Postmodernist film is a classification for works that articulate the themes and ideas ofpostmodernism through the medium ofcinema. Some of the goals of postmodernist film are to subvert the mainstreamconventions ofnarrative structure andcharacterization, and to test the audience'ssuspension of disbelief.^[1][2][3] Typically, such films also break down the cultural divide betweenhigh andlowart and often upend typical portrayals ofgender,race,class,genre, andtime with the goal of creating something that does not abide by traditional narrative expression.^[4]

Modernist film came to maturity in the era betweenWWI andWWII with characteristics such asmontage and symbolic imagery, and often took the form ofexpressionist cinema andsurrealist cinema (as seen in the works ofFritz Lang andLuis Buñuel)^[5] while postmodernist film – similar topostmodernism as a whole – is a reaction to the modernist works and to their tendencies (such as nostalgia and angst).^[6] Modernist cinema has been said to have "explored and exposed the formal concerns of the medium by placing them at the forefront of consciousness. Modernist cinema questions and made visible the meaning-production practices of film."^[7] Theauteur theory and idea of an author creating a work from their singular vision was a cultural advancement that coincided with the further maturation of modernist cinema. It has been said that "To investigate the transparency of the image is modernist but to undermine its reference to reality is to engage with the aesthetics of postmodernism."^[8][9] The modernist film has more faith in the author, the individual, and the accessibility of reality itself than the postmodernist film, and is generally more sincere in tone.^[10]

Postmodernism is in many ways interested in theliminal space that would be typically ignored by more modernist or traditionally narrative offerings.Henri Bergson writes in his bookCreative Evolution, "The obscurity is cleared up, the contradiction vanishes, as soon as we place ourselves along the transition, in order to distinguish states in it by making cross cuts therein in thoughts. The reason is that there is more in the transition than the series of states, that is to say, the possible cuts--more in the movement than the series of position, that is to say, the possible stops."^[11]

Postmodernist film is often separated from modernist cinema and traditional narrative film^[6] by three key characteristics. One of them is an extensive use ofhomage orpastiche.^[7] The second element ismeta-reference or self-reflexivity, highlighting the construction and relation of the image to other images in media and not to any kind of external reality.^[7] A self-referential film calls the viewer's attention – either throughcharacters' knowledge of their own fictional nature, or through visuals – that the film itself is only a film. This is sometimes achieved by emphasizing the unnatural look of an image which seems contrived. Another technique used to achieve meta-reference is the use of intertextuality, in which the film's characters reference or discuss other works of fiction. Additionally, many postmodern films tell stories thatunfold out of chronological order, deconstructing or fragmenting time so as to highlight the fact that what is appearing on screen is constructed. A third common element is a bridging of the gap betweenhighbrow andlowbrow activities and artistic styles,^[2][3][7] e.g. a parody of Michelangelo'sSistine Chapel ceiling in which Adam is reaching for a McDonald's burger rather than the hand of God. The use of homage and pastiche can, in and of itself, result in a fusion of high and low art. Lastly,contradictions of all sorts – whether it be in visual technique, characters' morals, etc. – are crucial to postmodernism.^[2][12]

Sergio Leone'sOnce Upon a Time in the West has often been referred to by critics as an example of a postmodernWestern.^[13][14] The 1968spaghetti Western revolves around a beautiful widow, a mysterious gunslinger playing a harmonica, a ruthless villain, and a lovable but hard-nosed bandit who just escaped from jail. The story was developed by Leone,Bernardo Bertolucci, andDario Argento by watching classic American Westerns, and the final product is a deliberate attempt to both pay homage to and subvert Western genre conventions and audience expectations. Among the most notable examples of intertextuality are the plot similarities toJohnny Guitar, the visual reference toHigh Noon of a clock stopped at high noon in the middle of a gunfight, and the casting ofHenry Fonda as the story's sadistic antagonist which was a deliberate subversion of Fonda's image as a hero established in such films asMy Darling Clementine andFort Apache, both directed byJohn Ford.^[15][16][17]

Ridley Scott'sBlade Runner might be the best-known postmodernist film.^[7] Scott's 1982 film is about a futuredystopia where "replicants" (humancyborgs) have been invented and are deemed dangerous enough to hunt down when they escape. There is tremendous effacement of boundaries between genres and cultures, and styles that are generally more separate, along with the fusion of disparate styles and times, a common trope in postmodernist cinema.^[2][7] The fusion of noir andscience-fiction is another example of the film deconstructing cinema and genre.^[10] This embodies the postmodern tendency to destroy boundaries and genres into a self-reflexive product. The 2017Academy Award-winning sequelBlade Runner 2049 also tackled postmodern anxieties.^[18]

Quentin Tarantino'sPulp Fiction is another example of a postmodernist film.^{[19][20][21][10]} ThePalme d'Or-winning film tells the interweaving stories of gangsters, a boxer, and robbers. The 1994 film breaks down chronological time and demonstrates a particular fascination withintertextuality: bringing in texts from both traditionally "high" and "low" realms of art.^[1][2] This foregrounding of media places the self as "a loose, transitory combination ofmedia consumption choices."^[1][3]Pulp Fiction fractures time (by the use of asynchronous time lines) and by using styles of prior decades and combining them together in the movie.^[1] By focusing on intertextuality and the subjectivity of time,Pulp Fiction demonstrates the postmodern obsession with signs and subjective perspective as the exclusive location of anything resembling meaning.

Aside from the aforementionedOnce Upon a Time in the West, theBlade Runner sequels andPulp Fiction, postmodern cinema includes films such as:

Postmodernist techniques have also influenced non-fiction cinema. For example,Errol Morris’sThe Thin Blue Line (1988) is often regarded as the first postmodern documentary due to its ironic use of stylized re-enactments that detach the viewer from any pretense of objective truth.^[266] Such works demonstrate that evendocumentary film can embrace subjectivity, self-reference, and genre-blending in a postmodern way.

• Woody Allen^[267][268]
• Pedro Almodovar^[269]
• Robert Altman^[267]
• Paul Thomas Anderson^[27][174]
• Wes Anderson^[270][271]
• Tex Avery (also been called amodernist filmmaker)^[272]
• Peter Bogdanovich^[268]
• Tim Burton^[180]
• Joel and Ethan Coen^{[267][180][270]}
• Sofia Coppola^[192]
• Wes Craven^[109]
• David Cronenberg^[180][273]
• Joe Dante^[274]
• Brian De Palma^{[180][27][268]}
• Abel Ferrara^[275]
• David Fincher^[174]
• Michel Gondry^[98]
• Peter Greenaway^[276][277]
• Michael Haneke^[270]
• Don Hertzfeldt^[278]
• Jim Jarmusch^[109]
• Spike Jonze^[98][174]
• Radu Jude^[279][280] (also been called amodernist filmmaker)^[281]
• Stanley Kubrick (also been called amodernist filmmaker)^[282]
• Harmony Korine^[174]
• Sergio Leone^[283][284]
• David Lynch^{[180][270][273][109]}
• Guy Maddin^[285][286]
• Michael Mann^[128]
• Steve McQueen^[192]
• Michael Moore^[287][288]
• Errol Morris^[289] (also been called an anti-postmodernist filmmaker)
• Christopher Nolan^[36]
• Jordan Peele^[290][291]
• George A. Romero^[273]
• Martin Scorsese^[268]
• Ridley Scott^[270]
• Douglas Sirk (also been called amodernist filmmaker)^[27][292]
• Kevin Smith^[293]
• Steven Soderbergh^{[27][294][174]}
• Steven Spielberg^[295]
• Oliver Stone^[267]
• Quentin Tarantino^{[296][270][109]}
• Paul Verhoeven^[27]
• Lana andLilly Wachowski^[109][174]
• John Waters^[273]
• Wong Kar-Wai^[297]

Postmodern television is a category or period of modern television related to the art and philosophy ofpostmodernism,^[298] often making use of postmodern principles such assatire,irony, anddeconstruction.

• 30 Rock^{[299][300][301]}
• American Horror Story^[302]
• Arrested Development^[303][304]
• The Bachelor^[305]
• Bob's Burgers^[306]
• Breaking Bad^[306]
• The Bullwinkle Show^[307]
• Catfish^[308]
• The Colbert Report^[309][310]
• Community^{[311][312][306]}
• Curb Your Enthusiasm^[313][300]
• Don't Hug Me I'm Scared^[314]
• Ed, Edd n Eddy^[306]
• Entourage^[300]
• Fallout^[315]
• Family Guy^[304][306]
• Fleabag^[316]
• Freakazoid!^[317]
• Futurama^[304]
• Girls^[301]
• Hell on Wheels^[318]
• Inventing Anna^[319]
• It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia^[304]
• It's Garry Shandling Show^[300]
• The Larry Sanders Show^[313][320]
• Louie^[301]
• Magpie Murders^[321]
• Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman^[322]
• Miami Vice^[323]
• Monty Python's Flying Circus^[324]
• Mystery Science Theater 3000^[325]
• Neon Genesis Evangelion^[326]
• The Office^[327][301]
• Parks and Recreation^[301]
• Pee Wee's Playhouse^[328]
• Portlandia^[301]
• The Prisoner^[329]
• Real Housewives^[305]
• The Rehearsal^[330]
• The Ren & Stimpy Show^[307]
• Rick and Morty^[331]
• Riverdale^[332]
• RuPaul's Drag Race^[333]
• Saturday Night Live^[334][335]
• Scrubs^[304]
• Seinfeld^[336][304]
• The Simpsons^{[337][307][304][338]}
• The Singing Detective^[339]
• The Sopranos^[340]
• South Park^{[309][337][304]}
• Space Ghost: Coast to Coast^[341]
• Spartacus^[342]
• SpongeBob SquarePants^[343]
• Stranger Things^[344]
• True Detective^[345]
• The Twilight Zone^[329]
• Twin Peaks^{[337][329][339][109]}
• Vanderpump Rules^[305]
• WandaVision^[346]
• The X-Files^[347][329]

• Remodernist film, one of the manycritical stances against postmodernist cinema
• Cinephilia
• Art film
• New Hollywood, similar in content
• Social thriller
• Vulgar auteurism
• Auteur theory
• Extreme cinema
• Independent film
• Hyperlink cinema
• Slow cinema
• Arthouse film
• Remix culture
• American Eccentric Cinema
• Maximalist andminimalist cinema
• Cult film
• Arthouse animation
• Pop culture fiction
• Postmodern horror
• Arthouse musical

• Post-modernism and Authorship in David Lynch's Blue Velvet
• For a comprehensible introduction
• From Postmodernism to Postmodernity: the Local/Global Context
• In Search of The Postmodern: Chapter 1
• 10 Lesser-Known Postmodern Films|Philosophy in Film

• Postmodern films
• Postmodern works
• 1940s in film
• 1950s in film
• 1960s in film
• 1970s in film
• 1980s in animation
• 1980s in film
• 1990s in animation
• 1990s in film
• 2000s in animation
• 2000s in film
• 2010s in animation
• 2010s in film
• 2020s in film
• 2020s in animation
• Concepts in aesthetics
• Film genres
• Postmodernism
• Postmodern art
• Theories of aesthetics
• Self-reflexive television
• 1960s in television
• 1970s in television
• 1980s in television
• 1990s in television
• 2000s in television
• 2010s in television
• 2020s in television
• Postmodern television

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