Chapter 8: Thinking About Movies, Theory, and Meaning

Learning Objectives

After reading Chapter Eight, you should be able to

• Explain what film theory is, as well as identify at least five of its many areas of investigation.
• Make a clear distinction between film theory and film criticism.
• Understand the differences between realist and formalist theory.
• Understand the distinctions among explicit meaning, implicit meaning, and ideological meaning.
• Explain the distinctions among three interpretive frameworks: mimesis, catharsis, and binary oppositions.
• Explain the major concerns of each of the major categories of film theories: auteurism, psychological theories, and ideological theories.
• Apply at least two of these theoretical approaches (e.g., auteurism and feminism) to a brief reading of a movie.
• Understand how to apply the concept of genre to a critical analysis.
• Describe the traditional approaches to the study of film history.