This volume represents the first attempt to develop a systematic theory of film along hermeneutic lines and reflects upon the methodological consequences of such an approach for the analysis and interpretation of films. After establishing a definition of cinematic communication based on semiotics and speech-act theory, the author subjects the major structures of cinematic narration (camera work, montage, narrative situations, verbal and non-verbal communication between characters, perspectivization, figurative images) to theoretical and practical (methodological) consideration.