Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings

by Gerald Mast (Editor), Marshall Cohen (Editor), Leo Braudy (Editor)

The fourth edition of this classic resource is updated to illustrate the most recent approaches in film theory, including semiotic and structuralist imperatives, Marxist historical and Freudian psychoanalytic analysis, and feminist and deconstructionist views, and each section has been revised
to show the impact of new thinking on matters such as film language, the film medium, and the film artist. More than half of the contents are new, providing a broad survey of thinking about film over the past eight decades. A comprehensive text for students of film, it is also an invaluable
resource for courses in semiotics and modern culture and media.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Theory, Media Tie In, Reference, Criticism, Essays

797 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Professor of English and Humanities at the University of Chicago

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

True story: I got a D in my first year film class 20 years ago, never studied any film production and somehow managed to become an award winning independent documentary filmmaker. 11 years after starting down this career path I decided it was time to start brushing up on the so called essential readings. My incredible dIrector of photography DID go to film school and gave me his 45 year old copy of this book which supposedly is the go to theory and criticism. Film is not an art form that ages well. Not only does the equipment change every few years, the expectations by audiences of aesthetics and storytelling does as well. So written in the 70’s means most of the book was tremendously outdated and irrelevant. It would be interesting to compare it to a recent edition.

[Carrie]

I'm so sick of Lacan...

[Roy Llh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The bible.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life.” — Jean-Luc Godard (and yes, he’s in here too)

Film Theory and Criticism is the Norton Anthology of Film Studies—a heavyweight, brain-melting buffet of essays, manifestos, and provocations. Edited by Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, this compilation isn’t for the faint of heart or casual binge-watcher. It’s where you go to wrestle with Eisenstein’s montage theory, Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze, Bazin’s love of realism, Metz’s psychoanalytic dreams, and everything in between.

When I taught this in 2018, it felt like flinging open the trapdoor to the film brain’s basement—where meaning is made, broken, and argued about in margins. Some students were thrilled. Some wanted to scream. All of them felt something. The beauty of this collection is in its chaos: semiotics vs structuralism, auteur theory vs postmodern fragmentation, feminist vs psychoanalytic lenses. And all in one volume you could probably use as a doorstop during a zombie apocalypse.

Reading it again, I remembered standing in front of that 2018 class, pointing at Mulvey’s essay with a chalk-dusted finger and asking, “So who exactly is the camera for?” You could feel the gears turning. That’s what this book does—it teaches you to see, not just watch.

[Alborz Taheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

کتاب «نظریّۀ و نقد فیلم – زبانِ سینما» بخشی از کتابِ اصلی برادی و کوئن است. گویا قرار بوده که کتابِ برادی و کوئن در نُه جلد ترجمه و چاپ شود که فقط دو جلد آن ترجمه و چاپ شده است.
این کتاب مجموعه مقالاتی از پودوفکین، آیزنشتاین، بازن، متز و چندی دیگر از منتقدان و نظریّه‌پردازان حوزۀ سینما است. گزینش مقاله‌ها به نحوی بوده که محوریّت اصلی آن‌ها بحث در رابطه با زبانِ سینما و چگونگی پیدایش نظریّات مختلف در رابطه با این مقوله را پیش می‌کشد. این‌که -به طور مثال- چطور بحث در رابطه با زبانِ سینما را می‌توان در بحث تدوینِ آیزنشتاین، میزانسنِ بازن، نگاهِ سوسوریِ متز و یا نگاه مارکسیستی-لکانیِ دایان و غیره یافت. ویژگی دیگر کتاب این است که برخی مقالات در عین مطرح کردن یک ایدۀ جدید در نقد مقالۀ قبلی است. به طور مثال راثمن در عین آن‌که نظامِ توالی دو نمایی دایان و اودار-نظام دوخت (بخیّه)- را زیر سوال می‌برد، پیشنهادِ جدیدی در رابطه با تحلیل رابطۀ تماشگر-تصویر مبتنی بر توالی سه نما را مطرح می‌کند. در کل روندِ مقالات جذّاب است و البته پیوندِ جدّی با زبان‌شناسی و روان‌شناسی دارد.
امّا مشکل اساسی کتاب در ویراستاری و ترجمۀ برخی مقالات است. برخی از مقالات بسیار بد ترجمه‌ شدند و کل مجموعه نیز، به خصوص به این دلیل که از ترجمۀ مترجم‌های مختلف استفاده کرده است، به یک ویراستاری جدّی نیاز دارد. خودِ کتاب و مقالات آن قطعاً ارزش خواندن دارند، امّا ترجمه و ویراستاری بد کاملاً باعث افت مجموعه شده است.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 4 out of 5]

May add a new dimension to the films we watch.

Each edition of the book has a different addition so if you are looking for a particular film you may want to peruse the book in person at the table of contents goes by article, not film title.

However, the basic nature of the book stays the same from one edition to the next.

Talk about looking at clouds from both sides now, here is a short list of what is covered.

Theory of film
What is Cinema?
Film as art
Film as film
The creative use of reality
Metaphors on Vision
Film technique
Film form
The evolution of language and Cinema
CinemaScope: before and after
Christian Metz and semiology in the cinema
Contribution of film to semiotics
Style and medium
The establishment of physical existence
The making of the film
The world viewed
Basic film aesthetics
The film: a psychological study
Theater and cinema
From Dickens, Griffith, and the film today
From novels to film
Narration and narrativity in film
The world in the frame
The imagination of disaster
The mummy’s pool
Comedy’s greatest era
Signs in meaning in cinema
Howard Hawks, Storyteller
Man with the camera.
The face of Garbo
Technology and ideology and cinema
Film and visual pleasure

[Maciej]

THE SYNTHETIC IMAGE AND ITS SUBJECT

As evidenced by the numerous advances that have been made since the writing of this article, CGI is not “too perfect:” just “too clean” for the film. Obviously, this is what Manovich meant, but he conflates the definitions, and the definition of photorealism as relating to film characteristics is, if more precise, not the same as the conventional definition used by other theorists that he argues against.

Regardless of that, outside of film, the CG image is still imperfect. Even if CG images were subject to the flaws that are caused by the camera (i.e. focus, grain), they would still appear unrealistic due to the quality of models, shadows, etc. It’s oversimplistic and sophistical to reduce the differences between CGI and live-action to merely these filmic characteristics. Moreover, if animations, for example, are “too perfect,” that does not mean they are “perfect.” They are imperfect because they are unrealistic. Manovich again exploits a definition: “perfect” has indeed been taken sometimes to mean lacking in grisly, realistic detail—robotic—but this definition is not relevant to criticism.

[Michael Skora · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good number of articles weren't terribly fascinating, but several in the last three chapters, "Spectator and Audience," "Digitization," and "Globalization," were especially informative on how film constructs hegemonic ideology. More impressed by the articles that stressed Althusserian rather than Freudian analysis. Then again I'm not sure whether my understanding of Freud so far is a caricature of his theories.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I prefer this, the 5/e, to the newer editions, but there are still some critical essays missing.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book you need if you’re going to study film theory, it’s not the only book you need, not by a long shot, but this should definitely be on your shelf. What more can I say?

[Kristopher Pistole]

Read for grad school

Laura Mulvey rules.

[Trent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many anthologies, a mixed bag

[Jared]

1974 1st edition

[Tanner Pratt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read thousands of pages for this evil film and new media class that I can’t log on Goodreads so you better believe I’m logging all my textbooks

[Elliot T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice variety of essays, from many different time periods and different schools of thought. If you had to own 3 books about film, this would be one of them (Bordwell's book on narration and Stam's book on the history of Film Theory would be the others). Sure, there are "important" film theorists like Bazin that you should get to know, but its better to identify all the major theoretical approaches before getting into one author.

[Emma Fentiman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Aaaaaaaah! Had to read this in my third year at uni. I suppose it contains all the significant writings on film from the last 100 years and writes IN DETAIL on all the changes and isms that film criticism has gone through. Doesn't mean that it's enjoyable.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite that fact I didn't really read much of it while actually taking the class, I do now. So interesting to see what film really does to us and what we do to film.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good sampling of writing.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent anthology of must-read material from preeminent theorists and critics. It's been my bible for the last six months.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I feel stupid about film I crack this bad boy open.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you need to know to begin your journey into film theory.

[Ke · Rating 5 out of 5]

To my knowledge, this book contains an extensive number of seminal articles on film criticism.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic variety of essays collected here.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took this class circa 1987-8, so it's not this edition we read, but, maybe the 3rd edition.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid intro text, very diverse and informative

[Mills College Library]

791.43 F4878 2016

[Sharone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minus one star for a bizarre and unacceptable number of typos.