Prophet_of_Doom
Posts: 726
Joined: 15/2/2006
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quote:
ORIGINAL: st3veebee quote:
ORIGINAL: Prophet_of_Doom quote:
ORIGINAL: st3veebee I was thinking about this topic after the Sight and Sound Poll myself. I think it boils down to that stupid word "classic" which goes hand in hand with age. Older films get forgiven for being slower paced, worse FX (obviously) and a different approach to acting simply because they go under the genre "classic". I'm not sure how genre-defying, revolutionary and damn-near perfect films like Pan's Labyrinth aren't instantly on the best of lists. That's actually a good point (well, half a good point, because I don't necessarily agree with all of it!) A lot of older films are slower paced. And have a different style of acting. (Although you're suggesting they're weaker for it in both instances, which is unfair - it's just that they were different and from different eras where what was considered the peak of art was radically different to today). It's like trying to decide who was the best football team, the Manchester United of the 60s or the Manchester United of the 90s. Football was so different that it's an unfair comparison - can we say that Pele was the greatest player of all time if he'd struggle to get into the Wigan side because he couldn't cope with the strength and athleticism of the modern footballer? I think it's similar with film. Thus it does make these polls pretty impossible to take seriously. That's a fair point, and it does look like I was giving out about older films but rather it was just a different time. However...considering how much films have evolved, surely the modern films are...better? Great stories are always at the heart of a film , but everything else has pretty much evolved. If you showed a group of people, who had never seen any film or televsion, 2 films: An older classic such as Vertigo/Kane/Tokyo Story and then showed them a modern classic such as There will be blood/Hugo/Pan's Labyrinth...which would have the greater impact on them? Good argument! I think your comparisons are a little unfair though. Comparing Vertigo (for instance) to Pan's Labyrinth and asking "which has the most impact" to someone who has never seen film, well it would definitely be the latter because it would just make them go "woooooah" like the little green guys from Toy Story! But that's just because it has more bells and whistles, not because it's a better film. It would be like showing them a torch and a firework. The latter would definitely impress them more! What would have the greater impact if you showed them Kane or The Squid and the Whale, for instance? I think if you show comparable movies then they each hold up. There is greater sophistication in every element of film making now (both in front of and behind the camera, in screenwriting etc) but then again you can look back at something like Chinatown which still holds up in every respect. There Will Be Blood is actually an interesting one, because it's almost structured like a classic film. So I'd be interested to know what they thought if you compared TWBL with The African Queen, for instance.
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