Film: An International History of the Medium - Softcover

Robert Sklar

4.06

35 ratings by Goodreads

9780130340498: Film: An International History of the Medium

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0130340499 ISBN 13: 9780130340498

Publisher: Pearson, 2001

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For undergraduate and graduate-level courses in History of Film, Introduction to Film Studies, Film and Culture and Film and History.

This comprehensive history of cinema from its origins to the present-day treats the film medium as a global phenomenon with dynamic relationships among nations and cultures in all phases of its history. The text thoroughly covers the technological, aesthetic, and industrial history of films, but also emphasizes the mediums' interconnections with economic, social, and political movements and events. Relating the medium dynamically to other arts, society, economics, politics and culture, this volume shows how the history of film was shaped by wars, depression, regimes, and events.

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Review:

"A landmark book on our industry." - Clint Eastwood "A delightful book for browsing and sufficiently comprehensive for serious students ... Film buffs will appreciate the range and beauty of this well-written and fully illustrated movie compendium." - Entertainment Today

From the Back Cover:

Winner of a prestigious Kraszna-Krausz Foundation Book Award in 1996, Film: An International History of the Medium, now in its second edition, presents the entire history of motion pictures, from pre-cinema to the present. Providing a complete analysis of the principal films, directors, and national cinemas, it supplies a thorough grounding in the social, economic, and political circumstances critical to an understanding of film as both art and industry.

In a highly readable narrative, Robert Sklar, one of the field's most eminent scholars, covers all significant periods and styles―not only commercial films and classical Hollywood cinema but also animation, documentaries, international art cinema, and the cinematic avant-garde. With emphasis on the international relationships among film communities, chapters are devoted to such critical nodes of film history as early cinema, Soviet silent cinema, Hollywood genres, Italian neorealism, and the French New Wave. Substantial sections are also devoted to the films of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Japan, China, Africa, the Middle East, and India. Informative sidebars complement the main text, and cross-cultural timelines introduce the book's seven main parts. Four totally new chapters on English-language art cinema, new European film, world cinema, and Hollywood bring the book's content up to the present.

Film: An International History of the Medium is beautifully designed and illustrated by more than 750 film stills, frame enlargements, production shots, and diagrams. The 212 color plates include rare examples of early hand tinting, pre-cinema technology, two- and three-color Technicolor, as well as almost 100 new images from contemporary films. These stunning and instructive illustrations further illuminate the author's cogent analyses and wide-ranging perspective. Chapter endnotes, a selected bibliography, a filmography, and a complete glossary of terms complete this extraordinary volume.

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