Analysis of Aspects and Potentialities of Transcendental Cinema in Essay Film

The Transcendental Style is a special approach in arts that has left behind a valid and noticeable tradition and background in pursuit of achieving the sublime and intangible in the form of the tangible. The possibility of enjoying this function in cinema is a concern sought by some studies or works of many filmmakers such as Wassily Kandinsky in painting or Paul Schrader in cinema. Also, one of the most important types of cinema, which is often considered to be related to vision, is experimental cinema (in this article, specifically: Essay Film). This research, using the qualitative method, aims to answer the ambiguous points of the Transcendental Style and to place it in the context of Essayistic Films, with the aim of representing the sublime and recognition of the stylistic characteristics at the intersection of Transcendental Style and the Essay Film. This research was conducted with the comparative method, and by studying the available data in the field and their formation from the beginning of Essay Film and Transcendental Style to their modern perceptions, explains them, and deals with the intersection of this style with Essay Film and its filmic abilities from Paul Schrader’s views. Grasping these multifaceted concepts naturally requires a new look which is possible via comparative study. The results of the research realize the idea that the formal arrangements of Essay Film are a new approach in dealing with the Transcendental Style and that Essay Film has the potential to bring the audience to watch the sublime on the screen of cinema.