It makes perfect sense that the best essays about film are, themselves, on film. They're an acquired taste, of course, and so it's quite reasonable of me to state that the best films, period, are not essays about film. Mark Cousins' examination of and rumination upon children in film has little purpose beyond explicating Cousins' knowledge of his subject, and his sure grasp of the art of filmmaking, even if he displays little of that in his own contributions to this largely clip-based documentary. Indeed, this examination is most exhaustive, but while that makes it full of detail, it also deprives it of breadth and scope. The topic here is children in film, more so than children and film, and the social and cultural effects of film on the youth is left unexplored. Still, Cousins is able to sustain interest in his film, despite its limitations, purely on the vast library of cinematic information he possesses in his head: films from Girish Kasaravalli's The Ritual to Steven Spielberg's E.T., from Karel Kachyna's Long Live the Republic to Vincente Minnelli's Meet Me in St. Louis, from Kira Muratova's Melody for a Street Organ to Ozu Yasujiro's An Inn in Tokyo are discussed, and all featured, though many without subtitles (this, more than anything, feels like an exercise in belittling those who might require them, since it serves no discernible purpose otherwise). Cousins is a reliable narrator in terms of his knowledge and his writing, but intolerable in terms of his vocal tone. Half a star deducted for that voice alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment