Film Essays and Criticism (Wisconsin Studies in Film)

Few major film critics are as passionate and independently minded as Rudolf Arnheim. Film Essays and Criticism is the long awaited translation of Kritiken and Aufsatze zum Film, a collection of short essays and reviews Arnheim wrote between 1925 and 1965. Arnheim was a critical pioneer; his essays anticipate almost every cinematic debate of the 20th century. This book contains persuasive defenses of the silent cinema and black-and-white photography as well as thoughtful pieces about realism in film, film style and symbolism, and film genres. Of particular interest are Arnheim's attacks on censorship, his essay "Who is the Author of a Film?," and his superb meditations on the duty of the film critic. This engrossing, well translated volume is for anyone interested in the movies of the first half of the 20th century and in directors and stars such as Fritz Lang, Josef von Sternberg, Ren Clair, Erich von Stroheim, Frank Capra, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Buster Keaton, and Arnheim's favorite, Charlie Chaplin.