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Alex Rollins Berg's avatar

Love this, Ed. If you'll indulge a screenwriter's musing: for me, the only way I’ve ever brushed up against something that felt remotely original was to begin not with genre, but with some quiet personal dread or unanswered question that keeps me awake - something I don't hear others addressing, but suspect many are feeling - and then find a genre to serve as a vehicle for exploring that. Starting with genre, as many do, often leads to generic or derivative work.

Ed William's avatar

Thanks, Alex! I think you’ve just nailed the difference between an auteur and a journeyman. Absolutely nothing wrong with the latter, but you can usually tell pretty quickly whether that personal obsession/preoccupation is there.

Also, “quiet personal dread” is such a strong phrase!

C. C. Simmons's avatar

I think you underestimate just how many nostalgic rep-screenings of Sorcerer we can get out the door.

Fr though, this is tremendous, Ed. To your point about asymmetric advantages, I'm curious what, if anything, you foresee as the defining development of the next era that filmmakers could play upon. Personally, I've got my money on mysticism and spiritual awakening.

Ed William's avatar

Haha! Likewise for Letterboxd subscriptions.

Thank you! And good question. Mysticism/spiritual awakening is a great shout. The main other that jumps to mind is the point I mentioned in the piece - examining our relationship with technology in a way more sophisticated and mature than “it’s good vs it’s bad” (*David Cronenberg enters the chat*).

C. C. Simmons's avatar

Oh, definitely, and I would also say that those two things (our relationship to technology, and mysticism) are or will prove to be symbiotic. I guess what I mean is, what might those examinations be?

If we understand computers, for instance, to be rocks that we just tricked into thinking using electricity, might the advent of AI unwittingly begin to frame technology as the bridge of communication between human beings and the planet we walk upon?

Cronenberg is the one person I would take up smoking for.

Taylor Lewis's avatar

really great work, Ed. Excited to see what you question and answer next...

Mikhail Skoptsov's avatar

Thank you so much for the shoutout! Wasn't aware of the belatedness concept, though I've read a lot of Bordwell.

Ed William's avatar

No problem, thought it was a super interesting piece!

Louisa's avatar

Thanks for another great read, Ed!

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May 20, 2025
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Ed William's avatar

Yes! And your point about television and revival houses ties into a big point that I couldn't find room for in the essay -- the role that videos, then DVDs, and now streaming play in relation to belatedness. I think the former two contributed fairly heavily to a sense of belatedness, but I'm unsure whether streaming does the same. If streaming leads to analysis paralysis and lowest-common-denominator viewing, then is it actually making the greatness of past generations more obscure, by simple virtue of the fact that people now have more mediocre options to watch instead? 🤷

Thanks for the kind words and the thoughtful comment!