Just Finished Reading: The History of Cinema – A Very Short Introduction by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith (FP: 2017)

I have long had a love of cinema (Thanks Dad!) and over the years picked up elements of its history from various books. But I haven’t read a proper history of the medium at least for a few years so this was a great opportunity to ‘catch up’ on things.

Cinema is, of course, a technology, an industry, just as much as an art form (though calling some of its output as actual art may be stretching things a bit!). This slim volume (a mere 104 pages) manages to cover all three aspects reasonably well. I think that most people are aware of how ‘moving pictures’ developed from this static predecessors but I did find it interesting as to how many routes the process could have followed as different inventors/manufacturers used different technologies to produce the film in the first place and fought over film size, the speed it went through the camera and much else. Likewise the eventual use of sound (again with multiple competing methods) and the use of colour (and again) competed with each other and with the existing technology. Neither the use of synchronised sound nor the use of colour immediately swept its predecessor onto history’s cutting room floor. The industry we see today did not emerge fully formed – far from it. Buffeted by the winds of technology, political interference, censorship, war and basic economics – to say nothing of the invention of its great rival television – all contributed to a highly competitive business environment where only the strongest, biggest, most ruthless or well-connected studios survived. Finally there is that ever elusive idea of art. The vast majority of the early films – often only a few minutes long – had little to do with art. They were often highly experimental spectacles designed to surprise, entertain and, most importantly, make money. Art came later – before or after critics is an arguable point!

This was a most enjoyable overview of a massive industry without which the world would be a very different place. It has certainly whet my appetite for other books on the subject (over and above the next two VSI volumes) so you’ll be seeing more of them in the future. As with most of this series this has given me much to think about and much to follow up on. Another excellent addition to the series. Recommended.