Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema

Humor & Entertainment

TAYLOR, MICHAEL

Metz, Christian

Movies

Oxford University Press

A pioneer in the field, Christian Metz applies insights of structural linguistics to the language of film. "The semiology of film . . . can be held to date from the publication in 1964 of the famous essay by Christian Metz, 'Le cinéma: langue ou langage?'"—Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, Times Literary Supplement "Modern film theory begins with Metz."—Constance Penley, coeditor of Camera Obscura "Any consideration of semiology in relation to the particular field signifying practice of film passes inevitably through a reference to the work of Christian Metz. . . . The first book to be written in this field, [Film Language] is important not merely because of this primacy but also because of the issues it raises . . . issues that have become crucial to the contemporary argument."—Stephen Heath, Screen

University of Chicago Press

Christian Metz is best known for applying Saussurean theories of semiology to film analysis. In the 1970s, he used Sigmund Freud's psychology and Jacques Lacan's mirror theory to explain the popularity of cinema. In this final book, Metz uses the concept of enunciation to articulate how films "speak" and explore where this communication occurs, offering critical direction for theorists who struggle with the phenomena of new media. If a film frame contains another frame, which frame do we emphasize? And should we consider this staging an impersonal act of enunciation? Consulting a range of genres and national trends, Metz builds a novel theory around the placement and subjectivity of screens within screens, which pulls in―and forces him to reassess―his work on authorship, film language, and the position of the spectator. Metz again takes up the linguistic and theoretical work of Benveniste, Genette, Casetti, and Bordwell, drawing surprising conclusions that presage current writings on digital media. Metz's analysis enriches work on cybernetic emergence, self-assembly, self-reference, hypertext, and texts that self-produce in such a way that the human element disappears. A critical introduction by Cormac Deane bolsters the connection between Metz's findings and nascent digital-media theory, emphasizing Metz's keen awareness of the methodological and philosophical concerns we wrestle with today.

Impersonal Enunciation, or the Place of Film (Film and Culture Series)

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Columbia University Press

Impersonal Enunciation, or the Place of Film

"... less about film than about the psychology of the viewing experience." ―American Film
Employing Freudian psychoanalysis, Christian Metz explores the nature of cinematic spectatorship and looks at the operations of meaning in the film text.

The Imaginary Signifier: Psychoanalysis and the Cinema

Indiana University Press

Imaginary Signifier: Psychoanalysis and the Cinema. Tr from the French by Ben Brewster. Tr of Le Signifiant Imaginaire

Indiana Univ. Pr

Published originally in two volumes, Essais sur la signification au cinema is the fundamental work on the history of cinematic thought written by Christian Metz (1931-1993).

Essais sur la signification au cinéma (Collection D'Esthetique) (French Edition)

Les Belles Lettres

Essais Sur La Signification Au Cinema (Collection D'Esthetique) (French Edition)

Klincksieck

Le signifiant imaginaire

BOURGOIS

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Metz, Christian. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Metz, Christian