Reality of Film

Richard Rushton is Lecturer in Film and Cultural Studies at Lancaster University

... a lucid and careful intervention through the seemingly well-worn but under-scrutinized reality and film debate.Insisting on cinema's activity, namely its ability to produce beyond its oftlauded mimetic qualities, has arguably never been more relevant.Many readers will find the strength of The Reality of Film is its accessability.... argument powerfully convincing and plausible.... Rushton strives to confront political modernism's confines.Its impetus and moral is to always (re)consider films anew and to commit to the wonder and awe that cinema can initiate, an affect, we would be wise to remember, mobilized by human imagination. In so doing, Rushton reminds the reader of the work left to be done in film studies, of the new avenues of inquiry wrenched open when cinema's questions are stirred and its potential awoken, its examination incomplete.‘This book is a must-read for those who enjoy both film theory as well as social sciences, as Rushton skilfully balances the two subjects, and it’s an interesting read for all film scholars as it provides a fresh perspective into a subject that has been examined by many before him.’Rachel Wassii, Film Matters 7.2 (2016)

• List of illustrationsIntroduction: On the reality of film1. Beyond political modernism2. Realism, reality and authenticity3. The imaginary as filmic reality4. A reality beyond imagining5. Cinema produces reality6. Filmic reality and ideological fantasy7. Filmic reality and the aesthetic regimeAfterwardBibliography