I recently watched Joker, the controversial film detailing the origin of comicdom's best-known villain. The movie was both engrossing and exhausting. I can't remember the last time I witnessed an audience so stunned that it exited the theatre in perfect silence.

Although afterwards I pondered many issues Joker raised, I never wondered whether the film counted as actual cinema. Yet, according to two of the greatest directors of all time, that's the question I'm supposed to be asking.