There are disappointments in the life of a cinephile that cause her to sigh and shrug. Say the implosion of MoviePass and a film-a-day deal that always seemed too good to last. And then there are injustices so great they make her rail against the heavens like Howard Beale in Network: FilmStruck is shutting down after only two years in existence, an apparent casualty of AT&T’s takeover of WarnerMedia.
The news broke on Friday, sending film buffs into mourning on Twitter:
When you find out @FilmStruck is ending. pic.twitter.com/HWEbL5NWJe
— Dominique Lessing (@missclassicfilm) October 26, 2018
Terrible, terrible, terrible. The service barely got a chance to find its footing before the suits pulled the plug. https://t.co/Wl92NH9fmo
— Farran Nehme (@selfstyledsiren) October 26, 2018
Nothing but contempt for the Mr. Potters who are shutting down FilmStruck. Also, never trust streaming: own or lose.
— Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow) October 26, 2018
FilmStruck was too good to last. I see it sadly floating away from the charred wasteland that is 2018, Lorax style. https://t.co/RCXoj1zhvs
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) October 26, 2018
FilmStruck was something rare; smug commentators saying "the films will just turn up elsewhere" ignore the unique curatorial contribution + dream @Criterion @TCM combo https://t.co/EoXbQcEbzr
— Whit Stillman (@WhitStillman) October 27, 2018
FilmStruck’s demise is a tremendous loss. It was more than just a streaming service. It was a film school, with hosted introductions recorded for selected films and an ongoing video series about the art of filmmaking, created by film historians. It was an archive, full of interviews with directors, actors, writers, critics, artists and film programmers. It was a beautifully curated library, a means of preserving our cinematic heritage and a gateway to over a hundred years’ worth of artistic expression from across the globe. Its destruction suggests at best a fundamental misunderstanding of what the service meant to its users and at worst an act of cultural vandalism.
I have no idea what will happen next. I hope the Criterion Channel finds a new home quickly, perhaps on Hulu, where it lived before migrating to FilmStruck. I doubt the Warner Bros. back catalogue will be as lucky. Age has never been a desirable commodity in Hollywood and I fear most of these films will join the hundreds that rights holders dismiss as irrelevant and keep hidden away, uninterested in sharing them with the audience who would appreciate them most.
The death of FilmStruck is also a reminder that to depend solely on streaming is to build your house upon sand. As I wrote earlier this year, streaming services have an increasingly narrow range of classics available and just because something is available today doesn’t mean it will be tomorrow or a month from now. If you care deeply about a film, invest in physical media: buy it on DVD or Blu-ray and hold on to it. It’s the only way to guarantee you can watch what you want when you want. (Until you wear the disc or player out, but that’s another story.)
FilmStruck finally flickers out of existence on 29 November. Until then, I’ve been trying to pare my watch list of 270 films down into something more manageable—a nigh-impossible task because there’s always more to see. In memory of one of the greatest film institutions the Internet has ever produced, these are a few of the films I first found on FilmStruck:
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) The oldest surviving feature-length animated film: tales from One Thousand and One Nights, told via exquisite animated silhouettes. Directed by Lotte Reiniger and included in FilmStruck’s spotlight on women directors.
Speedy (1928) What do Coney Island, the New York Yankees and a horse-drawn street car have in common? Harold Lloyd. To my delight FilmStruck didn’t just have this Lloyd film, it had over two dozen more, plus selections from Lloyd’s home movies and a great documentary about his life and career.
The Story of a Cheat (1936) My introduction to the wonder that is Sacha Guitry.
Wonder Man (1945) Twice the Danny Kaye means twice the fun. He plays identical twins—one a goofy singer-stand-up comedian, the other a shy academic—and comes close to being a living, breathing special effect. Kaye only made 17 films; FilmStruck had eight. How I wish he’d made more.
Middle of the Night (1959) Widower Fredric March finds love and a new lease on life with Kim Novak, a secretary half his age. A tender, thought-provoking film about the pressures society places on us to conform. One of March’s best performances; Novak was never better.
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) The last man in the world hears a knock. Miner Harry Belafonte escapes a cave in to discover the world’s population has been wiped out by a nuclear holocaust, save for Inger Stevens and Mel Ferrer. Set in a barren New York as convincing as it is unsettling, the film blends existential horror and apocalyptic dread and tackles racism and sexism without flinching. Featured on FilmStruck as part of a collection of director Barry Jenkins’ personal favourites.
Le Trou (1960) Jacques Becker’s extraordinary chronicle of a prison break, based on real events. Impossible to watch without holding your breath.
Youth of the Beast (1963) An ex-cop turned thug works his way up the yakuza ladder, with ulterior motives. Seijun Suzuki’s film is bold, brash, violent and beautiful to look at—a gangster film with every genre cliché deliberately turned up to 11.
Dreamscape (1984) Scientists Max von Sydow and Kate Capshaw recruit psychic Dennis Quaid to rummage through people’s dreams. It’s all in the name of research—or at least that’s what shady government operative Christopher Plummer wants everyone to think. A fun science-fiction adventure, part of a von Sydow collection that showcased his immense range. How many other filmographies stretch from The Seventh Seal and Shame to Strange Brew?
City on Fire (1987) A brutal cops-and-robbers saga that made a star out of Chow Yun-fat. A clear template for Reservoir Dogs.
The Secret of the Grain (2007) Forced out of his job at the local docks, an ageing Tunisian immigrant decides to open his own restaurant. Simultaneously an intricate portrait of an extended family and indictment of convoluted French bureaucracy, a film this good is a gift.
Leave a Reply