European Film Theory and Cinema: A Critical Introduction

European Film Theory and Cinema explores the major film theories and movements within European cinema since the early 1900s. An original and critically astute study, it considers film theory within the context of the intellectual climate of the last two centuries. Ian Aitkin focuses particularly on the two major traditions that dominate European film theory and cinema: the intuitionist modernist and realist tradition and the post-Saussurian tradition. The first originates in a philosophical lineage that encompasses German idealist philosophy, romanticism, phenomenology, and the Frankfurt School. Early intuitionist modernist film culture and later theories and practices of cinematic realism are shown to be part of one continuous tradition. The post-Saussurian tradition includes semiotics, structuralism, and post-structuralism.

Author: Ian Aitken
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 08/01/2001
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.96lbs
Size: 9.50h x 6.06w x 0.62d
ISBN: 9780253215055

Review Citation(s):
Choice 05/01/2002 pg. 1591

About the Author

Ian Aitken is a Senior Research Fellow at De Montfort University. He is author of The Documentary Film Movement and The Cinema of Alberto Cavalcanti.