The story of film: a new generation is a documentary directed and narrated by Irish director Mark Cousins. It was released in 2021 and explores the staying power of modern movies. Cousins also released the wonderful 2011 documentary miniseries The story of film: an odyssey, which explored the genesis of cinema and provides a vast amount of information for any movie buff to enjoy. He then made a documentary series about female filmmakers, women make moviesan epic 14-hour account of women’s contributions to cinema.
The story of film: a new generation doesn’t shy away from the dark side of cinema and how corporate greed exploits celebrities and the technological achievements of cinema to make money. That said, Cousins’ new documentary is one of the best about the medium ever made.
The story of movie focuses on audience reactions and their relationship with the screen. This relationship has been around since the earliest days of movie history. After all, history has spawned film through great inventions and international conflict. It was unheard of to see the events of a war on televisions and movie screens across the country. However, all over the world, movie cameras were taken to show stories of fiction and non-fiction. The documentary uses historical contexts and detailed informational formatting to tell a brilliant film story.
separated into two parts, The story of movie is an organized video essay that is similar in format to Mark Cousins’ other documentary series. What differs is the use of contemporary archive footage of modern films such as Frozen and Under the skin. The aim is to continue the conversation about how technology and storytelling have changed cinema in our time.
What we want, when we want it
Perhaps the most powerful moment in this epic documentary film is Mark Cousins’s conversation about streaming with the audience. Modern cinema is now within reach. Cousins explains how streaming has given power back to the public. His 2011 documentary miniseries showed how studios have become juggernaut in the game of movie watching.
However, according to Cousins, power is back in the hands of the viewers. We have the ability to watch what we want, when we want it. Movies today have used the handheld format to take full features of an iPhone’s lens. Changing technology and viewing options have really changed movies as we know them. However, the genres themselves have continued to evolve over the decades. As we discuss the 2018 Netflix movie “Choose Your Own Adventure” Black mirror: Bandersnatch, Cousins summarizes what modern cinema does for the audience:
“The movie didn’t take us anywhere, we took it somewhere.”
Genres that push boundaries
The story of film: a new generation explores contemporary films and their ability to break convention. Comedy movies like Deadpool and Olivia Wilde’s smart book are shown with Cousins’ commentary on how violence and adolescent experience complement their multifaceted genres. From comedy, Cousins jumps to drama and action to show how visual storytelling has evolved in the modern day. George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road is shown to demonstrate how color and automated images complement the larger-scale production values displayed on screen.
The complex documentary shows how different genres push the boundaries of new age cinema. Using groundbreaking elements from films of the past, Cousins shows that cinema’s hold on audiences has essentially not changed. But in the 21st century, the presentation has changed. Specifically in recent years, the public has been confined to their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The documentary explores how film has changed and in some ways evolved after the world came to a standstill.
Horror has changed according to The story of movie
The story of movie gives a powerful take on modern horror. Cousins shows films by Jennifer Kent and Ari Aster and how they pioneered a new era of terror on screen. Movies like The Babadook and Midsommar use cinematically powerful tools, from vibrant colors and intense emotions to unconventional angles and all-encompassing scores. Cousin uses these films to show how contemporary horror is entering what many call “exalted horror.”
The most prominent note of this segment of Cousin’s documentary shows the audience’s visual representation of metaphors and fears and how this is displayed on screen. Movies like It follows and U.S give audiences a powerful sense of dread by twisting our world, and the doc likens them to early 20th-century movies.
Structural inertia
A24
This part of the documentary explains a new idea of slowness in film through independent cinema. Contemporary cinema, according to Cousins, has taken the time to show empathetic characters in real time. The film does an excellent job of explaining this phenomenon of cinema, where it has come as close to realism as it could possibly be. There is a description of several films that use limited artificial lighting and music. The use of silence evokes tension and connects the fabric between the fantasy world on screen and the real dramas of the audience. The film is groundbreaking at its best. Silence appears to have had the greatest impact on creating something the public has never seen before.
What this documentary also achieves is a conversation between film and viewer. Cousins sometimes ask themselves (and the audience) rhetorical questions while archive footage plays on. This commentary shows how much effort Cousins has put into this extensive exploration of contemporary movies. These questions are purposeful and will not go unanswered.
Mark Cousins and The Story of Film
Mark Cousins is the director of many acclaimed documentaries, including: The Eyes of Orson Welles, the first movie, and the above Women make film: a new road movie through the cinema. Cousins is known for diving into the past, present and potential future of cinema. He is not only a documentary maker, but also a film lover and historian.
The director and narrator really understands movies and their metaphorical nature. He explores contemporary cinema with effortless, almost scientific detail. He explores each film in a video essay format. He tells with such precision that he clarifies each sequence didactically. Much thought is given to Cousins’ analysis of modern cinema. He often compares films from the past decades with those from the early days of the art form. This contrast shows how elements of cinema have been consistent in their coverage but differ in technical application.
The filmmaker has made a documentary for all film fans. While the Story of movie The 2011 miniseries focuses on the historical context of cinema’s advancement, its 2021 version explores genres and groundbreaking over the past decade. It is still presented in a way that resembles an audiobook read to the public, with a perfect montage that uses the images of phenomenal movies to prove its point.
There is also an equal representation of movies around the world. While American cinema is so accessible to many on a daily basis, this documentary shows that there are just as many (if not more) films about the seas that push the boundaries of modern filmmaking and that are sometimes overlooked or unnoticed. At the end of the day, The story of film: a new generation is a hopeful, exciting epic that reflects on the contemporary state of cinema.