SHOULD IRISH FILMMAKERS CRITICISE OTHER FILMS?

Big discussion on Irish website FMN. It stands for 'Film Making Nobodies' and is full of people who try to stop criticism of Irish cinema. One comment stood out: This is a filmmakers website, criticism is not part of filmmaking. This is the main reason most Irish feature films are sh*t. In a country where it's all about keeping quiet, back-slapping, awarding mediocrity, and even not bothering to check out the latest Irish feature it's no wonder so much crap gets made. There are two kinds of great directors: the film buff, critic - Truffaut/Tavernier/Scorcese/De Palma, or the original: Greenaway/Leigh/Ozu/Bresson/Cassavetes. Everything else is mediocre and unoriginal, with a committee mentality - the kind of filmmaker Malcolm McClaren called 'spending their lives trying to authenticate a karaoke style'. Doing what's done already, usually technically better, intellectually dead, making stuff that appeals to people who don't really watch many films. That's what Irish cinema mostly consists of and it will always be like this. So, should Irish filmmakers criticise films? Some have already: John Carney said 'we're not very good at making films'; Martin Duffy wrote an article criticising handheld, shaky camerawork; even FMN pin-up girl Kirsten Sheridan said 'we should stop trying to be the next Tarantino'! So yes, Irish filmmakers should criticise films - their own.