What is a Film Criticism?
The famous American film critic Robert Ebert once said, “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.” Does it mean that a film critic is also an ordinary person who goes to the movies for entertainment? Does a film critic trust his emotions more than his intellect? Or does he watch movies intellectually only to analyze them? Film criticism has been a contentious topic since the invention of cinema. A film is judged and felt by each person differently depending upon their personal experience and social milieu. Hence, a film critic is also a human being who is driven by his/her personal biases, having said this; there are certain metrics that a film critic follows to judge a film. The dichotomy of a film critique is no less than the contrast between science and mysticism.
The Art of Criticism
Film criticism is no less than art that requires in-depth knowledge and understanding of various aspects of film making like the story, screenwriting, direction, acting, cinematography, editing, music, art direction and costumes, etc. The right mixture of these elements makes a film good or bad. However, the quality of these elements is based on communal perspectives about what makes a good character, plot, or scene. There are many films that received the worst critic ratings but were box office hits and hugely loved by audiences. Therefore, no one can be fully free from their biases no matter how hard they try. In order to critique the film or any piece of art, one must be aware of their subjective point of view. However, in today’s times, it’s rare to find film critics with the required education or knowledge, or expertise to become film critics. There are more amateur film critics than journalist critics. It will be apt to say that everyone in the audience is a film critic because each person judges the film in their own way. Furthermore, the irony is anyone can create an online review and disseminate their opinion regardless of its merit. Even though everyone is entitled to their opinion, not every opinion is equally valid, especially in regard to film criticism. Some films are considered better than others based on socially-generated subjective criteria.
The famous German philosopher and one of the foremost thinkers of enlightenment Immanuel Kant wrote, “When [someone] puts a thing on a pedestal and calls it beautiful, he demands the same delight from others. He judges not merely for himself, but for all men, and then speaks of beauty as if it were the property of things.” Therefore, it will be apt to say that how a film is seen, experienced and analyzed depends on individual emotions and experiences. Even famous film critics cannot be completely unbiased in their opinions while criticizing a film. However, a wise critic would have a deeper understanding of each aspect of filmmaking separately, and a film as a collaborative art form. Hence, a wiser film critic will understand the innumerable amount of pain and effort that go into filmmaking and would review the film purely on its merit rather than personal biases. But the main question is do we have such film critics present today when cinema has turned into a highly commercial market globally rather than promoting art? The film ratings today decide the future of any film rather than believing what the audience feels about a particular film.
Conclusion:
A film critic must acknowledge the fact that his/her opinion about a particular film is going to affect the moviegoers immensely. But ultimately, it’s the audiences’ experiences and their personal biases that will inevitably play into how they view the film and feel its emotions. However, a film critic is responsible for giving an ‘unbiased’ review of the film irrespective of what the audience feels because a critic watches the film beyond entertainment and his/her knowledge and experience are trusted by thousands of people who value film criticism and trust their “wise and unbiased” reviews.
