This thesis outlines an aesthetics of cinema with special emphasis on formalist ideas. Specifically, the focus is on providing a link between philosophical discussions about artistic or aesthetic form, and cinema. Furthermore, it is argued that formalist discussions are an integral part of the study of cinema, and should be revised and reconsidered and their particular importance explicated. To this end a cinematic formalist theory is proposed that is shaped by the philosophy of art, and the philosophy of film in particular, and film theory, and succeeds in synthesising these in order to enrich our understanding of cinema in a novel and productive way. From these discussions the nature of form in cinema and the centrality it holds for our experiences of films will be delineated and explained. In this manner, the aesthetics of cinema proposed here fills a gap in the current philosophical literature about cinema and expands on the nature of this art form.