--- product_id: 1701996 title: "How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond" price: "212.36 DT" currency: TND in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1701996-how-to-read-a-film-movies-media-and-beyond store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond **Price:** 212.36 DT **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond - **How much does it cost?** 212.36 DT with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1701996-how-to-read-a-film-movies-media-and-beyond) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Richard Gilman referred to How to Read a Film as simply "the best single work of its kind." And Janet Maslin in The New York Times Book Review marveled at James Monaco's ability to collect "an enormous amount of useful information and assemble it in an exhilaratingly simple and systematic way." Indeed, since its original publication in 1977, this hugely popular book has become the definitive source on film and media. Now, James Monaco offers a special anniversary edition of his classic work, featuring a new preface and several new sections, including an "Essential Library: One Hundred Books About Film and Media You Should Read" and "One Hundred Films You Should See." As in previous editions, Monaco once again looks at film from many vantage points, as both art and craft, sensibility and science, tradition and technology. After examining film's close relation to other narrative media such as the novel, painting, photography, television, and even music, the book discusses the elements necessary to understand how films convey meaning, and, more importantly, how we can best discern all that a film is attempting to communicate. In addition, Monaco stresses the still-evolving digital context of film throughout--one of the new sections looks at the untrustworthy nature of digital images and sound--and his chapter on multimedia brings media criticism into the twenty-first century with a thorough discussion of topics like virtual reality, cyberspace, and the proximity of both to film. With hundreds of illustrative black-and-white film stills and diagrams, How to Read a Film is an indispensable addition to the library of everyone who loves the cinema and wants to understand it better. Review: A classic invaluable text. - I've been a reader of Monaco's How to Read a Film since the first edition. Over the years my admiration for it grows and grows. It is one of the few decent comprehensive books on the theories, history, technologies and cultural impact of motion pictures that manages to be both accessible to a novice and still valuable to an expert in the field. It's also very well written in a style that makes it a pleasure to read. Review: very broad yet also deep coverage - When I tried to sign up for a community college "Intro to Film" course, I found that rather than being ubiquitous as I had assumed, such courses are frequently impossible to find these days. So I went looking for a book instead. My stumbling on "How To Read A Film" was a fortunate accident, it was just what I was seeking (and it didn't cost an arm and a leg). The book ranges very widely to cover a lot of different angles you might not expect to find between a single pair of covers: film technology, related media technologies, artistic history, commercial history, analysis, theory, relation to literary techniques, and the place of film within the arts. I realized only later that the relatively breezy style covers a whole lot of depth. I was painlessly introduced to quite a bit of fairly arcane terminology: things like "mise en scene" of course, but did you know where the term "pull-down" in your DVD creator program came from? (The author has made substantial revisions in new editions in order to keep this book current, even to the point of replacing whole chapters. If possible, it's worth getting a current edition; otherwise some topics may seem notably dated. Some editions also come with a DVD; if you want a DVD so the examples aren't just stills, you will have less choice of editions, and may not be able to choose the most current one. My comments refer to the Fourth Edition. ) ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #122,892 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #10 in Film & Television #15 in Movie Theory #246 in Movie History & Criticism | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 305 Reviews | ## Images ![How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71zza9mRPPL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A classic invaluable text. *by A***R on February 19, 2014* I've been a reader of Monaco's How to Read a Film since the first edition. Over the years my admiration for it grows and grows. It is one of the few decent comprehensive books on the theories, history, technologies and cultural impact of motion pictures that manages to be both accessible to a novice and still valuable to an expert in the field. It's also very well written in a style that makes it a pleasure to read. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ very broad yet also deep coverage *by C***S on November 4, 2011* When I tried to sign up for a community college "Intro to Film" course, I found that rather than being ubiquitous as I had assumed, such courses are frequently impossible to find these days. So I went looking for a book instead. My stumbling on "How To Read A Film" was a fortunate accident, it was just what I was seeking (and it didn't cost an arm and a leg). The book ranges very widely to cover a lot of different angles you might not expect to find between a single pair of covers: film technology, related media technologies, artistic history, commercial history, analysis, theory, relation to literary techniques, and the place of film within the arts. I realized only later that the relatively breezy style covers a whole lot of depth. I was painlessly introduced to quite a bit of fairly arcane terminology: things like "mise en scene" of course, but did you know where the term "pull-down" in your DVD creator program came from? (The author has made substantial revisions in new editions in order to keep this book current, even to the point of replacing whole chapters. If possible, it's worth getting a current edition; otherwise some topics may seem notably dated. Some editions also come with a DVD; if you want a DVD so the examples aren't just stills, you will have less choice of editions, and may not be able to choose the most current one. My comments refer to the Fourth Edition. ) ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ READS LIKE A COLLEGE TEXTBOOK *by A***R on February 1, 2026* If you're interested in reading about the technical side of how movies are made, this book is for you. It gives you the history behind the technologies that make modern movies possible. ## Frequently Bought Together - How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond - Film Studies, second edition: An Introduction (Film and Culture Series) - The Film Appreciation Book: The Film Course You Always Wanted to Take --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1701996-how-to-read-a-film-movies-media-and-beyond](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/1701996-how-to-read-a-film-movies-media-and-beyond) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-10-05*