Abstract

The thesis examines the nature of the "real" in the cinema; I overview the theories that are historically used, and offer some alternative models. First, I survey how the "real" has been traditionally theorized in film theory. The realist/anti-realist debate is addressed; the psycholinguistic theory of Jacques Lacan and Jean Baudrillard's postmodern model of the hyperreal are reexamined in light of their profound effect on film theory's model of the cinematic "real." I argue against these theories as models of spectatorship and the "real" because of their hermetic nature.