Movie of My Life

Most video essays trade in truths, or at least try to. They offer facts and insights about cinema and its inner workings. They serve up grand theories about unknown masterpieces or small speculations about big blockbusters. While some of these theories may be personal, they are rarely so in an emotional sense.

 

Most video essays treat film and reality as being in a disparate, even adversarial relationship. One comments on the other, trying to lay bare its shortcomings or reveal its hidden beauty. While this approach may lead to valuable insights, it often neglects the commingling of art and life.

 

This intensely personal video essay by Kevin B. Lee takes another approach entirely. The Locarno Film Festival has a series called #movieofmylife in which fans and friends of the festival pay tribute to a movie they love. Lee used his video to not only profess his love for Ozu, but also for his recently deceased grandfather – and to ponder how those two loves intersected and enriched each other. The result is a short but bittersweet video essay that is a testament to the connective power of cinema. A small gem about the cinematic art that is life.