deadCenter Film Festival Movie Review: “Side By Side”

Rating: 84

A documentary featuring the titans of the film industry gathered together in one film to discuss the future of the film industry and what road will be taken to arrive there… Yes please!
As director Christopher Kenneally begins his doc; which features interviews with the Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, David Fincher, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, James Cameron and a slew of other directors that have made the last 50 years of film, he does so with a history lesson.
The quick rundown of the transition from moving pictures of a train frightening audience members to Georges Méliès early masterpieces of storytelling to the jump of the birth of the box office smash with Jaws and Star Wars gives movie goers a nice perspective on how far movies have come.
The basis of the film centers around the digitization of film and the growing trend of moving away from actual film movies.
The difference in opinions between the more famous directors is stark as Lucas became the first big budget director to movie to digital with ‘Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones’ and other directors like Nolan who still favors film, having shot ‘Inception’ and ‘The Dark Knight’ on film.
The argument stems around the potential of having films shot on a digital which has a lower overall quality than film but is progressing and advancing all the time and accepting the greater quality of film now but knowing that it will eventually be surpassed by digital tech.
The arguments between the directors are interesting as they all seem to realize the pros and cons of each type of media but with a run time of 99 minutes, the film seems too stagnant with just this one issue being the main focus.
The film is shot beautifully and Keanu Reeves proves to be a very competent narrator and interviewer for all of the big time directors; but the lack of variety in the topics these directors are asked about keeps this documentary from reaching it’s peak.