I have finally determined exactly what makes a great movie.
Movies are made of very disparate elements. All of these elements are planned down to the last detail. Acting, set design, cinematography, editing, sound design, score, special effects, etc..
All of these elements have to come together as if totally seamless, all encompassing a unique vision. So they all must work, if one doesn't then the hole film just falls apart like a house of cards.
It's when you watch a movie and it flows so naturally as if there were no planning at all put into it, like it was some kind of act of God, then you know you have a great film.
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YouTube used to have a great video on the unity of the cinema's virtues, as I just thought of calling it. It was an analysis of Robert Bresson's "Pickpoket" by none other than Paul Schrader.
ReplyDeletePickpocket is an excellent example of just how much a film needs all these elements to come together if it is to flourish. Despite Pickpocket's dramatic nature, Bresson forgoes close-ups, keeping the camera at distance from the actors. The actors are amateurs who were all told not to act. Music is used erratically and sparingly. Editing is purposely choppy at times: a shot of a character starts and ends with him opening and closing a door, while the next shot repeats the sequence, though from the other side of the door. The dialogue, too, feels as out of place; even though the main character is present in practically every shot of the film, you hear more of him via voiceover than actual dialogue.
Bresson -- very tactfully -- bends and distorts the rules of filmmaking for more than 70 minutes until the film's climax, when all the crucial elements of the film finally come together. It's one of the most memorable film endings I've ever seen.
Sounds good, I'll have to track that down somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the comment. I do appreciate your insight.
^_^
ReplyDeleteYouTube has oodles of films. The older the flick, the higher the chance it's on there.
You have, for example, Le Samourai. One of the first modern hitman movies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zfsxWGBcso
Kurosawa's Ran is also there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W70yqZXf0SY
Great atmosphere, but the film seemed to lag at times during my first viewing.
Pickpocket, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb0shmBrQ1I , has some poor subtitles here, but they're not so bad that they detract from the film.
Unfortunately, they don't have Cool As Ice. =\