ABSOLUTE CINEMA
TL;DR · Origin "ABSOLUTE CINEMA" is an image macro pairing that phrase with a black-and-white photograph of Martin Scorsese, both hands raised above his head. The photo was not made for me…
Origin
"ABSOLUTE CINEMA" is an image macro pairing that phrase with a black-and-white photograph of Martin Scorsese, both hands raised above his head. The photo was not made for memes: it is Philip Montgomery's portrait for "Martin Scorsese Is Letting Go," a New York Times interview published on January 2, 2020, in which Scorsese discussed The Irishman and filmmaking in the Netflix era. The high-contrast monochrome and the raised-hands pose, which reads like a priest mid-sermon, did the rest.
The earliest captioned use dates to December 1, 2022, when X user @YashChillinn posted the photo alongside a clip from the anime Chainsaw Man under the caption "Absolute Cinema." Behind it sits Scorsese's remark comparing Marvel films to theme parks and saying they were not cinema; the format branched off the "This Is Cinema" reaction images that argument left behind.
Spread
It hardened into a format in 2023. Early versions circulated around March 21, and a March 23 post applying it to The Shining accumulated over 410 likes across eight months. In April, a post about NBA player Russell Westbrook passed 200 reposts and 5,000 likes. The path from film fandom into anime and sports was drawn in this window.
Derivatives followed. In September 2023 the "Kino Is Served" variant appeared — a greentext description of a quiet slice-of-life anime capped with the photograph — drawing 470+ reposts and 4,900 likes. Edits substituting other characters for Scorsese are also in common use.
How it's used
It declares that a given scene is art. The line between sincere praise and inflated joke is deliberately blurred, so the more trivial the subject, the better it works.
- As a reaction to a standout clip from an anime or drama
- On a decisive moment in a sports match
- To elevate an utterly unremarkable scene as if it were a masterpiece
- To defend a personal taste in exaggerated terms — earnest and joking at once
Sources
- Know Your Meme, "Absolute Cinema" — the December 1, 2022 earliest example and the March–September 2023 spread and variants
- Know Your Meme explainer, "What Is The 'Absolute Cinema' Meme?" — its relationship to the "This Is Cinema" images
- Yahoo Entertainment, "What Is The 'Absolute Cinema' Meme?" — confirming the source photo as Philip Montgomery's, from the January 2, 2020 New York Times interview "Martin Scorsese Is Letting Go"
