7/10
Very Educational
4 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
I watched every episode of the Story of Film on TCM and quite frankly found it very educational. As a film buff, with a pretty good knowledge of the history of cinema, I thought I had a good grasp of what has come before but Mark Cousin's epic documentary with a focus on International cinema, and not just the West, really opened me up to so many foreign films that I was not aware of it. So, thank you Mark for that!

There's been much talk about Mark's accent as the narrator. Frankly, since this series is about Mark's own vision of cinema's history, it makes sense for him to narrate. Because all along he is the one telling us what he thinks of this film or that, this director and another.

It would not have made sense if SOF was narrated by someone else, because the points being brought up in this 15-hour long documentary aren't necessarily cinema facts, but one person's rather educated opinion. So, I have no issue with Mark's personal narration.

As for his accent, why such a fuss? Why do we need to have generic, impersonal narrations all over the place. If Michael Moore gets to narrate his own documentaries and telling us how feels about various topics, why shouldn't Mark do that.

If the real fuss about Cousin is that he is not American, then the blame is on us for being so uptight and not him.

Good work Mark and thanks for expanding my cinema knowledge.
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