An updated edition with completely new chapters of the most accessible and compelling history of the cinema yet published, and complements Mark Cousins' fascinating 15-hour film documentary The Story of Film: An Odyssey.

Filmmaker and author Mark Cousins shows how filmmakers are influenced both by the historical events of their times, and by each other. He demonstrates, for example, how Douglas Sirks Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s influenced Rainer Werner Fassbinders despairing visions of 1970s Germany; and how George Lucas Star Wars epics grew out of Akira Kurosawas The Hidden Fortress.

The Story of Film is divided into three main epochs: Silent (18851928), Sound (19281990) and Digital (1990Present). Films are discussed within chapters reflecting both the stylistic concerns of the film-makers and the political and social themes of the time. This edition includes new text that encompasses the further-reaching scope of world cinema today, and the huge leaps in technology that have changed cinema screens forever.

Film is an international medium, so as well as covering the great American films and film-makers, The Story of Film

Mark Cousins

Books