The History of Film

World of Art

by David Parkinson

In this lively, informative and up-to-date new analysis of what has been called the seventh art, David Parkinson traces the evolution of the moving image from the earliest shadow shows to the contemporary cinema. Covering the key elements and players that have contributed to its artistic and technical development, it offers a remarkably concise overview of film throughout the world. Beginning with cinema's scientific origins, the book assesses the achievements of an international body of D.W. Griffith and the pioneers of the classical narrative; silent artists; the directors of Golden Age Hollywood; the Italian Neo-Realists; the auteurs of the French New Wave and those responsible for the directions that cinema has recently taken internationally. Concluding with a preview of film in the future, this is a uniquely comprehensive account of the most modern of art forms.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, History, Art, Media Tie In, Reference

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I believe I've managed to strip myself bare, to liberate myself from the many unnecessary formal techniques that are so common...I've rid myself of so much useless technical baggage, eliminating all the logical transitions, all those connective links between sequences where one sequence served as a springboard for the one that followed."

Michaelangelo Antonioni

Superbly comprehensive but compact Cinema History book, and one that would be perfect for survey courses-- or the refresher course many of us might wish to undertake, in class or not.

This gets five stars for a couple of reasons, first of which is that it is so ridiculously confusing to try and categorize world cinema into any useful shape or size; to explain different movements and offshoots, without resorting to endlessly resummarizing films on paper, which generally doesn't work very well. Next is that there is a line between rendering a 'compact' timeline, versus a bloodless one, wherein condensing films and their contexts takes the life out of them. So as much for what it doesn't get wrong as what it gets right, and for sensible concision, a strikingly useful guide.

Two interesting points for this reader, randomly encountered...:

Very intriguing to note that Georges Franju, journeyman documentarist, surrealist and troublemaker director, is given substantial credit in Parkinson's discussion of the French Nouvelle Vague; Franju is called a "vital link between traditional French Cinema and the New Wave". Bold assertion there, adding Franju to the traditional list that generally includes Godard, Truffaut, Resnais (but not Franju). But a welcome, if micro, reset of the books.

The fascinating fact that the film that is credited as the fundamental starting-gun of the Italian Neo Realist movement*, Luchino Visconti's Ossessione, is based on the American noir classic, 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', by James Cain. Nothing groundbreaking about that, but kind of a Rosebud of film history, then, in that Noir emerged in several versions and locations in the postwar milieu, and its concerns were common to the Italian avant garde, the French in their homages, and the Americans in their indigenous pulp mystery genre. Kind of a keystone in the edifice of postwar fiction, whether on the page or on film.

Both of the above, I suppose, might be notable for what they foreshadow-- that what would be considered Cinema after 1960 or so would explode everyone's definition of the terms, and would crash all of the conventions.

So what came immediately before, in grim social-documentary and surrealist irony, elaborate mise-en-scene on low-budget terms, coldwar fascination with the edgy, lawless, failed side of war-torn can-do industrialism, the doubt & nightmare of the noir world-- holds the keys to the sixties and beyond.

After the early practitioners, Murnau, Lang, Pabst, who showed that narrative connections might be made in many ways, or mid-century masters, Renoir, Ophuls, Huston, Lean, teaching the camera to tell tall tales in convincing ways-- the grand intersection occurs, the century pivots on the "waves" that struck in the late fifties and early sixties, in Italy, France, Japan, Czechoslovakia, and even Hollywood, Germany, by the seventies. David Parkinson's History Of Film goes a long way towards offering a pocket-sized view of a big subject.

It should be mentioned that somehow or other, the photographs in this volume, small, black and white but consistently excellent, are another reason that this is a better cine-survey guide to own. Not sure how or why, but contrary to the 'historically-valuable-but-poor-resolution' variety that is the routine in most books, the selection here is worth complimenting. International scope, crisp photos, concision & brevity; buy it.

* although, ask any film major what the first Italian neo-realist movie was and they will say Rome, Open City by Rossellini. Which was made three years later. Parkinson's right.

[Nuno · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed cinema - the storytelling, the visual spectacle etc. But, having just watched films and read a few "Best Movies" lists, I'm no expert. Sure, I can name actors and directors but that's about it. Now, another thing I really enjoy are bargain deals. And these two came together in the form of this book - a chance to learn more on a theme I like, for the price of 6,99€. I didn't hesitate.
Alas, it turns out this experience was a bit too much for me. Between the art movements (I don't even know the difference between Expressionism and Impressionism...) and technical film-making terms (mise en scène showed up at least 100 times) I must admit I was a bit lost. And the text isn't centered on the movies themselves. Rather it highlights, through several time periods starting in the 1820's, the developments that created and changed the seventh art up to the present. In short, not what I'm used to.
Despite having the feeling that I filtered only a fraction of what the author tried to convey, I did like the parts that got filtered in. It was very interesting to understand how the Hollywood studio system came to be, what the Italian Neo-Realists were all about and how they influenced the French New Wave, among others. It's now a (long-term) project to know more about these facets of cinema that I was not aware of, so that I can eventually read this book again and feel that I've understood most of it. Note to self: it's going to take time.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The History of Film by David Parkinson

The book is very interesting and thanks to an extensive glossary it is accessible for a non initiated reader. It starts with the birth of cinema in the 1890s and follows the evolution of the medium during the 20th and 21st century, including the upcoming techniques of sound, colour, widescreen, videotape, dvd and 3D-cinema. Attention is given to the most prominent “schools”, styles and directors and what characterizes them. America as “leading” cinematographic nation has its due place, but the author pays more than sufficient attention to the performances of world cinema and brings into the spotlight the prominent directors from all over the world. Of those from the past he makes already a rigid selection of their proven masterpieces, for the present he enumerates the upcoming talents and slides forwards the names of them he supposes to be remembered in the future as grandmasters in the making.

[Vilius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Šiaip žymiai labiau patiko rašymo stilius negu teatro istorijos, ir dar patiko tai, kad joje buvo daugiau išplėsta apie režisierius ir technikas, kad nebuvo terminas po termino.

[Chuck Kollars · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview/description of what's come out of Hollywood over the years.

Also a few bits on how various non-Hollywood sources in the U.S. fit into the bigger picture. (Little International though, which probably won't matter to most readers.)

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive in its shallowness.

[SkaisteGulbinaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Maitree · Rating 3 out of 5]

its goog

[keereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

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