Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Victor Khomenko (M) on February 19, 2004 at 06:27:28

In Reply to: Re: On Art posted by patrickU on February 19, 2004 at 05:53:24:

That is probably the heart of the matter. We can't just say that everything produced as "art" at any period was indeed art. Art does presume innovation, but not just the innovation for the innovation's sake, but one that truly moves the society forward.

Regarding the Mr. Deed's romantism... there is fine line with romantism - romantic things can indeed become corny in no time at all. I think that happens to Mr. Deeds to some degree. As the result I felt like I could leave the film at any moment... unlike the L'Atalante or the even earlier Battleship Potemkin.

Mr. Deed seems to reflect the current fashion for the naively "humanistic" films - I put it it quotes because in reality they were more warm fuzzy corny things than truly humanistic manifestations (well, to be fair they DID have humanism in them, just with a good coat of sugar).

So the things of true quality (Chaplin, Potemkin, etc) tend to stay fresh, and those that more or less reflect the prevailing fashion tend to feel dated.