot, an important component of the design of which is music, songs and dances. The classics of Indian cinema are entirely musicals, and biographies of famous musicians and children's fairy tales are also filmed in this format.
Erotic
Elements of eroticism are found in many films, but only those pictures in which carnal love, nudity and sensual sensations are given a central place can be attributed to this genre. The best films in this area have been created by Italian cinematographers.
Children's films and animation
These cinematic products are created specifically for children and adolescents, taking into account the age perception. In children's films there is no abuse, eroticism, violence, frightening scenes, but in addition to entertaining, they add an educational component. The genre of children's films appeared in the USSR in the 20s of the last century, and in the 30s began to develop in Europe.
Cartoon
This genre does not involve the participation of live actors - only their voices, voicing the characters. Drawings, dolls or computer graphics are the basis for all actions on the screen. A couple of decades ago, it was believed that cartoons are an exclusively "children's" genre, but in recent years, there are enough "adult" animated films.
Cinema continues to develop, as in any art, new directions, themes, trends are constantly appearing in it. With the advent of the Internet, several completely new formats and terms were born, but today experts predict a qualitative leap in cinema, which in the future will work on completely different principles, and then completely new methods and genres will appear.
