Film: A World History [Paperback]

Daniel Borden (Author), Florian Duijsens (Author), Thomas Gilbert (Author), Adele Smith (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Daniel Borden, Florian Duÿsens, Thomas Gilbert, Adele Smith, and Heather Thompson are writers, journalists, and scholars who have written for numerous publications on the history, criticism, theory, and aesthetics of motion pictures. They live in Germany.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Abrams; 1 edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810971402
• ISBN-13: 978-0810971400
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,219,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lost in Translation?, December 2, 2008

By 

David G. Lancaster "composer_artist" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Film: A World History (Paperback)

Since the writers are all German, perhaps the errors have something to do with the tranlation. I didn't read the entire book, and don't plan to now. I went to the section on my favorite director first; Alfred Hitchcock. I happen to be re-reading that great interview of Hitchcock by Truffaut, and know that the first two movies Hitchcock directed are "The Pleasure Garden" and "The Mountain Eagle." However, according to this book, "The Lodger" is Mr. H's second movie. That's just wrong. Also, the book says that no film of Mr. H's ever won an Oscar. Not quite. While it's true Alfred never won an Oscar for directing, films he directed DID win Oscars; "Rebecca" won for best picture, and Joan Fontaine won an acting Oscar for "Suspicion." Something is afoul with the fact-checkers, or it's a sloppy translation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Film: A World History, December 12, 2008

By 

Joseph P. Schmickrath - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Film: A World History (Paperback)

I have many books on film, and I wouldn't hesitate anyone picking this up. It's extremely affordable, and encompasses film from the past to the present. Its very well made and very portable. I was shocked at how up-to-date it was, mentioning The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in the Western Genre. This is a great holiday gift for the casual movie fan or the film enthusiast.

1.0 out of 5 stars not a narrative history, December 10, 2009

By 

California Arts "Bibliographer" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Film: A World History (Paperback)

this is less a history than a compact reference work; entries are primarily filmmakers and though 480 pp. it's about as tall as a pocket paperback. I didn't check but much of this info is probably available on the internets [sic]. the "world" part is limited to about 30 pages at the end.