Wednesday, February 08, 2023

Non-intuitive embrace

Mapping of a Medium in Decline


Types of Cinephilia


9 Vulgar Auteurism Cinephilia (minor type)


Auteurist-genre-centered. Discourse limited to a small number of euvres related to American post New Hollywood action filmmaking. Links to more expansive canon and wider aesthetic concerns are acknowledged yet seldomly followed up on. "Our cinema vs their cinema" is important although scope and identity of "their cinema" are subject to change. Clear preference for formalism if of limited scope, often expressed as fetishization of craft.


Never had much institutional backing. Might not even exist anymore outside of more localized auteurist fandoms. Rise and fall probably related to early social media adaptation.


Mostly enthusiasts, with some (including biographical) spill-over into academia and maybe film schools. No clear political alignment. Rejection of some leftist orthodoxies, yet most practitioners empirically still solidly left-wing.


Roots in classic auteurism/MacMahonism and also in tech-centered fandom.


Writing free-form, sometimes borderline experimental. Biggest limiting factor is scope of discourse, another one buying into one's own bullshit regarding self-produced orthodoxies. Best when combining analytic approach with phenomenological pov in non-intuitive embrace of cinematic surface pleasures. One of few types able to sometimes move beyond reality principle.

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