We must first define what the term "arthouse" means. It will most likely differ from person to person. Keeping in mind that I feel definitions and excess labels are dangerous for most forms of artistic impression, I would say that arthouse films are generally smaller, lower-budgeted films that are concerned with content over box office. I also think an arthouse film is something that experiments with boundaries, normality and conventions. This doesn’t mean that the film can’t be popular or successful. For example, I would very much consider
Taxi Driver to be an arthouse film.
We could also get into a class war and talk about films that appeal to the educated, and whether or not they could be considered arthouse. If I went by my local arthouse cinema, then we’d have to include
Dan in Real Life,
No Country for Old Men and
The Kite Runner. Are those genuine arthouse films? I would consider
Atonement, even though its advertising seeks broader audiences, to be an arthouse film.
It’s like finding the difference between
real grindhouse cinema and grindhouse-esque cinema.
And to answer the larger question, I have yet to find a genre of film that I loathe in all its forms.
P.S. Sorry for repeating some of your original post, Taxi.
