Movies: Watched With the Eyes or With the Brain?

Movies: Watched With the Eyes or With the Brain?

Cinematography offers a wide variety of movie types, but a main distinction is made between the so called serious movies and entertaining movies. Between the two types, serious movies or movies that make the audience think are more influential, more inspiring and generally better quality movies than the ones designed only to entertain. Nowadays, cinema is more than a simple hobby to the modern man, it has become a very important part of his life, more than just a source of amusement and a time pass. The modern day cinema lover is a person who wants to feel inspired by a movie, to have his imagination challenged, to be offered answers or new perspectives about himself and the world. That is why only serious movies can truly fulfill his needs.

Movies in general and serious movies in particular are a reflection of life and the society that produces them, where they have a certain function. They stand as testimony of reality and try to act upon representations and mentalities, balance tensions and make them be forgotten, as the two authors of a film analysis study claim. This means that they act as a mirror of the society we live in and have the purpose of making a change in it by leaving an impression on the human mind, challenging it, intriguing it, raising questions or suggesting answers.

This type of movies have the ability of provoking the mind of the viewer and even changing some of the perspectives he has on life, because of the subjects they bring under discussion. This kind of movies often deal with controversial topics such as politics, religions, certain historical events, or taboo subjects which raise questions and make people look deeper into a matter, analyze it and in the best cases, seeing beyond prejudices. One example of such movie is the 2005 American romantic-drama Brokeback Mountain which depicts the homosexual relationship between two young cowboys. Although homosexuality is still a sensitive matter even in the western world, this motion picture has managed to make people see this phenomenon with more tolerant eyes. What stand as proofs are the numerous favourable critics it has obtained and also the large number of awards it has been honored with.

However, the subject does not necessarily need to be controversial. Some of these movies are inspired from real life situations and sometimes even from real stories, which give them a high level of authenticity. They have great success at the public because they deal with topics from day-to-day life, for instance, human interrelationships, presented in a way designed to make a huge impression on the viewer. An example is the 1998 film Dancing at Lughnasa, starring Meryl Streep, which tells the emotional story of five sisters who make the most of their simple existence in rural Ireland in the 1930s.

Furthermore, serious movies have a great psychological impact on the audience, because they explore strong human emotions such as love, hate, compassion, whereas entertaining movies address only to the superficial layer of the human psychic. One of the most important effects that serious movies produce is the catharsis which Aristotle described in his Poetics as a release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purification of the emotions, through watching a dramatic production.[2] This means that the viewer empathizes with the characters, transposing himself into the movie and experiencing a range of emotions, mostly fear and pity, and thus liberating his own feelings.

Another major advantage attributed to serious movies is the connection they have with literature. Literature is one of the largest inspirational sources for movies, whether they use a classical iconic novel or a less popular literary piece of work. According to the Romanian film critic Stefan Oprea, the majority of the best movies of the world are based on literary works.[3] Although not every film can enhance the essence of the book from different reasons varying from technical to inspirational ones, the mutual relationship between the two arts cannot be denied; the fact that a movie was made based on them meant a boost of popularity for plenty of books. Such an example is Anne Ricess Vampire Chronicles which experienced a fantastic success after the screen adaptations Interview with a Vampire and Queen of the Damned. Written approximately twenty years before the release of the films, these books were popular only among a few fans of the genre but received world-wide recognition after the movies were made.

Even in the case of the popular classic novels which already have a well established cultural identity, a screen adaptation can only have a positive consequence. First of all, it can be a way of attracting the public to rediscover a certain book and therefore, rediscovering literature in general. Secondly, it is also a possibility of better understanding the novel; the greater the number of adaptations, the greater the number of perspectives offered. Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is probably one of the books with the largest number of screen adaptations, six major ones and many more others, which undoubtedly have contributed to the immense popularity that this classic novel has.

A last argument in favour of serious movies is the fact that they can act as an additional source of knowledge when the subject is, for example, history or mythology related. History is one of filmmakers favourite source of inspiration and, therefore, there is a large number of movies in which more or less familiar historical figures or events are depicted. This kind of film offers the viewer the possibility of having a more vivid and authentic perception on the event or character by actually seeing the scenes developing in front of his eyes. However, there is a drawback in historical movies in the sense that they do not always truthfully follow the events as they happened and this can misinform a part of the audience. But filmmakers assume this guilt and state that the purpose of a movie should be only to re-create and re-present a situation. Nonetheless, such films are a good way of encouraging people to find out more about the subject dealt with in the movies they saw and doing some cultural research on their own.

It is true, though, that entertaining movies have their well-deserved place in the preferences of the audience. This kind of movies are perfect to be watched with friends in a relaxed atmosphere and to produce amusement and laughter. Also, they are designed in such a way to appeal to the public, they have impressive special effects, popular actors or soundtracks and generally everything necessary to attract box-office success and profit. Unfortunately, their effect ends with the end of the movie, in contrast to serious movies which continue to haunt the mind of the viewer long after they finish and which become a never ending source for discussion and debate.

To sum up, movies play a significant role in peoples lives, whether their role is simply to entertain or to give inspiration. But the role of serious movies is clearly more important than the one made merely for entertainment because these are the movies that influence people and inspire them to overcome barriers. Their subjects, controversial or not, depict stories that challenge the mind of the audience and offer new perspectives on life. Also, they also have a great psychological impact because of the cathartic effect they create on the viewer, liberating and rebalancing his emotions. Lastly, apart from providing entertainment, serious movies act as another way of providing knowledge because they use literature, history or mythologiy as sources for their stories. All in all, a serious movie transmits a message that addresses to the profounder layers of the human psychic and gives the viewer the feeling that he has gained something, rather than losing his time.

Works Cited

Vanoye, Francis, and Goliot-Lete, Anne. Scurt tratat de analiza filmica. Bucuresti: All Educational, 1995. p 41.

T A. Moxon, Aristotle:Poetics. Forgotten Books, 1934. pp 26-8.

Oprea, Stefan. Scriitorii si filmul. Iasi: Timpul, 2004. p 7.