Introduction to Film Criticism: Major Critical Approaches to Narrative Film

by Tim Bywater, Thomas Sobchack

This text introduces students to the principal critical techniques used since film became a major art form.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 1989

Reviews

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, albeit slightly outdated in spots, overview of different types of film criticism.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the best writing guide to film criticism presently available, but at $130.00 list I'd only recommend buying a used copy.

I wish this book were available at a reasonable price, but like most Longman titles it's ridiculously expensive. If it were cheaper, I'd require this for my own film classes. The only serious competitor, to my mind, is Timothy Corrigan's "A Short Guide to Writing about Film" (also an over-priced Longman title).

"An Introduction to Film Criticism" is divided into 7 chapters (each devoted to a different critical approach--including journalistic, humanist, auteurist, genre, social science, historical, and ideological/theoretical approaches) and an appendix with sample essays. Each chapter begins with a "capsule" summary identifying the audience, subject, function, writers, and publications typical of each approach. Every chapter proceeds to provide a short history/overview of each approach as well as guidelines and examples of writing within each area and varied discussions of each approach's aims and merits. The book concludes with an appendix containing samples of actual reviews and essays from each approach, a short chronology of film reviewing, criticism and theory, a bibliography and a glossary.

In short, this is an excellent book that covers virtually every topic an introduction to writing about film should contain--and then some. The only possible faults I could find with the text per se are that it contains very few illustrations and it is not as lively as it could be. But those minor criticisms aside, were it not priced at $130.00 I would heartily recommend it without reservation. As is, I can only recommend buying a used copy--of which, thankfully, there are many available (at this writing).