The Story of Film: A New Generation

2021

Action / Documentary

11
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 93% · 30 reviews
IMDb Rating 7.2/10 10 952 952

Plot summary

The final chapter of his exceptional 15-part documentary exploring the history of cinema, The Story of Film: An Odyssey. Mark Cousins builds a bridge between the “before” of the health crisis, and the “after”.

Director

Mark Cousins Photo
Mark Cousins

Top cast

Mark Cousins Photo
Mark Cousins as Narrator
720p.BluRay 720p.WEB 1080p.BluRay 1080p.WEB
1.5 GB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 46 min
Seeds 2
1.43 GB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
2 hr 39 min
Seeds 4
3.08 GB
1920*1072
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
2 hr 46 min
Seeds 5
2.95 GB
1920*1072
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
25 fps
2 hr 39 min
Seeds 2

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by jorgen_eg 5 / 10

Ramblings on Film: A Disappointment

I was excited when I discovered the existence of this sequel to "The Story of Film: An Odyssey" at the library. Unfortunately, it comes nowhere near the greatness of the original series, as it's a thinly connected mess of little coherence. I was excited to see the last decade of cinema summed up and have lines and threads I might not have thought about before drawn up for me, but unfortunately there are few big lines to see throughout the film. Cousin's just rambles on from one thing to the next, connecting the films only by his own stream of consciousness. For the most part, he just narrates what's going on onscreen in a single scene he's decided to feature, without telling you why this film is of any interest at all. There are some parts that connect more than others, and after talking about "The Look of Silence" and "The Act of Killing", he keeps his act together for a while, before the film starts rambling again. Unlike the original series, I haven't gotten the urge to watch a lot of the films I hadn't seen before, because the film gives me too little insight into what's good about the films, or why they're important.
Reviewed by samnaji-15383 5 / 10

A love letter to Mark Cousins, by Mark Cousins

This film is really an essay by Mark Cousins, on the films he has watched in the last 20 years and what he thinks about them. There is little in the way of actual insight. I found it useful to find new films which look interesting, films that either passed me by or I did not hear of. In that way I am grateful to be introduced to The Kidnappers, Cemetery of Splendour, Theorem, November, It Follows, Norte, An Elephant Sitting Still, About Leila and The Pearl Button.For an analysis of 21st Century films released this essay was very wanting. There was no rhyme or rhythm to the structure. Many times it was a case of Cousins saying "look at this", "look at that", "isn't that smart". That kind of investigation can only go so far until you realise it is just a collage of film snippets that look great.For a better analysis of film, I recommend the BritBox exclusive Reel Britannia which looks into British films by decade between the 1960s and 1990s. That is a clever concept as the stop gaps are the decade themselves and the TV show elaborately picks a subject or genre and discusses with more depth than this film.A lot of people have criticised Cousins dry delivery in his narration. Personally, I did not mind it, although it does put into mind it is not so much what he says, which is actually not that interesting, but the way he says it. Some people may confuse slow delivery with deftness. I came away with the impression this film is limited by what Cousins saw and he has not seen.It is really a love note to himself.This is a documentary that taught me next to nothing.
Read more IMDb reviews

4 Comments

Be the first to leave a comment