Siegfried Kracauer’s Theory Of Film

Siegfried Kracauer is acknowledged as the most representative theorist of the westernrealism aesthetics theory. His film theory is not simply about film, his ultimate goal is toexplore the meaning and value of life which hidden behind the film and reflect the presentsituation which formed after the rational civilization collapsed through film.In this paper, Kracauer defines of "movie" and educes the core content of film theory.Then he studies the value of film theory and tries to tease out a complete set of film theorysystem.In his view, in the late19th century, the rapid development of science and capitalismled to the changes of popular entertainment and consumption patterns in the city. However,new change made the sensibility of "modern people" atrophy, and eventually led to itssurvival significance of vanity. Kracauer believes that movies can afford to recover from theemotional, spiritual mission to save mankind, which way is "recovery of the material world"-the nature of Kracauer required for the film. Because explore the physical reality can allowpeople to close to sensual shape of things, and close to the objective world., thus eliminatingabstract thinking alienation caused by science and technology and solving contemporaryspiritual crisis.Kracauer advocates an artistic approach to the abundance of people’s emotional world, inhis view, the film is such an art, it is an aesthetic way to help modern people to achievespecific experience, and ultimately realize the redemption goal.