Aesthetics and film /

This book seems to exist to rehash theories of film criticism that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s but that have gradually been subsumed into a larger, more general discourse. Thomson-Jones (philosophy, Oberlin College) examines and details these theories once again, almost as if they had never been previously articulated. Though there is nothing wrong with this, there is also nothing here that cannot be found in numerous similar works. The author discusses the theoretical work of Rudolph Arnheim, Andre Bazin, Christian Metz, and others in chapters titled "Film as an Art," "Realism," "Authorship," "The Language of Film," and so on. As she admits in her preface, the work's "focus simply indicates a starting point for the philosophy of film." Although the book certainly accomplishes this task, it is only for those who have never had formal training of even the most desultory nature in film studies. Thus, its main value will be to those who are struggling with such questions as "Is film a language?" or even "Do films have authors?"--questions that, in this reviewer's thinking, were answered some time ago. Summing Up: Optional. Lower-division undergraduates only. W. W. Dixon University of Nebraska--Lincoln