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Counting

Counting

2015

Not Rated

Director

Jem Cohen

Runtime

111 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

An associative collection of visual impressions across fifteen chapters: a seagull in Porto, political posters in New York, an abstract painting in St. Petersburg, an abandoned video shop in Cairo and cats everywhere you look.

Where to Watch

Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

6.2/10

Good

Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Good

The film captures fluid interpersonal dynamics within an urban landscape. It integrates queer presence into the natural social fabric, avoiding stereotypical tropes or coming-out narratives.

Gender Representation

Fair

Gender is presented through a decentralized lens. The film avoids traditional masculine leadership or domestic archetypes, focusing instead on individual agency and quiet moments of existence.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Good

The work excels in depicting a multi-ethnic, globalized world. By moving between diverse international locations, it avoids a white-centric gaze and presents a mosaic of interconnected identities.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Good

The film adopts a postmodern, secular sensibility. It avoids promoting singular religious or nationalist moralities, favoring subjective truth over grand, Western-centric teleologies.

Disability Representation

Fair

The film captures the diverse physical realities of urban life. However, neurodivergence and specific disabilities do not appear to be central drivers of the narrative or agency.

Strengths

  • Avoids white-centric perspectives by showcasing a multi-ethnic, globalized world.
  • Integrates queer identities naturally into the urban social fabric without using tropes.
  • Challenges traditional narrative hierarchies through a decentralized, observational lens.

Areas for Improvement

  • Disability and neurodivergence are treated as incidental rather than central to the narrative.
  • The film lacks explicit engagement with specific political or religious ideologies.
  • The decentralized structure may lack the depth required for specific identity-driven agency.

AI Analysis

Jem Cohen’s *Counting* succeeds as a global mosaic, utilizing a non-linear, observational style to present a world that feels authentically interconnected. Its greatest strength is the refusal to rely on traditional narrative hierarchies or a singular, authoritative perspective. By moving through cities like Cairo, Porto, and New York, the film avoids the reductive stereotypes and white-centric gazes common in mainstream cinema. It treats diverse identities as a natural part of the metropolitan social fabric rather than as subjects of a specific political thesis. However, the film's fragmented, associative structure means that certain representations, such as disability, remain incidental. While the work captures a broad human experience, it lacks specific focus on neurodivergence or disability as central narrative tools.

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