This is a textbook aimed at the needs of students on the expanding number of film studies courses in universities and colleges of higher education. It contains over 100 illustrations from classic films such as "Rebel Without a Cause", "The Maltese Falcon", "Jaws" and "My Beautiful Launderette", as well as stills from less traditional examples. The book is divided into seven sections, the first four covering key areas in the study of cinema, and the remainig three focusing on film forms, issues in cinema (such as postmodernism and the new visual technologies) and national cinemas. There are chapters on Soviet, Indian and European cinema, and an extended chapter on British films. Each chapter has its own glossary and film/videography to help the student locate the films discussed.