The Classics: Is their greatness overplayed?
Being a certified film buff, I was surprised to note one day that I hadn’t watched what movie critics generally call the greatest movies of all – the classics. So I determinedly bought certain classics whose quality critics generally swear by – Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, and the Great Escape.
Yes, it was a refreshing change to watch these classics. Gone with the Wind was a 3 ½ hour behemoth, with an epic story of a woman’s travails during the American Civil War, with some great dialogue. Casablanca, I felt was a better film set in the World War II era, a tragic love story where the guy does not get the girl in the end. Good stuff, especially seeing the limited technology of their day. And then, I saw the Great Escape, considered as the greatest adventure film of all time, which had a wonderful story about a group of prisoners of war who dig a tunnel to escape.
However…
There had to be a “however”. Though I did enjoy these films, does it count among my all time list of “greatest” films? Heck no! It’s ironic. These three films figure in just about any greatest films list around, but why is it that they did catch my attention likewise. Yeah, the easiest explanation is that I’m a moronic reviewer with no knowledge of cinematic beauty. Perhaps that’s right. But there’s also one more thing.
I guess it’s the generation chasm that’s erupted after all these years. Those movies are more than 60 years old – technology has developed, production values have gotten more slicker, and the stories can be told in so much more powerful ways today. They say The Great Escape is the quintessential adventure movie – is it still? I don’t think so. Today’s movie makers have gone to so much lengths to tap the power of cinema, that I felt it was downright boring in some sequences. Give me Spielberg’s Jurassic Park any day. Forget the special effects, do you remember that iconic kitchen scene where the raptor’s breath clouds the windows? But no, the high brow movie critics don’t seem to think it matters – “Escape” is on the IMDb Top 250, but JP isn’t.
It’s the same with the other two movies. Love stories – I’ve seen so many movies that has made me go “Aww!” and clouded my eyes just a little bit; Notting Hill immediately comes to mind, heck even the Lion King had some beautiful romantic situations, helped a lot by the excellent Elton John songs and Hans Zimmer score. In Casablanca, on the other hand, the dialogues are top notch stuff, I agree, but otherwise it just went over my head.
I might also add this perception of remakes. Peter Jackson’s King Kong is sooooooo much more better than that 1933 movie with a guy in a monkey suit. Why don’t people recognize that? The original s on IMDBAgreed the original movie was great in its day, but it seems like it’s so difficult for the old grey haired critics to come out of their stupid nostalgia and look at movies from a child’s point of view. Does it excite? Does it fire up the imagination? Does it make you stuck to your seat? Does it make you give out whoops and groans and exclamations, all in one breath? It looks like the persons who write such lists have forgotten these questions at their childhood.
Does that reiterate that I am a lousy reviewer? Again, maybe. But I don’t need anyone telling me that Jurassic Park and Lion King do not deserve to be on a Greatest Movies List. It’s about time people’s perception on movies changes with the times. Take the simple example of my own parents – they refuse to watch any new movie, even fantastic ones like Black or Rang De Basanti, but they didn’t even hesitate for a minute to go to the cinemas to watch the re-released colourized version of Mughal-e-Azam.
I guess the fact is that, since movies are such a powerful medium, they remain etched in memories like a blast from the good old days. Hey, who knows, maybe one day I might be telling my kids in 2025 about how great Back to the Future was, and how they make trash “these days”. Looks like we don’t grow with age – atleast in the case of movies.
Yes, it was a refreshing change to watch these classics. Gone with the Wind was a 3 ½ hour behemoth, with an epic story of a woman’s travails during the American Civil War, with some great dialogue. Casablanca, I felt was a better film set in the World War II era, a tragic love story where the guy does not get the girl in the end. Good stuff, especially seeing the limited technology of their day. And then, I saw the Great Escape, considered as the greatest adventure film of all time, which had a wonderful story about a group of prisoners of war who dig a tunnel to escape.
However…
There had to be a “however”. Though I did enjoy these films, does it count among my all time list of “greatest” films? Heck no! It’s ironic. These three films figure in just about any greatest films list around, but why is it that they did catch my attention likewise. Yeah, the easiest explanation is that I’m a moronic reviewer with no knowledge of cinematic beauty. Perhaps that’s right. But there’s also one more thing.
I guess it’s the generation chasm that’s erupted after all these years. Those movies are more than 60 years old – technology has developed, production values have gotten more slicker, and the stories can be told in so much more powerful ways today. They say The Great Escape is the quintessential adventure movie – is it still? I don’t think so. Today’s movie makers have gone to so much lengths to tap the power of cinema, that I felt it was downright boring in some sequences. Give me Spielberg’s Jurassic Park any day. Forget the special effects, do you remember that iconic kitchen scene where the raptor’s breath clouds the windows? But no, the high brow movie critics don’t seem to think it matters – “Escape” is on the IMDb Top 250, but JP isn’t.
It’s the same with the other two movies. Love stories – I’ve seen so many movies that has made me go “Aww!” and clouded my eyes just a little bit; Notting Hill immediately comes to mind, heck even the Lion King had some beautiful romantic situations, helped a lot by the excellent Elton John songs and Hans Zimmer score. In Casablanca, on the other hand, the dialogues are top notch stuff, I agree, but otherwise it just went over my head.
I might also add this perception of remakes. Peter Jackson’s King Kong is sooooooo much more better than that 1933 movie with a guy in a monkey suit. Why don’t people recognize that? The original s on IMDBAgreed the original movie was great in its day, but it seems like it’s so difficult for the old grey haired critics to come out of their stupid nostalgia and look at movies from a child’s point of view. Does it excite? Does it fire up the imagination? Does it make you stuck to your seat? Does it make you give out whoops and groans and exclamations, all in one breath? It looks like the persons who write such lists have forgotten these questions at their childhood.
Does that reiterate that I am a lousy reviewer? Again, maybe. But I don’t need anyone telling me that Jurassic Park and Lion King do not deserve to be on a Greatest Movies List. It’s about time people’s perception on movies changes with the times. Take the simple example of my own parents – they refuse to watch any new movie, even fantastic ones like Black or Rang De Basanti, but they didn’t even hesitate for a minute to go to the cinemas to watch the re-released colourized version of Mughal-e-Azam.
I guess the fact is that, since movies are such a powerful medium, they remain etched in memories like a blast from the good old days. Hey, who knows, maybe one day I might be telling my kids in 2025 about how great Back to the Future was, and how they make trash “these days”. Looks like we don’t grow with age – atleast in the case of movies.
posted by Faizan at
1:05 AM
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