History of Film, A

by Wright Wexman, Virginia

• ISBN13: 9780205449767
• ISBN10: 020544976X
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

Substantially revised for this EDITION, A History of Film is a comprehensive international survey of film from its beginnings to the present. This text highlights the contributions of major film-producing countries, significant filmmakers, and their films within social, artistic, economic, and technological contexts. This Sixth EDITION incorporates major revisions designed to improve the book's focus and provide more balanced coverage. New to the Sixth EDITION bull; bull;Includes new chapters on Indian and Chinese cinemas, emphasizing the exploding film industry in these two countries. bull;Adds a chapter on ";The Digital Future"; in American film, bringing the text up-to-date with latest technological and industrial developments. bull;Discusses more women filmmakers throughout the text and adds a section on Asian-American filmmakers, expanding the diversity and inclusiveness of the text. bull;Replaces many illustrations with new examples, most of them frame enlargements, and, specifically, keys all illustrations to discussions in the text, ensuring that the images will be valuable learning tools for students. bull;Adds more extENDed analyses of individual films, helping students grasp large historical questions by presenting them within specific cases rather than in abstract generalities. bull;Provides a new glossary, helping students understand the technical, foreign-language, and industry terms used in the text. Praise for A History of Film ";The reason why I selected A History of Film over all of the other textbooks has to do with the basic approach of the subject of film as a developing art form while paying careful attention to film genres and history; the organizational structure of the chapters; a clear and AUTHORitative writing style that explains the interconnectivity of film as a global phenomenon; and the use of judiciously selected stills in support of the text. . . . The structure, organization and content of A History of Film is so good that it is, to me, still the standard by which all other film textbooks must be measured."; -Stephen Ambra, New Hampshire Technical Institute ";The text concisely covers all of film history, and its size makes it particularly useful for film history courses taught in a single term. . . . It is typically quite insightful, yet not too dense for motivated introductory students."; -Mark Gallagher, University of Missouri

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Birth and Childhood of a New Art 1895--1914	1	(22)
Brief Motion-Picture Records of Actuality and of Performances	1	(5)
Telling Stories through Staged and Filmed Pantomime	6	(2)
Telling Stories through Filmic Means	8	(6)
The Language of Film	14	(4)
Increasing Films to Feature Length	18	(3)
Films of the Period	21	(1)
Books on the Period	22	(1)
Rise of the American Film 1914--1919	23	(23)
The First American Epics	24	(9)
A Tradition of Screen Comedy Is Established	33	(7)
Emerging Patterns of Industry	40	(4)
Films of the Period	44	(1)
Books on the Period	44	(2)
Great German Silents 1919--1928	46	(16)
Predominant Types and Themes	47	(5)
Principal Technical and Stylistic Advances	52	(7)
Influence on Hollywood	59	(2)
Films of the Period	61	(1)
Books on the Period	61	(1)
Art and Dialectic in the Soviet Film 1925--1929	62	(18)
Historical Setting	63	(1)
Beginnings	64	(2)
Three Silent Masters	66	(8)
Montage: Theory and Practice	74	(4)
Films of the Period	78	(1)
Books on the Period	79	(1)
CD-Rom	79	(1)
Hollywood in the Twenties 1919--1929	80	(22)
Movies Become Big Business	80	(2)
Ascendancy of the Director	82	(7)
Popular Genres	89	(5)
Sound Arrives	94	(6)
Films of the Period	100	(1)
Books on the Period	101	(1)
France in the Twenties and Thirties 1919--1939	102	(15)
The First Avant-Garde: Impressionism	103	(2)
The Second Avant-Garde: Pure Cinema	105	(2)
The Golden Age of the 1930s	107	(8)
Films of the Period	115	(1)
Books on the Period	116	(1)
Hollywood in the Thirties and Early Forties 1929--1945	117	(32)
The Industry	119	(2)
Censorship, Self-Regulation, and Pressure Groups	121	(1)
Color	122	(1)
Notable Directors of the 1930s	123	(4)
Emergent Genres in the 1930s	127	(12)
Wartime	139	(1)
A 1940s Genre: Film Noir	140	(3)
Orson Welles: Boy Genius	143	(2)
Films of the Period	145	(2)
Books on the Period	147	(2)
Italian Neorealism 1945--1959	149	(11)
Theory and Practice of Neorealism	151	(3)
Three Major Directors of the Neorealist Era	154	(2)
Period of Transition: 1952--1959	156	(2)
Films of the Period	158	(1)
Books on the Period	159	(1)
The Documentary Impulse: British Film after the War 1945--1963	160	(11)
Postwar Comedies	162	(3)
Free Cinema and Social-Realist Features	165	(3)
The Gothic Strain	168	(1)
Films of the Period	169	(1)
Books on the Period	170	(1)
Hollywood in Transition 1945--1962	171	(28)
Television	173	(1)
New Screen Processes	174	(3)
Fall of the Studios, Rise of the Independents	177	(1)
Internationalization	178	(2)
Loosened Controls on Content	180	(3)
Liberalism, Communism, and Anti-Communism: The House Un-American Activities Committee and Blacklisting	183	(3)
Major Genres	186	(5)
American Directors of the 1950s	191	(6)
Films of the Period	197	(1)
Books on the Period	198	(1)
Japanese Film: A Pictorial Tradition and a Modernist Edge 1951--	199	(16)
The Japanese Style	201	(1)
Three Japanese Masters	202	(6)
The Japanese New Wave	208	(5)
Films of the Period	213	(1)
Books on the Period	214	(1)
Films of the Auteurs: The French New Wave 1954--1968	215	(22)
Auteurism	215	(2)
Precursors to the New Wave	217	(3)
The New Wave Arrives	220	(5)
New Wave Directors	225	(6)
Left Bank Directors and Others	231	(4)
Films of the Period	235	(1)
Books on the Period	236	(1)
Other Western European Cinemas: National Cinemas or Eurofilms? 1945--	237	(27)
Scandinavia	238	(6)
Germany	244	(8)
Spain	252	(7)
Films of the Period	259	(4)
Books on the Period	263	(1)
Eastern European Cinema: Film Making for the State 1954--	264	(28)
Poland	266	(5)
Hungary	271	(3)
Czechoslovakia	274	(4)
Yugoslavia	278	(3)
The Soviet Union and After	281	(6)
Films of the Period	287	(4)
Books on the Period	291	(1)
India: A People's Cinema 1956--	292	(13)
Films of the Period	303	(1)
Books on the Period	304	(1)
Modernism and Metaphor: Italy 1960--	305	(21)
Emergence of a New Style: Three Directors of the 1960s	305	(9)
Neo-Neorealism: Three Directors of the 1960s and 1970s	314	(2)
Industry Travails	316	(1)
The 1970s and Beyond: A Metaphoric Cinema	317	(3)
Popular Genres	320	(3)
Films of the Period	323	(2)
Books on the Period	325	(1)
American Reemergence 1963--1974	326	(21)
Popular Genres	327	(2)
The American New Wave	329	(10)
Independent Voices	339	(5)
Films of the Period	344	(2)
Books on the Period	346	(1)
Art Cinema Lite: British Film 1963--	347	(17)
State of the Industry	347	(1)
British Comedy Flourishes	348	(2)
New Social Critiques	350	(4)
British Postmodernism	354	(3)
Americans Abroad	357	(4)
Films of the Period	361	(2)
Books on the Period	363	(1)
New Theories, New Films: France 1968--	364	(13)
A Radicalized Godard	365	(3)
After the New Wave	368	(2)
Generic Continuities	370	(2)
A New Crop of Auteurs	372	(2)
Films of the Period	374	(2)
Books on the Period	376	(1)
A Blockbuster Mentality: The United States 1975--1993	377	(29)
State of the Industry	377	(2)
Technological Advances	379	(1)
Emerging Genres	380	(5)
Studio Stalwarts	385	(3)
Independent Voices	388	(5)
Representing Diversity	393	(8)
Multinationalism	401	(1)
Films of the Period	402	(2)
Books on the Period	404	(2)
China: Three Cinemas 1984--	406	(17)
Mainland China	406	(5)
Hong Kong	411	(5)
Taiwan	416	(4)
Films of the Period	420	(1)
Books on the Period	421	(2)
Recent National Movements 1959--	423	(36)
Latin America	423	(10)
Africa	433	(2)
Australia and New Zealand	435	(6)
Canada	441	(6)
Iran	447	(5)
Films of the Period	452	(5)
Books on the Period	457	(2)
The Digital Future: The United States 1994--	459	(16)
Technology on Fast Forward	459	(3)
State of the Industry	462	(4)
Bigger Blockbusters	466	(1)
An Auteur for the Fin de Siecle	467	(1)
Representing Diversity, Part 2	468	(2)
A New Life for Documentaries	470	(2)
Films of the Period	472	(1)
Books on the Period	473	(2)
Glossary	475	(6)
Index	481