What do you think?
Rate this book
A History of Narrative Film
Sophisticated in its analytical content, current and comprehensive in its coverage of all aspects of film and filmmaking, and informed throughout by fascinating historical and cultural contexts, A History of Narrative Film is widely acknowledged to be the definitive text in the field. The Fourth Edition adds an entire chapter on computer-generated imaging, updates filmographies for nearly all living directors mentioned in the text, and includes major new sections that both revisit old content and introduce contemporary trends and movements.
1120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
108 people are currently reading
1680 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
Read
January 27, 2023برای رفقایی که میخواهند تاریخ سینما به فارسی بخوانند و میان اثر کوک و بوردول برای شروع دچار تشکیکند :
یک نکته درباره کتاب کوک نسبت به بوردول که برایم کاملا متفاوتشان کرد این است که کوک به مراتب بیشتر به شما وقایعنگاری می دهد تا تحلیل، اینجاست که شما تصمیم میگیرید تاریخ یک مدیوم یعنی سینما و بطور کلی تاریخ را چطور بفهمید و آن را معنا کنید و فرمش را چگونه بشناسید، به شخصه هر بار که به بوردول مراجعه می کردم تحت سیطره خوانش بوردول بودم، یعنی فهمش از تاریخ و فرم سینما که ارزشمند است با نگاهی درخشان، اما گاها بسیار دستوپا گیر می شد، هر چند گسترهای که بوردول به طور عمده مورد بررسی قرار میدهد بزرگتر هست به نظر، و گمان می کنم سینما را در همین گستره بزرگتر و حتی بزرگتر از آن هم یعنی در یک کلیت تاریخی بایستی شناخت.
یک نکته درباره کتاب کوک نسبت به بوردول که برایم کاملا متفاوتشان کرد این است که کوک به مراتب بیشتر به شما وقایعنگاری می دهد تا تحلیل، اینجاست که شما تصمیم میگیرید تاریخ یک مدیوم یعنی سینما و بطور کلی تاریخ را چطور بفهمید و آن را معنا کنید و فرمش را چگونه بشناسید، به شخصه هر بار که به بوردول مراجعه می کردم تحت سیطره خوانش بوردول بودم، یعنی فهمش از تاریخ و فرم سینما که ارزشمند است با نگاهی درخشان، اما گاها بسیار دستوپا گیر می شد، هر چند گسترهای که بوردول به طور عمده مورد بررسی قرار میدهد بزرگتر هست به نظر، و گمان می کنم سینما را در همین گستره بزرگتر و حتی بزرگتر از آن هم یعنی در یک کلیت تاریخی بایستی شناخت.
December 16, 2019
جلد دوم هم تمام شد.
همونجوری که از عنوان انگلیسی کتاب 《 A History of Narrative Film》 پیداست، کوک تاریخ سینما رو "تاریخ سینمای روایی" میدونه و به جز اشارههای کوتاه به سینمای مستند و آوانگارد، کتاب تماما در وصف سینمای روایی است. بنابراین اگر دنبال کتابی هستین که همه چی رو گفته باشه(و قاعدتا مختصرتر) "بوردول" کتاب بهتریه.
چیزی که این کتاب رو برای من خیلی جذابتر از بوردول کرده، جزئیات جالبی بود که کوک درباره شاهاکارهای سینمایی گفته بود. جزئیات مربوط به ساخت یک فیلم، یا اتفاقاتی که بعد از پخشش افتاده.
نکته دیگری که این کتاب رو متمایز میکنه پرداخت درست و بهاندازه، به ساختارهای حاکم بر سیستم استودیویی هالیوود بود. دنبال کردن خط سیر این جریانها میتونه دیدی خوبی رو به شما درباره سیستم تولید فیلم در ایران بده.
چیزی که خودم همیشه دوست داشتم دربارهاش اطلاعات کسب کنم، سینماهای کمتر دیده شده(در نزد ما، ایرانیها) اروپای شرقی و کشورهای جهان سوم بود. هر چند این کتاب اونطور که شایسته این سینماها بوده، بهشون نپرداخته، اما تا حد قابل قبولی نیازتون رو در این مورد براورده میکنه.(حداقل از بوردول بیشتر گفته)
تاریخ جامع سینمای جهان کتاب فوقالعادهایه. یک کتاب با ترجمه عالی و نثری رون که ابدا خستتون نمیکنه.
پ.ن: این کتاب از تولد سینما تا ۱۹۹۰ رو شامل میشه.
همونجوری که از عنوان انگلیسی کتاب 《 A History of Narrative Film》 پیداست، کوک تاریخ سینما رو "تاریخ سینمای روایی" میدونه و به جز اشارههای کوتاه به سینمای مستند و آوانگارد، کتاب تماما در وصف سینمای روایی است. بنابراین اگر دنبال کتابی هستین که همه چی رو گفته باشه(و قاعدتا مختصرتر) "بوردول" کتاب بهتریه.
چیزی که این کتاب رو برای من خیلی جذابتر از بوردول کرده، جزئیات جالبی بود که کوک درباره شاهاکارهای سینمایی گفته بود. جزئیات مربوط به ساخت یک فیلم، یا اتفاقاتی که بعد از پخشش افتاده.
نکته دیگری که این کتاب رو متمایز میکنه پرداخت درست و بهاندازه، به ساختارهای حاکم بر سیستم استودیویی هالیوود بود. دنبال کردن خط سیر این جریانها میتونه دیدی خوبی رو به شما درباره سیستم تولید فیلم در ایران بده.
چیزی که خودم همیشه دوست داشتم دربارهاش اطلاعات کسب کنم، سینماهای کمتر دیده شده(در نزد ما، ایرانیها) اروپای شرقی و کشورهای جهان سوم بود. هر چند این کتاب اونطور که شایسته این سینماها بوده، بهشون نپرداخته، اما تا حد قابل قبولی نیازتون رو در این مورد براورده میکنه.(حداقل از بوردول بیشتر گفته)
تاریخ جامع سینمای جهان کتاب فوقالعادهایه. یک کتاب با ترجمه عالی و نثری رون که ابدا خستتون نمیکنه.
پ.ن: این کتاب از تولد سینما تا ۱۹۹۰ رو شامل میشه.
May 28, 2014
If you want to explore the world of cinema, this is as good an atlas as you can have. Like any atlas, it's an overview—you'll have to look elsewhere for topographic maps and street-level views of the Czech New Wave, Cinema Novo, French Poetic Realism or whatever happens to catch your eye—but it grounds every movement in the history of both its national cinema and the historical and technological development of film as a whole, giving you a practical sense of awareness in the great filmic scheme of things. Although it's a thick book and does contain paragraphs that are just lists of film titles, Cook's narrative proceeds smoothly and you can certainly read it cover to cover, skipping those paragraphs if you're uninterested. Speaking of lists: yes, the internet is a better place for them than a printed book and you can find plenty of good film lists online (Jonathan Rosenbaum's 1000 Essential Films is a great one), but Cook digs up titles you usually won't see elsewhere and he does it objectively, on a global scale and for over one hundred years of film production. He also never leaves you questioning why a particular film is important, even if his explanation is just a single densely-packed sentence. Sometimes he does spend a page or two on a film, but these close-ups aren't the book's strength. Uncontroversial, they mostly illustrate that film, which is often approached very personally or dogmatically in theory books, can be studied analytically: there truly is a visual language. A History of Narrative Film is enthusiastically recommended to anyone with a burgeoning interest in cinema.
February 17, 2012
رغم أني أعطيته النجوم الخمس ...إلا أنني لا أظن أن الجميع سيستمتع به بقدر استمتاعي ...
ببساطه الكتاب يحكي عن السينما منذ بدايتها...منذ أول شريط سينمائي عرض في ساحات باريس (وروايه اخرى في روما) الى ان وصلت السينما لتقنياتها الناطقه ...
هناك العديد من الافلام أعياني البحث عنها ...
ولم تتسن لي مشاهدتها أطلاقا رغم أن الكاتب ذكر أنها علامات فاصله في تاريخ السينما ...
ولعل من الافلامالتي فلحت في مشاهدتها كان ""Markéta Lazarová""
وكم كانت سعادتي به لانه اول فيلم تشيكوسلوفاكي اراه في حياتي كماانه ثالث فيلم مأخوذ عن روايه...
حقا أستمتعت بهذا الكتاب
ببساطه الكتاب يحكي عن السينما منذ بدايتها...منذ أول شريط سينمائي عرض في ساحات باريس (وروايه اخرى في روما) الى ان وصلت السينما لتقنياتها الناطقه ...
هناك العديد من الافلام أعياني البحث عنها ...
ولم تتسن لي مشاهدتها أطلاقا رغم أن الكاتب ذكر أنها علامات فاصله في تاريخ السينما ...
ولعل من الافلامالتي فلحت في مشاهدتها كان ""Markéta Lazarová""
وكم كانت سعادتي به لانه اول فيلم تشيكوسلوفاكي اراه في حياتي كماانه ثالث فيلم مأخوذ عن روايه...
حقا أستمتعت بهذا الكتاب
January 2, 2017
من أمتع الكتب إللي قريتها عن السينما، والموضوع مش مجرد رصد لتاريخ السينما الروائية فقط ولكن بيشمل تحليل أقتصادي واجتماعي وسياسي مع عرض وتحليل لبعض الأفلام وتاريخ وأساليب الرواد من المخرجين في أمريكا أوروبا وروسيا ممن كانت لهم علامات بارزة في إرثاء قواعد المونتاج والتكوين البصري للكادرات والمؤثرات الخاصة وغيرها.
حزينة جداً إن بقية أجزاء هذا الكتاب لم تترجم وأتمنى إنها تترجم قريب أو معنديش مانع أترجمها أنا :)
حزينة جداً إن بقية أجزاء هذا الكتاب لم تترجم وأتمنى إنها تترجم قريب أو معنديش مانع أترجمها أنا :)
November 26, 2019
جلد اول تمام.
May 15, 2016
This was my primary reference for film courses when I attended Marquette U. back in the mists of time. I had two main film professors there. One, James Arnold, was outstanding: a published scholar in the field and a wonderful, personable guy. The other, whose name I can't remember and wouldn't mention if I did, was a true idiot who seemed to be going senile and knew nothing about film aesthetics or style or philosophy or history and whose only criterion of film quality was if a film addressed "social problems." He was like a Bosley Crowther pedant freeze dried with the water sucked away. All you had to say on the blue book quiz was "social problems" 20 times to get an 'A.' As least he showed us some good (and at the time, rare) films. I actually went to Arnold's office to complain about this guy, but Arnold stuck to the Masonic old-boy's club, no-snitch-teacher-protection-racket code, or some such. It was like filing a complaint with police internal affairs.
But anyway, I appreciate Cook's narrative of the history of the movie art a lot more now than I did at the time. It is remarkably thorough and dense for all it tries to cover and is well presented and smartly written, and liberally illustrated with stills. (Several editions have appeared since this one).
A few years ago I found and read an interview with Cook on some website and I was shocked and disillusioned by what a film philistine he is. His tastes struck me as odd. That bias, to his credit, does not appear in his book, which remains an essential work for film studies.
(KevinR@Ky, amended 2016)
But anyway, I appreciate Cook's narrative of the history of the movie art a lot more now than I did at the time. It is remarkably thorough and dense for all it tries to cover and is well presented and smartly written, and liberally illustrated with stills. (Several editions have appeared since this one).
A few years ago I found and read an interview with Cook on some website and I was shocked and disillusioned by what a film philistine he is. His tastes struck me as odd. That bias, to his credit, does not appear in his book, which remains an essential work for film studies.
(KevinR@Ky, amended 2016)
August 22, 2021
كتاب رائع و يمكن الوحيد اللى لقيته بيحكى ازاى السينما ابتدت و بيتكلم عن كل روادها و حكاياتها الاولى و افلامها الاولى و مترجم للعربى … اعتقد انى هاجيب الكتاب الاصلى يوما ما و هجيب كمان الجزء التانى اللى مترجمش للعربى … الكتاب يحمل ذكريات حلوة عن ايام دراستى فى معهد السينما و محاضرات
الكتاب ده فى مادة تاريخ السينما العاليمة مع الدكتور مختار يونس … كتاب مفيد جدا جدا لاى حد عاوز يعرف ازاى السينما ابتدت و ازاى تم تصوير اول الافلام و مين رواد السينما الحقيققين و كمان ازاى طوروا التقنيات الخاصة بصناعة الفيلم من اول الاخوان لوميير و جورج ميليه لحد جريفيث و ايزنشتاين .. كتاب مهم فعلا و انصح اى محب للسنما مش بس دارس ليها بقرأته.
الكتاب ده فى مادة تاريخ السينما العاليمة مع الدكتور مختار يونس … كتاب مفيد جدا جدا لاى حد عاوز يعرف ازاى السينما ابتدت و ازاى تم تصوير اول الافلام و مين رواد السينما الحقيققين و كمان ازاى طوروا التقنيات الخاصة بصناعة الفيلم من اول الاخوان لوميير و جورج ميليه لحد جريفيث و ايزنشتاين .. كتاب مهم فعلا و انصح اى محب للسنما مش بس دارس ليها بقرأته.
November 21, 2024
هنوز کامل نخوندمش اما خواستم بگم من کتاب بوردول رو پرت کردم! انداختمش دور. ولی این فوق العاده س
تحلیلی و ایناس ...حالا من کامل نخوندمش . ولی عالیه
تحلیلی و ایناس ...حالا من کامل نخوندمش . ولی عالیه
June 18, 2017
This book, written in 1981, represents the “state of the art” of film studies for the previous generation. As such, it is mostly of interest to people wanting to understand the flawed history of academic approaches to cinema. Much of what it asserts has been challenged by more recent work, and where it hasn’t, there is probably reason to reexamine and reconsider in the near future.
Cook’s premise is where the problems begin. Cook believes that cinema is “a technological art,” and that this somehow differs it from other art forms. What he fails to comprehend is that all art is fundamentally tied to human technologies, and that it never exists in a “pure” state. He compounds this fallacy by claiming that film’s dependency on technology leads to a fundamenta conflict between the “business” side of film and its artistic expression, failing to note that no art can exist outside of this dichotomy. Even in a non-market-based society, the question of how many people will see a work of art depends on its ability to “advertise” in some way. Artistic expression and social organization are inextricably linked, and not necessarily contradictory. All of this, of course, leads to Cook devaluing “commercial” or popular movies, and celebrating “artistic” or unpopular ones.
Where there may be some value in this is in introducing readers to movies they wouldn’t otherwise know about. For neophytes to film studies, it could still be important to learn at least the names of the movies and directors of the French New Wave, German Expressionism, Italian Neo-Realism, and Japanese Post-War Cinema. It would be nice, however, if Cook could do this without framing his own subjective aesthetic tastes as objective value judgments.
The other problem with using a book of film history from another era is how much Cook doesn’t know, because of the relative availability of movies from the periods he writes about. This book came out right at the beginning of the home video revolution, so for his knowledge he was dependant on retrospective, re-releases, and memories of movies seen in theaters years or decades before. Furthermore, a lot has been discovered since he wrote. For example, one cannot hold him accountable for his ignorance of Czarist Russian cinema, which included geniuses like Evgeni Bauer, because these movies were locked up in Soviet archives when he was writing. But, a modern reader would want to take these into account, and not simply accept Cook’s assertion that “[m]ost films of the period…were distinctly mediocre.” Similarly, his inflated praise of the work of D.W. Griffith can be explained in part because Biograph films were better preserved and more often screened than other Nickelodeon-era work, and so he had little to compare it to.
In general, the actual errors in this book come thick and fast in the beginning, where a limited opportunity to see older movies hampered his research, and at the end, where his myopic perspective prevents accurate predictions of what is happening around him and what will change in the future. That’s understandable, but it makes the book less valuable thirty years after the fact. I understand that there are updated editions, so this problem, at least, might have since been reduced.
Cook’s premise is where the problems begin. Cook believes that cinema is “a technological art,” and that this somehow differs it from other art forms. What he fails to comprehend is that all art is fundamentally tied to human technologies, and that it never exists in a “pure” state. He compounds this fallacy by claiming that film’s dependency on technology leads to a fundamenta conflict between the “business” side of film and its artistic expression, failing to note that no art can exist outside of this dichotomy. Even in a non-market-based society, the question of how many people will see a work of art depends on its ability to “advertise” in some way. Artistic expression and social organization are inextricably linked, and not necessarily contradictory. All of this, of course, leads to Cook devaluing “commercial” or popular movies, and celebrating “artistic” or unpopular ones.
Where there may be some value in this is in introducing readers to movies they wouldn’t otherwise know about. For neophytes to film studies, it could still be important to learn at least the names of the movies and directors of the French New Wave, German Expressionism, Italian Neo-Realism, and Japanese Post-War Cinema. It would be nice, however, if Cook could do this without framing his own subjective aesthetic tastes as objective value judgments.
The other problem with using a book of film history from another era is how much Cook doesn’t know, because of the relative availability of movies from the periods he writes about. This book came out right at the beginning of the home video revolution, so for his knowledge he was dependant on retrospective, re-releases, and memories of movies seen in theaters years or decades before. Furthermore, a lot has been discovered since he wrote. For example, one cannot hold him accountable for his ignorance of Czarist Russian cinema, which included geniuses like Evgeni Bauer, because these movies were locked up in Soviet archives when he was writing. But, a modern reader would want to take these into account, and not simply accept Cook’s assertion that “[m]ost films of the period…were distinctly mediocre.” Similarly, his inflated praise of the work of D.W. Griffith can be explained in part because Biograph films were better preserved and more often screened than other Nickelodeon-era work, and so he had little to compare it to.
In general, the actual errors in this book come thick and fast in the beginning, where a limited opportunity to see older movies hampered his research, and at the end, where his myopic perspective prevents accurate predictions of what is happening around him and what will change in the future. That’s understandable, but it makes the book less valuable thirty years after the fact. I understand that there are updated editions, so this problem, at least, might have since been reduced.
November 7, 2021
به نظرم هر فردی که در حوزه سینما به شکل جدی فعالیت می کند باید این کتاب دوجلدی را مطالعه کند. آنقدر قلم نویسنده و مترجم زیبا و دلنشین است که هر دو روز یک فصل کتاب را تمام می کردم و بین مطالعه فصول یکی دو هفته فاصله می گذاشتم تا کتاب را با دقت و عمق بیشتری مطالعه کنم. دو نکته کلی من از این کتاب یاد گرفتم. اول درباره نقش استودیوها در شکل گیری سیر تاریخی سینما، پرورش استعدادها و طرد و خانه نشین کردن آنها. دوم درباره اهمیت شانس در سرگذشت فیلمسازان، حالا می دانم که اکثر آثار اشتروهایم سانسور شده است و آنچه امروزه به دست ما رسیده است حاکی استعداد و نبوغ او نیست. چه حرف ها شنیده ایم و طاقت آوردیم، شاید این صحبت ناگفته اشتروهایم ها، ولز ها و آیزنشتاین ها باشد
Read
July 31, 2011It's fun for people like me to bitch about this text, but at the end of the day it forms the foundation of my knowledge of film history, which I have lectured on at three universities.
September 21, 2013
من أجمل ما قرأت عن السينما
June 10, 2022
This book offers a complete overview of the History of Narrative Film, as the title says, very detailed, and around the world. Offers a lot of information and includes nice screen shots of discussed movies. Very interesting and a must-read for filmstudents. I read the third edition, which unfortunately isn't up to date, but later versions should solve this problem.
September 3, 2019
Cook concludes by saying that we should understand old films for the achievements they are within technological capacity at the time of production. As I read an edition from from 1989-90, the same goes for this book as I feel it leaves out issues of race and gender that would not be possible today.
April 15, 2020
More like an encyclopedia with some narrative. It's mostly namedropping, with too much weight given to the concept of nations and national cinema. But at certain points (the beginnings of film, the studios structure in Hollywood are two good examples), its introductory value is great.
Read
January 12, 2020I prefer Bordwell :)
February 7, 2022
I’m counting these (1)
Read
February 18, 2023A great resource, knocked down only by its huge omission of animation (though the author does state the form deserves a stand-alone history).
June 11, 2023
تاریخ جامع سینما (دیوید آ کوک)
یک دستاورد شگفتانگیز، به نظر میرسه کوک با طیف عظیمی از فیلمها، و الخصوص سینماهای های زیادی آشنا بوده.
کتابی استادانه.
یک دستاورد شگفتانگیز، به نظر میرسه کوک با طیف عظیمی از فیلمها، و الخصوص سینماهای های زیادی آشنا بوده.
کتابی استادانه.
October 5, 2023
read this last year and it was one of the things that started my immense love for film so 5 stars ofc!
January 18, 2018
Essentially, this history is just one big list of lists. Through the years, its biggest point of controversy has centered on who and what was left out. Written in 1981, the book is not only dated in terms of time but also in the fact that it has been replaced by online lists and filmographies. What interpretive history there is that goes into the book is minimal and not worth bothering with. Through the decades there have been so many of these general histories, including those by Giannetti, Bordwell and Thompson, and Sobchack. Probably the best of the bunch is Richard Maltby's Hollywood Cinema--there is some genuine thought and theoretical insight within it. Cook's book is the biggest, but it is far from the best.
April 24, 2012
This is a fascinating book and aside from the author spending a bit too much time simply listing directors and their films it is a excellent read. There are some fairly hefty passages that it seems the author was merely trying to fill space and boost page count by listing an extensive list of the films by a given filmmaker. This type of information would have been more effectively provided as lists in an appendix instead of taking up paragraphs of material. Otherwise this is an insightful and highly informative historical reference.
July 31, 2008
I never enjoyed history until it was grounded in a particular topic area. This book not only thoroughly covers the film industry--from its inception to its current state--it also offers a starting place for understanding global happenings more broadly. Cook explains the various cultural, social, and political factors that influenced film production and shaped the different ideologies that exist in our world. Since it is huge, I recommend going through this slowly or as a reference text.
February 25, 2015
Its good for what it is; but its that type of book which is never urgent to finish. Its a very thick encyclopedia of small film summaries; a few paragraphs about each film and what made the film relevant. This book I accidentally left at a friend's house and I wont see it back for a while; so I'm marking it as 'abandoned'. I'm very interested in narrative; but this one can be let go without regret.
April 18, 2010
I used this for my Film History classes in college and it's one of my favorite reference books. Even when I was taking other classes, I would always go back to this book to get a good background on whatever I was learning about. It's a great place to start for research and there are lots of photos to help explain concepts.
October 22, 2023
This book broadened my horizons BIG time!!! The only thing I disliked was that the author spoiled every ending/pivotal moment for each film described, and I’d find myself skipping paragraphs in the case I decided to watch those films. Overall, it is an incredible book for filmmakers or anyone wanting to understand the evolution of cinema!
December 8, 2008
A wonderful introduction to film accompanied by diagrams and stills of shots that not only held my interest but helped my interest in this area of study grow tremendously.
This book was read for an English course.
This book was read for an English course.
May 18, 2011
A great companion to an appreciation of movies - great information on the background and definitions of various 'movements' genres or periods in filmic history. Clear and unassailable info on 'why' certain films are so important to us
August 13, 2016
This is an interesting and thorough book that tells the story of narrative film just as the title suggests. I actually had a course with the author and he was great! I actually think there's a new version of the book coming out soon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews