There’s no denying the reach of David Thomson’s body of film writing. The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, his much-loved twist on the Hollywood reference work, rests on the shelves of cinephiles and casual moviegoers alike. I still remember in the early 2000s when a friend’s tech-bro sibling, upon hearing I was hopelessly into movies, informed me that Thomson was the one to read. The recommendation was definitive, as if I needn’t think any further on the matter.
Thomson’s own authoritative delivery of his opinions has an air of proclamation, but is leavened by his characteristic twinkly asides and curious pivots. A Sudden Flicker of Light: A Revisionist History of Movies is his latest volume in this vein: a historical tour of cinema that stretches from silent-movie magician Georges Méliès through best picture–winner Anora. But in this go-round, Thomson worries that moviegoing might just be the guiltiest of pleasures: not just self-distraction, but self-destruction.
