And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine

A cool concept for a documentary, going over the history of cameras and how they've been used over the years, that unfortunately doesn't really do or say anything interesting throughout most of the runtime.

For every thought-provoking scene, such as the part where they are comparing a picture of a 2010 Haiti earthquake victim and a picture of multiple people photographing said victim, there's another dozen scenes after that serve no real purpose being here, such as Belle Delphine being interviewed by H3H3Productions and Logan Paul.

'Fantastic' is the last word I would use to describe this total mess of a film.

Saw this at the 2023 filmfestival Ghant (Belgium). There is no consistent line of thought, just a kaleidoscopical and anecdotical series of ideas. I admit it is not easy to span two centuries and also combine photography and filming, and all that in a confined time frame of nearly 90 minutes.

Of course, the contemporary issues of social media are brought up, and its negative consequences too. Alas, it does not attempt to find a balance with the democratic goodies that everyone is able to create new content and distribute it, independent of official journals and studios.

All in all, the parts about the history of photographing and filming are much better and more informative than the parts about the present and the future. I for myself found no eye openers and no novel ideas in this movie.

This documentary presents a mosaic of the most interesting historical facts, like the Camera Obscura and early inventions by Daguerre and Lumière, among others. This part is followed by the worst present content coming from private TV channels and social media platforms as well, including some of the shared videos of the well-known assault on the Capitol. But this is quite unusual and very impressing to watch these events on a big screen. Unfortunately, the movie clearly lacks a common thread, neither logical nor chronological: The narrator voice mostly only describes the basic context of the presented images, without telling a proper story. But in the end, you can very easily make up your own opinion out of this random stuff.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Fantastic Machine" is documentary about from the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity's unique obsession with the camera's image and the social consequences that lay ahead. The documentary discusses cool ideas about the history of cameras and how cameras have changed over time from social, political, and media context. Unfortunately, while there are some great discussions brought up, consistency is thrown out of the window with this documentary. It's honestly kind of a mess at times.

The filmmakers presenting media footage of past and present are understandable to demonstrate it's contexts but the film doesn't really dive much of what the purpose is and they don't offer too much that is interesting to be invested with. Discussions about past cameras and scenes were interesting as they present an decent approach on the history but once it starts to dive into modern times, the film losses it's footing and seemingly goes all over the place.

There are moments of scenes and pictures that were interesting like The Arrival of a Train and photography during the 50s. But then there are moments like videos of streamers, modern riots and even YouTubers to feels out of place and have nothing to discuss about. I can see where the filmmakers are trying to approach but it felt uneven and mostly filler.

It's a documentary that started off interesting but falls apart once the second act enters.

Rating: C+

A extremely thought provoking documentary! One of the more better documentaries ive ever seen!

This piece really makes you think larger perspectives of what we consider reality and how easily the human collective can be manipulated by others as it shows the use of history relevant to the use of film as a tool of provide a false reality aswell of the rise of fake news, disinformation and the dangers of social media. What was initially an artistic and scientific tool has changed dramatically since the camera got invented and that it can be a threat to freedom and democracy aswell as it explores the future of our media, entertainment and technological development of interacting.

Its also a social study of the human nature of behaviour of imitation.

To summarise: A really deep, interesting, powerful, thought provoking and important documentary from the great directors Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck that really knows how to provide a message though film, really puts the message of the film into use! I really recommend it! A really good documentary!