The Authenticity Paradox of Realist Cinema: Reconstructing the Boundary Between Fiction and Documentary
Abstract
Realist cinema, as a distinctive cinematic form, emerged amid the technological revolutions of the 1960s, championing the use of observational filming to capture unfiltered social reality. Yet, as subjective interventions increasingly permeate the creative process, a profound tension has arisen between the ideal of “authenticity” and the inherent narrativization involved in filmmaking. This paper, through case studies of Chronique d’un été, The Thin Blue Line, Tiger King, and Grey Gardens, critically interrogates how realist films construct “truth” through technical mechanisms, narrative strategies, and ethical negotiation. Central to this inquiry is a core paradox: the more rigorously filmmakers pursue authenticity, the more extensively reality becomes fictionalized. The study contends that authenticity in documentary cinema is not a direct reproduction of objective truth, but rather an aesthetic construct shaped through multiple layers of mediation. Within the post‑truth media landscape, this paper further scrutinizes the shifting power dynamics among creators, subjects, and audiences, and advocates for a paradigm of “critical authenticity”—one that embraces subjectivity while reconfiguring ethical frameworks and public trust.
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