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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
How do you know when you’ve seen a great movie?
I saw one of the very best films of the year Tuesday night, and that got me to thinking. And when I get to thinking, that means I’d like you to get to thinking as well.
So, query time: How do you define a great movie?
I don’t mean a great story, characters, stands the test of time, etc. Those are givens. I’m talking about the emotional effect it has it you when you see it.
Here’s how I would define it. A truly great movie - the best of the best - is one that makes me forget I’m watching a movie. At some point, I become totally unaware of my surroundings. All that I am experiencing is the movie. The movie is happening to me.
One of the most vivid examples of this was when I saw Peter Weir’s 1993 film Fearless, starring Jeff Bridges as the survivor of a plane crash who becomes convinced he can’t die. That movie consumed me pretty quickly. About halfway through, there was a scene with a character named Eric. My best friend ribbed me - and I jumped a country mile out of my skin.
I would say that a great movie is any movie that makes me jump a country mile when you rib me, but since I don’t always have someone around to rib me, I’ll stick with the movie happening to me.
Just for contrast’s sake, Roger Ebert likes to use this definition, from British critic Derek Malcolm: “A great movie is a movie I cannot bear the thought of never seeing again.”
So how do you know when you’ve seen a truly great movie? How do you define it?
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