Should a movie be judged from the time of it's release, or how well it stands today?

[Alcove Audio]

Should a movie be judged from the time of it's release, or how well it stands today?

Both.

For the most part, if an "old" film doesn't stand up today people won't watch it anyway. But enjoying an old film requires an understanding of the "culture" of the time. Take a film like "It Happened One Night" with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable, directed by Frank Capra.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025316/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Happened_One_Night

Very, very tame by todays standards, but was considered quite scandalous when it was released - an unmarried man and woman traveling together and - OH MY GOD! - sharing a room, even though there is a blanket between them. It was also full of sexual innuendos that were familiar in the 30s but we miss today. BTW, it's one of the films that set the "pattern" for all the RomComs that came afterwards, up to and including today. Oh, and it won five (5) Oscars - Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. Yet how many here on IndieTalk have seen it? (In the interests of full disclosure I am a big Capra fan; I love Capra-Corn!)

What about "Star Wars"? The CGI, etc. is pretty primitive by todays standards, same old heroes journey plot; does it still hold up?

How about a cult classic like "Eraserhead;" does it still hold up?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A great story is a great story. What attracts people is how the story is told, and many reject "old" versions of the story as they don't understand the cultural references, or find the medium "primitive."

 

[sfoster]

I've seen 'it happened one night'. the dialogue was fantastic, definitely one of the best written romantic films i've ever seen.

It's highly acclaimed by AFI and rates in my top 20% of all films I've seen (a 4/5 rating from me)
Top 100 Laughs
Top 100 Passions
Top 100 Movies

Makes it into all 3 categories.. really every american director should have seen this film along with the rest of the AFI top 100 movies

 

[harmonica44]

I haven't seen It Happened One Night, but now I am interested.

I have seen Birth of a Nation twice and cannot help but to find it very entertaining. It is very racist and disgusting and I do not agree with it's content at all, but in a way, that's part of the film's intrigue. When I watch it, I just can't believe it, and it's actually kind of a guilty pleasure movie, I find.

Star Wars does not hold up in plot in my opinion, as it is kind of anticlimatic by today's standards. It has action but modern audiences would expect a bigger showdown with Darth Vader, compared to him being knocked off quickly there. But I don't care, still a lot of fun. I wouldn't put it in my top 30 or anything but a great movie for what it is.

I only saw Eraserhead once and I think that movie does hold up. The plot is so original and crazy that it's never really been copied, so you could make it today and it would make no difference in my opinion.

I've read that AFI list before. I've seen a good portion of the movies on it, but cannot make time to watch them all anytime soon unfortunately. Some movies I like are here and there, and my most favorite movies on that list are Schindler's List and Lawrence of Arabia and they come in at #8 and #7.

One thing I've noticed about that list is there is a few silent slapstick comedies on there such as The General and City Lights. That's another thing. People really like slapstick comedies if it's a silent film from the 20s but if you take any movies with sound from modern times, and critics will not hold them in near as high regard. Shoot 'Em Up or Bowfinger for example, are not considered near as great as The General or City Lights, even though, more than one can argue that the laughs are just as big in those.

I noticed Blade Runner is on the list, and thought about how people say that Blade Runner was inspired by Metropolis (1927). In my opinion, Metropolis is far better, and is one case, where the future movies it inspired, perhaps have not been able to beat it. Perhaps Metropolis still stands the tests of times today, although the ending may be a bit weak by today's standards possibly.

Some of my top movies I think perhaps should be in AFI top 100, are Metropolis, Back To The Future, The Truman Show, Oldboy, This Film Is Not Yet Rated, Slumdog Milllionaire, City of God, For A Few Dollars More, The Chaser, Runaway Train, Robin and Marian, Unbreakable, Sicko, Cell 211, Fail-Safe, High and Low, Malcolm X, and maybe JFK.