Read Instead… in Print

Read instead… in print is about a good book about cinema or filmmakers. No discursive, pretentious analyses, no verbose scrutiny. Because the idea is to invite you to read the book, not read about it here. But instead of using social media, I use my journal. Back to basics. Take it as a wish to break free of over-reliance on social media (even if it’s just for posting a photo of a good book) for presenting my work, cultural finds and interests. These are things to be enjoyed as stand-alone pieces in a more substantial and meaningful way than showing them in the black hole of Instagram thronged with an audience with a short attention span. This is also a look through my voluminous collection of books about film that I use as research in my adamant decision to rely less and less on the online and more on more on print materials.

“It takes a magnificent filmmaker to thoroughly corrupt an audience.”

Read instead…in print #19

Quentin Tarantino didn’t go to film school. But he went to the movies. He has been going to the movies from a very early age – “Quentin, I worry more about you watching the news. A movie’s not going to hurt you,” his mother said when Quentin asked her how came that she took him with her to see movies other parent weren’t allowing their children see. And now he has finally written a book about some of the films he grew up with. Movies from the 70s, the greatest film decade the American cinema has ever had. But these are not all movies you usually find on look-alike listings, but movies Tarantino was drawn to and appreciates from various reasons; they are his personal choices. Watching movies is a deeply personal experience. In this fake, politically correct, meritricious medium that cinema and society are struggling in at the moment, Tarantino has the guts (just like he does with his movies) to inspire to think by ourselves and watch every movie with an open mind and with our own eyes, to let ourselves be surprised, to look a little closer.

In Cinema Speculation, he observes, reflects, wonders, speculates. It is asking the questions, rather than answering them. Tarantino loves to talk about movies, characters, specifics, different scenes the way only a true film passionate does. Quentin Tarantino is a filmmaker in complete control of his art, yet when he writes about his favourite films, he does it without the pretentiousness of the deep knowledge he masters. He gets the reader interested in the film somehow, without following a certain line. He carries you away, he expands your vision, he makes it fun and exciting. It’s a breath of fresh air, … vital, I might even add.