Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
This documentary about the culture of intense cinephilia in New York City reveals the impassioned world of five obsessed movie buffs. These human encyclopedias of cinema see two to five films a day, and from 600 to 2,000 films per year. This is the story of their lives, their memories, their unbending habits and the films they love.
Cinemania is a niche but genuinely engaging documentary portrait of five extreme New York cinephiles whose obsessive moviegoing lifestyles make for compelling, sometimes tragicomic subject matter. The 'plot' as documentary structure is serviceable — it profiles each subject with curiosity and some empathy, though it lacks a strong narrative arc or deeper analytical framework about cinephilia itself. Acting is not applicable in a traditional sense; the subjects are real people who come across naturally if eccentrically, though the filmmaking doesn't draw out particularly revealing or emotionally complex moments. Cinematography is functional observational documentary style — handheld, intimate but unremarkable. Novelty is modestly above average: the specific subculture of pathological cinephilia is a fairly singular subject at the time of release, even if the talking-heads documentary format is conventional. The ending offers little resolution or reflection, fading out without real closure on the subjects' lives or the broader implications of their obsession.