The Story of Film: An Odyssey - chapter 5,6

900 minutes of the most genuine of film magic is the result of Mark Cousin’s many years’ work as a director and film critic, and as someone whose heart beats with a love of cinema. The Story of Film – An Odyssey is, as the title suggests, a project looking back at the development of cinematography. The film is unique because the director has the language of the cinema at his very fingertips, understands it perfectly, and – even more importantly – speaks it. In relating a history of film that is full of historical incidents, accidents and interesting facts, the director doesn’t take the position of a documentary filmmaker, looking at it with a cold, clinical, eye, but rather incorporates cinematic styles and tricks. This is why Cousin’s film is not an aesthetically transparent school essay, but rather a true adventure, a journey through time and space. This project is the result of an incredible amount of work. Divided into 15 parts, the material takes us through 120 years of the complicated history of film reels (and then, later on, of memory cards). The size and scope of this project is a delight, but the magic key to the viewers’ heart is not just through ‘learning and lens,’ but through the director’s sensitivity. During the screening, it is easy to understand that, for Cousins, cinema is all and his love and passion is infectious.