A concise and accessible introduction to film narrative, which examines storytelling amid crucial narrative cinemas in film history, and scrutinizes major concepts of film narrative formulated by narratologists, film theorists, and philosophers. This volume analyzes film narrative in relation to the representation of reality, the understanding of story as system, "new" modes of telling stories, and issues of sex, gender, and colonialism. Case studies include "Bicycle Thieves" (1948), "Citizen Kane" (1941), "Breathless" (1983), "Rear Window" (1954), and "Happy Together" (1997).