Cinematic Realism

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. 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)