European Cinema is the first book to provide overviews of key movements in European film history, from the inception of the medium in 1895 to the present. This text includes accessible introductions to traditions as diverse as early Soviet cinema, German Expressionism, Surrealism, Italian Neoralism, the French New Wave, Ealing Comedy, East-Central European cinema, Contemporary Spanish cinema, and much more. Top international scholars specially commissioned for this volume examine artistic developments in their industrial and more broadly historical context. The book is divided chronologically into three sections, making it ideal for use in university film courses, and includes an invaluable glossary (comprising historical and foreign-language terms as well as technical terminology).

Introduction: A Brief History of Cinema in Europe, Elizabeth Ezra Part I: Early Cinema Early Cinema: Introduction 1. Beginnings, Alison McMahan 2. Soviet Cinema: The Old and the New, Denise Youngblood 3. Weimar Cinema, Anton Kaes 4. Dada and Surrealist Film, Rudolf Kuenzli 5. French Cinema of the 1930s, Dudley Andrew Part II: Postwar Cinema Postwar Cinema: Introduction 6. From Italian Neo-Realism to the Golden Age of Cinecitta, Peter Bondanella 7. Postwar Scandinavian Cinema, Peter Schepelern 8. The French New Wave, T. Jefferson Kline 9. From Ealing Comedy to the British New Wave, Sarah Street 10. New German Cinema, Thomas Elsaesser Part III: New Currents New Currents: Introduction 11. The Cinema du Look, Sue Harris 12. New Italian Cinema, Gaetana Marrone 13. Contemporary Spanish Cinema, Peter William Evans 14. East-Central European Cinema, Paul Coates 15. French Cinema of the Margins, Martine Beugnet 16. New Directions in European Cinema, John Orr Glossary of Film Terms Bibliography Index