On virtue of films
A good film is what she is. And that's enough. She feels no need to shout from the rooftop, to turn you towards herself. Some people, it's their job - she doesn't mind them doing it for her. That's alright.
A good film doesn't try to 'hook' you. A bad film, a premature work may seek to be attractive because, for her, the sheer fact of existence isn't a good enough reason to be. A good film may captivate you, it may fail to captivate you. She wouldn't try. She wouldn't beg and, trust me, she never wants you to beg. She is not decidedly inaccessible or upsetting. She doesn't mystify herself on purpose. That would be just another way of trying to hook you - what's the need!
...Someone wished to talk of things that touched them, moved them; to talk from their gut. They managed to get the kind of producers, the kind of finance required; a good casting director, good actors, good cameraman, good composer - and a film happened. Of course it took as much hard work as any film. Much more, much more. But a good film doesn't prize herself. The project is over, the labour is over. Hard work isn't a virtue here. A good film-maker knows to transform, and to outgrow.
A bad film seeks to serve you, happily adjusting herself to your tastes, for she fears you, she fears many things: box-office failures, her own puniness or the possibility of having been a pointless effort. A good film... you really need to have a zest, a greenness, a love that doesn't wither in order even to understand what we mean by 'good' here. You have to be fearless and shieldless in order for something fearless, something poignant to reach you. Expose yourself, watch yourself patiently as you watch a good film (- call it, shout for it, find it!). Then you shall realize what it does to you.
Don't fool yourself. Don't settle for the festival lot, the award-winners. Yeah, we do get to watch a couple of great works there. But festivals and academies have their politique to maintain. These platforms are turning into reactionary spaces - films that happen to address international socio-political 'hot topics' are likely to get lucky.
And there are films which aspire to awards - forever in search of the alchemy of 'an award-winning film'.
There's no way to get 'there' even with the best technical know-how, because where is this 'there'? Does 'Genius' have anywhere to reach? Is 'Goodness' self-conscious? I am reminded of W. S. Merwin's lines, him recalling his professor's words:
...I asked how can you ever be sure
that what you write is really
any good at all and he said you can't
you can't you can never be sure
you die without knowing
whether anything you wrote was any good
if you have to be sure don't write
Everything has lungs in a good film, everything breaths. A good film is life on camera. She promises you nothing, just like life. She respects and trusts her own wit, her own revelations, her gifts, her sorrows and delights - just like life.
A good film does not teach you lessons - life has no lessons to teach. Life is a flow. Constant learning, constant discovery.
A good film neither exploits nor lets herself get exploited. All that is manufactured to 'entertain' you, to 'keep you glued to your seats' has this unfortunate quality. It uses you, and you use it - to kill time, to escape, to forget yourself, to drown yourself without having to die.
A good film cares about you. A host - she lets you in, attends to you, engages you.
A good film doesn't try to 'hook' you. A bad film, a premature work may seek to be attractive because, for her, the sheer fact of existence isn't a good enough reason to be. A good film may captivate you, it may fail to captivate you. She wouldn't try. She wouldn't beg and, trust me, she never wants you to beg. She is not decidedly inaccessible or upsetting. She doesn't mystify herself on purpose. That would be just another way of trying to hook you - what's the need!
...Someone wished to talk of things that touched them, moved them; to talk from their gut. They managed to get the kind of producers, the kind of finance required; a good casting director, good actors, good cameraman, good composer - and a film happened. Of course it took as much hard work as any film. Much more, much more. But a good film doesn't prize herself. The project is over, the labour is over. Hard work isn't a virtue here. A good film-maker knows to transform, and to outgrow.
A bad film seeks to serve you, happily adjusting herself to your tastes, for she fears you, she fears many things: box-office failures, her own puniness or the possibility of having been a pointless effort. A good film... you really need to have a zest, a greenness, a love that doesn't wither in order even to understand what we mean by 'good' here. You have to be fearless and shieldless in order for something fearless, something poignant to reach you. Expose yourself, watch yourself patiently as you watch a good film (- call it, shout for it, find it!). Then you shall realize what it does to you.
Don't fool yourself. Don't settle for the festival lot, the award-winners. Yeah, we do get to watch a couple of great works there. But festivals and academies have their politique to maintain. These platforms are turning into reactionary spaces - films that happen to address international socio-political 'hot topics' are likely to get lucky.
And there are films which aspire to awards - forever in search of the alchemy of 'an award-winning film'.
There's no way to get 'there' even with the best technical know-how, because where is this 'there'? Does 'Genius' have anywhere to reach? Is 'Goodness' self-conscious? I am reminded of W. S. Merwin's lines, him recalling his professor's words:
...I asked how can you ever be sure
that what you write is really
any good at all and he said you can't
you can't you can never be sure
you die without knowing
whether anything you wrote was any good
if you have to be sure don't write
Everything has lungs in a good film, everything breaths. A good film is life on camera. She promises you nothing, just like life. She respects and trusts her own wit, her own revelations, her gifts, her sorrows and delights - just like life.
A good film does not teach you lessons - life has no lessons to teach. Life is a flow. Constant learning, constant discovery.
A good film neither exploits nor lets herself get exploited. All that is manufactured to 'entertain' you, to 'keep you glued to your seats' has this unfortunate quality. It uses you, and you use it - to kill time, to escape, to forget yourself, to drown yourself without having to die.
A good film cares about you. A host - she lets you in, attends to you, engages you.
She may not give you what you want, what you are so used to getting. She'd rather walk beside you; holding your hand for a moment, gazing straight into your eyes, talking of the most intimate, essential, everyday things with a candour that is hardly appreciated today. A good film doesn't hesitate to challenge your limited ways of being and seeing. This she does without having been asked; of course she wouldn't wait! She cares about you in a much more real way.
We may give lectures, write articles, reviews, create a tangle of superfluous words around films (this essay is no exception perhaps) - we may build houses of cards and smugly blow them off. We invent these games because we don't know to understand, and to be still. We don't know to be flowers, silently holding the nectar.
But that's OK. That's perfectly alright. A good film is what she is. She shall to happen to anyone who approaches her - anyone who is patient, open, honest and alive.
We may give lectures, write articles, reviews, create a tangle of superfluous words around films (this essay is no exception perhaps) - we may build houses of cards and smugly blow them off. We invent these games because we don't know to understand, and to be still. We don't know to be flowers, silently holding the nectar.
But that's OK. That's perfectly alright. A good film is what she is. She shall to happen to anyone who approaches her - anyone who is patient, open, honest and alive.