Mark Cousins' The History of film: An Odyssey

An Irish way?

Have a listen to a little bit of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx3HAEq0gJs

Sounds Irish, with requisite voiceover portent.

Did you know that when they broadcast "Planet Earth" in the US, they replaced David Attenborough's narration with Sigourney Weaver's?

It's not that he is Irish. His voice his famously infuriating. But I got over it, for this.

the shot selection and the connections are almost all brilliant, his theorising about art and commerce considerably less so

also, spoilers a-go-go

Did you know that when they broadcast "Planet Earth" in the US, they replaced David Attenborough's narration with Sigourney Weaver's?

And for the subsequent Life, the voiceover script was rewritten for Oprah Winfrey.

"Critics in the nineteen sixties said..." is a big catchphrase in my house as a result of this show

I watched the first two episodes of this last night. Really great stuff. Some of the comparisons he makes are a little odd, but sometimes they seem inspired (his comparison of Ozu to Jeanne Dielman, for example).

Just started this and I know I'm going to love it, especially for the comparisons, which keep things fresh and personal. Have no problem with his voice.

but sometimes they seem inspired (his comparison of Ozu to Jeanne Dielman, for example).

I think its a fairly standard comparison but its worth talking about film in this way on TV...certainly not seen anything like it.

There are plenty of standard comparisons that I am unaware of.

Sure, same here :) Just wanted to say how he brings non-normal film talk on TV.

Ok, his voice is getting a little annoying, the way every sentence lilts upward like a question as he trails off. Still great, though.

Holy Toledo TCM: http://news.turner.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=6436

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), now in its 20th year as a leading authority in classic film, will present the U.S. television premiere of the acclaimed documentary series The Story of Film: An Odyssey this fall. The series, which tells the history of cinema through a worldwide lens, will be the centerpiece of TCM's most ambitious and far-reaching programming event ever. Over the span of 15 weeks, beginning Monday, Sept. 2, TCM will present The Story of Film: An Odyssey curated with a slate of 119 films and dozens of short subjects representing 29 countries across six continents.

Whoa that rules. I wonder which movies they'll show with some of the more esoteric episodes.

Note to self: read rest of article.

Wow, nice one TCM!

Time to get a DVR.

I watched some of the youtube clips of this and am kinda on the fence. altho he did convince me to see some Ozu.

That's how it works. You're like "hmmmm this guy and his voice" but then you're like "i wanna see all these dang movies"

haha yeah

his voice rules, I like to do impressions of it

I really enjoyed the first half of the story of film: an odyssey, beautiful to look at with some batshit assertions (all covered above by the brilliant mark s). Never saw the second half of a story of film: an odyssey (70s onward) cause I was busy, but I am broadly in favour of it. They showed the whole thing at the cinema in cambridge last year, I wish I could have gone to it. Also you could pay a load of money to attend a dinner at king's college with mark cousins at the end of the season! I wish I could have gone to that too. I could have impressed him by reciting the intro to the story of film: an odyssey by heart in an approximation of mark cousins's voice. He would have liked that I think.

I definitely like doing impressions of his voice.

I sometimes find myself saying "movies are a multi-million-dollar industry nye" to myself in a fey, lilting, bizarrely inflected voice

^yes I find myself talking to myself, elegantly put I KNOW

Already jealous of the innocent channel surfer who stumbles upon "Daisies" this fall.

i am jealous. think they showed about a dozen related films when it aired over here. (actually, i still have a couple to watch)

i love his voice. i find it soothing.

I'm about halfway through the series. Cousins is annoying but I can't say I haven't learned anything. His clip choices have been very good, too.

So many of these are worth a re-watch, so it's going to be tough keeping space on the DVR.

The TCM programming starts tonight. Got my DVR set up with two days to spare, can't wait to watch and record a bunch of this.

can you please rule on how annoying he is wmc, you are a trustworthy voice on this imo

nvr heard that thing to kick off part 15 abt in the past having a "wild man" on set to propose crazy ideas ?

is cool he picked things like oasis, larezcu & battle of heaven, i can dig his 00s nu-realism thesis

--the segment on Sokurov

^this was good too, kinda a blind spot to me

Did anyone see a story of children & film? I thought that was pretty cool

i like this

Been watching this on Netflix. Def. making me want to check out a bunch of things I've never seen before. Especially the 1920s-1930s Japanese stuff (I've seen all the famous Kurosawas and Hausu and Battle Royale and uh . . . . that's it), some of the less famous noir films and some silents.

i missed this completely when it came out, but it's up on netflix now so i've been blazing my way through it. i only read the first 10-20 posts itt because i didn't want to accidentally read something that would ruin a cool moment later in the series, but of those first 10-20 posts:

- i also rolled my eyes at the "film is about ideas, not money" theme, but then again, maybe that's because the vast majority of film that i know about (not much, i am perpetually a newcomer to everything) was made in the mid-to-late capitalist, post-jaws/star wars USA era. maybe $$ wasn't quite the driver in other centers of filmmaking, at various points? at any rate if cousins continues make his argument by showing awesome clips that demonstrate brilliant ideas and then following up with interviews with people who are inspired by that creativity, that's fine with me. i'm not sure that he'll win in a court of law but it's entertaining as hell.

- i like his voice.

for real: i only watched the first 10-20 minutes itf because i didn't want to accidentally see something that would ruin a cool moment later in the history of cinema

lol

life is so much better when it's a complete surprise

I love his dedication to showing the very final scene of every significant film ever

can't imagine i am not already somewhere upthread getting hysterical about this, but: i think when he's Teaching You Cross-Cutting it's okay, & that there are limits to the degree one which would subsequently benefit from watching like ... free cinema with fresh eyes. it's when he's just off-handedly mentioning that there's a really killer dreyer movie called ordet & not even saying so much about it but still choosing to show you the one revelatory moment that works as the film's crux. it goes SO HARD into this, & just bites chunks out of moment of innocence, vive l'amour, everything. i really like mark cousins, his sight & sound column is beautiful, he's such a wonderful advocate, but it is just so decadent in like ... powerpoint slideshowing through the LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER moments of cinema.

lol xp

ugh, limits to the degree to which one would-, btw

I've seen probably 15-20 more of the films he talks about since watching the series, including Ordet and it didn't spoil my enjoyment of them.

I suppose the ending of the Dreyer is amazing and great, its power wasn't diminished for me. Maybe because he doesn't really talk about the film in that much detail and impose a view on it.

i just kinda ... yeah it is not okay i think. i am glad you got to see it without feeling shortchanged!, but it feels hard to argue that some of the platonic effect of the denouement is contingent on us having a general expectation of what can/can't happen. even just tonally, like the film is so controlled & sober & is so self-contained; that shouldn't be overshadowed i don't think. i'm being prescriptive & narrow-minded here but it just seems like such a dick move.

probably should have written isn't contingent. sorry i am such a mess in this thread.

Its probably just me. I can read about a film or a book beforehand and then watch knowing its ending w/out it mattering too much (unless I suppose its something like The Usual Suspects but that's just fkn dumb).

Usually because I will put another spin on the thing I watched..(Although wrt Ordet I haven't just really spent enough time thinking about it; I was numbed by that.)

Also I didn't feel that those scenes (some of which were endings, other which were not) felt like powerpoint at any point. The content was very rich for a start, and usually enriched, as you do feel these films were often conversing with one another.

The ending to Ordet has been spoiled, like, a million times. It's all everyone talks about. You say an ending was like Ordet, and everyone knows what you mean.

i really like thinking about the jesus-y, kind of john-cale-guy-in-straw-dogs guy in ordet. just roaming around on the moors.