In case anybody wonders, yes, I actually have been subscribed to MUBI. Inconsistently, but they do have good deals!
Also, the specific way they’ve sold themselves is appealing, isn’t it?
They’ve managed to stand apart from other streaming services as a more niche and more serious. A haven for good cinema in a world full of “content”, where Hollywood sees what they put out more as a product than a story.
I mean, sure, the film industry is a business, but just a few decades ago, at least it felt like people in Hollywood were trying to tell a story.
I mean, why are younger generations so nostalgic about shows from the turn of the millennium?
Right it would seem like a film can be as unoriginal and poorly written as possible, as long as it sells. Surface-level reads on a text or character, the same story told again But Worse, mediocre attempts at representation that just end up throwing certain actors under the bus… the impression is that studios don’t respect the viewer enough to give us quality, and as an audience we’ve made them to understand that quality is not a priority. Not if the box office keeps doing well, not if we keep talking about the trash in question.
Anyway, that’s not what I want to talk about.
The point is, compared to that, arthouse cinema feels a lot better, doesn’t it? More substantial. I included MUBI in the title because to me, it’s a fairly well-known gateway to that kind of thing. More obscure, more international, more creative (at least in theory).
Personally, the intro music and the colorful lens flares give me an undeniable yet unexplainable pleasure. Like “hmmm, yes, cinema…”
The kind of projects you’ll see there tend to be much more limited in their target audience. Namely, people who are at least somewhat familiar with the process of creating a movie. In my case, I’m not a film school student, but my major (Communications) has plenty of overlap with that career. So yeah, during my years on a Campus, I’ve been more involved in that environment and learned plenty about the work behind what we see on-screen.
It’s very easy to take shots at Hollywood and pride yourself in your appreciation for “real” cinema. Especially if you’re a film student or just graduated and looking for a seat at the table, it’s completely normal to crave that insider knowledge.
Of course, said longing can easily sour into arrogance, and then that smugness might eventually get used against you.
The people who actually like Marvel and Hollywood might flip it around. They’ll defend their own preference and in turn mock these self-proclaimed “cinephiles” with their MUBI tote bags and their black turtlenecks, who’ll judge you if you don’t know a vaguely homoerotic Polish film from the 1970s.
Still, the question remains: is arthouse cinema actually better? By excellence? Like, independently from having passion and caring about the craft and the general wish to support smaller directors, is the quality heightened when you go beyond Hollywood?
Because, in my experience, that is not necessarily the case.
Of course I don’t hate the indie and arthouse niche, but some of those movies are not it. They drag, they lean on chosen silence and unspoken communication. Some of them are derivative, or the idea isn’t nearly as developed as it could have been.
That makes sense, given that many of these projects are small-scale, often literally meant as practice and learning.
Some of them are great and underrated, with plenty to say, but some of these projects you could find on the MUBI catalog have a plot about as solid as diarrhea. There, I said it! Many of them are heavily inspired by other media, and others are… simply kinda boring. Or maybe you just don’t love them!
Look, I don’t want to discard the importance of supporting smaller, international directors. You can do that through streaming platforms and websites and festivals and college screenings. I do think it’s important, more so if you’re the kind of person who cares about cinema in a deeper, more logistical sense. Still, I don’t think it’s helpful to assume that Hollywood movies are always bad, and that independent cinema is always superior in every way. It’s a good thing to care about the craft and have a passion for it, but you’re still allowed to like “basic” stuff. You’re still allowed to finish watching the obscure French movie and go “Wow… this sucks!”
If you’re waiting for permission, now you have it.
Same with the BookTok discourse and the classics/smut divide, but maybe that’s something I’ll talk about some other day... let me know it that sounds good <3