Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory

The resurgence of interest in classical film theory in Anglo-American film studies is welcome, but some scholars are appropriating classical film theories uncritically without first assessing their logical and empirical strengths and weaknesses. A case in point is the film theory of Jean Epstein, wh...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Malcolm Turvey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association Française des Enseignants et Chercheurs en Cinéma et Audiovisuel 2016-04-01
Series:Mise au Point
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/map/2039
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1846130897941692416
author Malcolm Turvey
author_facet Malcolm Turvey
author_sort Malcolm Turvey
collection DOAJ
description The resurgence of interest in classical film theory in Anglo-American film studies is welcome, but some scholars are appropriating classical film theories uncritically without first assessing their logical and empirical strengths and weaknesses. A case in point is the film theory of Jean Epstein, which is currently being championed by Christophe Wall-Romona and others. This paper first clarifies Jean Epstein’s theory of film sound, and then argues that it suffers from many of the same flaws as Epstein’s theory of film in general. While Epstein’s theory remains historically important and valuable due to its influence on Epstein’s films and the role it played in legitimizing cinema as an art, this paper concludes that it should be rejected from a purely theoretical point-of-view.
format Article
id doaj-art-70d4ef10565c43a286d5498c24db036e
institution Kabale University
issn 2261-9623
language English
publishDate 2016-04-01
publisher Association Française des Enseignants et Chercheurs en Cinéma et Audiovisuel
record_format Article
series Mise au Point
spelling doaj-art-70d4ef10565c43a286d5498c24db036e2024-12-09T15:59:39ZengAssociation Française des Enseignants et Chercheurs en Cinéma et AudiovisuelMise au Point2261-96232016-04-01810.4000/map.2039Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film TheoryMalcolm TurveyThe resurgence of interest in classical film theory in Anglo-American film studies is welcome, but some scholars are appropriating classical film theories uncritically without first assessing their logical and empirical strengths and weaknesses. A case in point is the film theory of Jean Epstein, which is currently being championed by Christophe Wall-Romona and others. This paper first clarifies Jean Epstein’s theory of film sound, and then argues that it suffers from many of the same flaws as Epstein’s theory of film in general. While Epstein’s theory remains historically important and valuable due to its influence on Epstein’s films and the role it played in legitimizing cinema as an art, this paper concludes that it should be rejected from a purely theoretical point-of-view.https://journals.openedition.org/map/2039classical film theoryJean Epsteintheories of film sound
spellingShingle Malcolm Turvey
Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory
Mise au Point
classical film theory
Jean Epstein
theories of film sound
title Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory
title_full Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory
title_fullStr Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory
title_full_unstemmed Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory
title_short Epstein, Sound, and the Return to Classical Film Theory
title_sort epstein sound and the return to classical film theory
topic classical film theory
Jean Epstein
theories of film sound
url https://journals.openedition.org/map/2039
work_keys_str_mv AT malcolmturvey epsteinsoundandthereturntoclassicalfilmtheory