The Birth of Sixth Art

Historically, the five main fine arts were painting, sculpture,

architecture, music and poetry.
Ricciotto Canudo, In his manifesto The Birth of the Sixth Art, published in 1911, argued
that cinema was a new art, and a synthesis of five ancient arts. He says its the period of
dawn of a new era and our scientific minds are reluctant to witness or observe the
change. He says the sixth art, cinema, is meant for the ones with unquiet and critical
observational skills.
The cinematographer, a genius man will perform the unimaginable task of transforming
air into rhythm and bring the plastic art into motion. There are two aspects of
cinematograph, namely symbolic and real. The symbolic aspects is of the velocity, i.e.
the series , combination and arrangement of reels, tied together. The magic created by
the excess of movement by the cinematograph and the continuous change of sets and
location is unreplicable by any theatre even with the most modern technologies
available. Cinematograph has the power of depicting a slow moving frame like an old
man enjoying his pipe to a racer with adrenaline release, full of energy and overflowing
emotions. The real aspect comprises of elements which arouse the interest and wonder
of modern audience. It gives the most meaningful representation to the modern
audience carrying a scientific approach.
Everything done at a theatre is to retain the attention. The real life is 'stylised in speed'
i.e. spiced up with the spices of suspense and precision and clock work.
Cinematograph doesn't only reproduce a situation, rather the focus here is on
representing the whole life in action. The western life is depicted as focusing on
conditions relating to soul or mind while the eastern manifests in deep thoughtful looking
or thinking.
Theatre is absurd when applied to tragic situations but would justify the short everyday
life even without music. All indoor theatres mean to copy the life with as much precision
as they can. The cinematograph whereas adds the element of accurate speed, thus
including a new type of pleasure experienced by the spectator due to the precision.
The cinematograph theatre is the first new theatre with the authentic and fundamental
theatre of life, which suppresses every obstacle in real life through inevitable slowness
of movements and action in space.