Recently I’ve been poring over my viewing habit for a pattern that I can discern, since what we like reflect who we are, who we wish to be, and/or what we desire. I’m curious about what kind of things draw me to certain films and not others, and what do these thing say about me and my desire. It’s an interesting way of reflecting rather than just absorbing what cinema has to offer us on an individual basis.
In any case, I’ve come up with about 10 things that attract me about films, but I’ll be posting five here for brevity (the rest of the list can be found here). It’s just a nice round number, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten something important. What can you do when there are so many lists to do and so little time to do them? There are always exceptions to the rules, but we’re just discussing the rules here. Anyway, as always, I invite my fellow chicks to join in, and you, our readers, to comment on what attracts you.
See: Woody Allen, Bergman’s characters, Tarantino’s characters
“A week ago I bought a rifle, I went to the store – I bought a rifle! I was gonna, you know, if they told me I had a tumor, I was gonna kill myself. The only thing that might-ve stopped me – MIGHT’VE – is that my parents would be devastated. I would have to shoot them also, first. And then I have an aunt and uncle – you know – it would’ve been a blood bath.”
Woody Allen, Hannah and her sisters
I find neuroticism endlessly amusing (hello, psychology student here?). There is something sadly comical about an individual being so tightly wound up and on the verge of losing it at the same time. The neurotics are conflicted, and they are obsessive about their conflicts. I’m reminded of a special pair of sunglasses that Douglas Adams wrote about in his Hitchhiker’s series, the one that only functioned to detect danger and turn black to protect its wearer from seeing the ***** that was about to hit her. It seems like such a neurotic thing to own?
What it says about me? I’m neurotic?
See: Jules et Jim, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Band a part
“We now might open a parenthesis on Odile’s, Franz’s and Arthur’s feelings… but it’s all pretty clear. So we close our parenthesis and let the images speak.” – Narrator, Jules et Jim (Truffaut, 1962)
The monogamous marriages are killing the on-screen colourful, melodramatic affairs. I’m tired of seeing James Marsden playing the hapless “other man” in every movie (he really has this market cornered). If you’re going to go for a threesome, make it DIFFICULT to choose. Bring back the worthy ‘other man/woman’ so my heart can pretend to bleed a little?
What it says about me? I think the idea that there is only one person for each of us is a bit presumptuous. I like the challenge that there could be more than one, even though the ego would be too intrusive to allow this to happen to most of us. Besides, it increases the possibility of an externalization of the internal struggle to appease the egos involved. It’s psychologically exciting!
See: Christopher Doyle, Sven Nykvist, Terrence Malick’s films
I don’t just trip over any pretty picture, though. I love structure and lines so black and white noir really set my heart pounding. I also love saturated and/or crispy clean colours so films like In the mood for love or Cries & Whispers (check out them red colour!) really do me wonder. Natural high? *deep sigh*
What it says about me? Um, I like pretty pictures?
See: My neighbor Totoro, Spirit of the beehive, Fanny & Alexander
Fear of something is a learned response, and we, for better or worse, learn to fear way too many things growing up. Fearless children make for interesting cinematic subjects, because you can, through their world view, explore so many things that would be considered by ‘adults’ as ‘imaginary’ and therefore not worth the time invested. Films with fearless children are about embracing our part in nature and our natural environment and not fear it. They also make me feel nostalgic of my own childhood. *sigh*
What it says about me? It’s a picture of my childhood, and I really love the curious part about me that I am still holding on to.
See: Solaris, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A. I.: Artificial Intelligence
(Scene from Solaris)
“I am… I was.” – Gigolo Joe, A. I.: Artificial Intelligence (Spielberg & Kubrick, 2001)
I’m such a sucker for reflective space movies. I overlook a lot of things if I feel they portray the expansiveness and off-kilter feel of space well (e.g. Sunshine). I’d sit through a four hour long space movie if it meant I could immerse myself in the environment created. Related to the idea of being in space is the notion of existentialism. You know, all that “who am I and why must I be me and what’s beyond all of this and what the frak am I doing here?” And I will defend A. I. ’til my last cinematic breath!
What it says about me? I really want to know life, the universe and everything?
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