- Director : Mark Cousins
- Actors : Jeremy Thomas, Mark Cousins, Tilda Swinton, Debra Winger
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Cohen Media Group
- Aspect Ratio : 1.78:1
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Country of Origin : United Kingdom
- Number of discs : 1
- Media Format : NTSC, DVD
- Run time : 1 hour and 32 minutes
- Release date : October 10, 2023
Jeremy Thomas is a producer who has worked
with truly legendary filmmakers, undeniably leaving his mark on film history.
The film follows Thomas as he prepares to see his latest film, Takashi Miike’s First
Love (2019), debut at the Cannes Film Festival. Each year the producer
takes a five-day road trip driving to the international film festival in France,
and for this particularly journey he is joined by filmmaker Mark Cousins. In
promotion for the film, Cousins is referred to as an “acclaimed filmmaker.”
This may be true, but it is hard to see in the home movie road trip footage he
filmed for this documentary. Everything feels thrown together, almost as an afterthought
to the journey itself.
Part of the
problem is that this ultimately feels like a puff piece, with the filmmaker far
too close to his subject, which results in a lack of objectivity. Through every
interview and edited moment of supposedly natural behavior from the filmmaker, even
though he is clearly always aware of the camera observing him, The Storms of
Jeremy Thomas feels contrived and unrevealing. I have no doubt that Thomas
is an engaging and compelling human being, but this documentary does a poor job
of revealing that.
Instead of
taking a traditional approach to telling Thomas’s story and background in the
film industry, Cousins jumps around and splits the sections of the film up in
themes he sees as relevant. Unfortunately, this approach just comes off as
pretentious, like watching someone’s cold dissertation about the work of a
filmmaker, despite having the unique opportunity to see spend intimate time
with him. In short, while the premise of the film seems to set up an intimate portrayal
of a filmmaker’s humanity, instead it becomes a pretentious examination of the
purpose of cinematic art. While this may be compelling to some, I couldn’t help
but feel it was a missed opportunity.
The DVD release
for The Storms of Jeremy Thomas has no special features, aside from
optional English subtitles.
Entertainment Value:
4/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 3/10
Historical
Significance: 2/10
Special Features: 0/10
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