What Is 'Absolute Cinema'? Martin Scorsese's 'This Is Cinema' Memes Explained

There is an indescribable feeling when you finish your favorite movie, TV show or anime and are left speechless in front of the screen for a few seconds, just like the talented director Martin Scorsese did here (shown below).

If you consider yourself a cinephile, you'd likely log in on Letterboxd to write a long essay praising the film you just watched. Some folks, however, find memes and pictures a nice option to express their feelings towards a piece of media they are found off.

Interestingly enough, the Killers of the Flower Moon director has been capturing the hearts of a new online audience, not so much for his filmography, but for the memes based on his personality and charisma. Here's how Martin Scorsese became a memetic symbol for the absolute cinema and this is cinema memes.

Where Did Martin Scorsese's 'Absolute Cinema' And 'This Is Cinema' Pictures Originate?

The 'absolute cinema' picture was taken from a New York Times interview with film director Martin Scorsese in January 2020. In the interview, a black-and-white photograph of Scorsese lifting his hands appears (shown below, left). The 'This is Cinema' picture was taken by the Associate Press photographer Victoria Will in 2016 (shown below, right).

How Did Martin Scorsese's 'Absolute Cinema' And 'This Is Cinema' Pictures Become Memes?

As most of the memes reason to exist, both 'Absolute Cinema' And 'This Is Cinema' started as jokes against Martin Scorsese's beef with superhero movies. Back in October 2021, Scorsese compared Marvel films to "theme parks" during an interview, saying the movies were not cinema.

From 2021 to 2023, the reaction images saw a gradual spread online, especially the 'Absolute Cinema' meme, in which X user @_lalaxyz made the earliest notable post (shown below, left) using the image in March 2023, reacting to a post about The Shining. In April 2023, X @Br32 used the image in a post about praising NBA player Russell Westbrook's performance (shown below, right).

What Are Some Variations Of The 'Absolute Cinema' Meme?

Around September 2023 a variation of the "Absolute Cinema' meme was posted on X by user @hayasaka_aryan, who tweeted about a slice-of-life anime written in the style of a greentext that used Scorsese's photograph and ended with the line "Kino is served."

For the full history of the absolute cinema / kino is served meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.