Sometimes you watch a movie all wrong. In My Man Godfrey there are two sisters both in love with a butler. The older sister is the more beautiful; throughout the show I kept waiting for the romance to develop between her and the butler. It never does. I considered the younger sister a nuisance to the plot, failing to recognize her as Carole Lombard, the star of the movie.
My ancient enemy Erasmus insists on knowing nothing before seeing a movie, believing that it is best to preserve an uncolored purity of experience. This is wrong. You are supposed to know the genre and the approximate running time. You are supposed to know who the stars are and to recognize them on screen. For an old movie or a foreign movie it is your duty to be familiar with the culture of its time and place. These are the expectations the filmmaker has of you. Fail to meet them and you do not give the movie a fair shake.
It is also your duty to see the movie in its best available print. I am a little furious with Netflix right now for sending me an inferior restoration when a pristine Criterion edition exists.
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I'm not sure I agree with the necessity of knowing the stars or running time, but I do agree that foreign films (or music, for that matter) are best viewed in their proper context.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, art can take on different meanings to different cultures or in the same culture at a different time...
I'm going to be agnostic and say that you can't know beforehand the context that will provide the most meaningful experience. If you're viewing the movie solely for the purpose of cultural literacy, then I agree with Tiberius, but otherwise a blank slate seems as good as any.
You're wrong. Erasmus is correct. Art is all relative and best viewed without hype. The only expectation a filmmaker has of you is that you paid the $9 admission.
ReplyDeleteI will now concede this point: The advantage of going in cold is that you undeniably hold the critic's high ground. You are unbiased. You have put yourself in the ready position to declare that the emperor has no clothes.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this tack is that you set yourself up to isolate yourself from your fellow man. You are being combative. This is appropriate if you are actually a professional critic, but if you are just trying to share and enjoy art, to make a connection to your fellow man through art, it is better to be cooperative.
Be informed about what others admire in the work, or about what the artist might want you to admire. Set yourself up to share appreciation and feel closer to people.
Tiberius the Critic sez: My Man Godfrey stinks. It is so badly structured that I couldn't even tell who was supposed to be the star.
ReplyDeleteTiberius the Enthusiast sez: Now that I know I should have been paying more attention to Carole Lombard, I should watch the movie again and reevaluate.