Guy Debord's Society of the Spectacle

RECLAIMING CINEPHILIA
by Maude Michaud

——————-

For as long as I can remember, I have been a cinephile. Growing up, I would spend my days watching movies, avidly reading European film magazines and collecting specialty cards featuring silver screen celebrities from the turn of the last century up to the early-80s. I was always different from the other kids, often preferring the company of fictional characters I would meet in a darkened theatre to big group outings with people I had little in common with; occasionally I would meet someone else who shared my passion and we’d get lost in a blissful, never-ending discussion. Eventually, I came across the term ‘cinephile’ and embraced everything that it represents. It became part of my identity; I had finally found a way to describe myself.

Then, I’d say about two years ago, I started feeling that my cinephile identity had lost some of its meaning. I couldn’t quite figure out ‘how’ or ‘why’; I felt like it didn’t have the same impact to identify as such and I was often misunderstood or on the receiving end of broad assumptions.After a lot of pondering and discussions with my peers, it finally hit me: the word ‘cinephile’ has lost its true meaning and has instead become a trendy social tag or, even worse, a marketing buzzword.

I should have seen it coming; after all, in this age of state-of-the-art ‘home theatres’ and movie downloads, it was only a matter of time before Joe Anybody would start using ‘cinephile’ to express that fact that he likes watching movies. I am fully aware that, for many, it might seem like a trivial thing to get irked about, so let me explain. To me, being a cinephile is more than just enjoying movies. It’s about being in love with cinema, with the medium itself and everything it represents. It’s a small reminder, when you feel like an outcast for spending all your time in a darkened room, that there are other people in the world sharing the same passion. It’s a reward, a title you earn by devoting countless hours of your life watching, reading, studying, thinking, and even dreaming films. It also implies a degree of respect and devotion to the art form and a special relationship with the medium itself. It’s much more than just ‘liking movies’.

I thus propose to reclaim the term and redefine what it means to be a true cinephile. Judging from recent technological changes that threaten the medium and the way the industry is evolving toward putting the emphasis on multi-sensorial experiences rather than good storytelling, if there was ever a crucial time for true cinephiles to stand up and rally to fight for a common cause, it is now.

THE DEATH OF FILM

I never thought I would have said this in my lifetime, but we are currently witnessing the death of 35mm. The Lumière brothers must be rolling in their grave. I’m far from being a ‘techno-phobe’; in fact, I’m a loud advocate of the advantages of digital for independent filmmakers. After all, new digital technologies democratize the means of production while also making distribution easier and more accessible. But, honestly, do we need to completely destroy analogue technology? Couldn’t both technologies co-exist side by side?

There is hearsay that studios are destroying or throwing away their 35mm prints of popular titles, thus preventing film archives and collectors from getting their hands on these valuable historical artifacts. Imagine for a second a film school wants to rent a film print of, let’s say, Taxi Driver to show their students, but ends up receiving a Blu-Ray of the film because it’s more convenient. To me this is surreal.

Photo courtesy of Le Cineclub/The Film Society

I will not venture into the whole film vs. digital debate or discussions about film grain, resolution, colors, restorations, etc… Instead, I want to express that there is something magical about projected films; to this day, I haven’t found an experience that is comparable to the gleefulness I’ve felt whenever I would sit down in a darkened theatre and wait for the first frames to be projected. Sure, sometimes the film is out of focus, sometimes it’s not properly centered, there are scratches, dirt specs, etc… but these things are all part of the experience for me; they make it feel authentic, they give a soul to the film. Heck, I even love cue marks and always try to spot them. For me, all these things are part of cinephilia. To think that the next generations will probably never see a “reel” film projected in a theatre saddens me. How can we possibly study classic films if we’ve never seen what projected celluloid looks like? We seem to forget, but cinema is not just about storytelling; the medium itself is as important (if not more) than the films produced.

We can argue that cinephilia is mostly about watching (many/any) films, but I’d like to argue that the love of the medium also plays a crucial part. I became aware of the medium early on and it was one of the main reasons why I spent so many hours watching films in theatres and became fascinated with the process. Sure, being a cinephile is about loving film as an art form and appreciating films that mean something, that stand out because they are intelligent, different, daring, etc. However, I think it is also essential that the appreciation of the film medium becomes a criteria when identifying as a cinephile. After all, if it wasn’t for the medium, we’d still be attending stage plays and listening to radio drama.

MICRO-CINEMAS AND REP HOUSES

The current situation is that most movie theatre chains are going digital, the goal being for the exhibition industry to be fully digital by the end of 2014. Of course, this is a purely economic decision; in his article The Day the Movies Died (which I strongly recommend – http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201102/the-day-the-movies-died-mark-harris), Mark Harris aptly describes the vicious circle that influences the inner workings of the current Hollywood film industry. The grim portrait he paints is one of profits over quality, marketing over creativity. Cinema is no longer the 7^th art; it is merely another commodity to be mass consumed. As Mr. Harris points out, what do these changes mean for the future of films if greed and maximum profitability becomes the #1 motivation that dictates which production gets made?

Fortunately, there is hope. Micro-cinemas, film groups and repertory cinemas (or ‘rep houses’) are becoming part of urban landscapes as faithful film enthusiasts gather to indulge in their passion. Unlike multiplexes, the goal is to screen good (reel) films and allow cinephiles to get together and (re)discover essential classics or underground cult hits in the way they were meant to be seen. In a way, I would almost compare the experience to a rock concert: most of the people attending are familiar with the film playing, yet it might be the first time they ever get to see it projected.

Unfortunately, these organizations often have short lives as they depend on attendance to break-even and, as anyone can relate to, there is nothing worse than organizing an event and having no one show up. This is why it is crucial for cinephiles to encourage them and not just by subscribing to the mailing list or Facebook group; if anyone can help keep film (as a medium) alive, it’s this small group of hard working dedicated exhibitors but they need all the support they can get. They embody the last glimmer of hope for ‘analogue’ in this digital world.

Photo Courtesy of Le Cineclub/The Film Society

Similarly repertory cinemas have always been around to offer an alternative to the multiplexes. Whether it’s to watch a foreign film, a classic title recently restored or a retrospective of a filmmaker’s work, cinephiles could always rely on rep houses to offer what they are looking for. Unfortunately, this move to digital means it’s becoming harder for these cinemas to survive; if the programmers can only rent a Blu-Ray copy of classic titles, why would people bother to go out and pay to watch what is essentially the same copy they have at home?

Case in point, the Montreal landscape used to include many great rep cinemas, but has now been reduced to the Cinema du Parc (which has moved toward a more mainstream programming when compared to its heyday in the 90s), the Cinema Parallèle at the Ex-Centris Complex and the Cinemathèque Québécoise. However, we can consider ourselves lucky in terms of micro-cinemas and film groups as we currently have the Blue Sunshine Psychotronic Film Center (http://www.blue-sunshine.com), The Cinéclub: The Film Society (http://www.cineclubfilmsociety.com), the Black and White Film Foundation (http://www.blackandwhitefilmfoundation.com) and the experimental/expanded cinema programming put on by Double Negative , ICPCE and CinemaSpace. Other events sometimes pop up here and there, such as the 35mm screening of A Clockwork Orange at the Dollar Cinema last fall, so cinephiles have to keep their eyes wide open.

When I look at what happened with vinyl records and the way collectors kept the medium alive to the point where classic albums are currently reissued in this format, I can only hope that a similar fate awaits film. The documentary Blank City (http://blankcityfilm.com), which is currently touring the festival circuit, suggests a fetishization of the 16mm medium, while The Rep (http://www.therepseries.com), an interesting web-series about The Toronto Underground Cinema, questions the cultural relevance of repertory cinema. Perhaps they will inspire newer generations to take a more active role?

Coming back to cinephilia, I hear more and more people calling themselves cinephiles when they only watch popular Blockbusters on their flat screen TV with a big sound system. To me, these are not cinephiles, they are people who enjoy watching movies. This is why, in light of this text, I urge true cinephiles to stand up and fight; reclaim your cinephile identity, fight for your right to watch ‘reel’ film, and please be pro-active by supporting those who are trying to keep celluloid alive – you’d be surprised of the impact you can have. United, we might be able to make a small difference and help re-encode what cinema should be: watching a film in a theatre should not be about consuming a product, it should feel like going to the museum and appreciating the artwork for what it is and what it is trying to say.

—————–

Check out recent articles about The Alamo Drafthouse’s 2011 profit report, when every other theatre chain recorded record losses:

“Box office fix: More Fun, Fewer Cellphones”: http://www.hlntv.com/article/2012/01/06/box-office-decline-response-alamo-drafthouse-cinema

“Alamo Drafthouse Schools Box Office”: http://badassdigest.com/2012/01/05/alamo-drafthouse-schools-box-office/