When the narrator began to speak I sat up in my chair and paid attention. No screwing around--this guy is speaking intelligently. And no apologies. No attempt to make it comfy for the fools in the audience. It's just him and me, having a conversation about film. A good conversation.
If some viewers are alienated by this, and can't follow it--tough. Go away if this is over your head. Wow. That was refreshing. After the past decade of watching The History Channel and PBS dumb down everything, making medieval armaments into a back-yard competition suitable for a tailgating party, or taking Napoleon or King Richard III and making them into mini-celebs, complete with "secrets" to be revealed (yow!) it felt like a cool drink of water after a long walk in the desert to actually hear a man speaking intelligently WITH NO REGARD FOR THE SLOW KIDS. I felt a warm glow in my heart. I felt a kind of bliss. I know that somewhere somebody is upset because it makes them feel bad to know that they'll never get it. And I know that a mere TV show shouldn't make people feel bad like that--in theory.
But is that really my problem? Should I care?
I never would have discovered the incredible films of Claire Denis without this series. I would not have been aware of the work of Yasujiro Ozu. I would not have bothered to see the masterpieces of Tarkovsky. I would have missed out on a real education on film. My understanding of film has been genuinely expanded, exponentially, by the work of Mark Cousins. This series is gold. Solid gold.
PBS used to show this kind of material, back when "American Experience" was "THE American Experience," and "Masterpiece" was "Masterpiece Theatre." What happened to that stuff? I used to enjoy watching Bill Buckley sparring with various "liberals." Now, anything intelligent is anti-American? How did this happen? We need more TV series like The Story of Film--many, many more.
If some viewers are alienated by this, and can't follow it--tough. Go away if this is over your head. Wow. That was refreshing. After the past decade of watching The History Channel and PBS dumb down everything, making medieval armaments into a back-yard competition suitable for a tailgating party, or taking Napoleon or King Richard III and making them into mini-celebs, complete with "secrets" to be revealed (yow!) it felt like a cool drink of water after a long walk in the desert to actually hear a man speaking intelligently WITH NO REGARD FOR THE SLOW KIDS. I felt a warm glow in my heart. I felt a kind of bliss. I know that somewhere somebody is upset because it makes them feel bad to know that they'll never get it. And I know that a mere TV show shouldn't make people feel bad like that--in theory.
But is that really my problem? Should I care?
I never would have discovered the incredible films of Claire Denis without this series. I would not have been aware of the work of Yasujiro Ozu. I would not have bothered to see the masterpieces of Tarkovsky. I would have missed out on a real education on film. My understanding of film has been genuinely expanded, exponentially, by the work of Mark Cousins. This series is gold. Solid gold.
PBS used to show this kind of material, back when "American Experience" was "THE American Experience," and "Masterpiece" was "Masterpiece Theatre." What happened to that stuff? I used to enjoy watching Bill Buckley sparring with various "liberals." Now, anything intelligent is anti-American? How did this happen? We need more TV series like The Story of Film--many, many more.