All cinemas seats are not the same. Comfy or lumpy, there are some views of the screen that are more coveted than others. This weekend, Mark Kermode, the Observer’s chief film critic for 10 years, announces that he will vacate one of the best seats in the house and usher in Wendy Ide, who is to take up his place on the newspaper.
It is a post that was held for 35 years by the late Philip French, during whose tenure the film review pages became an esteemed place to set in context both popular and independent cinema; to praise its triumphs and to laugh at its cliches.
Ide, who describes herself as “beyond honoured” to be taking over, has written regularly on film for this paper, reviewing new releases alongside Kermode for the past seven years. “For me, the Observer has always been the gold standard for newspaper film coverage,” she said this weekend. “I grew up in Birmingham reading Philip French’s elegantly erudite reviews and used his encyclopaedic references as a map to explore new worlds of cinema. And it has been a joy to work alongside Mark Kermode since 2016. His knowledge, passion, generosity and boundless curiosity have been a constant inspiration.”
Kermode, also known for his broadcast work and co-hosting BBC Radio 4’s Screenshots, is leaving the chief critic’s role on 17 September, but will continue to write a monthly column. The time was right, he said. “It’ll actually be 10 years and one week when I stop, but it’s neat, especially as I have just celebrated my 60th birthday.
“Wendy’s a brilliant writer and I am thrilled she will be taking over. She has a sharp eye and can even file copy direct from the film festivals, which is something I could never do.”
During his decade in the job, Kermode said he had noticed significant shifts in the path of British cinema, including the recent impact of Covid lockdowns, during which more people discovered the wide range of movies available on streaming platforms without losing their appetite for going back to the communal experience of theatrical viewing.
“People were desperate to go back into the cinemas,” he said. “And while we all enjoyed the recent Barbenheimer weekend – and watching Tom Cruise throw himself off a mountain in the latest Mission: Impossible – when I look back at the list of my favourite films of each year, the directors’ names I see are Jennifer Kent, Debra Granik, Charlotte Wells and Céline Sciamma.
“In fact, I’d say more than half of them have been women, and that’s a real change that I wasn’t looking out for. And some people said animation had been killed by computer graphics, but Inside Out is listed there. We still have hand-drawn animation, and stop-motion is going strong as well.”
Kermode said he has also loved watching the work of British director Mark Jenkin develop: “His 2019 film, Bait, was such a significant moment. It is an authentic piece of Cornish cinema. It feels like a movement has grown down there. He’s a really distinctive film-maker. When I saw Bait, I loved it, but I never would’ve guessed it would go on to have such a wide impact, as did his Enys Men last year. It has been a chance to watch a big talent grow.”
