Understanding Movies

I had to buy this book for my Shakespseare and Film class when I was in college my first year. I am so glad I decided to keep it. It helps me in all of my movie reviews. It aids the movie critic in understanding whose role and responsibilities lie in whose hands behind the scenes. It also gives both the columnist and the dedicated moviegoer an idea on who to blame when the movie goes bad. For example, if the movie looks like it was rushed to be finished (a tight schedule with very little cash and resources to work with), you blame the money man, a.k.a. the executive producer. As an added bonus, it makes great reference material when you are talking about movies with family, friends, and complete strangers. They will get blown away by your knowledge of movie making. But for all intents and purposes, it makes a great instructional book for anyone who wants to get started in making movies. It covers everything from A to Z. If this book is not on the top of your film school professor's required reading list, then suggest this book to him or her. Your instructor will thank you for it.

This is an essential book for students of cinema. It does one thing and it does it quite well: it introduces you to the language of film analysis, the categories that critics use to analyze a film. It doesn't try to cover film technology or history. I totally agree with the other reviewer that the new editions are completely unnecessary, and serve only to destroy the market for used copies. Buy one of the older editions unless it's for a college class and you need the same edition as the class.

I picked up this book, in part, because of the several ...[good ratings]... Isn't it great when people you don't even know turn you on to a GREAT book? I have always been a movie enthusiast, but recently, having discovered how great DVDs look and sound, I am starting to re-discover my love of movies. I want to know more about how movies work, and how different effects are acheived. This book has been wonderful in helping my understanding of cinema. From the first chapter onward, I have found insights into movies that help me look at them with a slightly different eye: why are the colors like that in this scene? Why is the shot framed like it is? Although this book seems like it could be used as a textbook in a beginning film class, I carry it around with me and read it, and even re-read parts. Thanks for the great tip. Yes a five-star book! Fun to read!

There is no shortage of comprehensive textbook tomes in this competitive market (several new ones have appeared since this 8th edition). But Giannetti achieves the "right" level of diction, readability, and detail whereas the other books tend to disappoint more frequently. Some are simply too obvious, unacademic, unselective in use of illustrations and others too weighted down by film jargon left over from graduate school. Even if Giannetti's distinction between "formalism" and "expression" occasionally seems difficult and overly arbitrary, it provides his overview with a focus that is lacking in the competition.

This excellent and easy-to-understand book describes how to analyze and interpret movies in much the same way that we have been taught to analyze and critique literature. Spanning the whole of the 20th century and every conceivable genre, it is a must for anyone seriously interested in understanding movies thoroughly. Includes both theoretical and practical aspects of filmmaking.