Nathaniel Dorsky's Devotional Cinema likens watching a film to religion, recounts certain films that had a great effect on him, and what makes a good film.
Honestly, most of this book confused me. I can see the points Dorsky is trying to make but he has a tendancy to ramble without giving much argument for his point. According to Dorsky, good film sticks with you, makes you think, and opens up humans to one another. His first main example is Rossellini's Voyage to Italy and how in the elevator ride afterwards people were crying and more open to one another than after most films. I agree that certain films do open us up, make us think, connect us with one another, and can even heal us, but I feel that Dorsky spends too much time on how bad most cinema is. His ideas about good cinema are there, but they are shrouded among several ideas of what make bad cinema.
Overall, Dorsky states that a good film revels in the miracle that is reality, lives in the now, has motivated shots and cuts, and makes us appreciate life and humility while being open much like religion should. Again, I agree, but I don't see why he couldn't have said that in a short essay instead of cluttering about 50 pages.
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