My thanks to Andre, whose conversation with Scarlet influenced this article
I have a friend, I have several in fact, hide your surprise please but Scarlet is capable on non written communication.
Anyway this friend is a fantastic chap but if I talk about cinema this is the conversation will go:
Scarlet: I saw a great film trailer the other day, fancy it?
Scarlet's friend: Maybe, what are its ratings on IMDB?
:(
Now then, there is nothing wrong with using an aggregate of what others think to try and help you influence what films are worth your time but to me it emphasises how some people feel differently about Cinema to how I do.
I came to Cinema through Theatre. To me live Theatre is the ultimate form of art. I have seen great actors show emotion in such a way as to move me greatly, face to face actors have reduced me to tears, and made me laugh the hardest in my life. The suspension of beliefe can break down and leave me feeling as vulnerable as ever. Cinema makes atmospherics more difficult but still holds beauty in emotion, in character and in art. Stories which resound with me like those of a broken heart (Casablanca), of corruption (Wall Street), and the exploration of evil (Chinatown) can move me to a point where I and the camera are one. Great cinema can almost equal the beauty of the Royal Opera House and Shakespeare's Globe.
You may say: This is all very well but what has this got to do with IMDB?
Well, where do I find the stories to watch? The IMDBphiles decide on what will move them by looking at the average man, Scarlet takes a different approach. What is most likely to move me? Certain kinds of story, certain styles of acting, certain relationships. Who are most likely to show me the things that move me the most? The people I know and love, the actors and directors who have made me feel that way before.
So whilst the suggestion that what may apply to the populace may apply to me is a sound one, I take a different approach; Cinema is art, carve your own way through the wealth of options, but make your own mind up, decide what you like and who cares what the world thinks?
