Throughout my life, I have carried two loves: literature and film.
I loved them both so much that I dedicated most of my life to the avid study of each and in fact, even attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, where my major was motion picture production.
The art of film has always fascinated me; the visuals, the performances, the sounds, the environment, the effects and most importantly, the stories.
I spent my childhood mostly watching spaghetti westerns, musicals, samurai flicks and Marx Brothers films but found joy in almost every genre from war dramas, slapstick comedies, to film noir.
Ah, the glorious days of Errol Flynn swinging from chandeliers, Fred Astaire tap dancing on a ceiling, Katherine Hepburn wrestling a leopard, Charlton Heston driving a chariot, Lee Van Cleef riding into town, and W.C. Fields stealing candy from a baby.
Those were the films that changed things in American pop culture, even made a mark on the aspirations of foreign filmmakers and audiences. And so, the more I watch, the more I study and the more I ponder it, I have to ask, why are there no more good films?
Now don”t get me wrong, there are plenty of films that have come out recently that I enjoyed.
The Dark Knight blew me away, Inception was spell-binding and Guy Ritchie”s Sherlock Holmes was the most enjoyable and accurate interpretation to film I”ve ever seen for the Holmes cannon.
However, this doesn”t cover up the reality that most films entering the box office are poorly conceived and poorly executed.
Tis” true, a film”s first priority is to entertain the masses and as long as you are enjoying the flick, in the end that”s all that matters. But when you stop and truly analyze a film”s story, acting, dialogue and presentation, you really start to realize how film loses its essence of art when it”s simply just thrown together.
It seems like you cannot attend a cinema or turn on the TV without being bombarded with toilet humor, bad acting, pointless sexual scenes and unintelligent language.
I”m not just referring to swearing here. It”s simply aggravating, where”s the heart and soul? Where”s the wit as well as the entertainment?
Shouldn”t they coincide in peaceful harmony?
In the golden era of Hollywood, filmmakers were most concerned first and foremost on story.
Was the plot powerful? Did it flow well? How would it translate to film? Secondly, they would consider the acting; as talent was required back then.
And finally, the cinematography to drive the passion of the film home with moving visuals and believe-it-or-not, without the use of a blue screen or computer generated imagery.
Film was truly an art, regardless of how powerful it was meant to be; for example, Citizen Kane. Or how ridiculous it was meant to be, an example, One Night at the Opera.
Going to the movies was meant to be an experience, like a ride at an amusement park, you simply did not watch a film; instead for just a brief moment in time, you lived it.
Thence, movie palaces were constructed and presented as gateways into a whole other world.
People dressed up just as they would for the ballet or opera and movie stars truly were Gods in the eyes of the public.
So, what happened? Nowadays, scripts are often overlooked and instead made-up in the middle of production, actors are now hired simply for their looks and forget about triple-threat action; who cares about song, dance and stunt work, right?
Special effects and stunts are no longer manual but put into the proverbial hands of a computer, filming on location is considered too expensive. Blue/green screens are substituted, meanwhile the plot is continuously being revised.
The quality of the actor”s performance is being overlooked and more and more visuals are added to make the movie at least salvageable; thence the term, “We”ll fix it in post.”
Come on Hollywood, have some pride and integrity.
Once upon a time you could watch a film and laugh, cry, fall in love, be terrified, have a spiritual experience and be modestly entertained all at the same time.
Now, it”s all about the money, plain and simple. It doesn”t have to be that way though; it is possible to make money and still create something wonderful on a budget.
When Michelle Berger is not writing, she”s usually re-enacting famous fight scenes from Kung-Fu flicks. Reach her at mberger_om@yahoo.com.
