When cinema leaves the theater - Read the book Cinema Society by Associate Professor, Dr. Phung Ngoc Kien

A film work is not unique. That is the assertion of the German leftist philosopher Walter Benjamin in his important essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Humanism”. Accordingly, the history of the birth of film has shown that the aesthetic nature of cinema is inseparable from social consciousness, relationships and roles. The textbook Sociology of Cinema by Associate Professor, Dr. Phung Ngoc Kien is a research work on cinema in the synthesis of social relationships, in social relationships with the presence of social institutions and the world of symbols about reality in cinema. There, readers see cinema perceived from its technical nature of socio-political nature, and at the same time as its aesthetic basis. The textbook is compiled based on many years of lectures for master's training in the major of Theory and History of Cinema and Television at the Faculty of Literature, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Sociology of Cinema has questioned the prejudices and romantic tendencies of some sociological studies on artistic creation in general and cinema in particular, by looking fairly and objectively at the sociological subject of cinema from many perspectives, from the process of creating cinema products, the cinema products themselves to the production activities of cinema products and finally the reception of cinema products.
The book is divided into 6 chapters, from the general sociology of cinema to the deep dissection of the social relations and social institutions that exist in cinema. In the opening chapter "General sociology of cinema", the author affirmed that there is no art that is outside of society, completely belonging to individual will and subjective desires without any intervention from social factors. Artists do not create in a vacuum but always need the surrounding atmosphere and ecosystem to create. In the sociology of art in general, scientific approaches covering many art fields are interested in the world reflected in art forms and the relationship between the world inside and the world outside the work. Here, the sociology of cinema is a new discipline with basic characteristics of social relationships in cinema: (1) the mediation of cinematographic works between the creative subject and the receiving subject in the institutions of production, distribution, criticism and communication; (2) the role of economics, politics, education, law... in the mutual, two-way relationship between the triad of works, receiving subjects and creators; (3) technical infrastructure with technical advances as fundamental elements for a cinematographic work to exist.
The next three chapters of the book analyze the role of social relations in cinema. Chapter 2: Cinema as a synthesis of social relations views cinema in the complex of art and culture, cinema as a cultural - entertainment industry and cinema as a cultural - social process. The author mentions the concept of "reproduction" and the vulgarization, popularization, commerce, democracy, mass... of modern cinema. The author also points out the characteristics of art in general and cinema in particular in modern times as the entertainment function. Also in chapter 2, the book affirms that an artistic product including cinema is a process of existence with a profound social nature. In which, social relations are even more clearly expressed through technical factors as the basis for cinema aesthetics in chapter 3: Cinema in social relations. To produce a film, complex mechanical techniques are required. The author points out the technical differences closely related to the role of society, and even political ideology in creating a film work. In particular, political and ideological techniques will directly affect aesthetics. It can be seen that, without objective material and technical conditions, cinema cannot take place as a true art. Material factors are an important intermediary in building, maintaining and nurturing the aesthetic thinking of cinema and the reception of the audience. In particular, in the context of explosive development of machine technology, cinema is moving closer to the "post-cinema" period. The emergence of artificial intelligence and digital technology has participated in the creation of a new aesthetic, challenging old value systems and demanding a new position in a turbulent era. Not only that, an important social relationship that creates cinema is the public. In any art industry, a work cannot be itself without an audience. The book points out that the concept of public in modern art, including cinema, is not just a homogeneous object but diverse and complex. The public will be the object receiving, consuming and promoting cinematographic works - thereby deciding the existence of cinematographic art.
The last two chapters of the textbook have successively presented analyses of the relationship between the fictional world in films and social reality, generalized the symbols of reality in cinema works and generalized the role of cinema in both the historical development process as well as the context of globalization and the commercial world. The book has posed critical dialogues on the profitability of cinema and its own aesthetic value/discovery; as well as the polarization between the masses and art in modern cinema works. In addition to six chapters with six in-depth research perspectives on the sociology of cinema, the textbook also presents the Reading and theoretical discussion, Observation and practical discussion sections in each chapter. The author has also painstakingly compiled the Film Sociology Dictionary to help readers learn the concepts used in this work as well as use them in research and approach to the sociology of cinema.
With a tight and suggestive structure, Sociology of Cinema by Associate Professor, Dr. Phung Ngoc Kien is a comprehensive and innovative research work that views cinema objectively and fairly as a synthesis of social relationships, while encouraging readers to think critically while reading and interacting with the book. The book affirms that cinema cannot exist independently but is always closely linked to social factors, from technical infrastructure, political and economic institutions, to the role of the public. Factors that seem to be only technical can have a direct impact on aesthetics, and the development of technology has been shaping a new cinematic aesthetic in the "post-cinema" era. This is not only a valuable academic document for students and researchers, but also helps anyone who loves cinema to read and explore more deeply into the complex, multi-layered nature of this art form.