In the example scenes from True Detective (Cary Joji Fukunaga, 2012) analyse and discuss an ontological shift from movie theatres to home-based cinema ‘screens. ‘ “The Golden Age of Television” is a phrase often used to describe today’s entertainment landscape, with successful shows such as “Breaking Bad’, ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘House of Cards’ getting huge viewing figures underpinned by undeniably high quality content. This shift in the quality and ambition of television marks a change in its ontology but what effect has this had on cinema?
QiQuentin Tarantino, Oscar winner and indie cinema legend, has, with an eye to the rise of digital projection, referred to modern cinema as “TV in public” and suggested that soon he will retire from working in film to do a “mini series for HBO”[1]. HBO’s True Detective’ season one was released in 2014. It employed a complex narrative structure based around flashbacks to give the viewer an in-depth view of a murder case spanning 1995 to 2012. Specifically, it provided the differing perspectives of the two Detectives investigating the case (Rustin Cohle played by Matthew McConaughey and Martin Hart played by Woody Harrelson).
The season ran for eight episodes and all were written by Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. If we accept the premise that the line separating cinema and television is becoming more and more blurred, True Detective represents a significant ontological shift between the two. Moreover, it provides evidence that cinema is not becoming more like television but rather television is becoming more ambitious and cinema-like. I think perhaps the most obvious way this point can be proved is by analysing the production of True Detective.
The show only had one Writer and one Director for the first season, much like a film would but the differences from a standard TV format went further than that. Executive Producer of the show Richard Brown said “With True Detective we wanted to bring more cinema into TV – to find the sweet spot between film and TV. “[2], Brown was one of six Executive Producers on the first season of True Detective, the others included Series Writer Nic Pizzolatto, Director Cary Joji Fukunaga and its stars Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey.
This is important because it shows the responsibility that each of these people took for quality and creative direction the show. Offering its leading actors ‘Producer roles also meant that they could hire the movie ‘stars’ they did. The Academy Awards are arguably the pinnacle of mainstream cinema and underline the stature of the actors concerned. Woody Harrelson had already been nominated twice before[3] and in 2014 McConaughey won the award for best actor[4]. Having both Harrelson and McConaughey working on True Detective is one clear demonstration of the ontological shift from TV towards cinema.
If you continue to analyse True Detective in relation to The Academy Awards then ‘Birdman: (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'[5], the 2015 winner of four ‘Oscars’ (including Best Motion Picture) provides a further interesting comparison. For the majority of the film ‘Birdman’ uses a continuous moving shot, not only to match the theatrical themes of the film, but also to increase the pace and tension of its action by shooting in realtime so the audience gets a clearer sense of the leading character’s dreamlike viewpoint.
I would compare this to the continuous shot at the end of the episode ‘Who Goes There? ‘ from True Detective, in which an undercover Rustin Cohle raids a ‘stash house’ with a motorcycle gang. In this scene the Director Cary Fukunaga also uses a continuous shot to create a dreamlike tension and added suspense through realtime action. As with Birdman, the viewer experiences the action as the character does and I think this shows an evolution in what can be done with a television character and how they can be treated with the depth and respect of a film character.
The fact that this style of shot is used in both pieces and received wide acclaim (this particular episode won an Emmy[6]), is important as it suggests that television is improving rather than cinema degrading The scene referenced in the last paragraph is also important because it shows what has since become one of Cary Fukunagas trademarks as a Director – the long unbroken moving shot (or “oner”). Being able to notice the trademarks of a director is important because it allows you to see them as an Auteur.
Regarding Fukunaga as an Auteur again shows an important ontological shift from TV into cinema. Andre Bazin and Roger Leedhart described an Auteur as a practitioner using film as a medium to present their own worldview, and their opinions and feelings on their subject matter. Truffaut then went on to develop this idea and suggested that an Auteur was a practitioner doing original and distinctive things with a personal and unique perspective [7].
In Fukunaga’s latest film ‘Beasts of No Nation’, which tells the story of a young boy in war torn Africa who is forced to become a child soldier, he again makes significant use of the ‘oner’ as a stylistic device. I think most poignantly in the scene where Agu (the protagonist) enters a house with his his army unit and comes across a woman who he initially believes is his mother. When he realises she is not, he lets his friends rape her, kill her daughter and then shoot her.
Although this scene is shot in a similar way to the previously mentioned ‘stash house’ scene from True Detective, I would compare it to the house invasion scene from the episode ‘The Secret Fate of All Life’. In this scene the viewer hears the version of events Martin Hart tells the police, then sees what actually happened – they enter the house illegally, find the children (one of whom is dead) and proceed to kill their unarmed captor and his accomplice.
I would compare these scenes because I think they are both good examples of common features in Fukunaga’s work. In both scenes we see the loss of innocence; in True Detective it is when we realise that the two characters are lying and that they are guilty of essentially executing a defenceless man without giving him a trial; in ‘Beasts of No Nation’ we see the loss of Agu’s childlike innocence in him killing people brutally and senselessly for the first time in the film.
We also see the death of children in both scenes which features heavily in much of Fukunaga’s work, I think it could be argued that he uses this theme as a metaphor for the ultimate loss of innocence, in that a child represents purity and innocence and death represents darkness taking that purity and innocence away. The recognisable similarity in these scenes is a clear example of Fukunaga having “a unique and personal worldview” through his work, which makes him an Auteur.
I also think the fact that an Auteur from the world of cinema can work and continue their unique and recognisable style in television, demonstrates that television is moving ontologically towards film rather than the other way around. In 2015 HBO released season two of True Detective. It was no longer written by just Nic Pizzolatto or directed by Cary Fukunaga, nor did it have Oscar winning or nominated stars playing the leads.
These production elements and specifically the work of Fukunaga, was in my opinion a large part of what made the show ontologically more like cinema. I think this begs the question whether there has been an ontological shift in cinema or television or whether the first season of True Detective was just an anomaly. Personally I think it acts as a gold standard for how ambitious and ultimately good television can be.
Historically the ambition and quality of television has generally been seen as poorer than cinema, and this is why to say that cinema is becoming more like television is inherently negative – suggesting that cinema is getting worse. Talk about digital projection and then the fact that true detectives best scene was shot on digital In my view the gap between the two has become smaller, but films being made now are in my opinion no less interesting or good than films of the past, so that must mean that television is getting better.
However with Cary Fukunaga’s latest film ‘Beasts of No Nation’ being released through Netflix and the fact that nearly all films are now shown digitally there is definitely a change in the way people are watching films and with the rise of Netflix and “binge watching”, the way we watch television is also changing, and although these things will effect the ontology, I don’t think that has to be negative.
