I've just finished watching the movie "The Story of Film: An Odyssey" by Mark Cousins. It's a 15 part documentary that tracks the history of film (here is the trailer). I've started to watch it because I've read an interview with director in which he states that usually the history of film is "racist by omission", and he mentions that so many magical things has happened, for example, in the African cinema. This idea kept me going for 15 hours, but now, I'm a little bit disappointed.
It is not that I've not found more about cinema. I did. Especially about the late Japanese, Korean, Chinese cinema. But this is only because I wasn't paying too much attention to it myself. (Not because I'm not interested, but because, unfortunatelly, I have only 24 hours a day).
But, for example, the cinema of the Middle East. From Iran he mentions only four directors: Forugh Farrokhzad (though I really like that he says that Iran is the only country in the world where the founding father of cinema is a woman:), Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abbas Kiarostami and Samira Makhmalbaf.
(This is the still of an amazing movie by the Iranian poet and filmmaker Forugh Farrokhzad "The House is Black (1963))
It is good he goes there and admires the work of these directors, but I'm carzy about the Iranian cinema for many years, so nothing new in this for me. What concerns the Palestinian cinema - he only briefly mentions the director Elia Suleiman and his movie "Divine Intervention". It is great that he mentions it, but Palestine has so much more to offer. On the other hand, there is nothing from Israel. Really? From Egypt he only mentions Youssef Chahine.
From Africa? Well, as always, Mark Cousins has to remember that Africa is not a country. And he mentions only few directors that you can know if only you read the article in the wikipedia: Ousmane Sembene (the founding father of the Black African cinema), Djibril Diop Mambety, Safi Faye - all from Senegal, and Ethiopian Haile Gerima. Nothing from now. But how about, at least, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun from Chad? His movie "A Screaming Man" is beyond great.
Nevertheless, it's not a bad movie. It charms because of its scope. The history is wide, not deep. And if you can survive the strange (and at first, a bit annoying) voice-over of the director, these 15 hours can be quite a joyful ride. It's a good start for opening your eyes to the wonders of the world cinema.
One Lithuanian critic recently said that nothing really interesting is happening in cinema, except in the documentary cinema. But maybe nothing really interesting is happening in the Western cinema (though I even doubt that), but there is plenty happening in the cinema of Africa, Middle East and Asia.
It is not that I've not found more about cinema. I did. Especially about the late Japanese, Korean, Chinese cinema. But this is only because I wasn't paying too much attention to it myself. (Not because I'm not interested, but because, unfortunatelly, I have only 24 hours a day).
But, for example, the cinema of the Middle East. From Iran he mentions only four directors: Forugh Farrokhzad (though I really like that he says that Iran is the only country in the world where the founding father of cinema is a woman:), Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abbas Kiarostami and Samira Makhmalbaf.
(This is the still of an amazing movie by the Iranian poet and filmmaker Forugh Farrokhzad "The House is Black (1963))
It is good he goes there and admires the work of these directors, but I'm carzy about the Iranian cinema for many years, so nothing new in this for me. What concerns the Palestinian cinema - he only briefly mentions the director Elia Suleiman and his movie "Divine Intervention". It is great that he mentions it, but Palestine has so much more to offer. On the other hand, there is nothing from Israel. Really? From Egypt he only mentions Youssef Chahine.
From Africa? Well, as always, Mark Cousins has to remember that Africa is not a country. And he mentions only few directors that you can know if only you read the article in the wikipedia: Ousmane Sembene (the founding father of the Black African cinema), Djibril Diop Mambety, Safi Faye - all from Senegal, and Ethiopian Haile Gerima. Nothing from now. But how about, at least, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun from Chad? His movie "A Screaming Man" is beyond great.
Nevertheless, it's not a bad movie. It charms because of its scope. The history is wide, not deep. And if you can survive the strange (and at first, a bit annoying) voice-over of the director, these 15 hours can be quite a joyful ride. It's a good start for opening your eyes to the wonders of the world cinema.
One Lithuanian critic recently said that nothing really interesting is happening in cinema, except in the documentary cinema. But maybe nothing really interesting is happening in the Western cinema (though I even doubt that), but there is plenty happening in the cinema of Africa, Middle East and Asia.
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