Realist Film Theory and Cinema: The Nineteenth-Century Lukácsian and Intuitionist Realist Traditions

This is the first book to attempt a rigorous and systematic application of realist film theory to the analysis of particular films. Ian Aitken embraces studies of cinematic realism and 19th century tradition, the realist film theories of Lukács, Grierson, Bazin and Kracauer, and the relationship of realist film theory to the general field of film theory and philosophy. The book suggests new ways forward for a new series of studies in cinematic realism, and for a new form of film theory based on realism. It stresses the importance of the question of realism both in film studies and in contemporary life.