DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

For almost a century, film has represented one of the most powerful global means of communication and social commentary. It has been a vital means of communication of local, national and transnational stories helping humankind understand and reflect upon past, present and future. The study of cinema is important on a microcosmic and a macrocosmic scale because it allows us to explore the personal experience, artistic and technological developments/expression and social changes throughout history. Francois Truffaunt once said, “When film achieves a certain success, it becomes a sociological event, and the question of its quality becomes secondary.” Thus, the study of film reveals the symbiotic relationship between film and its audience; it is a reflection on the times and the action and reaction between the film industry and their audience. It is important to learn from the past, especially in film. All of the most influential directors were influenced by their predecessors, which resulted in the development of American cinema and phenomenal works of cinematic art.

Particularly, during the 1950s, in a post war society, film became even more enriched within the roots of artistic tradition by encouraging critics and filmgoers to treat cinema as the art of the director. This new frame of reference, which took the filmmakers as auteur or “author,” has a profound effect on how films were made and consume in the postwar era. Thus, a new generation of cinematic genius graced the screens from 1950-1959, demonstrating the reaffirmation of American ideals, mainly consumerism, but also the loss of innocence and the start of a counter cultural revolution.   

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.