Life of film

roxics

roxics

Veteran
I'll be honest I don't go around watching old movies. There are a ton of movies dating from the middle of the 1970's and back that I just don't care to watch. Sure I've seen Citizen Kane, Gone with the wind and some of those "required films" that film snobs and film schools push people to watch and appreciate. Even then I really don't and generally speaking I just don't care. They don't interest me. I've always felt a little weird about being and indie filmmaker and not liking classic films. Like I'm breaking some major religious rule.

I was born in 1979 and so I grew up in the 1980's on movies like The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Alien, Big Trouble in Little China, Star Wars, Police Academy, Rambo and the list goes on. Some movies have aged better than others.

I now have a 9 year old son and he's watched some of them with me, but he doesn't really care about a lot of them. He's off-put by most of them in the same way I'm off-put by most movies from the 1950/60's.

Which makes me wonder what is the true life of a film for most people? Not film snobs or film students by most people. When we make films should we really care if they're future proof? Are they really just generational? But more importantly what is going to happen to all these video blogs and things on youtube 30 years from now?
 
IMO, if you're actively trying to speak to the ages, you're in for frustration. Say what you have to say in the way which seems right to say it. Let the future sort itself out.
 
To me some films are just timeless: The Graduate, Cool Hand Luke, Lawrence of Arabia, Midnight Cowboy, On the Waterfront, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest among many others are before my time...but are still totally watchable. Of course, some scenes have hints of when they were made that don't play perfectly....but they are few and far between. For example....if one were to remake Cool Hand Luke, what would need to be changed? Just about nothing. The Graduate? not much either, a few tweaks.

Great stories are timeless, not generational....but movies are such a young art form: So it took a while for them to mature to the point where now, a character film of 40 years ago can play right along side one of today. Movies that have "high tech" worlds and are based heavily upon the pop culture of the time will never age as well. Much of the over used CGI of today will be looked at with laughter years from now....I laugh at a lot of it already. Just my 2 cents, much of it is very subjective.
 
Some people won't watch foreign films, others will. Same thing. It depends on the person.

Personally I love films from all eras and countries. Especially films from periods and places I don't live in. They are a window into times and cultures I wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
 
Like music, a film is always going to be of its time and will reflect culture and issues around the time it was made. A true classic transcends all that, usually because they contain strong universal themes that don't depend on a moment in time or a particular zeitgeist.

An interesting question to ask is: why isn't your son keen on films from the 80's? At 9 years old, what is his cultural reference point? What differences are there between him and you when you were 9 and watching the exact same films.
 
Egg Born Son said:
Some people won't watch foreign films, others will. Same thing. It depends on the person.

Personally I love films from all eras and countries. Especially films from periods and places I don't live in. They are a window into times and cultures I wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
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Ah, very true. I have a friend who simply refuses to watch any subtitled film. I don't consider him to be a 'philistine' or anything; he does have good taste in film. Despite this, and my repeated assertions that he is missing out on some of the best films ever made he will just not give them a chance. Sad.
 
I think it comes down to why a person watches films in the first place. Some just want thrills, others just want to switch off for a couple of hours, others want to expand their horizons, others are true connoisseurs of the format. All are valid approaches. Noone has to be a cinephile.
 
Egg Born Son said:
Some people won't watch foreign films, others will. Same thing. It depends on the person.

Personally I love films from all eras and countries. Especially films from periods and places I don't live in. They are a window into times and cultures I wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
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Some years ago, I started watching one foreign film a week...one of the best ideas I've ever had, lol ;) A few of them featured stars that I saw later in films released in the U.S.
Most notably, I knew about Javier Bardem before he was in any big films made here.
 
You watch old or foreign films for all sorts of reasons. Personally, I feel like it expands my horizons, and I just plain enjoy them.

But I also watch them for purely practical reasons: learning the craft and expanding my technical/artistic vocabulary; if you work - or want to work - in film, you would benefit from that regardless of what part you want to work in: cinematography, acting, staging, set design, sound, music etc.. Note, that there's a lot of back and forth borrowing across countries and cultures - DPs from Europe have enriched American cinematographic language, American cinema has influenced enormously European cinema, whole genres have made it back and forth - Hong Kong movies have had huge impact over here, American Noir all over the world etc..

And just as in fashion, many elements come and go, so you might benefit to know how things were done back in the day, not to copy, but to incorporate and reference. You enrich your film enormously if you are aware of, and capable of referencing other films, including foreign and classic... heck, Tarantino's entire career was built on these references - he riffs off of them in a modern way with his own interpretation, but he couldn't have done it without great familiarity with such genres. And he did it from the get-go, and he accessed all sorts of genres, from HK martial arts films, to French art films, to Spaghetti Westerns (Django), to 60's-70's WWII exploitation movies (Inglorious Basterds). You can't do that, unless you know your film history. Remember, if you want to do fresh work, you must know what preceded you, otherwise that clever horror thing you think you invented, might have been done better before and you fall flat.

Of course, your first obligation is to make a good movie - whether it'll stand the test of time or not you cannot predict. But, if it is really well-done, it will always be something people will come back to, if for no other reason, than for the reason folks like me go back to the old films - because it's a great learning tool. YMMV.
 
roxics said:
I'll be honest I don't go around watching old movies. There are a ton of movies dating from the middle of the 1970's and back that I just don't care to watch. Sure I've seen Citizen Kane, Gone with the wind and some of those "required films" that film snobs and film schools push people to watch and appreciate. Even then I really don't and generally speaking I just don't care. They don't interest me.
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Maybe it's just me, but I find your attitude on this very strange. It is like saying, "Well, I know there's lots of food in the world but I really only want to eat hamburger." I mean, I admire your honesty but jeez, why not have an apple or a slice of pizza once in awhile...? Plus, going back to older movies helps you to understand and appreciate the films you already love even more. Take Star Wars, which you mention in your post. Having seen the films of Kurosawa, I now see Star Wars in a different light and clearly see the influence of the Japanese master on Lucas. It adds another layer for me.

As to your main question about future proofing, I believe you can't do so. You can only make it as best you can at the time and hope the artistic and stylistic choices you make stand up as time goes on. But you can't predict what's going to date your piece. Maybe the actors clothes or hair styles will date it? Maybe the quality of film/video or the aspect ratio you use? Maybe the dialogue, theme or plot development? Maybe the delivery of audio-visual entertainment will change to such an extent that our 2d and 3d efforts will become as outdated as cave paintings...?
 
roxics said:
Which makes me wonder what is the true life of a film for most people? Not film snobs or film students by most people. When we make films should we really care if they're future proof? Are they really just generational? But more importantly what is going to happen to all these video blogs and things on youtube 30 years from now?
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To get back to this question, no. Don't worry about lasting appeal. Classics aren't made by design, they are the right film at the right time with the right message. You can no more design a classic than intentionally make a so-bad-its-good cult film. Make a film that is relavent to the day in which it is made and if it is the film that speaks for its generation it will be remembered. Nostalgia will ensure repeats on tv. If they ever bring back saturday matinee it will be there. As for video blogs and youtube, who cares. Those things appeal to the shortest attention spans. I do wonder if memes will be remembered. No doubt on future top ten retrospective countdowns a decade from now. I saw skateboarding dog on a show a couple of days ago and it did remind me of that year, much the same as a song does - so who knows?
 
roxics said:
I'll be honest I don't go around watching old movies. There are a ton of movies dating from the middle of the 1970's and back that I just don't care to watch. Sure I've seen Citizen Kane, Gone with the wind and some of those "required films" that film snobs and film schools push people to watch and appreciate. Even then I really don't and generally speaking I just don't care. They don't interest me. I've always felt a little weird about being and indie filmmaker and not liking classic films. Like I'm breaking some major religious rule.

I was born in 1979 and so I grew up in the 1980's on movies like The Goonies, Indiana Jones, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Alien, Big Trouble in Little China, Star Wars, Police Academy, Rambo and the list goes on. Some movies have aged better than others.

I now have a 9 year old son and he's watched some of them with me, but he doesn't really care about a lot of them. He's off-put by most of them in the same way I'm off-put by most movies from the 1950/60's.

Which makes me wonder what is the true life of a film for most people? Not film snobs or film students by most people. When we make films should we really care if they're future proof? Are they really just generational? But more importantly what is going to happen to all these video blogs and things on youtube 30 years from now?
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Im with you. As soon as that film hits around the ten year mark I can't watch it. I don't care how good the story is. I get put off by the old ness. I know many people the same.
 
Oy. Sorry, but I can't stomach blanket statements like "I don't like any old films".

If that is the case, shouldn't the opposite thought of "I like all new films" be equally true?

Non-smart ass, Serious question.
 
It may have been Barry who said that the way you see a movie has a lot to do with where YOU are, at the time you see it (not location, but state of mind)...

It's kind of like something I've been saying ever since I was a kid... and I still say it today... you can't BUY perception... you can't control perception... you perceive things they way you do based on where you are in life.

I've always been able to watch films for what they are (to me)... and consider what it took to create it at the time... and some combination of the two usually proves satisfying with many critically acclaimed films... but I don't blame you for your perception... because there's a lot out there (old and new) that I have never been able to relate to... no matter how hard I try.
 
It has something to do not only with the films but also, as Mattis is point out, with our changing state of perception. I used to love Star Wars but nowdays i can't take 5 mins of this children story.
 
I don't get it. But then I've been having sex with the same woman for 20 years, so clearly I'm not someone who needs novelty to enjoy something.
 
Owen Rennie said:
Im with you. As soon as that film hits around the ten year mark I can't watch it. I don't care how good the story is. I get put off by the old ness. I know many people the same.
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Again, I fail to understand this. I mean, why limit yourself so much? There's a wealth of incredible cinema you'll miss out on if you just dismiss something because it's old. I love newer cinema too, but there's so much more to explore. While I'll head to the local multiplex at the weekend to catch a film, right now I've got Murnau's 'Sunrise' and Chaplin's 'City Lights' and 'The Great Dictator' sitting on the DVD player ready to roll. I'm really looking forward to watching them. I consider it a privilege.

Plus, if you work professionally in the field, having a bit of historical knowledge about your art-form can only benefit you.
 
Every human is different I guess. Some like their women old and
some like them young.. I like them all :) just can't say the same for films
 
I'm not a drama fan. I like sci fi, action, romantic comedies, some horror. Mostly monster horror, not really into the Saw type of horror.

I don't find that the romantic comedies age very well. That sort of story seems to work best in a modern setting; something current.

One of my favorite sci fi movies is Forbidden Planet. It was made in 1956 and for me it still holds up. The FX are fun, the sets, costumes, are just great. The cook on the spaceship seems a bit out of place, but hey it was 1956.

I"m not a fan of black and white. I really like color, and not just in movies, but in nature, art, clothes, etc. So if we go so far back it's black and white I'm probably not going to be very interested. But if it's the genre I like and a good story, I'll still find it interesting even if it's older.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD_Ns-GcnnI
 
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