Interesting..... - The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) Discussion

[–] mizhelenuk 13 years ago

Agree wholeheartedly. I found him so off-putting with his hesitant, pretentious style and deadening tone that I had to switch it off, which is a shame as the series is fascinating.

http://www.thedougjonesexperience.com

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[–] pick_bass 13 years ago

i have to agree, as much as i was looking forward t this series, it hasput me off it...i am hoping that the eras in which i take most interest (the years that david lynch and kubrick were active) that there will be more intervies and less narration

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The Good the Bad and the Ugly is the greatest movie ever made...

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[–] swaroberts 13 years ago

What a damn shame. The content is very interesting but the style and delivery make it unwatchable. I watched half an hour of the first episode but had to stop because it's just so awfully presented and filmed.
For someone who seems to know a lot about film (and he genuinely does!) Cousins doesn't seem to realise how important good narration is.
What a missed opportunity, maybe it can be dubbed and re-released.

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[–] Digbotron 13 years ago

I honestly, feel ashamed, to be Nothern Iriiish, after thaat.....? I hope, everyone, doesn't think, we aaall.....talk like that?

But seriously, i thought it was atrocious(of what i've seen anyway), the guy may know his stuff but he certainly doesn't do a good job of showing it and usually comes off as pretentious and contrarian simply for the sake of it, dismissing much-loved films in lieu of almost unheard of foreign films that he assures us, in that deathly drone of his, are much better in every conceivable way, though none are given, that we know nothing and that our taste is quite simply wrong and uncultured.

For the most part it seems like an unadulterated ego trip and an opportunity to show off how worldly and knowledgeable he is and that he is simply blessing us with the chance to bask in his glory. Pretentious git. What's the point of compiling a 15 hour documentary if you're simply going to ruin it like that, just get Kenneth Branagh like everyone else and shut up for now Mark

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[–] TrevorAclea 13 years ago

It's all too easy to see why it's been buried on a digital channel with low viewing figures rather than given a proper terrestrial TV screening. But perhaps the most bizarre feature is the way Cousins' distracted narration doesn't just rewrite history in his own image but frequently seems to mangle and reinvent the English language by using words not just out of context but to mean something completely different to what they actually mean (such as his bizarre definition of 'classic' as a kind of formal, almost architectural design rather than something widely regarded as being of the highest quality). He's so hung up on semantics, and pretty bizarre and impenetrable semantics at that, that he simply fails to communicate.

"Security - release the badgers."

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[–] HarryPowell 13 years ago

What is wrong with you people?!

From
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/2011/09/24/orgiastic_od yssey_mark_cousins_the_story_of_film/#
(remove any gaps that appear in the link for it to work)

" If I wasn’t already a rabid cinephile, exposure to Mark Cousins’ orgiastic The Story of Film: An Odyssey would turn me into one. I’d been looking forward to seeing the two-day screenings, eight hours on Saturday and seven on Sunday, since I caught a scant hour of it in Telluride, shown on an ordinary flat screen in a back room of an art gallery. But, over two days immersed in its entirety, I’m overwhelmed by its richness, depth, and philosophy. Cousins’ pleasing Irish brogue seduces as he narrates the entire 15 hours, a personal take on film history that will dazzle the neophyte but also holds surprises for the most devoted film geek. I already know I have a weakness for clip shows, but this is no mere clip show: it’s wittily written and the new footage shot all over the world (hence the “odyssey”) is meditative and cinematic in its own right.

I immediately want to watch it over again, in smaller gulps, hopefully interspersed with re-visiting some of the hundreds if not thousands of the movies it alludes to. I feel like I’ve saved the best for last: The Story of Film: An Odyssey, not only reminds me of why I fell in love with film in the first place, it also reminds me of why I make the annual trek to Toronto .... "

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[–] TrevorAclea 13 years ago

It's more a case of what is wrong with the series, which is like being trapped in a lift with someone with a far from pleasing drone tying himself up in impenetrable and excessive language to hide the facile content of many of his observations and assertions. At times it's hard to know who the show is aimed at, since it's clearly not in any way intended for a mainstream audience for whom some of what he shows might be new but doesn't really elaborate much on the kind of aspects that the audience it does have already knows.

"Security - release the badgers."

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] simplemines 11 years ago

Digbotron, LOL and bravo! Perfect post!

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[–] grumpy-12 13 years ago

Cousin's narration is beyond irritating, it's downright infuriating.
The first intelligent documentary series about film for years and, frankly, it's been ruined.
Whilst Cousins is predictably dismissive about the Hollywood studio system, it would sure as hell have guaranteed a narrator you could listen to.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] grumpy-12 13 years ago

Give me a break.
"NOBODY talks like that".

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] swaroberts 13 years ago

It's a documentary. Documentaries stand or fall on their script and narration, not on their content. Look for example at 'Loose Change' - the subject and level of research are laughable but it has a huge following (and an IMDB rating of over 7) because it's well narrated and reasonably well written.

In contrast this has interesting subject matter but is just awfully written and dreadfully narrated.

As I stated in a post earlier in this thread, he obviously knows about cinema, and I had really looked forward to it but his mangling of the english language, misuse of grammar and completely bizarre delivery render it, to my ears, unlistenable-to. That's not narrow-mindedness, it's just a fact, which many other posters on here seem to agree with.

Narrow mindedness would be if we disliked it bcause it offered views which we disagreed with, not because it's badly presented and written.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] swaroberts 13 years ago

Sadly lots of things get comissioned that are badly written, just check out the bottom 100 IMDB titles. Since it's a few weeks since I watched it I'm afraid I can't come up with a specific example of bad grammar, but you would only have to watch the first one for a few minutes to find such an example.

Like you say: 'different strokes for different folks' (to paraphrase) - you love this. That's fine, and I'm delighted that someone is getting something out of it, but as you acknowledge, it seems that most people posting here can't stand the delivery/writing.

What's a bit odd is the IMDB score of 8.0 - obviously a lot of people must like it but they're just not very vocal on this discussion group.

C'mon people that gave this a high star rating - post here and help out crusher with his defence of this.

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[–] HarryPowell 13 years ago

As you have noted, the rating is high but most of the comments on here are negative.

Why do you think that is?

Could it be because most of the criticisms here have been factually incorrect and/or inane and/or betray some kind of prejudice irrelevant to the series in question?

I'm guessing that is why you are getting virtually no attention from those who love the series. They have more productive things to do with their time.

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[–] TrevorAclea 13 years ago

Or you could notice that one third of the votes rate it 5 stars or under (with only a third giving it the highest rating) and that the majority of the votes on reviews - which are split between love it (two first-time reviewers) and hate it (two reviewers who have a history of reviews) - are overwhelmingly in favor of the hate its. Even the rather sad 58 votes in total implies that even by More4's standards, the show is pulling in such poor ratings that no-one cares it even exists - the cinematic non-event of the year, perhaps.

As for factually incorrect and/or inane and/or betraying some kind of irrelevant prejudice, that sums up Cousins' tortuous stream-of-conciousness approach to his material perfectly.

Either way, you're not making a case for the series' claimed greatness, merely expressing your contempt for those left unimpressed by it.

"Security - release the badgers."

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[–] swaroberts 13 years ago

HarryPowell > "Could it be because most of the criticisms here have been factually incorrect and/or inane and/or betray some kind of prejudice irrelevant to the series in question?"

I kind of doubt that. The facts in the negative criticisms are:

1. His delivery is hard to listen to. - That's certainly correct in my case, so isn't factually incorrect.
2. The opinions are pretentious - not one of my criticisms, but people have said it. I don't think that this can be proven to be correct or incorrect as it's an opinion.
3. His use of language is bizarre. - That's certainly true too. In fact there have been several quotes from the programme here that demonstrate this.

I'm not sure what prejudice you're thinking about? Anti-gay? Anti-Irish? Anti-Filmmaker?
I'm certainly not anti-gay or anti-Irish. My partner is from Co Monaghan, and one of my best friends is from Belfast. I have plenty of gay friends too so probably the only one I can't prove is that I'm anti-filmmaker as I have only met one real filmmaker. (I liked him by the way)

Really it's hard to prove factual correctness or incorrectness when the criticisms levelled at this are that it's hard to watch/listen to as that's a matter of opinion, not a matter of fact.

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[–] FortySecondStreetFreak 13 years ago

You're wrong.

It does take a bit of getting used to.
But the sheer love and knowledge of all aspects of global cinema drips from the series and after the first episode you should be used to the delivery, appreciate the love in that delivery, and be going along with it.

Anything else shows a blinkered, shallow, attitude.

www.beardyfreak.com

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[–] TrevorAclea 13 years ago

I think More4 may be getting the message - the original trailers for the show were narrated by Cousins but they've used a different narrator with a neutral accent for the latest batch of promos to air.

"Security - release the badgers."

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[–] pothos6566 13 years ago

I do not think the problem is his accent as more his ability to slow his speach down to an unatural level. I have heard him interviewed on radio and his voice sounded much more natural than in this show.

As for the content he has angered me with his dismissal of certain movies and opened my eyes to the wonders of others. I find he falls into the Kermode style of I know this is a work of genious and you are all wrong too much for my liking.

Compare his approach to say Paul Merton who earlier this year on the BBC enlighted me on the history of early cinema. His approach seemed more about sharing his enthusiasm and explaining the birth of cinema without a hint of making the viewer feel like an idiot.

J

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[–] TrevorAclea 13 years ago

On the plus side he doesn't go into lengthy Kermode style rants where he's basically saying the same thing over and over again for five minutes while getting increasingly irritated - jut as well, because at his unnatural pace it'd take the whole episode - but he does seem to share Kermode's disinterest in doing his basic homework about fairly simple facts because he thinks his opinion is far more interesting than getting bogged down in 'details.'

"Security - release the badgers."

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[–] paulparker77 13 years ago

I seem to be alone in my enjoyment of Cousins' commentary.

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[–] Steve Crook 13 years ago

I seem to be alone in my enjoyment of Cousins' commentary.

Not at all.

Most of the opinions here do seem to be against the series, often just for his accent. But then I counted the number of people who were pro or anti, not just the number of posts they made

Steve

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[–] CGA_Soupdragon 11 years ago

I simply love the series and am totally happy that the person behind it is leading us through it. It's a marvellous trek through world cinema. Thank god, I have tapped into Ozu's magnificent set of films and am open minded about film as art. Go Cousins! :)

Nobody's perfect!

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[–] Mikey-Mike 11 years ago

I found the narration started to blend into the background soundtrack after a while, so it was very hard to make out what was being said. "Hollywood" had James Mason as a narrator, surely there is someone else out there who could do a better job on this one.

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