Projecting Illusion offers a systematic analysis of the impression of reality in the cinema and the pleasure it provides the film spectator. Film affords an especially compelling aesthetic experience that can be considered as a form of illusion akin to the experience of daydream and dream. Examining the concept of illusion and its relationship to fantasy in the experience of visual representation, Richard Allen situates his explanation within the context of an analytical criticism of contemporary film theory. Contrary to many critics, he argues that many contemporary film theorists correctly identify the significance of the impression of reality, although their explanation of it is incorrect because of an invalid philosophical understanding of the relationship between the mind, representation, and reality. Offering a clear presentation and critique of central arguments of contemporary film and critical theory, Projecting Illusion also touches on fundamental issues in the current discourses of philosophy, art history, and feminist theory.

1. Althusser, Lacan, and film theory; 2. The lure of metaphysics; 3. Representation, illusion, and the cinema; 4. Cinema, psychoanalysis, and the film spectator; Notes; Filmography; Index.