Director: Angela Christlieb, Stephen Kijak
Starring: Jack Angstreich, Eric Chadbourne, Bill Heidbreder, Roberta Hill, Harvey Schwartz
Country of Origin: USA/Germany
Running time: 1hr 23m
Following five cinema obsessed New Yorkers may not be the most obvious choice of subject matter for a documentary, however far less interesting people have already been profiled on film.
Directors Angela Christlieb and Stephen Kijak give us a glimpse into the lives of Jack, Eric, Bill, Roberta and Harvey, who spend all their time inside any one of the mammoth amount of movie theatres in the Big Apple.
Almost every minute idiosyncrasy of the quintet’s daily routines is examined, including what clothes they wear to the movies, how they avoid leaving the cinema during a film’s running time, knowing how to use the city’s labyrinthine subway system to avoid missing a showing and how to ensure their favourite seat at any chosen venue.
The willing participants, who seem to be living a dream by appearing in their own film, also answer the myriad of questions that their undoubtedly bizarre existence conjures up.
The most obvious is perhaps how they can afford to pay for their passion, as all five big screen devotees appear to do nothing else than attend films all day, every day, all year round.
Jack, by far the most interesting and intelligent of the group, inherited money from an aunt, the others pick up disability benefits or do casual menial work.
Naturally the other most pertinent question is why do they dedicate their time, almost exclusively, to constantly watching films?
Jack – who claims to have seen 1000 films in the space of eight months – calls it ‘far more than an obsession’ and says that he is a ‘typical New York stereotype’ (in that it wouldn’t be possible anywhere else to exist this way, due to the huge number of cinemas, variety of films on offer and public transport system).
He talks of an intense experience, heightened within the frames of the cinema screen and that reality cannot compare.
Another says that film is a ‘substitute for life’ and Jack concurs adding grimly ‘who would want to live in this world anyway’.
Aside from Jack – who we see socialising with friends, the other four we observe alone or interacting with each other – only Roberta is scrutinised in any great detail.
She was barred from The Museum of Modern Art after an altercation with a ticket collector, but that aside she seems affable enough, although clearly a tad eccentric.
Cinemania treats its stars in a warm, almost reverential way (at least when it comes to their film knowledge), and never once seriously delves into the motives for their lifestyle.
If it had featured a voice over, the entire exercise could have been very cruel indeed, but the talking head format does give the cinema fanatics a chance to explain the reasons for their addiction to film.
They’re never labelled as outcasts and trifling details such as messy apartments cluttered with movie memorabilia and that fact that two of the protagonists admit to regularly visiting psychiatrists (but then if you’re to believe a broad section of American films and television shows everyone does) are comfortably overlooked.
We do laugh at them and with them – especially Jack – but there is no judgement made in what comes across as a compelling and touching snapshot of a very distinct group of people.
Fittingly, although it can be perceived as a little indulgent, the cinemanaics watch themselves on screen at the end and they seem satisfied, even joking as to who was featured more in the finished film.
Jack, Cinemania’s unquestionable star, proclaims that would have preferred to watch the six-hour cut.
Yet as it stands, Cinemania is a touching and riveting study of five very different individuals who share a common love.
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Stephen Kasiewicz 