quote:

Need to know

Most people like movies. After all, 50 years before television became a dominant fixture in many homes, the cinema had established itself as the great popular medium of the 20th century. Some – myself included – go further, and refer to cinema as the previous century’s greatest and most popular artform. Others, especially if their experience of movies has been limited to what’s available at the local multiplex or what’s on offer from Netflix or Disney, might raise an eyebrow at such a claim. Artform? Aren’t movies just about entertainment, a distraction from the daily grind?

Well, no, not entirely. If your film-watching life has been shaped exclusively by the programming of the major cinema chains and global online platforms, you could be forgiven for thinking that most films are American (or at least in English), that with few exceptions they were made in the past few decades, and that they are the perfect accompaniment to a tub of popcorn. But that’s a huge distortion – in fact, movie-making is an international phenomenon that began long before Marvel kicked off. Long before the original Star Wars, even. Film has been with us for more than 125 years. The contemporary mainstream is just the tip of a massive cinematic iceberg.

There is, and has always been, far more to the movies than action spectaculars, thrillers and feelgood romances. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with such films – there are excellent, terrible and middling examples of every kind of movie – and we should never underestimate the appeal of escapism. Fantasy has been an important element of the cinematic offer ever since Georges Méliès delighted audiences with his trick films back in the late 1890s and early 1900s – and his influence lives on today. Méliès was referenced in Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! (2001) and in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo (2011); his best-known film, the delightfully imaginative Le Voyage dans la Lune (1902), can be found on YouTube.

But there’s more to life than escapism, and film has reflected that. There have always been filmmakers concerned with pondering the realities of everyday life; with looking at and portraying the world with curiosity and compassion. (I am not merely alluding to documentaries, but to all kinds of films.) In the right hands, a movie can touch us – emotionally and intellectually, culturally and philosophically – in ways mostly neglected by the mainstream ‘product’ churned out as if on a conveyor belt, its raison d’être not artistic worth but profit.

If you’ve felt that frustrating sense of déjà vu as you work your way through yet another romcom or superhero movie, you may be curious to explore what else is out there. At the same time, perhaps you’re not sure where to start – if so, this Guide is for you.