Cinemania (2002)
"Anytime
you put a frame around something, you intensify the
experience." - interviewee in Cinemania
"Cinemania" focuses on five or six
intense movie buffs who live in NYC. These people
don't just love movies, they live for almost nothing
else. Some of them are even on disability and use
the free time and small stipend they receive to catch
four to five screenings a day.
We are introduced to the main characters
of this documentary and then slowly weave or way in
and out of their worlds and lives. There's no real
storyline or even chronology to the film. It's a mishmash
mess that often leaves us wanting. Trying to keep
up with who is who is more trouble than it is worth.
The most deplorable and exacerbating
thing about the film is that it has no other purpose
than to hold up these people to ridicule. We get to
enter their lives and their worlds but the filmmakers
aren't interested in what makes them tick, how they
began this odd existence or what intelligent and interesting
things they might have to say about cinema as an artform.
Nope. Filmmakers Angela Christlieb and Stephan Kijak
are just mean-spirited assholes who ingratiate themselves
into these fascinating people lives and then shit
all over them by calling attention to how poorly they
dress and how filthy their apartments are. Oh, and
by mentioning what mental disorders they suffer from.
It's the most heinous sort of filmmaking, the kind
that invites you to laugh at other people for being
themselves. Repulsive.
Regardless of the filmmakers' unscrupulousness,
I myself found feeling quite fond of these folks,
eccentric and myopic as they were, and genuinely cared
about them. Yes, it is obvious to say that I found
myself relating to them and even saw myself in them,
after all, I'm a film fanatic as well. But before
you say I am being critical of this film because of
how it presents film fans, let me say that there is
absolutely no balance here. We see none of these people
holding down jobs. Those who work for a living are
not included. We see none of these people doing anything
but watching films. We know almost nothing of their
histories and of their lives. This is voyeuristic
crap made in order that you can laugh at people. It's
sick. And it's obvious that some of these people need
real professional help. To ask us to laugh at them
is just mean.
At least the subjects of this so-called
documentary are not so blind as to see that they are
being made fun of. The film ends with the group watching
a screening of the film about themselves. Roberta,
the most obviously mentally ill of the group, says
that she is being used for comic relief. What she
is too unbalanced to ascertain is that everyone in
the film is being used for comic relief. There's not
a serious film discussion in the documentary. It's
just worthless, mean-spirited garbage.
Note:
Seemingly made for German TV. It
is shot on video and has a German theme song.
The film contains more interview
material over the end credits.
The film won Best Documentary at
the Hampton's Film Festival.
Viewed in Austin in March at 2003
SXSW Film Festival.
The print projected at the Paramount
that I saw was video and pixelated to the point of
being almost unwatchable.
