Most films tell tales, but what does that involve? How do motion pictures tease us into building what we all agree to call stories? In this study, David Bordwell offers the first comprehensive account of how movies use fundamental principles of narrative representation, unique features of the film medium, and diverse storytelling patterns to construct their fictional narratives. The result is a pioneering, far reaching work which will change the way we perceive narrative film and which every serious film scholar, student or fan will welcome.
Bordwell begins his study with an overview of general approaches to narration. Drawing on the insights of certain theories- in particular Russian formalist aesthetic theory and cognitive psychology for its notion of how the viewer contributes to the process of narrative comprehension- he formulates a new concept of narration that is uniquely applicable to fictional cinema. Films, Bordwell argues, are patterned systems that prompt spectato
