Multiple Indexicality and Multiple Realism in André Bazin

This chapter proposes a new theorization of André Bazin’s realism in two directions in which the medium-specific notion of photographic indexicality can be deconstructed and reframed in view of Bazin’s own work and post-Bazinian film history. First, aesthetically, iconic index as full representation: it is more accurate that his ontology of the image is less about indexicality per se than about the indexical effect which can also be created in hyperreal or surreal iconicity. The Bazinian total cinema has evolved in this regard, enhancing the spatiotemporal unity in long-take/deep-focus, and even eliminating the boundary between screen and theater spaces through digital/3D technology. Second, philosophically, imperfect index as partial revelation: Bazin’s realism in a more documentary mode often leads us from actual reality to the virtual Real, the unrepresentable abyss of ontological otherness that is only indirectly, impossibly indicated. This underworld of his realism is a fertile theoretical ground of (French) revelationism that has evolved from Epstein to Daney, from Deleuze to Nancy, Derrida, and Žižek. This chapter explores these two contradictory trends of Bazin’s persistent inspiration, and will also analyze relevant films, including post-Bazinian world cinema and contemporary digital cinema.