| Summary: | The resurgence of interest in classical film theory in Anglo-American film studies is welcome, but some scholars are appropriating classical film theories uncritically without first assessing their logical and empirical strengths and weaknesses. A case in point is the film theory of Jean Epstein, which is currently being championed by Christophe Wall-Romona and others. This paper first clarifies Jean Epstein’s theory of film sound, and then argues that it suffers from many of the same flaws as Epstein’s theory of film in general. While Epstein’s theory remains historically important and valuable due to its influence on Epstein’s films and the role it played in legitimizing cinema as an art, this paper concludes that it should be rejected from a purely theoretical point-of-view.
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