Is there such a thing called ‘cinematographic metaphor’? And what are the differences between metaphor in film and in verbal language? What might be the heuristic value of the concept of cinematographic metaphor? The present study deals with these questions and tries to trace the history of this metaphorical concept from Eisenstein to Metz and recent works of synthesis. The – often rather broad and varying – definitions of the cinematographic metaphor are confronted with sceptical positions beginning with Arnheim’s early writings. In a final section, a delimitation of the concept is attempted which highlights the specificity of the concept of cinematographic metaphor. An extreme case of imagery is identified as a binary process of assimilation and coterdetermination of given contiguous and ‘metonymic’ signs. (Ansgar Thiele)