Review of Side by Side (2012) by Hoops2448 — 26 Aug 2013

The whole process of making film fascinates me, especially the old process of making it on film, meaning that Side by Side must be the film for me. Not at all, thanks to a complete disregard of everything film.

Side by Side looks at the influx of digital cinema and its effects on films made as some say they should still be made on film. Using famous talking heads to make their point, the film emphasises the differences between the two and how digital's emergence has changed everything.

While an interesting concept and filled with good questions asked by narrator and interviewer Keanu Reeves, Side by Side lacks the kind of debate expected from a documentary like this and it also fails to convey any kind of personal touch as it robotically goes over the facts with no time for any form of discussion.

The film is more interested in opinion and the views of the film-makers Reeves talks to, something that ensures the film fails to make any points in support of either method. I'm sure this was so the viewer could make his own decision but the film fails to give enough information to make a decision of that sort possible.

Sure its nice to hear directors talking so lovingly about their craft but in the end it doesn't mean a damn think in relation to the film vs digital debate because its not so much a debate but a choice, one that isn't any clearer having spent an hour and a half learning nothing but conjecture.