The Surreal Moving Painting: The Unconscious Dialogue between Cinematography and Plastic Art.

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Lecturer in Photography, cinema and Television Department, Faculty of Applied Arts, Helwan University, Egypt

10.21608/aaj.2025.387107.1131

Abstract

In light of the profound heritage of Surrealism as an artistic movement focused on the unconscious world, this study examines how Surrealist visual techniques were transferred to the cinematic image to form a new cinematic visual language. The study examines the embodiment of Surrealist themes, such as the distortion of time, dreams, and subconscious symbols, in both art and cinematic experience, revealing their mutual influence. This study assumes that Surrealist filmmakers were directly inspired by Surrealist visual techniques, expanding cinema's ability to express subconscious concepts. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, analyzing selected examples of Surrealist paintings and scenes from Surrealist films. The aim is to reveal how Surrealist vision can be reshaped within the cinematic medium without falling into formal dependency, but rather by constructing a new visual language. The importance of the study lies in deepening understanding of Surrealism's role as an aesthetic and cultural link between the arts, and in highlighting its evolving manifestations between painting and moving images. The relationship between surrealism and visual art, on the one hand, and surrealism and cinema, on the other, has become a subject of increasing critical and aesthetic interest, given the intersections of vision, style, and technique. However, the nature of this interaction still requires careful analysis to reveal the influences and exchanges between the two fields, and how surrealist expression evolved from painting to screen.

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