‘The Story of Film: A New Generation’ Review: The Case for Modern Movies

A decade after presenting a guided tour of cinema historical past within the 15-hour docuseries “The Story of Movie: An Odyssey,” the filmmaker and critic Mark Cousins checks in on current developments in “The Story of Movie: A New Technology.”

This newest installment is a gratifyingly worldwide survey during which Cousins, who narrates, applies his analytical eye to motion pictures which are nonetheless settling within the thoughts. In case you really feel such as you haven’t totally absorbed such vital movies as Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Cemetery of Splendour” (2016) or Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” (2019), Cousins’s consideration of their visible methods will make you wish to watch them once more.

Cousins’s assessments provide lots to argue with, but it surely’s doable to take pleasure in “A New Technology” with out agreeing that “Booksmart” “extends the world of movie comedy,” as he claims, or {that a} shot in “It Follows” deserves comparability to the camerawork in Michael Snow’s landmark experimental movie “La Région Centrale.”

Regardless of main with “Joker” and “Frozen,” Cousins goes effectively past titles acquainted to western audiences, with Indian cinema (“Gangs of Wasseypur,” “Purpose”) coming in for specific reward. He additionally highlights works that check the boundaries of what qualifies as cinema — Beyoncé’s visible album “Lemonade,” Tsai Ming-liang’s virtual-reality experiment “The Abandoned” and the interactive “Bandersnatch” episode of “Black Mirror.”

If something, technological shifts — there’s dialogue of the iPhone-shot “Tangerine,” and of “Leviathan,” during which, in response to Cousins, the filmmakers literalized the idea of a fisheye lens by attaching cameras to fish — get quick shrift. When Cousins says that lockdown gave folks time to look at “much more motion pictures,” and that “when public life returned, we marched to the flicks once more,” his “we” doesn’t totally comport with field workplace realities. “A New Technology” means to look ahead to a vivid way forward for moviemaking, but it surely’s doable it’s a future that won’t come to go.

The Story of Movie: A New Technology
Not rated. Working time: 2 hours 40 minutes. In theaters.