Cutting Edge

[Kieran]

This was screened on BBC4 last month. It’s pretty good (not that there’s much competition) but it’s essentially a collection of anecdotes interspersed with a whistlestop tour of film history. It’s not that the anecdotal stuff isn’t interesting, because it is, just that it’s suited more to people who like films and don’t know much about editing, rather than people who are interested editing to begin with.

The only bit I didn’t like was the horribly self-conscious cutting deployed during the new-wave section. Because – get this – that’s what new wave film-makers did. It does raise an interesting question as to how you should edit a film about editing though..