The So-Called Classic Cinema

Magdalena Kempna-Pieniążek

Abstract

In her review of the second volume of the History of Cinema (Historia kina. Kino klasyczne, ed. Tadeusz Lubelski, Iwona Sowińska, Rafał Syska, 2011), the author draws attention to the ambi- guity of the title concept of Classic Cinema. The opalescent nature of the term has been con- sciously exploited by the editors of the book. Kempna-Pieniążek argues that the second volume of the History of Cinema is dominated by three understandings of film classicism: institutional, stylistic and cinephilic. The first of these is represented by those authors who look at the organi- zational structures, modes of production, historical, political and social contexts of development of film art. The second is specific to researchers who analyse “classic” in terms of transnational formula of aesthetic of film that is subjected to local modifications. And the third kind of under- standing leads to the combination of “classical” with the “classic”. While taking note of some minor defects of the book, the author of the review stresses the value of the volume, that she considers to be a good compendium of knowledge and a useful teaching aid in the area of history of film.