Film as Art

It's a matter of semantics, in the end. It depends upon how you define art.  Some documentary films, for example, I think are unquestionably art. Likewise, in the broadest definition of art, I suppose that one could say any narrative film is art. It's a highly subjective matter, however.  I make films for a living (intending them as art), and I fully understand your thesis. But I don't hold the same broad view that you do; rather a more narrow one about the design and intention of the filmmaker's process. But we could debate it forever and never reach an agreement. I'll concede that for most viewers, if they consider it at all, film would be thought of broadly as an art, though very often it is only meant (in America at least), as entertainment or, more specifically, as a way to make money. Again, it's a subjective judgement. I think I came the closest to your position when I said in my OP that films at their best are art disguised as entertainment. 

But I appreciate and thank you for your thoughtful post. Oddly enough, if we were to debate it further, I suspect we're not as far apart as we might seem.