Re: Your ONE Most Favorite Film of All Time?
Oh god, this changes all the time, but usually, my answer since 2003ish has always been Lord of the Rings.
It strangely remains an unpopular choice amoung film studies students here at Carleton, but it holds a special place for me as a piece of cinematic accomplishment. Now of course, I choose to refer to it as an 11 hour epic, not to one individual film amoung the three. That's a decision I choose to make because of the way it was made and conceived.
For me it just gave me the greatest cinematic experience, akin to what Star Wars gave to the generation that came before mine. It starts off by introducing us to Hobbiton, a place of nature, of family, and above all, a place of pure innocent peace. Somehow, just from that introduction in the film, it already feels like home, or a home we would so much want to return to.
This pleasant atmosphere creates such a strong contrast to the terror that follows. The story of the War of the Ring becomes in essence, a story about the corruption, or the pollution of innocence, to a point where it cannot really be restored except in the act of passing onto a new generation. Rohan and Gondor were both strong kingdoms at one time, but have become a disgrace through fear and hostility. It is both a wonderous adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones, a good vs. evil tale similar to that of Star Wars, but it is also a tragedy, for in the process of saving Middle Earth, innocence must be sacrificed, and the victorious hero cannot come back from it to the simple happy joyous life he once had.
I enjoy grand epics that are told well, and while Star Wars is of a similar vein, and I imagine it would have had a similar effect on me had I had the chance to experience it for the first time in theatres as my parents did. For me though, Lord of the Rings remains more important to me. It takes itself more seriously, doesn't shortchange key dramatic moments with cuteness or campiness, and overall is just better performed.
So there.
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