In his first book about film, Europe's premier screenwriter turns a uniquely sophisticated and knowledgeable eye onto the evolution of the language of film over its first hundred years.

Jean-Claude Carriere explores the vocabulary of that language - camera angles, lighting, the use of one actor rather than another, one setting rather than another, the subliminal messages contained in a full range of moviemaking techniques - and discusses the ways this vocabulary has been developed and used by some of the most exciting and ground-breaking directors and cameramen of our time.

He examines the growing sophistication of the audience over the years, and how film language has changed accordingly. He points out how film has altered our perception of time. And he explains how screenwriting has developed along with the visual medium it influences and serves.

1. Filled with anecdote and insight, The Secret Language of Film will illuminate and heighten the perceptions of anyone who spends time in front of the big or small screen. The first hundred years of film have profoundly influenced our century, and this delightfully written book will give the reader a new understanding of how and why.