Christian Metz (1931-1993) was a French film critic, best known for pioneering the application of Ferdinand de Saussure's theories of Semiotics to film. Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. ... Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (pronounced ) (November 26, 1857 – February 22, 1913) was a Geneva-born Swiss linguist whose ideas laid the foundation for many of the significant developments in linguistics in the 20th century. ... Semiotics, semiotic studies, or semiology is the study of signs and symbols, both individually and grouped into sign systems. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ...

His most well-known contribution to film criticism lies in applying both Sigmund Freud's psychology and Jacques Lacan's mirror theory to the cinema, proposing that the reason film is popular as an art form lies in its ability to both be an imperfect reflection of reality and as a method to delve into the unconscious dream state. Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. ... Sigmund Freud (born Sigismund Freud) May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939; (IPA: ) was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who co-founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Psychology is an academic or applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes such as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. ... Jacques Lacan Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan (April 13, 1901 – September 9, 1981) was a French psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and doctor. ... Jacques Lacan Jacques-Marie-Émile Lacan (April 13, 1901 – September 9, 1981) was a French psychoanalyst, psychiatrist, and doctor. ...

The Grand Syntagmatique

Works

• Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema (ISBN 0-226-52130-3)
• The Imaginary Signifier: Psychoanalysis and the Cinema (ISBN 0-253-20380-5)
• Language and Cinema (ISBN 90-279-2682-4)