In this essay, David Bordwell argues against the concept of the cinematic narrator.
He contends that the term is unnecessary and unhelpful, and that it can be replaced by more precise concepts such as “form” and “style.”
Here are some of the key points from the essay:
- The cinematic narrator is a hypothetical agent that is responsible for the way a film is presented.
- Bordwell argues that the same insights can be gained by analyzing the film’s form and style without resorting to the idea of a narrator.
- The alternatives to the cinematic narrator are form and style.
To learn more about the cinematic narrator, I recommend reading Bordwell’s essay “The Concept of Cinematic Narration.”