Not only does Nichols provide a good context for the many paradoxes that can confront film studies with his insightful and thoughtful introduction, but he also shows how sharing approaches and methods can help to stimulate a lot of the best writing regarding film. In addition he shows many of the common problems that are seen and deals with the contradictions that appear. Like the first volume of the anthology, this second volume also provides smaller introductions so that each essay and piece of information can be more easily understood. It also allows a reader to peruse the book and find the pertinent piece of information that he or she needs at that point in time, which can be very valuable, especially for a novice to the film industry trying to find information quickly. Having the smaller introductions before each piece also help to showcase each item within the context of the larger film genre as a whole and help suggest various ways to link certain essays with other pieces of work in the anthology. These kinds of tie-ins are especially helpful to someone who is working to learn as much about the film industry as quickly as possible.
The final part of the book is likely the most important because it helps to convey the diversity of the information that was collected in it. There is everything from neoformalism to gay criticisms, and from phenomenology to statistical analysis, providing a wide range of issues to address and consider. This very broad range of approaches that are addressed in the book shows the fall of the post-structuralist style of
During most of the seventies and into the early eighties, that kind of criticism was the most popular, but once other styles were explored it begin to lose some of its following with people who saw that there were better ways to look at and address issues, and that there were better ways to do justice to the film genre and the people who work within it. This is something that Nichols has shown throughout his anthologies, but has showcased most strongly in the last part of the second volume. Many film students find it worth considering still today.
Because the first volume was so well received the second volume needed to live up to that, and it does. There is an important sense of personal engagement from the writing Nichols has collected for this volume, but there is also something else - an awareness of cinema. There is a social importance to the cinema in the
culture of today, and this was true of the late seventies and early eighties as well, and perhaps even more so than today. Nichols saw this, and chose to include writings which showed his understanding of the issue. Most importantly, however, it showed that others also understood how significant this social importance was, and how persistent was the awareness of the issue. Even though much time has passed since this book came out, film students and teachers of today still use this work to show students how much they have to learn about the film genre and those who work in the
arts.
Bibliography
Nichols, Bill (1976) Movies and Methods: Vol. I. University of California Press.
Nichols, Bill (1985) Movies and Methods: Vol. II. University of California Press.
