Was there ever a movie that affected you in deep way? That caused you to question your beliefs, or else expanded your vision of what was possible? Here are a few that affected me in such a way:
The Wizard of Oz--I suppose the take-away from this at the meager age of 6 or 7 was the power of fantasy to lift one out of the humdrum boredom of everyday life. It made me believe in the power of movies as true art that could provide lasting escape from reality.
The Birds--Hitchcock's masterful exploration of a apocalyptic doom underlying the angst of everyday reality. Another lesson in the power of film to seduce and enchant.
The Ten Commandments--I roughly link this movie to the time in my life when I started taking religion seriously and started seeing the Biblical God is a real source of meaning in my life. Quite unusual for 12 year old boy.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind--Totally unexpected reintroduction into the power of movies to make real the beauty of imagined scenarios. Who's this new Spielburg director? lol!
Field of Dreams--a surprising vision for a wandering agnostic in his early 20's. A view of reality as richly invested with magic without the burden of a some moralistic deity. The artistic depiction of the transcendent rising up thru the everyday. Of the miraculous as an organic surge from the heart of matter itself.
The Matrix--A totally new view on the Buddhist idea of reality as an illusion that supresses the realization of the truth. The cultural myth of overcoming ingnorance with knowledge, questioning the system I was born to accept without question.
The Wizard of Oz--I suppose the take-away from this at the meager age of 6 or 7 was the power of fantasy to lift one out of the humdrum boredom of everyday life. It made me believe in the power of movies as true art that could provide lasting escape from reality.
The Birds--Hitchcock's masterful exploration of a apocalyptic doom underlying the angst of everyday reality. Another lesson in the power of film to seduce and enchant.
The Ten Commandments--I roughly link this movie to the time in my life when I started taking religion seriously and started seeing the Biblical God is a real source of meaning in my life. Quite unusual for 12 year old boy.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind--Totally unexpected reintroduction into the power of movies to make real the beauty of imagined scenarios. Who's this new Spielburg director? lol!
Field of Dreams--a surprising vision for a wandering agnostic in his early 20's. A view of reality as richly invested with magic without the burden of a some moralistic deity. The artistic depiction of the transcendent rising up thru the everyday. Of the miraculous as an organic surge from the heart of matter itself.
The Matrix--A totally new view on the Buddhist idea of reality as an illusion that supresses the realization of the truth. The cultural myth of overcoming ingnorance with knowledge, questioning the system I was born to accept without question.