Books by David Bordwell

Presents a selection from over three hundred essays on genre movies, art films, animation, and the business of Hollywood that have graced Bordwell and Thompson's blog. This title offers ideas sure to set film lovers thinking - and keep them returning to the silver screen.

An examination of Sergei Eisenstein's distictive contributions to filmmaking and film theory. It provides the only comprehensive guide in English to the range of Eisenstein's achievements in cinema.

Hollywood moviemaking is one of the constants of American life, but how much has it changed since the glory days of the big studios? David Bordwell argues that the principles of visual storytelling created in the studio era are alive and well, even in today's bloated blockbusters. American filmmakers have created a durable tradition-one that we should not be ashamed to call artistic, and one that survives in both mainstream entertainment and niche-marketed indie cinema. Bordwell traces the continuity of this tradition in a wide array of films made since 1960, from romantic comedies like Jerry Maguire and Love Actually to more imposing efforts like A Beautiful Mind. He also draws upon testimony from writers, directors, and editors who are acutely conscious of employing proven principles of plot and visual style. Within the limits of the "e;classical"e; approach, innovation can flourish. Bordwell examines how imaginative filmmakers have pushed the premises of the system in films such as JFK, Memento, and Magnolia. He discusses generational, technological, and economic factors leading to stability and change in Hollywood cinema and includes close analyses of selected shots and sequences. As it ranges across four decades, examining classics like American Graffiti and The Godfather as well as recent success like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, this book provides a vivid and engaging interpretation of how Hollywood moviemakers have created a vigorous, resourceful tradition of cinematic storytelling that continues to engage audiences around the world.

David Bordwell's new book is at once a history of film criticism, an analysis of how critics interpret film, and a proposal for an alternative program for film studies. It is an anatomy of film criticism meant to reset the agenda for film scholarship.

"The choreography of cinematic creation is stunningly revealed in this learned and lively book. Finely historical with meticulous descriptions of directors, actors, and cameras in motion, "Figures Traced In Light registers for the first time the abiding patterns of cinematic staging around the world and through the years. "--Janet Walker, author of "Trauma Cinema"David Bordwell is undoubtedly the most productive and influential film historian at work today. His magisterial "Figures Traced in Light combines incisive close analyses of compelling filmic artifacts with a painstaking attention to all pertinent research materials. Eschewing any abstract notion of Film, he stresses the labor, thought, and creativity which goes into the staging of individual films."--Eric Rentschler, Harvard University