When moviegoers attend a film, what do they long for? Movie critic Mark Cousins’s documentary The Story of Film: A New Generation seems to believe the moviegoer longs to be hypnotized by the visual, to be brought into an otherworldly experience and a dreamlike state of experience and revelation. In this film which Cousins both writes, directs, and narrates, he examines how the past decade has stretched the storytelling boundaries of film and transformed the creative nature of filmmaking.
Moving beyond the boundaries of location, Cousins emphasizes the transformation in genre, theme, and medium, incorporating a diverse cinematic repertoire to reveal how audiences are being recaptured by the visual and encountering revelation in new ways.
Throughout the documentary, Cousins provides a detailed analysis of film and its elements through voiceover. From comedy to action, from musical to horror, and more, Cousins reveals threads of the cinematic tapestry that have been woven together in new contexts while imaging past films. Cousins is not limited by a specific style of filmmaking and considers films from all areas of the world, and all types of creators.
This diversity of film types and examples coupled with his discerning commentary is the greatest strength of Cousins’s documentary. For Cousins, there is no “Hollywood” or “foreign film” divide, blockbuster or indie—he provides a refined blend of films that are pushing the film industry forward with their innovations in narrative and technology.
For the movie critic, Cousins’ documentary provides an intense and insightful analysis of the variety of genres and mediums that have morphed over the past decades. For movie enthusiasts, Cousins delivers a dynamic range of films that push the boundaries of traditional conceptions of film genres and filmmaking. For the casual moviegoer, Cousins offers an informative documentary that charts the transformation in filmmaking while linking these innovations with the film tradition of old.
While the documentary may seem extensive in length, Cousins keeps the documentary’s momentum moving forward through his variety of analyses. All moviegoers would benefit from Mark Cousins’s documentary which delivers on its title: A Story of Film: A New Generation.
What academic subjects would this film be suitable for?
This would be an excellent overview film of cinema in the last decade for any film class.
What type of college/university professors would find this title valuable?
A college professor teaching film studies or film production classes would find this film invaluable for overviewing film at the start or the end of a course. In addition, because the documentary is in two parts, the professor has the discretion of breaking the length of the documentary to manageable class time or only showing a certain half for specific purposes.
What schools or colleges is this [documentary, narrative, etc.] film appropriate for?
This film documentary would be appropriate for a college setting because of the mature content of some film shots. If you are an academic librarian or film educator, consider adding this title to your film collection or syllabus.