{"id":4791,"date":"2013-01-13T16:24:07","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T23:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sisterrosemovies\/?p=4791"},"modified":"2013-01-17T10:19:06","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T17:19:06","slug":"want-to-be-a-film-critic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/sisterrosemovies\/2013\/01\/want-to-be-a-film-critic\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to be a film critic?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When I watch films for review I am attracted by two elements: relationships and mystery. Relationships between people, communities, or nations in this universe and beyond, or a mixture of any and all. The conflicts that provide the drama and drive the action can be resolved in so many ways but I am always looking at the human struggle and the human and Gospel values that underpin the resolution of the conflict or the denouement.<\/p>\n

I am always looking for grace \u2013 for the characters and for myself. I delight in discovering seeds of the Gospel in film, \u201choly moments\u201d as the French Catholic film critic Andre Bazin (1918 \u2013 1958) identifies when talking about the incarnational aspects of cinema.<\/p>\n

There have been many teachers in my life in movies. The great American Catholic novelist, Flannery O\u2019Connor (1925 \u2013 1964) once wrote about her art: good art makes good religion; good religion makes good art. The famed American painter that fused representation with the abstract, Georgia O\u2019Keefe (1887 \u2013 1986), once wrote that \u201cTrue art irritates.\u201d The question of discerning what films are good art is what film critics try to decide. Interpreting or finding meaning in cinema stories is a journey in itself. I believe that good, intelligent people can look at the same film and understand it differently. This means I am required to be satisfied with ambiguity because grace if often encountered in uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Rev. Peter Malone, MSC (with whom I have co-authored the Lights, Camera\u2026 Faith<\/em> series from Pauline Books & Media<\/a>), is an internationally known influential Catholic film writer, or \u201cmediator\u201d as he likes to call himself. Peter taught me that we will not wilt in the face of our humanity. Blessed James Alberione, SSP, (1884 \u2013 1971) the founder of my religious congregation, the Daughters of St. Paul<\/a>, believed that all media present us with the joys and pains of all human living so that we might walk in the footsteps of our brothers and sisters. This empathy is the human foundation of Christian life and spirituality.<\/p>\n

The great themes of Catholic social teaching<\/a> also make a fine lens for reviewing, critiquing or mediating films: human dignity, universal distribution of goods, solidarity\/community, subsidiarity, care for the earth, the preferential option for the poor. Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s latest encyclical \u201cCaritas in Veritatae\u201d elaborates on these principles in ways that makes the document an excellent guide to the cinema of human experience.<\/p>\n

I do not care for \u201cmessage\u201d films. I find these tedious and patronizing because they leave no room for the moral or Catholic imagination to engage in the character\u2019s journey. The content takes precedence over the context leaving the story dry and spiritless. Message movies are \u201cuseful\u201d perhaps but \u201cuseful\u201d has no place in the universe of authentic cinema. Movies are not made for Sunday school, though they often compliment teaching and the Word of God.<\/p>\n

At its heart, cinema is about feeling life deeply. For this, deep viewing is required. I want to savor the ah-ha moments and let the transcendent language of film art wrap itself around my soul. When this happens, the reviews write themselves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Want to be a film critic?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Young adults frequently ask me how to critique films. Here are some suggestions that I shared with my niece Jamie when she was discerning a post-graduate career. Jamie is a gifted writer; she has essayed her way out of student credit card debt (twice), got published in the Boston Globe when she was fifteen (and got paid for it!), and just landed a huge scholarship based on an interview and a killer essay \u2013 for nursing school at a major Catholic university. I hope she will continue writing as her new vocation permits.<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Watch a lot of movies \u2013 begin with the American Film Institute<\/a>\u2019s top ten films in each genre or their top 100. Include Movieline<\/a> Magazine\u2019s \u00a0top 100 international films, too. These form a point of reference that transcends generations and audiences.\u00a0 Most of the Vatican\u2019s List of 45 Important Films<\/a>\u00a0 on religion, values, and art, are on these lists as well. (They skipped films made by women directors but you can add these.) \u00a0The memoir Film Club<\/a> by David Gilmour is a must; he is a film critic who used films with his teenaged son when the young man told his dad he wanted to quit school. Three films a week \u00a0for three years and yes, his son (finally) wanted to go to college. Click here for Gilmour\u2019s filmography<\/a>. Know what makes these films great stories.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Know storytelling and film, study film history, understand genre and how cinema works as art and movies as consumer products; how cinema functions in the person, in audiences and society; understand the commercial\/consumer\/profit aspects well.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Interrogate films; ask questions\u00a0(e.g. the U.S. Military consulting on films \u2013 how does this change what the film means<\/em>? Does it?)<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Write every day (even if not for publication). Minimum: 250 words.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Develop criteria, a point of view; a unique perspective that unifies your life experience, faith, imagination, education, hopes, and dreams; see everything around you. Don\u2019t just copy what everyone else is saying.<\/p>\n

6) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Remember that context is everything; content analysis, which may be useful for parents of young children, is not film criticism.<\/p>\n

7)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t rate by numbers or thumbs or fruits or vegetables; it\u2019s a clich\u00e9 and it makes your readers or listeners lazy. \u00a0Express your opinion but leave space for people to decide for themselves. What some people hate or think is dumb may save the life of another person (I have a great story about John Patrick Shanley\u2019s 1990 film Joe Vs the Volcano<\/em>; that\u2019s for another time). There is no one way to interpret what a movie means; everyone\u2019s view is valid. Intelligent people can respectfully disagree. Explain your views; don\u2019t just emote.<\/p>\n

8)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mediate the film: what does the movie mean<\/em>? How do image and sound work together to create meaning? What do the visual and musical symbols and motifs mean? Your job is not to censor but to mediate the film through the lens of your humanity and your Catholic Christian imagination \u2013 your sacramental imagination.<\/p>\n

9)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Know your audience, who you are writing for and keep that audience in mind. But don\u2019t write for their \u201ctaste\u201d; leave room for them to reflect on your perspective through the lens of their own faith and life experience. Your job is not to tell people what to think but to invite them to engage, to actively participate in the cinema experience; to think, choose, and make meaning for themselves. Trust your readers but know the difference between cultural sensibilities and morality.<\/p>\n

10)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For samples of different approaches to film criticism or reviews, go to The Godfather<\/em> on the Internet Movie Database<\/a> \u00a0and look under external reviews; compare and contrast.<\/p>\n

11)\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t ever talk\/write about something you haven\u2019t seen; if you haven\u2019t seen it, admit it. No one has seen them all.<\/p>\n

12)\u00a0\u00a0 If you choose to see a film, never walk out. Respect the filmmaker enough to see it through if you are going to review it. For a film reviewer or \u201ccritic\u201d walking out is silly. And sometimes the meaning of an entire film can turn on the last five minutes (for example, the 2007 German Oscar-winning The Lives of Others; <\/em>Das Leben der Anderen<\/em>).<\/p>\n

13)\u00a0 Think you are ready? Watch, compare, and contrast in writing<\/span> Peter Weir\u2019s 1985 film Witness<\/em> with James Cameron\u2019s 1991 film Terminator II:<\/em> Judgment Day<\/em>. \u00a0I think, at their core, they are \u201cexploring\u201d the same themes. What do you think?<\/p>\n

14) Now answer the question: Why am I even doing this? If you don\u2019t feel passion for cinema, there\u2019s always nursing school.<\/p>\n

(The image above is the poster for the Terrence Malick film \u201cThe Tree of Life.\u201d I have seen it five times. I think I am ready to write about it.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I watch films for review I am attracted by two elements: relationships and mystery. Relationships between people, communities, or nations in this universe and beyond, or a mixture of any and all. 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