David Bordwell

David Bordwell, born on July twenty-third, nineteen forty-seven, is a distinguished American film theorist and historian. He earned his PhD from the University of Iowa in nineteen seventy-three and has since authored over fifteen significant volumes on cinema. His notable works include 'Narration in the Fiction Film' (nineteen eighty-five), 'Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema' (nineteen eighty-eight), 'Making Meaning' (nineteen eighty-nine), and 'On the History of Film Style' (nineteen ninety-seven).

Together with his wife, Kristin Thompson, Bordwell co-authored the influential textbooks 'Film Art' (nineteen seventy-nine) and 'Film History' (nineteen ninety-four). 'Film Art' remains a staple in introductory film courses, now in its twelfth edition as of two thousand nineteen. In collaboration with aesthetics philosopher Noël Carroll, he edited the anthology 'Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies' (nineteen ninety-six), which critiques contemporary film theory.

One of Bordwell's most significant contributions is 'The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style and Mode of Production to 1960' (nineteen eighty-five), co-written with Thompson and Janet Staiger. His influential articles on theory, narrative, and style were later compiled in 'Poetics of Cinema' (two thousand seven), a title that pays homage to the renowned anthology of Russian formalist film theory, 'Poetika Kino', edited by Boris Eikhenbaum in nineteen twenty-seven.

Throughout his career, Bordwell served as a professor of film at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, retiring in two thousand four as the Ledoux Professor of Film Studies, Emeritus in the Department of Communication Arts. His mentorship has shaped the careers of several film theorists, including Edward Branigan, Murray Smith, and Carl Plantinga. Alongside Thompson, he also shared insights on cinema through their blog 'Observations on Film Art'.