Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Harmonia (A) on November 24, 2009 at 12:56:31

In Reply to: RE: Seen it 50 times? posted by mkuller on November 23, 2009 at 11:33:19

....20 times without getting bored, then I don't think it qualifies as a "great" film. If a movie doesn't hold up under repeated viewings, then it probably doesn't deserve the moniker "great".

There are plenty of commercial films that are enjoyable but don't hold up under repeated viewings, and they weren't meant to. That's OK, and that's the level where most people enjoy cinema.

But a "great" film, one with personal vision and artistic intent, should only reveal more of its magic the more you watch it. There are scores of movies where I find more in them every time I watch them. (I could provide a list but it'd be pretty long! I will if pressed, but you have been warned.)

The same is true of great music, great books...I never tire of Huckleberry Finn, Pride & Prejudice, Great Expectations, Sayer's Peter Wimsey novels or the historical novels of Patrick O'Brien...and I never tire of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Monteverdi, Vaughn-Williams, Bartok, The Beatles, Steely Dan or The Clash.