World Film History

Author: Kristin Thompson (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: A History of World Cinema is a highly influential work on the history and theory of world cinema in the West, as well as a best-selling film textbook in Western countries. Many film and communication departments in universities in the United States use this book as a teaching material. This film history is extensive, systematic, and comprehensive, covering the birth of cinema up to the 1980s, reviewing the development of cinema over a century primarily through three categories: narrative films, documentary films, and avant-garde/experimental films. The system architecture of this film history is highly original. In addition to systematic discussions on film art, film aesthetic styles, and film masters, the book provides detailed and unique insights into the development of the film industry. The book offers fresh perspectives on the appearance of film history as a whole, as well as on specific details, not only presenting a new integration of world film history but also conducting a systematic exploration and critique of the academic history of world film studies. The book engages with the history of film through three key questions: 1. How has the film medium been used, i.e., how has film language gradually emerged, developed, matured, and been standardized? 2. How has the environment of the film industry—film production, distribution, and exhibition—affected the development of the film medium? 3. How have the global trends in film art and the internationalization trends in the film market emerged?