What Is Cinema?: Vol. I

by André Bazin

Book Overview

Andr? Bazin's What Is Cinema? (volumes I and II) have been classics of film studies for as long as they've been available and are considered the gold standard in the field of film criticism. Although... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520000927
• ISBN13: 9780520000926
• Release Date: July 1967
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Classic writing on cinema

I would like to offer a different perspective on this particular edition. Theodoros Natsinas writes a very persuasive review detailing the translations of Bazin's work. However, I think it's important to understand that Hugh Gray was the foremost proponent of Bazin's theoretical work in the USA, as well as an accomplished scholar himself. Considering that point, it seems that Gray is actually in the best position to translate Bazin due to his intimate understanding. It's always important to remember that translation is an art and it's never as simple as translating a sentence word-by-word. I'm sure Natsinas has reviewed the French and English in more detail than I have, but my experience with Gray's translation has been very favorable. The main point in writing this review is to encourage prospective readers to go ahead and read these volumes. I held off buying them on Natsinas' recommendation, but I feel it's overly harsh and (no offense) misleading. Regardless - they're the only translations we have. Most Bazin in anthologies use the Gray translations, so like it or not, it's the version everyone is reading in English. I say, buy and enjoy.

A must for any lover cinema!

Andre Bazin was the most powerful mind and one of the deepest thinkers , creator of the famous Cahiers du cinema , these were passionate and interesting digest who meet to famous and youth film makers and very valuable people related with this art. Bazin goes to the origins of the cinema his meaning and implications in the psiquis and its mythical roots , Bazin death (40) was a painful loss for the raising french directors in 1957 . When you get The 400 blows of Francois Truffaut (The quintessential New Wave film) in the initial titles you will watch the special hommage to Bazin in memoriam . You may consider several mistakes in the traduction , when this happens remember the chinese statement: All traduction is a betray. Try to get a spanish edition . I have both of them since I have not been able to get the french edition.

What Is Cinema?

What is Cinema? Volume One and What is Cinema Volume 2 are English translations drawn from the original French four-volume work. They are not the entire four-volume work, but include some of the more important essays. In France itself, the four-volume work was later boiled to a one-volume set of selections. This French version was later used for the selections in the Spanish and Portuguese versions. The Italian version is different from the others, but also drawn from the four-volume work. Much of the four-volume original French work that has been omitted from the English What is Cinema? volumes I and II can be found in Cardullo's more recent collection "Bazin at Work."Since Bazin's passing, film theory ventured more deeply into such things as semiotics, Freudian and Lacanian analyses, and sociological/Marxist perspectives. However, Bazin was one of the first and arguably most important writers to take film discourse beyond the "funny" "sexy" "scary" level. Some of the places film discourse has gone since the time of Bazin would be difficult or impossible for an unitiated person to comprehend. This is not so with Bazin, a man who also did such things as take Charlie Chaplin films to show at factories during lunch hour. Although Bazin passed away more than 40 years ago, he remains relevant even if his writings have been subject to some critical analysis from writers like Brian Henderson and Noel Carroll. Moreover, in reading Bazin, one often has moments of recognition that are applicable to more recent things in the theatres; for example, a remark Bazin makes about Marilyn Monroe's skirt flying up is pertinent to discussion of the Austin Powers films, Bazin's remarks about such things as films about arctic expeditions, bullfighting documentaries, or films of Chinese executions may have a certain relevance in talking about the phenomenon of "The Blair Witch Project" . . .