Film theory and criticism

About this book

Brought up to date with an expanded range of selections, extended historical coverage, and a dedicated pluralistic commitment, the third edition of this highly popular text on film aesthetics features major additions of contemporary topics in film theory--including psychoanalytic, feminist, and Marxist approaches--and new essays on television, horror films, and experimental movie making. Of the 53 selections, 13 are new. The section "Kinds of Film" has been retitled "Film Genres" and concentrates exclusively on the distinctions within a single type of film: classical Hollywood narrative cinema. The final section, now called "Film: Psychology, Society, and Ideology" is substantially revised to take into account film's relationship to its consumers: how films shape or reflect cultural attitudes, reinforce or reject dominant modes of cultural thinking, and stimulate or frustrate people's needs and drives. Throughout the book chapter introductions have been rewritten to reflect today's concerns. Current and comprehensive, the book that The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism called "the best collection available on the disparate comments in the fields of film theory and criticism" is now even better.