Blog #13

Every once in a while, we go to the movie theaters, sit down, maybe with a bucket of popcorn, watch the movie we paid to see and walk out of the theater stunned. Some movies are good. some movies great. And some movies are so out of the ball park, so stunning you can't speak amazing. Those are the movies you remember.

Unfortunately, these movies are few and far between. Often, production costs, A-list actors, and expensive directors can scuttle a marvelous movie before it can start. However, occasionally, you see a movie that is utterly amazing, and you never forget it.

I have experienced a few of these movies, but I feel that one of the ones that has affected me the most was the Spanish film, Pan's Labyrinth. The very fact that the movie is spoken in Spanish, a language I have little connection to, and little knowledge of, made me think about everything that was being said in a different light. Is this English translation actually what it means in Spanish? How are the connotations different? What are they trying to say? Instead of passively sitting back in my chair and accepting the movie as it was shown, I actively thought about the movie, even as it was playing, and challenged it.

Pan's Labyrinth was also extremely memorable for me because of its connection with death, and the different perspective on the subject it presents. The idea is that the Labyrinth is the afterlife, and this little girl is "going home" to meet her father (a demon, for some reason). I felt that this was a much more peaceful perspective than the reality presented in the stern, civil war torn Spain of the 1930's, where much of the movie takes place.

A memorable movie and a great movie are not necessarily the same thing, but they can coincide to form a marvelous movie that you will remember for years to come. Pan's Labyrinth affected me, but it may not have affected a Spanish speaker in the same theater as me, because they interacted with the movie differently. The greatness of a movie is all about perspective- what affects you the most, you remember the most. Great movies are the ones you enjoy, but truly spectacular ones are the ones you remember for years to come.