PopSyndicate.com

Glass Eye: A trip through the looking glass into the world of fantastic cinema, through the bloodshot eyes of Ghetto Tim. Strap yourselves in, and enjoy the coming attractions…

glass eye:
home of the cine-manna, and the cine-merde

A Son Of Celluloid – Tales Of An Unrepentant Cinephile
(With Respect To Clive Barker)

I ask of film what most North Americans ask of psychedelic drugs.
- Alejandro Jodorowsky

We’re all victims of consumption, each and every one of us. From coffee to , cigarettes there’s no escaping it. All of us are guilty of surrendering to our cravings of choice on a daily basis. While some embrace addictions to escape the bitter reality of the human condition, others look towards their vices to provide them with illumination and swift kiss to the brain. For many, there’s no purer expressway to your skull than through the potency of film. While the written word is unquestionably influential, there’s nothing more profane to a film fanatic than the experience of having pure cinematic images burn through their retinas, tattooing themselves deep within.

Through the elements of film, we are able to open many doors, and pass through into the realms of the weird, the wonderful, and the unforgettable. For many, this provides an undiscovered country through which the majority may have yet to venture, and where others fear to tread.

Regardless of whether it happens sooner or later, once you cross the holy threshold of the cinema, and are baptized in the glow of the everlasting projector light, there’s no turning back. As a true film acolyte you will voraciously absorb everything from Godzilla to Goddard, until your eyes stream down your cheeks like runny eggs.

While some may cringe at the work of such directors such as Jess Franco, and Ed Wood, they are celebrated by the cinephile. Regardless of budget or plot the film fanatic will find those personal treasured gems to champion, to hold high above the typical derivative Hollywood excretion, guilty of stealing ninety minutes of your life. Sure one man’s chicken scratch is another man’s chicken salad, but regardless of taste, true cinema has to have soul. It should seep it’s way inside your psyche, and leave an indelible brain stain, you are incapable of scrubbing away.

This doesn’t mean that a film has to be an exercise in excessive brutality, such as Gaspar Noe’s, ‘Irreversible’, in order to be memorable. Children can watch Bambi, and take from it an experience that is just as satisfying and valid as a screening of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While both films obviously come from different ends of the spectrum, they both satisfy an innate need, and they stick to us like flies to molasses.

While he took it to a far literal extent in his film Videodrome, David Cronenberg knew exactly what was going on when he had James Woods insert a video tape into his abdomen. Once we partake, it’s forever a part of our collective consciousness.. We retain that which makes us crave more, and regurgitate or excrete that which we can’t manage to digest. While many have no problem suckling on the grizzled teat of Hollywood, guzzling in it’s rancid milk, for those who recognize film as art, it’s cinematic Ipaecac. A spoonful of sugar might help the medicine go down, but nothing can help you stomach the ground glass painfulness of Dude Where’s My Car.

For those of you who may view the appreciation of film as a purely pretentious pastime, think again. It’s never been a pre-requisite to have your head wedged firmly in ass in order to be a cinema devotee. There are legions of loyal out there young and old who immediately recognize the magic in, ‘Eraserhead’, or a Mario Bava film without all the art school hoo hah. The only requirement for the pure enjoyment of film is to have a willing mind, and a set of open eyes.
       
The act of viewing film is hardly a solitary vice in itself. We are not only the addicts, but the dealers as well. As film fanatics, we look upon it as an almost sexual process. In groups we revel in our joy and sensory stimulation, and find no purer rush than to collectively partake in new cinematic discoveries. There’s nothing like the electric buzz of a good film in great company, and the opportunity to share in the experience..

Now I know there’s a lot out there who are reading this diatribe, and thinking that I’m preaching to the choir in regards to spouting off the inherent virtues of being a film junkie, but hear me out. While we sit through the endless hours, and one film blurs into the next, we can always remember our, ‘first time’. That first fix, the initial moment that grabbed us by the synapses, and made us what we are today. Whether it was Disney, Bruce Lee, or a Kaiju film, it was the moment that set everything into motion.

For a lot out there, they have yet to get the itch, and are in need of a good cinematic fix that will put them on the road to addiction. While it’s hard to recapture the ‘virginal’, feeling that came from our initial viewing experiences, we can share in the feelings of others as they discover these films on their own. While we may have the opportunities to turn them onto something ‘new’, they also contribute to the overall experience through fresh perspectives and varied insights. There’s a lot to learn from the, ‘New flesh’, and also a lot we can continue to share as slaves to our craves. There’s no polarizing facets of, ‘old school’, and ‘new school’. We all partake in our cinematic communion, and share our wisdom . We’re all part of the mob, and all add to the trip with the sum of our parts.

For what it’s worth, this column is basically an opportunity for me to throw my two pennies in the pot to share my trip as an unrepentant cinephile. I hope this column can serve to be a forum from which I can learn and benefit from the experiences of those who read it. If you see something that happens to hit you like a shovel in the face, or lights you up like a Christmas tree, then you know you can’t help but to pass that buzz down the line. Don’t bogart that film my friend, pass it over to me. In writing this column, I look forward to being exposed to new films to pursue, from those of you who are already plugged in and buzzin.

I also encourage those who have yet to find their own jones to dive right in, and know that many envy you in having the opportunity to go through it the first time.
As you quickly submit to cinema, you will soon find that, ‘nothing is forbidden and everything is permitted…..’ Just enjoy yourself will ya?

Take from this what you will…..
Thanks go out to Stefan and Will for lighting a proverbial fire under my ass.
Like the Wicker Man…….