Letter from the Editor: A Sharper Focus

Glancing about the landscape of contemporary film criticism (and the publication thereof) tends to make an editor think long and hard about the job he is doing. The Film Journal is something I started over three years ago, with the intention of providing a broad-ranged forum for aspiring critics and writers, a place they could bring their work and have it viewed by a discerning, but open-minded editor (and readership). Completely on my own at first, I set about soliciting writers, trying to get the journal's name into the critical ether, hoping I could build it into something.

I believe that I have, along with a wonderful group of contributors, my long-suffering wife and co-editor and my friend and feature editor, Peter Tonguette (a word from him follows), accomplished something very near to what I set out to do.

But that glance I mentioned above. It's a bit disconcerting, if for no other reason than I find the journal a part of a greater epidemic: film criticism (often very well written and presented), with no real voice, purpose or mission. Throughout this journey (of sorts) of self-discovery over the past several months, a kind of clarity has come out of many discussions with my co-editors. The journal (and its writers) have always leaned toward a director-based notion of authorship. From a personal standpoint, my independent voyage through the cinematic lexicon has repeatedly brought me back to the writings of Sarris, Bazin, the Cahiers crowd.

To quickly grab the fine point: The Film Journal has always been an auteurist publication in a plain old film journal's clothing, and from this issue (Issue 12) forward, the publication will take a pronounced and concentrated focus upon presenting writing that furthers that critical ideology. After many discussions, the editorial staff believes that in doing so, The Film Journal can stand out even further from the herd of informed, but dispassionate, critical writing on the cinema.

We hope you enjoy the ride. We look forward to taking it with you. As a part of this announcement, we offer our Survey of Filmmakers, a completely unscientific polling of critics, writers and filmmakers of their top 25 directors. See the results here.

Rick Curnutte
Editor, The Film Journal
thefilmjournal@yahoo.com