Film & Film Theory

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NOTE TO EVERYONE DOING RESEARCH: Please be sure to check out the On the Web page, which includes portals to great sites about directors, the cinemas of different countries, film theory, etc., and a list of On-Line Journals.

Film can be studied on many levels--as an art form, social commentary, historic record, reflection of the Zeitgeist of an era or culture, a philosophical or spiritual experience, or pure entertainment.

The sources listed below are intended as mere introductions to various aspects of modern cinema. Included are general "factual" guides to the history of film making, works on the films of various cultures plus several somewhat theoretical (and a bit esoteric) collections of essays on film theory.

For serious students of film, the first two books listed on the Books page are probably the best places to start. Aitken's book is also recommended.

Film theory is only for the brave-of-mind. It is a daunting field of study, with literally hundreds of perspectives, based upon everything from theories of language and cognition, to Marxist views of reality, theories of psychology, you name it. One year psychological readings of film are "in," the next year they are "out." The last two sites listed on the On the Web page are excellent resources.

INTRODUCTORY ARTICLES (direct links)

A Film Watcher's Vocabulary . Do you know what blocking refers to? Mise en scene? How about montage editing? This glossary explains the basic terms of filmmaking and editing--concepts all students of film should know (KJS Word.doc).

Yale Film Analysis Guide This is a very handy interactive guide with photos and video clips that explains the basic terminology of film making and editing.

Jenkin, Deborah. "Revolution in Film Theory." Lecture from "Film Theory & World Cinema." University of Canberra. 1997. 5 March 2004 (introductiontofilmtheory.doc)
Contains a good overview of key terms used in contemporary literary theory, which, by the way, can also be applied to the interpretation of film (Word.doc).

Murphy, Paula. "Psychoanalysis and Film Theory Part 1: ‘A New Kind of Mirror’." Kritikos Volume 2, February 2005. Florida State University. 5 January 2006(http://garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~nr03/Psychoanalysis%20and%20Film%20Theory%20Part%201.htm)
Good introduction to the history of film theory and the basic concepts. But beware--film theory is just that--theory. Read with caution.

Quigley, T.R.. “Freudian, Lacanian and Object Relations Theory.” 1998 Excellent brief overview of the theories of Freud and Lacan. Good background for any psychological reading of a novel or film.

The following are very basic introductory articles to the major traditions of modern European cinema (as opposed to in-depth scholarly discussions). They are a good place to start if you are writing a paper, or want to review the basic concepts discussed in class. There are good discussions of each of these movements in The Oxford History of World Cinema and An Introduction to World Cinema listed on the BOOKS page in this section.

ANDRE BAZIN AND CINEMATIC REALISM



"Andre Bazin: Divining the Real." Sight and Sound. British Film Institute. August 1999.
4 April 2004 (http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/176/). Good introductory article on Bazin.

Totaro, Donato. "André Bazin Revisited André Bazin: Part 1, Film Style Theory in its Historical Context." Offscreen.com. July 31, 2003.
14 August 2004 (http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/bazin_intro.html). Lengthy scholarly article about Bazin's cinematic beliefs, based upon the philosophy of phenomenology.

Totaro, Donato. "André Bazin Revisited André Bazin: Part 2, Style as a Philosophical Idea." Offscreen.com. July 31, 2003.
14 August 2004 (http://www.horschamp.qc.ca/new_offscreen/bazin_intro2.html). Part II of the article.

Andre Bazin: Divining the Real.unofficialbaziniantrib.com. Web site devoted to the French critic. 12 April 2004 (http://www.unofficialbaziniantrib.com).

FEMINIST THEORY

Mulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." This is Laura Mulvey's landmark essay on the male gaze in film. Originally published in Screen (V6 #3: Autumn 1975), it has been republished in many film studies anthologies.

Skjerdal, Terje. "Laura Mulvey Against the Grain: A Critical Assessment of the Psychoanalytic Feminist Approach to Film." Centre for Cultural Studies, University of Natal, 1997. A counter argument to Mulvey's theories (with an interesting reference to Thelma and Louise .

Also see links to the classic feminist theorists listed under Literary Theory (click here).

SOVIET CINEMA

Horton, Andrew James. "Russian and Soviet Cinema, 1896 - 1953: The Beginnings to the Death of Stalin." GreenCine. 2005. 5 March 2009. (http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/early-russia-1.jsp)

"Eisenstein's Montage." Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute. University of Glasgow. 1999.
14 August 2004 (http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/MultimediaStudentProjects/98-99/9505060m/html/). Read "Introduction," "Montage Theories," "Conflicting Views," Eisenstein's Legacy," and "Conclusion." Also includes excellent references and links.

"Soviet Montage Theory." Wikipedia.
4 January 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_montage_theory) Good basic explanation of Eisenstein's theories. Be sure to click on examples from his films.

CZECH NEW WAVE

Horton, Andrew James. "Czech and Slovak Cinema." GreenCine. www.greencine.com. Be sure to read both parts of the article. Good filmography at the end.
4 February 2006 (http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/czech-slovak-1.jsp).

Cowie, Peter. "The Other New Wave." The Criterion Collection.
4 February 2006 (http://www.criterionco.com/asp/in_focus_essay.asp?id=8&eid=177).

Czech Cinema. If you can deal with the graphics, this site has a lot of good background information on the Czech New Wave and many other Czech directors.

GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM

Hudson, David. "German Expressionism." www.greencine.com.
14 August 2004 (http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/expressionism1.jsp). Good brief introduction.

"German Expressionism." www.silentmoviemonsters.tripod.com.
14 August 2004 (http://silentmoviemonsters.tripod.com/germanexpressionism.html). Brief overview with list of the classic movies of the period.

"German Expressionist Cinema 1919 - 1933 ." Fabianweb.
14 August 2004 (http://home.nikocity.de/fabianweb/gerexp.html). Another good brief discussion.

Deren, Seçil. "Cinema and Film Industry in Weimar Republic, 1918-1933." The Cradle of Modernity: Politics and Art in Weimar Republic (1918-1933), unpublished MSc thesis submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences of the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 1997, pp. 129-163.
14 August 2004 (http://www.korotonomedya.net/theoria/weimar.html). This is a more scholarly discussion, with a short section on Metropolis

FRENCH NEW WAVE

Nottingham, Stephen. "The French New Wave." Steve's Cinema Page. June 1998.
4 August 2004 (http://soma.sbcc.edu/users/DaVega/FILMST_101/FILMST_101_FILM_MOVEMENTS/FrenchNewWave/french_new_wave_.pdf). Good brief overview of the movement.

Phillips, Craig. "French New Wave." GreenCine. 2004. www.greencine.com.
14 August 2004 (http://http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/fnwave1.jsp). Another good overview.


The New France of the 1950s. University of Sunderland, 28 Feb 2002. Good brief overview of the Zeitgeist of France in the 1950s, including a discussion of the Algerian War, political situation and culture.
4 February 2009 (http://www.well.ac.uk/cfol/fifties.as).

ITALIAN NEOREALISM

Ratner, Magan. "Italian Neorealism." www.greencine.com. 14 August 2005. (http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/neorealism1.jsp) Good introduction.

BRITISH SOCIAL REALISM

Armstrong, Richard. "Social Realism: The most 'typically British' of all film genres." ScreenOnline. British Film Institute. 2003. Good brief overview with list of the classic Brit Grit films.
14 August 2004 (http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/History/Sixties/Film/realism.htm).

"How did film-makers use the concept of ‘realism’ to portray British society in the 1960s?." University of Bristol.
14 August 2004 (http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/History/Sixties/Film/realism.htm). Very brief and only slightly useful. Not much on the Web devoted to BSR. Sarah Street's book, listed on the BOOKS page, has a great deal of information about the subject.

NEW GERMAN CINEMA

"New German Cinema." www.members.tripod.com.
14 August 2004 Brief overview of period. See also Hake's and Elsaesser's works listed on the BOOKS page.

AMERICAN FILM

Mintz, S. Digital History. Extremely comprehensive portal to numerous resources about American cinema, with many links to other useful resources.