I don't see how you get truth by applying a layer of artifice.I think I read or heard once that filmmakers originally tried to avoid lens flares or artifacts that would give away the presence of the camera, but around the '60s or '70s, the new generation of directors and DPs began embracing such artifacts as artistic devices in their own right, perhaps to give a sort of verite texture.But... why oh why the lens flares?![]()

It the same reason I don't understand some peoples' obsession with film grain and judder. To me, they're defects; I welcome cinema's more pristine digital future.
(Pristine as shot, that is. I know a number of titles have been damaged on Blu-ray release by the application of digital noise reduction; I think that's counter-productive!)