The reel thing

[j4]

I do not know enough about films.

I noticed this particularly while on holiday, as my travelling companion frequently tried to refer to films that she assumed I would have seen, and more and more I found myself apologising for being whatever the filmic equivalent of "poorly-read" is. ("Poorly-viewed" makes me think of frosted glass, and anyway, you know what I mean.) But it's something that happens quite often: people allude to films in the confident belief that they are accessing shared cultural reference points, and my only response is an unbecomingly blank look.

I'm also aware that often when I do watch films which everybody else has raved about, I feel as though I'm missing something. Obviously there are differences of taste, but with literature (and, in some genres, music) I feel as though I can make a critical judgement which satisfies me (I'm not particularly concerned whether other people's opinions differ) -- that is, I can say "I feel that I have read/heard and understood this and I am confident that my indifference to it or dislike of it is a matter of personal taste, rather than a sign that I am missing something which is central to appreciating it." (Goodness, that sounds arrogant. I don't mean it as such.)

Now I'm not really asking for recommendations of Wicked Cool Films You Like, because I've probably got enough of those to keep me going for the next 200 years, and unfortunately I'm only likely to live for another 60-odd of those. What I'm asking for is something slightly different: what films do you, O film-viewing people of my readership, regard as central to understanding film as a medium? Or, perhaps, which films are most central to the cultural consciousness of people in the English-speaking Western world^[1]? What films would you be horrified to discover that somebody in my cultural context hadn't seen?

^[1] I'm specifying this because one of my reasons for asking is that film is an area where, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, I feel like an outsider in my own culture. I feel as though there are swathes of cultural referents which I am entirely missing because I'm so lacking in filmic knowledge. For other cultures I'm happier to accept that I will lack a lot of shared reference points.

Yes, everybody's answers are going to differ. I'm not really interested in producing a definitive list; rather just seeing what people suggest. I'm also interested to know reasons for your choices -- a list of films without any explanation will tell me nothing if I haven't seen them, and won't motivate me to see them.

Does this rambly and multifaceted question make any sense?

Comments

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I think it's hard to separate "you should see this [because it's technically/artistically fantastic]" and "you should see this [because everyone else has so it's part of some wider body of knowledge now (FVSO everyone else)]" and "you should see this [because it will speak to you specifically, Janet, at this point in time and space]" and "you should see this [because I think it's a good way to spend two hours]".

That said, I think I'd suggest: Casablanca, if only because it filters into so many other things, it's almost the equivalent of Shakespeare in intertextual terms now; Cinema Paradiso because it explains why (some) film lovers love film in the way they do [warning: subtitles]; Memento because it subverts narrative lines beautifully, it's very clever and quite gripping; Some Like It Hot for similar reasons to Casablanca and also because it's just genuinely funny; Amadeus because it's beautifully shot and orchestrated and an interesting story (Schaffer text gives it a headstart too); Monsters Inc. because it will make you laugh and it's "cuddly"; 10 Things I Hate About You because Shakespeare adaptations work well with cute teens; Kiss Me Kate, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, West Side Story, Singing In The Rain, Meet Me In St Louis, My Fair Lady because musicals are great fun for rainy Sunday afternoons - no one can be miserable with a musical (even one that ends in Bleak Despairing Death). Add some classic Ealing comedy, Clerks or Mallrats, some John Hughes (The Breakfast Club, perhaps)... I could go on for too long so I'll stop there.

[j4.livejournal.com]

Agreed about it being hard to separate the different motives. Although:

"you should see this [because I think it's a good way to spend two hours]"

Watching a film is rarely something that occurs to me as a good way to spend two hours -- I think possibly because I can't do anything else while I'm doing it, and I'm used to reading while cooking, listening to music while reading, etc. etc.

Thank you for all the suggestions and reasons.

Should point out that I've already seen a lot of the musicals (WSS, SitR, MMISL, MFL) and I love musicals in general -- I admit somewhat sheepishly that The Sound of Music is one of my all-time favourites, and I even have a soft spot for Brigadoon, painted scenery and all. :) And then there's The Wizard of Oz, and the hilarious film of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (with Zero Mostel and Michael Crawford and probably lots of other famous people), and Showboat, and The Desert Song, and, and.

(And I am a complete sucker for Glorious Technicolor.)

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

I often think I'm wasting time watching a film when I could be doing something else, but then I realise I've seen no films lately. So I try to make an effort to just watch one and do nothing else. After all, I don't think "I could be doing laundry" when I'm reading. Maybe that's part of it, you don't have the *doodah* (is it a habit? an inclination? a gene??) that makes you treat watching a film as an activity as valid as doing any one other thing by itself. There's music in most films, you can watch the action and listen to the soundtrack if you must multitask everything you do. ;-) Or take up knitting and watch while you knit...

Learning to read film can be as interesting as learning to really read a book - actively look for visual clues in The Sixth Sense for instance, and you won't see it the same way again. (They're a wee bit hamfisted but interesting nonetheless.) No spoilers here but if you want to know what I'm on about Google will give you detailed breakdowns of symbolism and clues in it, or other films. The IMDB has a lot of data on such things, too. Se7en is another example of a multi-layered 'modern' film that bears a lot of 'textual' analysis, if that appeals, ditto Memento, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich and similarly clever films.

Musicals: that was just a list of the first few to spring to mind, largely because the DVDs or videos were staring me in the face. I would happily extend the recommendation to almost anything in the genre. Particularly if it stars Howard Keel. ;-)