It is impossible in an introductory text to do other than reflect this tendency, but readers should be aware that film studies is a subject in constant flux. History is constantly being rewritten in the light of research and altering perspectives. In order to mitigate the 'shallowness' of an introductory text, Chapters 2 and 5 offer further viewing and reading for those who wish to pursue a particular topic in more detail. Chapter 4, on theory, also suggests further reading, and it is always sensible for the student to go back to the original material rather than rely upon glosses, such as those provided by this book. In addition, it is hoped that this website will be able to offer updated material that will complement the book.

A major and related problem is access to films. The market-driven ethos of capitalist economies ensures that popular films are always available for distribution, either on celluloid or video. However, the extra expense incurred by subtitling, and the inevitable diminution in attractiveness to the market because of the language barrier, mean that on the whole, only 'canonised' or fashionable foreign language films are readily available. The situation is worse for 'pre-sound' films, where availability decreases to a point that many of the films are non-existent. It does however appear that the massive popularity of DVD is allowing many 'lost' treasures to become available.

This book uses contemporary cinema, as dominated by Hollywood, as its starting point for a journey that moves in space (across different nations throughout the world) and in time (drawing upon the 'classics' and contemporary cinema). Throughout the book there are boxes that are meant to complement the main body of text. Some of these focus on one film, and it is assumed that the reader has seen the film. These boxes can, however, be skipped as they are intended to illustrate points raised in the 'main' narrative.

I have not necessarily used films with which most people will be familiar. However I have always used films that are well worth seeing. Inevitably the choice of film will reflect my own experience of film watching, and although I have tried to be as catholic as possible, there is no escaping, I'm afraid, my ingrained western perspective, However I hope I have not been too Eurocentric.
A list of key films, from throughout history, can be accessed on my website (www.nicklacey.org.uk: follow the key films link). The key films pages also give an indication of their availability on DVD in the UK, and this will be updated.
Nick Lacey

Reference
Vincendeau, Ginette (1998) 'Issues in European cinema', in John Hill and Pamela Church Gibson (eds),The Oxford Guide to Film Studies, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.