Abstract
The aim of the presented paper is to outline the development of semiotic thinking about film. The main focus is on the problem of film's relationship to reality and the question whether film can be understood as a language.
An important part of the presentation is to show the difference between thinking about these issues within the continental and analytical traditions. Emphasis is also placed on the possibilities and limits of social semiotics in the matter of identifying the semiotic sources through which ideology is embedded in film production.