Per Matt
William Goldman once said, “Not one person in the entire motion picture field knows for a certainty what’s going to work.”

Amen to that.

The Oscar-winning screenwriter/quote machine knew the Hollywood risk-to-reward ratio was a fickle thing, one which can turn on a dime, according to moviegoers’ tastes. I met Goldman at a screenwriting conference years ago and my all-time favorite writer was really onto something back then. Through almost 130 years, the industry may have progressed to something which no one could have imagined, but my all-time favorite writer truly was ahead of his time. You may remember him for the feature films he wrote, or from another famous quote (also about Hollywood), “Nobody knows anything.”

The evolution of movies over time is quite astonishing, and The Complete Story of Film box set is currently available to document its entirety, from its humble beginning to today’s blockbusters.

Encyclopedic in nature, offering an overwhelming amount of information plus opinionated commentary throughout Mark Cousins’ comprehensive four-disc set, it’s a lot to process. I mean, a whole lot. Just about each of the Blu-rays are maxed out at five-plus hours of runtime, proving that no detail, no matter how minor, misses his vision. And when you’re the filmmaker responsible for photographing, writing and directing this documentary, you make sure to include it all.

The Complete Story of Film is divided into two parts, including An Odyssey (three Blus) and A New Generation (one Blu). To say it’s a deep dive is grossly understating just how expansive this box set truly is. It’s a documentary of humanity in the guise of filmmaking, revealing and celebrating what is inside each of us.

An Odyssey is separated by chapters in the development of films, and sometimes the time periods overlap. Disc One begins in 1895 and ends in 1952. Disc Two starts with the talkies of ’53 and extends into ’79. Disc Three breaks down the ’70s through today. While I can truly appreciate the in-depth analysis (and trust me, running at more than 16 hours long, it’s got layers upon layers), An Odyssey can definitely be overwhelming at times — but it’s also pretty great.

You want escapism, surrealism and neo-realism? It’s in there. What about discussions on rubble movies, film noir, visual depth and flawed heroes? That’s covered. Cinema as an empathy machine? Yes, sir. Deep staging and deep focus — two things I’d noticed before, but never truly knew the terms, or the technological advancements for these elements to happen? Yup. How about comparing American movie genres vs. innovative films from elsewhere? You know it.

All of these are included as discussion bullet points, but they’re definitely not the only ones. Many more are included. And the longer I watched Odyssey, the more I realized it may take a little time for all of the information to fully soak it in, as well as layer onto what you might already know. It’s tough to binge watch in one session, but cramming for this final exam isn’t necessary (or enjoyable, at all). Piecemeal is the better choice.

As a tale spanning across 12 decades, six continents and 1,000 movies, this is my post-graduate film school.

I found myself frantically taking notes, listing all sorts of titles I’d never previously known about. Some were foreign. Some were already my favorites. And others, well… cinema aficionados don’t have to agree on everything — and usually, we don’t! — so a grain of salt here and there can be wise when dealing with some of Cousins’ opinions.

“Casablanca is too romantic to be classical. Hollywood’s not classical; Japan is.”

The Complete Story of Film. Photo Courtesy: Music Box Films.

Released 10 years after Odyssey, A New Generation updates the state of moviemaking in the 20th century, while moving forward into the digital age and beyond. Cousins explores under-represented releases from Asian and Middle Eastern markets (Argentina, Bosnia, Estonia, France, India, Iran, The Philippines and Romania are included), while also examining the developing technology of the 21st century.

“Movies, it’s still clear, still have power. They still compel us. They still play us like a violin.”

What else can I say about this eclectic collection of the film industry’s past? Movies are a great mirror of their times, often pushing the limits of expectations, upending stereotypes that sometimes expose our shadow selves. The cinematic story here is an unpredictable journey, traveling through the psychological intensity of the lens. Cousins’ obsessive attention to details, so many details, makes this trip a bold one, which feels like it’s coming straight from his heart.

Also included in this Music Box Films collection is a 48-page collector’s booklet and viewer’s guide, featuring production notes and a full reference index of all the films and filmmakers included across both films, as well as stories from the shoot. For more information about this incredible box set, please visit Music Box Films’ webpage.

I shall close my review with a line of Cousins’ dialogue that felt incredibly symbolic of this collection, as a whole.

“Much of what we assume about the movies is off the mark. It’s time to redraw the map of movie history that we have in our heads. It’s factually inaccurate and racist by omission.”