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A close friend recommends a film. You decide to watch it. Then the process begins: What do you do before you watch any film? We all do the same things — though you may not realize you are doing it. You make guesses about the film. And your guesses are based on combinations of the following:

• Tastes of the person recommending the film.
• What you know about the film director and featured actors.
• The film’s title.
• Previews & adverts.
• Maybe — you read the book.

And — if it is a commercial film — one made to attract large audiences all over the world — you, in fact, already know a whole bunch about what the film will be about, because you know about the following:

• The film genre — cowboy / romance / war / horror
• How conventional films tell stories.
• The film’s star actors.
• The film’s title.
• The film’s director.
• The person recommending the film.

On the other hand, if the film you are about to watch is created by a director who is not concerned so much with box office draw — a director whose goal is to create an artistic statement using the tools of cinema — sight and sound — in that case, you will know very little about what you are going to see.

As a film of this second sort fills the screen before you, the now and here evaporate and a world never experienced envelops you — an original, unseen world created by a film artist. Of course, this new world can be difficult; after all, you have never encountered this sort of film; it may be just too difficult or confusing or scary. At this point, you have two basic choices — to oppose the strange and give up. Or engage in a struggle.

If you give up it might be because you:

• Have expectations of what a film should be — this film is not that.
• Wanted to be entertained — to be placed in a pleasant recognizable dream — this film is not that.
• Are challenged by the film’s complexity and the unknown — maybe the unknowable.
• Are experiencing uncomfortable feelings; these are uncharted waters.
• Have certain world views that are contradicted by this film.

It is quite reasonable to check out early and find something more enjoyable to do with your time.

Of course you could decide to struggle with this second sort of film because you see it as an opportunity. You could decide to settle into a new challenge and accept the confusion and uncomfortable feelings. You could settle into the struggle and watch and listen and observe and wait on making judgements. And when the film is over and the struggle continues, you could walk around with the images lingering in your mind, and let those images and sounds and lines settle in your thoughts. At which point you might, eventually, see connections and rethink the film and yourself within the film.

Are you a Cinéphile?

Perhaps it is not cinema that has ended but only cinéphilia — the name of the very specific kind of love that cinema inspired. … It was born of the conviction that cinema was an art unlike any other: quintessentially modern; distinctively accessible; poetic and mysterious and erotic and moral — all at the same time.

Susan Sontag  “The Decay of Cinema.” The New York Times Magazine.  Feb. 25, 1996.

Are you a lover of film? If so, what is that love? It has got to be more than a desire for an exciting “roller coaster ride” through a meticulously designed adventure in which movement and sound envelopes the eye and ear and leaves you exhilarated but in the end empty of anything more than a thrilled response — “That was great! Lot’s of fun!!”

Many of the elements that define cinema as I know it are there in Marvel pictures. What’s not there is revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger. Nothing is at risk. The pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.

“Martin Scorsese Compares Marvel Movies to Theme Parks: ‘That’s Not Cinema’”

When I became a cinéphile — I was studying for my doctorate in theatre and film studies. Stanley Kaufmann — for many years the film critic for The New Republic journal — was the instructor. He screened L’Eclisse[1962] directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. This viewing initiated my deep appreciation of the art of cinema. The film is about a handsome, young stockbroker [Alain Delon] who lives to make money — lot’s of money. Those around him have the same goal — including the mother of the woman with whom he has an affair [Monica Vitti]. The film is about more than that; after all, it is an Antonioni film.

I clearly remember that when the film was over and my classmates were leaving, I was in a sort of shock, a daze, glued to my chair.

The final 7 minutes of mostly static shots were so unusual — so riveting in their simplicity and rawness — so revelatory of human existence in the modern age. These shots embraced a physicality that put into relief the loneliness and isolation that is a part of all of us.

For the most part we watch a film to escape those moments of deep realization. But — the final shots of L’Eclisse shook me out of my day-to-day sleepwalk. And — I could not move. The great films can do that. Film can be art, and sometimes film can be “soul-filling” and change a life.

After that I was not satisfied with films that only entertain. I needed more films like L’Eclisse.

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