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by: David A. Cook
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 791.4309
EAN: 9780393968194
ISBN: 0393968197
Label: W. W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 1087
Publication Date: 1996-03
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Sales Rank: 305112
Studio: W. W. Norton & Company
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Now in its third edition, A History of Narrative Film continues to be the most comprehensive and complete history of international cinema in print. This book conveys the vastness and heterogeneity of film history; it describes the extraordinary number of extraordinary films that have been made over the last hundred years. Even in 1,100 pages and more than 1,500 illustrations, Cook can but summarize the development of film narrative and film art in every major country. He has wisely complemented his survey with in-depth analyses of three hugely important movies, The Birth of a Nation, The Battleship Potemkin, and Citizen Kane. He also focuses on major films--The Rules of the Game, Tokyo Story, Vertigo, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors--when he assesses the careers of landmark directors. This edition, updated for the '90s, adds a section on 'Hollywood 1965-present,' as well as new chapters on 'The Former Soviet Union' and 'Third World Cinema.'
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Excellent world cinema historical survey
This is a thorough, informative, and interesting history of world cinema, from the invention of the medium in the 1870s to about 1994. The book is arranged chronologically, for the most part, and within that arrangement chapters are devoted to specific trends, major developments, and particular countries. D.W. Griffith, the first great narrative filmmaker, gets a whole chapter to himself, and so does Orson Welles. But usually particular filmmakers are included under larger headings: the French ... Read More
Rating:  - Nice summary of... well... film
Lets think of it like this: If you wanted to know the entire history of narrative film, this will do the trick. So it does its job. Granted, there are some omissions, and some things could be a little more in depth, but when you have a project with the girth that Cook does, it's completely understandable.
It does its job, that's for sure.
Rating: - An awesome source of information!
I originally found this book while researching the film ratings system for a college paper. I found great information for my research but the book actually slowed down my work because I spent so much time reading about unrelated topics just for the joy of it. This is a must own for anybody who loves film. I found it not only informative but also extremely interesting.
Rating: - Extremely comprehensive!
An excellent compendium of cinematic knowledge, from Edison and Lumiere up to Robocop and Tron. I happen to also be taking a film history class with Dr. Cook and I can say that although his teaching style is a bit dry, he certainly knows his stuff. The book is well organized in terms of chronology and geography, tracing artistic movements and schools of thought from the prehistory through 1895 and beyond. The only thing that kept it from 5 stars would be its sometimes overwhelming amount of information ... Read More
Rating: - This is the best General History available
Imagine having the gall to write a history of "Narrative Film" -- not just Hollywood production, but ALL film, from ALL OVER...
Well Cook does, and does it better than anyone else.
The most amazing thing about this book is that is reads so well: you can literally open it up anywhere, start reading, and start learning -- and be entertained at the same time. I just love reading this book.
The second amazing thing is that Cook seems to have seen a lot of movies and taken the ... Read More
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