Amman - The book Cinematic Genius, by Hisham Asaad and Hassan Arab, examines the careers of some of the most prominent directors in film history. It attempts to explain what sets their work apart, and how their artistic choices helped develop methods of storytelling, cinematography and direction.
اضافة اعلان
The book, which is written in English, combines analysis of films that left a mark on the history of cinema with discussion of issues in filmmaking, including the role of music, colour and editing, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of film production.
Across 223 pages divided into 11 chapters, the two authors move between films and directors from different cinematic schools, from Alfred Hitchcock and Andrei Tarkovsky to Martin Scorsese and Wong Kar-wai. They pause at the approaches that made their work different from what was common, and at the relationship between a director's vision and the techniques used to make a film.
The book draws on its authors' experience in filmmaking. Hisham Asaad is a director who studied cinema and has worked in the field in several countries. Hassan Arab holds a master's degree in filmmaking from Kingston University in Britain, and has worked as an editor of programmes and documentaries for Arab television channels. The book notes that he has also worked for the BBC. Arab writes poetry and has an interest in film analysis, which is reflected in the book's blend of professional experience and artistic reading of films.
The authors begin by discussing the relationship between cinema and reality, and how directors turn to imagination to re-present human experiences. The first chapter examines films such as The Matrix, Inception and Interstellar, to explore how cinema deals with time, dreams and reality, and how these themes shape the viewer's understanding of events and characters.
The second chapter looks at the importance of building a film scene, and the roles of lighting, camera movement and sound in directing the viewer's attention and expressing characters' psychological states. It offers a reading of the famous mirror scene in Orson Welles's The Lady from Shanghai, where reflections and compositions of the image express deception and disturbed identity. It also examines Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, analysing the use of nature, light and slow rhythm in portraying family relationships and questions of existence.
The third chapter is devoted to creativity during shooting, and the challenges directors face from unexpected circumstances, such as changing weather, equipment failures or the difficulty of staging certain scenes. The authors draw on the experiences of Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg to show how production problems can lead to directorial solutions that differ from the original concept.
The fourth chapter is devoted to Giuseppe Tornatore's Italian film Cinema Paradiso, which discusses the relationship between cinema, memory, childhood and nostalgia, through the story of the boy Toto and his relationship with the world of film. The analysis focuses on the place the cinema hall occupies in the characters' lives, and how watching films becomes part of their personal and social experience.
The fifth chapter addresses one of the most prominent topics linked to the future of the industry: artificial intelligence and its impact on film production. The authors discuss the use of modern technology in visual effects and in developing production processes, and how it could open wider opportunities for independent filmmakers by cutting costs. The chapter also raises questions about the ability of machines to produce works that carry the distinctiveness of human experience, and argues that technology should remain tied to the creator's vision and artistic decisions.
The sixth chapter turns to the treatment of time in cinema, through the work of the Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky and Italian cinema, examining the differences in rhythm between film schools. The authors compare films that give viewers more time to reflect on details and emotions with those that rely on rapid cuts and accelerating events to push the story forward.
The following chapters analyse specific works in more depth. The seventh chapter looks at Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, focusing on the character of Travis Bickle and his isolation in New York City, and how the director used cinematography, lighting and music to convey the character's psychological state and its relationship to violence and alienation.
The eighth chapter examines the style of director Wes Anderson, known for symmetrical compositions, distinctive colours and fine visual detail. The ninth chapter covers David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, focusing on the relationship between historical events and the characters' personal lives, and the impact of acting, music and cinematography in telling the story.
In the tenth chapter, the authors analyse the world of Wong Kar-wai, where colour, lighting and character movement are key elements in expressing human relationships, particularly feelings of love, waiting and absence.
The book ends with a chapter on the Italian composer Ennio Morricone, looking at his contribution to developing film music, and how his compositions became part of the identity of the films he worked on, and an influential element in building scenes and shaping audience response.
The book's importance lies in combining topics related to cinematic language with practical experience and analysis of well-known works. It gives readers insight into aspects of filmmaking that go beyond acting and plot alone. Including artificial intelligence alongside the experiences of classic directors also broadens the discussion to cover the changes the film industry is currently undergoing.
However, parts of the book lean towards a contemplative style and emotional description rather than organised academic analysis, and it includes imagined dialogues between directors to illustrate their differing artistic visions. It can therefore be seen as a book offering critical readings and impressions supported by film examples, rather than a comprehensive theoretical reference.
Overall, Cinematic Genius: The Art of Breaking the Rules highlights the importance of the artistic decisions directors make in shaping the identity of their films, and offers readers and those interested in filmmaking a way to understand the relationship between directing, cinematography, editing and music, and their role in distinguishing cinematic works and sustaining their presence with audiences.
Source: Al-Ghad. Reporting by Israa Al-Radaydeh
