2) Quality widely described as “cinematic”
Nearly everyone who writes about True Detective feels compelled to use one common word to describe it: cinematic. What exactly is meant by this adjective in the context of this particular show?
One sense in which it’s cinematic is that it looks and sounds incredible. Its cinematography is dark and gorgeous, and I had observed it was some of the best visual work I had seen on TV since Jane Campion’s miniseries Top of the Lake. Naturally, when I looked them up on IMDb I discovered the two series share a common cinematographer, Adam Arkapaw. I’m trying to think of other examples of great uses of visuals and sounds, but all that comes to mind and what I can’t stop thinking about, is the conclusion of Episode 4, which employed a now widely-seen 6-minute tracking shot (I talk about it a bit more on the next page). The sound in that sequence is jaw-dropping and the progress of the action brings to mind the madness of that famous car escape sequence in Children of Men—certainly unlike anything we, or at least I, have seen on TV before.
Another reason it feels cinematic, and why it’s hard to find another term to describe it other than that vague word, is that its style gives off a sense of deliberation, attention to detail, and a pacing that allows that bleakness of the material to really sink in. It’s similar to Breaking Bad in this way, which really became compelling at the beginning of its third season when it started to become more expressionistic in its visual style, confident it could hold our attention with compelling images that draw us in despite not knowing exactly what they mean. But True Detective has an additional focus on the long-form narrative that feels much more like one cohesive story told over the course of several hours as opposed to the episodic feel of virtually every other TV series. I’m curious to know how others would explain what they mean when they refer to the show as “cinematic.”
Continue reading on the next page…