Exploring the Artefacts #2: A Discerning Eye

Exploring The Artefacts is a series in which I examine some unique and significant components, or by-products, of cinema storytelling that are often under-appreciated. 

The following is addressed to those who wish to enhance their ability to understand and more effectively express their views on cinema, still thought by many to be "back of the bus" compared to other forms of artistic expression.

A Discerning Eye 

Being a successful art critic means developing a meaningful understanding of the artists’ intentions. Alternately, focusing on one's likes and dislikes can move the spotlight away from the subject at hand and disable an insightful perspective from being reached.

I've identified 3 collective ways of achieving a more informed outlook that I hope motion picture critics of all types, especially novices, will take on board:    

1. Be completely open to the views of others. Better yet, seek them out as they may serve to enhance your own. There can be as much joy in sharing an artistic passion with fellow enthusiasts as in experiencing the work itself. Keep in mind there's no benefit in feeling threatened by someone's point of view. If the shoe doesn't fit, simply don't wear it... no need to destroy it. Readers may notice that more advanced critics, rather than just singling out individual components of filmmaking (such as acting, cinematography, etc.), tend to address how the storytelling choices made at a higher level effect the narrative or film watching experience as a whole. One other tip I have for those starting out on their journey of creating film criticisms is try not to tell the reader how important your findings are; focus instead on making insightful observations and let your audience determine their value. This will help cement your impartiality, and therefore your value, as a storytelling critic.

2. Try and set aside your personal prejudices when attempting a qualified appraisal of the work under review. This doesn't mean you have to ignore or get rid of these preferences. Just be willing to give the artists or genres you're less fond of a fair go when evaluating a work's strengths and weaknesses. This open-minded approach might also lead to a newly discovered appreciation for subjects previously thought to be off-limits. Conversely, a critic's strong bias in favour of a certain style or artist should be made easily distinguishable from a more thoughtful perspective.   

3. TIME. Spend time experiencing and comparing works in your chosen field of interest. [I have an advantage here over many cinema buffs 'cause I'm old]. Critics who are reviewing contemporary motion pictures for example even more so those films they are particularly impressed with, might benefit from allowing some time to pass so as to provide a wider historical, and therefore more meaningful, appraisal. The additional experience will help cultivate your own criteria or comparative value system; one that can be applied fairly to all of your movie watching (personal preferences notwithstanding). Hopefully, this will have the knock-on effect of creating a better class of critic, one that's desperately needed in an age where Citizen Duane can sit on the same shelf as Citizen Kane and the less noticeable films of formidable artistic integrity, deserving of greater recognition, are increasingly lost in the shadow of their big brother blockbusters.   

Finally, it's not so much whether the thumb goes up or down that counts but how well the critic articulates the reason for it.

A.G. 

P.S.  I thought it might be helpful to present the work of a model critic we can all admire and try to emulate so I've posted this video on December 23, 2013: