Film as a language does not possess the codified grammar of conventional language. In view of such a limitation it becomes increasingly important to be able to communicate the ideas and nuances of the cinematic arts through the established linguistic cultures. To write competently about cinema would thus involve effectively negotiating this problem. Cinema writing is a much-abused profession today, with genuine and knowledgeable critics marginalized to the fringe by the print and electronic media, and forced to seek shelter in the confines of academic bastions.

My personal tryst with cinema, in general, and writing about cinema, in particular, began with practice of representative art forms that include painting and later photography. The representative nature of pre-modern painting traditions had a greater influence on me than the abstract post-impressionists. Parallel to my development as an artist, literature provided an impetus to constructing and subsequently penning ideas and thoughts. Still-photography took over painting at some point of time. Dabbling simultaneously with three different mediums including the visual and the non-visual; it was almost a certitude that cinema would appeal as the ideal conglomerate medium for my ideation processes. As a prospective journalist writing about cinema would seem a necessary exercise at this juncture.

Cinema, as an industrial art form, maintains an aesthetic identity distinct from the existing art practices. Over time, cinema evolved its distinct set of artistic norms, transcending and transgressing the rules of the other mediums giving rise to a new discourse. What we require is an effective understanding and communication of this continuously evolving discourse. To fail in this exercise would prove Louis Lumière’s prediction “the cinema is an invention without a future” sadly true.

Manish Golder
©FIPRESCI 2008

Manish Golder graduated with a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering and followed it with a stint at summer school at LSE in Macroeconomics and International Political Theory. He is currently pursuing a course in Print Journalism at the Asian College of Journalism, one of India’s premier journalism institutions. He is also an avid photographer and occasional writer and painter.