In the history of film, technological innovations always throw critics for a loop, Denby writes, and he acknowledges that each alleged disaster has led to new expressiveness. But he retains skepticism about today's trend. An excerpt from his essay "The Way We Live Now":
'Sound brought the gurgling, crooning music of voices, the murmurs of the city, Fred Astaire tapping, Judy Garland singing. Color brought the strange beauty of Liv Ullmann's translucence, Paul Newman's blue eyes, the malevolent or caressing power of industrial and natural landscapes. The wide screen allowed shots of men conquering vast spaces in Lawrence of Arabia and in Clint Eastwood's westerns. The handheld camera allowed documentary filmmakers like Frederick Wiseman to move in close to people in hospitals, welfare centers, police stations . . . It would be lovely to report that the same thing has happened with digital. . . . [But] most of the digital fantasy has been opportunistic, dazzling in an immediate way that was meaningless and dissatisfying. And there's something else setting off digital from earlier revolutions: None of the earlier developments dehumanized the cinema. If anything, they increased the human presence in movies.'
From Do the Movies Have a Future? © 2012 David Denby, reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
