Film Theories

A remarkable continuation of Dudley Andrew's classic, The Major Film Theories, this work focuses on the key concepts in film study: perception, representation, signification, narrative structure, adaptation, evaluation, identification, figuration, and interpretation. Beginning with a lucid introductory chapter on the current state of film theory, Andrew goes on to build an overall view of film, presenting his own ideas on each concept, and giving a sense of the interdependence of these concepts. By providing lively explanations of theories that involve perceptual psychology and structuralism, semiotics and psychoanalysis, hermeneutics and genre study, Andrew offers unique observations on these often obscure topics, allowing readers to acquire the background they need to enrich their understanding of film–and of art.

This volume re-evaluates theories of genre and spectatorship in light of a critic-defined tendency in recent art cinema, coined ‘extreme cinema’.

This volume re-evaluates theories of genre and spectatorship in light of a critic-defined tendency in recent art cinema, coined ‘extreme cinema’.