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It's safe to say I’m a proficient film watcher. Three years ago, amidst a generational pause in the form of a national lockdown, I made the radical yet simple decision to watch a film a day. Now, I am aware that what I am proposing is hardly a life-altering shift, but I can firmly say it began a chain reaction that altered the direction of my career and influenced my working life today. I decided I wanted a career in film, and with that comes revision. If you had asked me in 2019 whether I was a film person, I would have told you I hadn’t even seen "Forrest Gump." Despite that fact still remaining true, the journey I have taken through this visual art form has enriched my brain and widened my perspective on the world in a way only this medium can.
What you need to know about me is that I love art in all its forms, especially for its intrinsic power to provoke feelings in its consumers. Successful art is imbued with the author’s emotion and is designed to be dissected; it is purposeful. Film, as an audio-visual medium, deconstructs over three folds, different from literature which leaves room for interpretation… I'm sure you’ve all tried to work out why “the curtains are blue,” back in the classroom. In a film, the clues are laid out for you. A purposeful decision has been made about how something looks, how it sounds, and what the characters say. As a result, a film that impacts you sticks as you’ve consumed it via multiple senses (sight & hearing). This is not to discredit books (I love them too), but there’s a reason television and cinema have been more widely popular than reading ever since their inception.
So, after this long introduction, I am going to talk about three films I have experienced in my journey that have had lasting impacts on me. To say I think about them regularly would be accurate as, in the time I have between thinking about the machinations of the Roman Empire, images and messages from these works of art float through my mind, inspire me, or indeed make me question systems of the world today. I will not spoil any of the below works for you, but rather hope to pique your interest enough to perhaps give one of these a watch.
1. La Haine (1995)
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Synopsis:
“After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert, and Saïd, wander around unoccupied, waiting for news about the health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured in a confrontation with the police.”
La Haine is a staple of the ‘film bro’ canon and is often recommended by the wrong people to the wrong audience — I mean philosophy undergraduates to their apathetic girlfriends. Yes, this film is entirely in French and yes, it is monochrome; however, these facets in themselves do not endow it with the artistic merit it rightly holds. La Haine, translating to ‘Hatred,’ explores the psyche of disillusioned youth in a way so accurate it could only come out of France. The three main characters, a Parisian Jew, an Afro-French man, and a young North African Muslim, form a perfect, somewhat timeless microcosm of Paris, which can easily be extrapolated to mirror other major cities. Their exploits throughout the city allow for the exploration of themes like masculinity, surveillance culture, police brutality, and what it means to live as part of a society. Each is highlighted in delicate ways which serve to exemplify and comment upon the issue as opposed to being didactic. This lends the film an overall feel of authenticity. You feel as grubby and dirty as the characters while watching it. It is not a comfortable viewing experience, but I can assure you, you will be captivated. Also, out of all the films listed here, La Haine’s use of the camera forms a connection between you and the three boys. Kassovitz employs camera tricks to add a sharpness to his art, directing actions at you, not to you. This allows for the viewer to feel both a part of the journey they are consuming and almost complicit in the events of that night. La Haine asks the viewer to consider the machinations of society, who is on its borderlines, and how they feel. It remains resonant with me as the work is powerful. Simply put, one has no choice but to dwell on this film once it has concluded.
“I can’t stop thinking about this film because it is antithetical. It is one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen yet maintains an ugly, rugged, and raw feeling that drags the viewer into the grime of urban Paris.”
2. Do The Right Thing (1989)
Directed by Spike Lee
Synopsis:
“Salvatore 'Sal' Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin’ Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin’ Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.”
Do the Right Thing is the third film of Spike Lee’s oeuvre and, I would argue, his best. The film explores the rising tensions between the African American and Italian residents of a Brooklyn neighborhood. This premise, although simple, is complemented by Spike's astute decision to set the events of his film on the hottest day of the year thus far. This setting allows the viewer to feel the rising tensions throughout the piece and viscerally sense the climax being built towards, as the town becomes hotter and hotter. The heat is further exacerbated by the film's deep orange color grade, encapsulating the feeling of heat and visually displaying the tension of the town. This is both clever and intentional layering by Spike to ground his viewership in the severity of the situation. One can suggest that all the neighbors in the 'hood are in one melting pot, reaching a boiling point through the events of the plot. This is the first factor as to why Do The Right Thing is appealing — it employs the filmic form to create a complete feeling of setting, allowing the viewer to enter a place that feels real. Moreover, Spike is not afraid to use unconventional techniques to expel a character’s feelings to the audience. He regularly utilizes effective fourth-wall breaks to provide insight into a character’s mind and ultimately allows you, as a viewer, to rationalize and perhaps justify their actions. It is this that is key to the work. Despite Spike’s obvious political leaning (as seen from his actions outside the world of film), in Do The Right Thing, he presents a scenario and allows you, the viewer, to choose. He asks you, “What went wrong?” He challenges you to consider the actions of his characters. Can you rationalize them? Should you rationalize them? Spike trusts his audience to interpret, debate, and be provoked by the art he puts in front of them. He does what I admire most in artists; he has his interpretation but allows scope for perspective and debate within his audience and gives no finite answer. This, to me, is perfect, as good art is provocative by nature; it has to be, as what is the point of a piece of work that simply tells you its message? A good piece of work shows you its message and challenges you to think about it. That's what Do the Right Thing does, as ultimately it ends with the question, “What was the Right Thing To Do?”
“I can’t stop thinking about this film because it asks questions. It presents a timeless portrait of an American cultural landscape and offers conflicts that, despite being written in 1989, are still as relevant today as they were at the film's inception.”
3. Uncut Gems (2019)
Directed by Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
Synopsis:
“A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.”
As I said earlier in this article: “Good films make you feel things.” Therefore, it is only fair to describe Uncut Gems as stress encapsulated. Describing this film as anything but an anxiety-inducing, chaotic roller coaster would be doing it an injustice, as the Safdie brothers have managed to craft an authentic yet simple story that captured my attention from minute one until the last. Films are sequential; they rely on a character chasing a desire. Most films can be summarized as follows: Character A wants X, but there is Y blocking their way from achieving their want. In screenwriting terms, this is called conflict. The conflict within a plot is then directly affected by the actions the character takes to achieve his desired want, as a sequential chain of cause and effect begins. Character A tries X, fails, and as a result, Y happens. Uncut Gems nails this structure. It is a film that is relentless in its delivery, as Adam Sandler’s character's desire to achieve the ultimate win is the catalyst for a host of problems, each either building on or surpassing the last. It is this undulating story structure, with action peaks followed by slight respite only for the tension to build again, that generates such feelings of stress or anxiety in the viewer. Now one may ask why, when watching a film, should they feel either of those things? To them, I would argue, why do people choose to do extreme sports, ride roller coasters, or jump off cliffs? People chase the adrenaline high of those activities as they ultimately provide them with a thrill. This is where Uncut Gems traps you; you want Sandler’s character to win, you’re a part of his journey, you are also the addict chasing the high, and therefore, you are intrinsically linked to the character. You are hooked on the film. It is this high that still resonates with me and therefore is a huge contributor to why this film sticks in my mind.
“I can’t stop thinking about this film because it made me feel like no other film has before.”
A Brief Conclusion
To conclude this article, I am initially drawn to think of what made me choose the above three. What are their similarities? All three are small-scale stories, centered in areas with specific identities, and contain characters authentic to the setting. All are dominated by a through line that is obviously building to a strong climax, each delivering that message in its own unique way. However, the one thought that has dominated my mind throughout the process of writing this article is that all three center around one word: society.
Each film considers the structures of the world today, the facets of life intrinsic to living in a developed community. Each paints a picture of a community and the people within it, examining how they function, what causes tension between them, and how one person’s actions affect another. These are just thoughts; however, through this, I hope I have demonstrated how just by watching three films, one can begin to deconstruct innate messages within them and apply them to the contemporary world today, perhaps use them to challenge archetypal societal structures, or indeed simply make one a more well-rounded, thoughtful individual. I hope you have been provoked enough to watch a film I described, or perhaps all three - I would love to hear your takes on them all!
