David Bordwell’s “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Practice” is about the characteristics of art cinema that differentiate it from the conventions of modern and classical American cinema, thus making it a distinct mode of filmmaking. A key idea brought forth by Bordwell is that art cinema motivates its narratives by two principles. 

The first is realism, as art cinema defines itself as a realistic cinema by showing us real locations and real problems. Part of this reality can also be sexual, as the aesthetics and commerce of the art cinema often depend upon an eroticism that violates the production code of early Hollywood, but more importantly art cinema uses realistic characters by having them be very psychologically complex. Reliance on psychological causation is a fundamental element as characters and their effects on one another remain central, but unlike in classical narrative where characters have clear-cut traits and objectives, characters in art cinema lack defined desires and goals. For this reason, they may act for inconsistent reasons or question themselves about their own goals. Additionally, choices can be vague or even nonexistent, which can result in a “drifting” episodic quality to the narrative – characters may wander out and never reappear and events may lead to nothing. The analogy that Bordwell uses to better describe this is that while the Hollywood protagonist speeds directly toward the target, the art cinema character slides passively from one situation to another. 

The second is authorial expressivity, which is that art cinema foregrounds the author as a structure in the film’s system. This does not mean that the author is represented as a biographical individual, but that he instead is a formal component and becomes an overriding presence in the film’s organization. According to Bordwell, this creative freedom is something that Hollywood authors do not have, as in cinema art, the author is the “textual force” who communicates what the film is saying and who expresses the artist’s personal vision. Since art cinema lacks identifiable stars and familiar genres, the concept of authorship is used as an alternative way to unify the text. 

In conclusion, David Bordwell’s “The Art Cinema as a Mode of Practice” underscores the distinctiveness of art cinema compared to conventional American cinema by highlighting its commitment to realism and the prominent role of authorial expressivity, shedding light on the complexities of character psychology and the author’s overarching presence as a defining feature of this cinematic style.