Cinematic Realism - by Ian Aitken (Paperback)

About the Book

Ian Aitken links the issue of cinematic realism to important questions concerning human experience, analysing the close similarity between the film image and visual perception, and how different theories of realism have sought to uncover the way film's relation to reality can be understood.

Book Synopsis

The issue of cinematic realism is important because the issue of realism, of the relationship between representation and reality, is important. If some forms of representation are closer to reality - however defined - than others, then this may also be the case with forms of filmic representation. In this book, Ian Aitken links the issue of cinematic realism to important questions concerning human experience, analysing the close similarity between the film image and visual perception, and how different theories of realism have sought to uncover the way film's relation to reality can be understood.
Focusing on the writings of Georg Lukács and Siegfried Kracauer, Cinematic Realism is a comprehensive exploration of cinematic realist theory.

From the Back Cover

'For decades Ian Aitken has been thinking deeply about cinematic realism, working tirelessly to interrogate the fundamental premises and limitations of previous theories of representation and reality. This latest book presents the apogee of his thinking, revealing via a series of intense readings of Lukács and Kracauer the implicit philosophical assumptions, methods, and problems behind their theoretical systems.' Warren Buckland, Oxford Brookes University The issue of cinematic realism is important because the issue of realism, of the relationship between representation and reality, is important. If some forms of representation are closer to reality - however defined - than others, then this may also be the case with forms of filmic representation. In this book, Ian Aitken links the issue of cinematic realism to important questions concerning human experience, analysing the close similarity between the film image and visual perception, and how different theories of realism have sought to uncover the way film's relation to reality can be understood. Focusing on the writings of Georg Lukács and Siegfried Kracauer, Cinematic Realism is a comprehensive exploration of cinematic realist theory. Ian Aitken is Chair Professor in Film Studies at the Academy of Film, School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. He is the author of The Major Realist Film Theorists (EUP 2016), Hong Kong Documentary Film (EUP 2016) (with Michael Ingham) and The Colonial Documentary Film in South and South-East Asia (EUP 2016), (ed. with Camille Deprez). Cover image: (c) Shutterstock.com Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-4134-6 Barcode

Review Quotes

For decades Ian Aitken has been thinking deeply about cinematic realism, working tirelessly to interrogate the fundamental premises and limitations of previous theories of representation and reality. This latest book presents the apogee of his thinking, revealing via a series of intense readings of Lukács and Kracauer the implicit philosophical assumptions, methods, and problems behind their theoretical systems.--Warren Buckland, Oxford Brookes University

About the Author

Ian Aitken is Professor of Film Studies at the School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. His publications include Hong Kong Documentary Film (2014), Lukácsian Film Theory and Cinema: An Analysis of Georg Lukács' Writings on Film 1913-1971 (2012), The Major Realist Film Theorists, (2016), Colonial Documentary Film in South and South-East Asian (2016) and Cinematic Realism (2020).