What is Cinema?

"Who could ask for anything more than to have the opportunity--and the wherewithal--to convey by film a meaningful personal sentiment?  Not the kind of message expressed by words only, but to pass on an experience dear to the writer, with the force of a poem, a communication that combines every expressive art-photography, language, music, acting, movement-devised by man, coming out of your own feelings and seeking to reach not only the few people who are close to you but the whole world".
-Elia Kazan

Escaping to the cinema started out as paradise.  As time passed, the movie theater became a permanent residence; a home at the end of the world.  Disregarding flaws preserve love but ignoring them can be fatal.  Though paradise is calm and peaceful, there's still rain and once in a while, a hurricane develops and strikes.  A hurricane of change is plummeting cinema: the roaring winds of the digital age have sent many scurrying into storm shelters or searching for the sunnier horizons.  Nowadays movie studios only make big spectacles with a $250-300 million dollar price tag, independent films are becoming harder to produce and market, and cable television now occupies the space reserved for mid-budget films.  Superhero films are not bad but with reboots/remakes and young adult adaptations, they are the only three options at most theaters.  In the name of franchising, many properties from my childhood, the 1990s, are being redone with equal measures of nostalgia and annoyance.  The once familiar form of cinematic storytelling is being uprooted, flooded and smashed.  The blueprint for renovating cinema must be drawn up while the storm is still raging but will these new plans retain the essence and beauty of cinema?  

Cinema's essence and beauty were once confined to the movie theater.  A trip to the movie theater used to be the clear cut way to define cinema and experience cinematic storytelling. The advent of Netflix, multi-platform releases, high definition televisions, and the emergence of quality television shows have uprooted the traditional cinematic experience.  On the flip side, movie watching seems to be more convenient; there's no need to wait in line for concessions nor is there the need to sneak food into the theater.  For those souls still willing to brave the multiplex, it seems everything is a sequel.  As a matter of fact, the sequel to the movie you're watching now has already been greenlit.  By announcing multiple films in advance, there's no more dramatic tension.  The danger with franchising every movie is their uniform feel. In short, films have become episodic and in many ways, extended trailers.  The great irony of this occurrence is now the best TV shows have adopted cinematic storytelling.  Cinematic storytelling is the use of big stars, coherent direction, great dialogue and acting, character arcs, plot twist, multidimensional characters, and rich visuals as a means of storytelling.  Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Dexter and countless other shows have introduced cool and complicated characters that use to populate cinema.  The best example of this is True Detective; I even listed Rust Cohle as Matthew McConaughey's best performance earlier this year.  True Detective is a TV show with the soul of a film.  For the moment, television and home entertainment has taken the essence of the cinematic experience away from movie theaters but cinema's soul is still intact.  If the movie theaters are no longer the only place to experience cinema, is it still a relevant institution going forward?

The answer to cinema's future relevance lies in it's past.  Cinema did not originate in America.  France is considered the birthplace of cinema; The Gaumont Film Company of France is the world's first and oldest film company.  So many great film directors and cinematic movements have come from Europe and yet Hollywood became the movie capital of the world.  Though Hollywood is still considered the movie capital, the Cannes Film Festival is considered the movie mecca.  The Venice Film Festival is the world's oldest film festival.  It's not by accident that so many of cinema's most important institutions are scattered throughout the world.  Cinema is a global language.  Woody Allen is inspired by Ingmar Bergman, a Swedish director.  His name may not be mainstream but his film, The Seventh Seal, contains a scene in which a man plays chess with death; its one of the most iconic scenes in all cinema and has been parodied and referenced ad nauseam.  Everyone knows about Star Wars, some uncomfortably more than others, but George Lucas took inspiration from Akira Kurosawa.  Quentin Tarantino is as famous for his movies as he is for his extensive movie knowledge.  Cinema's best scenes and movies are iconic; they permeate through pop culture all over the globe.  It's why some filmmakers put their lives on the line to make a film.   Cinema's most important function as an institution is its ability to transport the heart and mind of the viewer to a specific region of the world and introduce a worldview that may otherwise be ignored.  Cinema's relevance as an art form depends on provoking emotion and creating inspiration through imagery across geographical, national and ethnic borders.

Cinema is still a paradise and it's not limited to an island.  The paradise of cinema is global but a hurricane of change is plummeting cinema.  However, cinema has survived similar storms.  During the 1960s, the movie industry resembled a desolate landscape because of box office bombs, television, audience apathy and global unrest.  However, by the end of the decade many of cinemas most influential artist cleaned up and rebuilt paradise.  They decided it was worth fighting through the harsh winds and rain.  The American New Wave came from this period of great strife.  Prominent directors such as Martin Scorsese, George Lucus, and Steven Spielberg oversaw the construction of a new cinema and films such as Easy Rider, Bonnie and Clyde and the Godfather shaped the landscape.  The next age of cinema will not be like the American New Wave: bold, new directors must use their own blueprints to renovate this institution.  No matter the structural changes, cinema passes through our consciences, connects people across different cultures, and evokes emotion from deep within our souls.  This is the essence and beauty of cinema.