MEANING IN WESTERN FILM ART: THE PATH TO POSTMODERNITY.

The article examines the evolution of meaning in Western film art, tracing its path toward postmodernity and contrasting two major cinematic movements: the Cinema of Doubt and the Cinema of Transgression. It highlights how postwar Western society grappled with a loss of shared meaning following the World Wars, leading filmmakers like Michelangelo Antonioni and Ingmar Bergman to explore themes of alienation, existential uncertainty, and the search for faith or knowledge. The Cinema of Transgression, emerging in the late 1960s, embraces radical individualism, materialism, and rebellion against traditional moral narratives, exemplified by films such as Mike Nichols' *The Graduate* and Dennis Hopper's *Easy Rider*. Despite this, the article notes that many postmodern films continue to engage with spiritual and moral questions, suggesting that doubt and transgression need not mark the end of meaningful cinematic storytelling, and that a renewed Christian-influenced cinema remains possible.