Questions for Review
- What is meant by the term film history? Why
is a knowledge of it invaluable in looking at
movies and analyzing them?
- What are the four traditional approaches to
film history? What are the specific concerns
of each?
- What stylistic movements made cinematic
innovations that, as a result, changed the
course of film history?
- The simplest approach to film history is to
divide it into the eras of silent and sound pro-
duction. What was the general state of filmmak-
ing in each of these periods, and how and why
does that explain the way movies were made?
- What (a) was the state of moviemaking in the
golden age of the American studio system in
the late 1930s, and (b) what film(s) besides
Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941) had a pro-
found effect on filmmakers following its
release? What effect(s) did they have?
- What are the principal differences between the
following sets of stylistic movements: (a) Ger-
man Expressionism and Soviet silent montage;
(b) the classical Hollywood style and the New
American Cinema; and (c) Italian Neorealism
and the French New Wave?
- The term New Waveis used to describe many
film movements after the Second World War.
What are several of these movements, and
what general stylistic characteristics do they
have in common?
- Who, in your understanding, are three of the
most innovative and influential directors in
film history? What are their contributions?
- Of the historic events occurring since the
invention of the movies, which were most
influential in providing subject matter for the
movies? Discuss at least two events and iden-
tify two movies for each event.
- From the “prehistory” of the movies, what are
the key technological innovations that made
the movies possible? Who were three impor-
tant inventors or innovators, what did they
accomplish, and in what countries did they
work?
Movies Described or Illustrated in This Chapter
The Adventures of Dollie (1908). D. W. Griffith,
director.
Aguirre: The Wrath of God(1972). Werner Herzog,
director.
Alexander Nevsky(1938). Sergei Eisenstein, direc-
tor; Dmitri Vasilyev, codirector.
The American Friend(1977). Wim Wenders, director.
An Andalusian Dog(1929). Salvador Dalí and Luis
Buñuel, directors.
An Autumn Afternoon(1962). Yasujiro Ozu, director.
A propos de Nice(1930), Jean Vigo, director.
L’Argent(1928). Marcel L’Herbier, director.
Artists under the Big Top: Perplexed(1968). Alexander
Kluge, director.
Ashes of Time(1994). Kar Wai Wong, director.
Baby Face(1933). Alfred E. Green, director.
Badlands(1973). Terrence Malick, director.
Ballet mécanique(1924). Fernand Léger, director.
Battleship Potemkin(1925). Sergei Eisenstein, director.
Belle de Jour(1967). Luis Buñuel, director.
Berlin Alexanderplatz(1980). Rainer Werner Fass-
binder, director.
A Better Tomorrow(1986). John Woo, director.
The Bicycle Thieves(1948). Vittorio De Sica, director.
The Big Parade(1925). King Vidor, director.
The Birth of a Nation(1915). D. W. Griffith, director.
The Blood of a Poet(1930). Jean Cocteau, director.
The Blue Angel(1930). Josef von Sternberg, director.
Bonnie and Clyde(1967). Arthur Penn, director.
The Boy from Vietnam(1978). Ann Hui, director.
Breaking the Waves(1996). Lars von Trier, director.
Breathless(1960). Jean-Luc Godard, director.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia(1974). Sam
Peckinpah, director.
Brokeback Mountain(2005). Ang Lee, director.
Broken Blossoms(1919). D. W. Griffith, director.
The Butcher(1970). Claude Chabrol, director.
The Butterfly Murders(1979). Hark Tsui, director.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari(1920). Robert Wiene,
director.
Celine and Julie Go Boating(1974). Jacques Rivette,
director.
Children Digging for Clams(1896). Auguste Lumière
and Louis Lumière, directors.
MOVIES DESCRIBED OR ILLUSTRATED IN THIS CHAPTER 479
