Cinema's existence is young, but perhaps the meaning of cinema is...primeval. The camera or microphone may be a new tool, but what we use them for is older than we may think. Emptiness, simplicity, stillness and silence in film are discussed in this book as a presence rather than an absence. Sounds give structure and meaning to silence; dialogue accentuates pauses; movements revalue stasis; information shapes the unknown. This passionate proposal for resurrecting a style of aesthetic cinematic primitivism attempts to capture the subtlest moments in film. Primeval Cinema has the power to inspire in us images beyond the screen. Danny Hahn's unique, poetic and reflective book is fuelled by his enthusiasm for silent cinema, philosophy, and the films of Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, Tati, and Tarkovsky.