What makes an Italian film Italian, a French film French? Are Hollywood
films really American? This study reveals how centralization, common
language and narrative convention express the cultural heritages within
the national cinemas of nine countries (China, Finland, France, India,
Iran, Italy, Mexico, Ukraine, and the United States). The goal is to
bring critical theory and artistic expression back into equilibrium with
a method that demonstrates how popular cinema truly can explain the
world, one country at a time.