ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I question the relationship of cinema with specific cities and “‘city-ness’ in general.” I argue that cities have symbolic significance because they have histories. Narrative transforms space into place, and photography and film have played their part in that alchemy. They preserve official histories and the passage of time. Their apparently innocent realism and referentiality may be tinged with intimations of loss, but they also free us to imagine the cities we know otherwise than they are.
