Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia: Film Culture in Transition

by Jonathan Rosenbaum

The esteemed film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has brought global cinema to American audiences for the last four decades. His incisive writings on individual filmmakers define film culture as a diverse and ever-evolving practice, unpredictable yet subject to analyses just as diversified as his own discriminating tastes. For Rosenbaum, there is no high or low cinema, only more interesting or less interesting films, and the pieces collected here, from an appreciation of Marilyn Monroe’s intelligence to a classic discussion on and with Jean-Luc Godard, amply testify to his broad intellect and multi-faceted talent. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia gathers together over fifty examples of Rosenbaum’s criticism from the past four decades, each of which demonstrates his passion for the way we view movies, as well as how we write about them. Charting our changing concerns with the interconnected issues that surround video, DVDs, the Internet, and new media, the writings collected here also highlight Rosenbaum’s polemics concerning the digital age. From the rediscovery and recirculation of classic films, to the social and aesthetic impact of technological changes, Rosenbaum doesn’t disappoint in assembling a magisterial cast of little-known filmmakers as well as the familiar faces and iconic names that have helped to define our era.

As we move into this new decade of moviegoing—one in which Hollywood will continue to feel the shockwaves of the digital age—Jonathan Rosenbaum remains a valuable guide. Goodbye Cinema, Hello Cinephilia is a consummate collection of his work, not simply for fans of this seminal critic, but for all those open to the wide variety of films he embraces and helps us to elucidate.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Essays, Media Tie In, Art

408 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Charlie Kruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

a magisterial miracle. Who has more authority than Rosenbaum now, whose criticism on canon and global corporations only ring truer and truer, as Disney continues to corner every market of streaming and movie theaters seem like hollowed out vestiges of a bygone era. Rosenbaum's commitment to cinema means that it has to surpass the theatre, and partially embrace the ubiquity of distribution of films that couldn't otherwise be seen, but not to laud corporations that neglect essential films out of the profit motive, or IP grabs.

Countless essays in here are breathtaking. "In Defense of Spoilers" humorously starts off with Rosenbaum trawling Thomas Pynchon message boards online. These interesting starts are what make Rosenbaum such a compelling writer, his own incredible historic knowledge on film and film production, but his very own place in film as a writer in France and an assistant to Jacques Tati. "What Dope Does to Movies" is a persuasive and fascinating account of how marijuana may have changed both the production of films and how audiences experienced movies in the 60's and 70's, predicting the loss of a popular movie watching audience into a more individualized cloistered viewing experience. Here, marijuana is a neutral item to look at how film psychedelia was shared early on, and later turned into myopic solo trips. "Rediscovering Charlie Chaplin" should be an essential piece for any film enthusiast, and "The World as a Circus: Tati's Parade" is a heartfelt appreciation of Tati's less popular film, that Rosenbaum champions with tact and sympathy.

Need to spark one up with the dude himself, what a guy.

[Victor Morosoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn't easy to enter this book, although I am really getting used to Rosenbaum's style. The book gets better and better, and by the end (the critic pieces) it moves into high gear. My favorites: the one on Chaplin; the one on Sontag; the one on (yet again) Manny Farber.

[Falso Prusiano · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection by Rosenbaum. Was expecting to read more articles dealing directly with the paradigm shift into cinephilia. Some great articles, as usual, my favorites include, What Dope Does to Movies, Bushwhacked Cinema, Potential Perils of the Director's Cut, Rediscovering Charlie Chaplin, Film Writing on the Web: Some Personal Reflections an LA Existential.

Some Articles though, I shall be returning to once that I have seen the film that he wrote about

Great for any cinephile wondering about the past and present directions of film culture. Some topics that I would like to hear Rosenbaum comment on, include; the tendency for some "hard to find" films to be downloaded and watched, the disposable nature of digital images and the way the films are consumed now when a viewer has hundreds and hundreds of choices available via streaming.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just some previously uncollected pieces, not really related but occasionally linked by a theme that the communal act of going to the movies is being replaced by new forms of community around watching films. He doesn't go much further than that.

Almost every piece is just a list of facts or observations. Not much in this really amounts to an article proper. You don't get more than a page in before he starts talking about when he met the director and talked with them about this or that. Article on a new collection of Manny Farber's work? Halfway through here we are having an anecdote of Rosenbaum talking to Farber that one time. I'd say the seams were showing but none of the pieces read like they were making an argument. All except the essay on the concept of the "director's cut" and some idea of a "final cut." That and a fantastic essay about Tati's Parade. Aside from that, I pretty much skimmed through the book after I realized no human could actually read and care about this book's contents.

I'd assume that I chose to start with the most inessential book in the man's oeuvre. The man can make a thesis statement. But after that...well it just starts listing things and you lose the sense of an argument or an insight. The book mainly descends into description with very few glimmers of analysis. This hasn't been a great year for reading for me...

[James Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of Rosenbaum's writing. The intro, plus the first and last sections (Position Papers; Criticism) really do put forward a reasonably coherent vision of cinephilia in the era of blockbusters, movies on TV, and home video collections (it predates streaming but anticipates it in some ways). His pieces on this precessors and accomplices (Daney, Sarris, Sontag, Godard, Farber, Hoberman, Durgnat, Thom Anderson) establishes a pretty strong canon of lefty movie obsessives. Though it's hard not to notice that this is exclusively white and mostly male. The middle sections are fun but scattershot; in that way it's a lot like Essential Cinema. Like that book, it's worth skipping around a bit.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Rosenbaum is pretty much my favorite film writer and this is another collection of his writings, selected loosely to focus on how movie-watching and movie-writing is changing with the advent of the web and digital technologies. Since all of these essays have been published previously, you (or I) could probably find them on Rosenbaum's amazing website (www.jonathanrosenbaum.com) but I bought this to read on the plane and in bed. As usual, Rosenbaum's appetite is incredible and there is a good blend of essays on filmmakers and films you've never heard of (from an array of countries) and those you know well. Regardless, his style is so personal and thoughtful and full of interesting insights, that it doesn't matter whether you've seen the film or not. Often it makes you want to see something new. Now if I could only find anything by Pere Portabella...

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I tore into Jonathan Rosenbaum’s collection of essays with a great deal of vigour. I wasn’t all that well versed with his writing, nor had I even looked all that closely at what the book was going to be about…but nonetheless it grabbed me. The essay he chose to open the collection with was poignant, sophisticated, and complexed. Likewise, the next few were pointing me in wonderful new directions – suggesting titles I’d never even heard of, and justifying them with compelling prose.

However, looking back, those first several chapters feel now like swimming straight out from shore as hard as I could in gloriously warm waters. Pretty soon though, I looked around, figured out how deep the water around me had become, and started to struggle to keep my head above water...

Full review @ http://www.thematinee.ca/thingshavech...

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book while browsing the public library, knowing next to nothing about Rosenbaum but intrigued by the title. While I don't know all the films he is referencing, I enjoy his general take on criticism, which is to go beyond whether a film is "good" or "bad" and discussing a movie based on the filmmaker's oeuvre, the larger genre, the time frame, political context, and so on. There is a chapter in defense of "spoilers" and why he thinks certain viewers' great concern about them is misguided. Why for instance is the revealing of a plot point a deal breaker for so many when the revealing of, say, the mise en scene, is considered unimportant? Very readable. This book gives me a long list of movies I now want to see, which is, in and of itself, a great thing.

[Andrés Rodelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por un lado, un texto clave para comprender los desafíos y cambios que atañen al cine de hoy, especialmente desde los rituales de consumo y de acceso a las películas. Por otro, una aproximación analítica a las obras de directores como Erich von Stroheim, Charles Chaplin, Luc Moullet, entre otros, al igual que a la de actores y críticos de cine. Si bien cuesta entrar a veces al estilo que emplea Rosenbaum para exponer sus argumentos, tornándose ininteligible, abrumador y carente de deducciones interesantes luego de que uno ha decantado la maraña en la que se convierte su discurso a ratos, esto se ve compensado por otros pasajes en los que sí hay reflexiones reveladoras, al igual que acercamientos heterodoxos que dan paso a consideraciones inéditas y refrescantes sobre el cine.

[Facundo Bravo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rossenbaum se desplaza bajo diferentes cuestiones y problemáticas en torno al cine actual. En todo momento, con una mirada que pone en perspectiva al lector. Me parece interesante reconocer, cuan activo es en su cinefilia.

[Gabriel Postiglione · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genial compilación de textos, tiene muchas ideas sobre el cine, una forma de mirarlo. Cinefilia pura.