CINEMA

Cinema plays an important role in life of any society. The cinema has become part of the modern way of life. Its possibilities are unlimited. All people consider cinema one of the best ways of spending their time.

There’re a lot different kinds of films: feature films, theatrical films, horror films, documentaries, mystery films, travelogues, thriller films, popular science films, melodramas, pantomime, tragedy, musical films, adventure films, comedy films, animated cartoon films. Also films may be color or black and white, sound and silent, full-length or short, three-dimensional or wide-screen, dubbed in any language.

Nowadays we can see films in the cinema or on the TV and we can choose what we prefer. Also we can choose between amusing comedies, true-to-life stories or hero films.

The history of developing cinema was hard. But it didn’t stop the film-makers.

In 1895 became available for the general public phonographic motion pictures projected on to a screen. These films were popular as entertainment in music-hall programmes. The first film was produced in France by brothers Lumiere. It was about arriving the train to the station. It lasted only about two minutes.

From 1900 to 1911 films grew from ten minute’s length to two hours. At this period everyone wanted to make films for money – from an old man to a teenager. During the First World War ended cinema developing. But America became the foremost film-making country of the world and Hollywood the chief center of production. The USA made cinema lavish, lurid and available almost to everyone.

After the war Europeans started to make films too. German specialized in fantasy and melodrama. Russia used the film to interpret history and problems of contemporary Russian life. French films were based on ideas of psychology and art. The British films were like American.

Since 1932 films in color have appeared and become more general. From this time new devices were created and created.

Griffith took stock all of the movies’ already existing devices and to create new ones. He influenced and taught film-makers all over the world. His filmic grammar we can observe in every film we see today.

Also big contribution to world’s cinema belongs to Charles Chaplin. He created a lot of short films where he appears like master of both broad, acrobatic pantomime and simple routines that demanded slight hand movements and facial expressions. In his films he made laugh all world. In 30’s he started to make feature-length comedies, which were silent. Sometimes he put music on his films. Nobody did it before. After his films all the cinema industry had turned to sound. In 1936 Chaplin produced “Modern Times”, where he showed in justice and brutality of dehumanized society. In 1940 he made “The Great Dictator”, where he blamed fascism and autocracy. I think Charles Chaplin made a lot for developing cinema.

Another great actor was Kevin Costner. His first films weren’t successful. But in 1987 his starring in “The Untouchables” and in “No Way Out” brought him international fame. He even won the Star of Tomorrow prize from the U.S. National Association of Theatre Owners. He started in many films from this time. His directorial debut was film “Dances With Wolves”, which won 7 Oscars. Kevin Costner was a great actor some people watched films only because he was there. I think he brought a lot for cinema developing.

In nowadays there is a lot of picture studios – Metro-Gold-wynMayer, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, 20th-Century Fox, Hollywood studio, Walt Disney studio. They produced films about Mickey Mouse, Superman, Batman, Terminator, James Bond, Dracula, Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holms, which are well known all over the world.