ABSTRACT
Under the entry on 'Theory' in her book Key Concepts in Cinema Studies; Susan Hayward states that the genesis of film theory was probably in France, at least as long ago as the early 1910s. Anthony Easthope suggests that classical film theory, whether formalist or realist, rests on the assumption that cinema, based as it is in photography, must be judged as in part a mechanical reproduction, whether feeble or convincing'. The purpose of this chapter is not to examine the notion of film-as-art in detail, as this would take up a volume in its own right. As a plastic art in motion it will effect a revival of theatre and bring about a new sense of human community. French historian Michele Foucault takes a philosophical move away from the theme of originating subject, by acknowledging Barthes' 'death of the author'.
