Movie Review: 'Side by Side' With Keanu Reeves Charts Filmmaking

Tribeca Film

Keanu Reeves and Martin Scorsese?in the documentary ?Side by Side.?

There are quarrels that are certain to be provoked by Chris Kenneally?s new documentary, ?Side by Side,? which explores the impact of digital technology on 21st-century moviemaking, but one thing is beyond argument. For a film geek this movie is absolute heaven, a dream symposium in which directors, cinematographers, editors and a few actors gather to opine on the details of their craft. It is worth a year of film school and at least 1,000 hours of DVD bonus commentary.

Guided by an affable and knowledgeable Keanu Reeves, viewers are escorted onto sets and into editing bays, shown clips both esoteric and familiar, and invited to examine a lot of cool hardware. Auteurists and gadget fetishists will be equally enraptured. Not only do you get to sit at the feet of Martin Scorsese, Steven Soderbergh, Christopher Nolan and other heroes of modern cinema. You also get to check out the latest high-definition cameras from Panavision, Arriflex, Canon and Red.

The gee-whiz aspects of ?Side by Side? are integral to its argument. The film is not quite an exercise in pro-digital propaganda. Skeptics as well as enthusiasts are heard from, and the virtues of old-fashioned celluloid are duly praised. But as is so often the case with digital technology of all kinds ? the tablet, the mp3, the Internet itself ? the discourse tilts toward triumphalism.

The tried and true always has trouble competing with the shiny and new, which in this case offers convenience and portability as well as up-to-the-minute coolness. There is something inherently appealing about belonging to the party of progress, and quite a few of the cinema artists Mr. Reeves interviews make their preferences for pixels and CGI sound like matters of principle. They see themselves as a vanguard, pressing forward with innovations that are aesthetic as well as technological, if such a distinction even makes sense anymore.

And it may never have had much force in the case of movies, whose history is measured in leaps and bounds of discovery and invention. From the earliest days many of the important directors were conducting a kind of research-and-development program for the medium, experimenting with parallel editing and montage as much as with genre, thinking about light and focus as much as about acting. They also needed to adapt in order to keep their careers going, since big changes ? the arrival of sound, of color, of wide-screen, of television ? were rapid and frequent.

Given this history, it makes sense that the latest and arguably the biggest change should be embraced not only by confirmed futurists like James Cameron and Lana and Andy Wachowski, but also by directors like Mr. Scorsese and Mr. Soderbergh who are steeped in reverence for the movie past. Mr. Scorsese?s ?Hugo? ? a 3-D digital extravaganza about George M?li?s, the early-20th-century stage magician turned special-effects pioneer ? is a perfect expression of the idea that embracing the new has the essence of cinematic tradition from the start.

Mr. Reeves and Mr. Kenneally are clearly in thrall to this notion, and the very presence of Mr. Reeves (a producer of ?Side by Side? as well as its narrator and master of ceremonies) might be taken as a declaration of digital allegiance. He?s Neo after all, whose travels between physical and virtual dimensions in ?The Matrix? ? in its moment a groundbreaking work of digital cinema ? can be seen as prophetic, at least with respect to the movies.

Ordinary flesh-and-blood moviegoers find ourselves very much between worlds. Physical film is still with us, and it still has its partisans. The most passionate and prominent here is Mr. Nolan, whose ?Dark Knight? series needed the luster of darkness that only emulsion and stock can provide. He and others are skeptical of digital utopianism, and also worried that accumulated wisdom and long-standing rituals of the craft are in danger of being swept away.

Fascinating debates percolate in ?Side by Side? about aspects of moviemaking that are mysterious, even invisible, to most fans. Some filmmakers are pleased that dailies ? the scenes and shots collected in a day?s work ? can now be reviewed instantly, whereas before they had to be sent to the lab for full processing overnight. Others, and some rather vocal cinematographers, worry that the instant version sacrifices precision and vision on the altar of convenience. Similar arguments are joined about editing and color timing.

Mr. Reeves, who has spent most of his adult life on movie sets, is comfortable in high-powered company and also, as every actor must be, a good listener. ?Side by Side,? while far from a comprehensive consideration of the current state of movies, is necessary viewing for anyone who cares about their future. Mr. Kenneally might have paid more attention to the world beyond Hollywood, and also to the impact of digital technology on lower-budget, independent filmmaking and on restoration, but within the parameters it defines, this film does an excellent job of presenting complex material in an enlightening and exciting manner.

What it cannot do is provide the last word on the digital revolution in movies, since the revolution is in its early stages. For now the mix of agnosticism and optimism ? of respect for the old and enthusiasm for the new ? seems reasonable. But we will have to wait for the sequel to know for sure.

Side by Side

Opens on Friday in New York and Seattle.

Directed by Chris Kenneally; director of photography, Chris Cassidy; edited by Mike Long and Malcolm Hearn; music by Brendan Ryan and Billy Ryan; produced by Keanu Reeves and Justin Szlasa; released by Tribeca Film. In Manhattan at the Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. This film is not rated.

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Tags: Advances, Charts, Filmmaking, Keanu, movie, Reeves, Review, SIDE

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