The Fluid Frame in Cinema

Book excerpt: This book is a passionate rendezvous with cinema, the most collaborative of art forms. The essays here explore the possibilities offered by a close reading of cinema that keeps cultural contexts and their socio-historical roots firmly in sight. This collection does not consider the “frame”, that oft-referenced basic unit of vision in films, as a limiting structure. Rather, it brings into purview what is left out. Divided into three sections, the essays look firstly at Indian cinema, both Bollywood and regional films, tracing the journey of Indian cinema from the periphery to the center. The second section focuses on Adaptation Studies and takes an unorthodox look at classic adaptations of literature. The final section is a reappraisal of directors like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. The essays propose that, even though the film as an artwork does not change fundamentally over time, it still strikes a contemporary critical gaze differently.