"The Death of Film/The Decay of Cinema” (Parts I and II) – Godfrey Cheshire (New York Press, July & August 1999)

Author: Godfrey Cheshire

Date of Original Publication: July & August 1999

Summary:

Godfrey Cheshire's two-part essay, "The Death of Film/The Decay of Cinema," published in the New York Press in the summer of 1999, presents a prescient and critical analysis of the impending technological shifts in motion pictures and their profound implications for the art form of cinema. Cheshire argues that the transition from celluloid film to digital technology in theatrical projection, and eventually production, represents not merely an upgrade in delivery system but a fundamental change that will effectively lead to the "death of film" as a physical medium and the "decay of cinema" as a distinct cultural and artistic force. He differentiates between "film" (the technology), "movies" (entertainment), and "cinema" (art), asserting that while movies will persist, their aesthetic singularity and cultural centrality will erode under the pervasive influence of television and computer-generated imagery.