Notes on Film

Our first film of the year was the excellent Pan’s Labyrinth, which, although I have seen it before, was breathtaking.  Again, I think it has something to do with seeing it in a certain context, a few times larger than your home TV screen, particularly for something like this film, which was described as ‘brutal’ by fellow students.  I genuinely cannot wait to hear what they have to say about Blue Velvet & Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl.

It was admitted by one student that he was expecting David Bowie (and of course THOSE leggings), so I imagine that it was quite a shock to see a crazy Faun, a murderous Spanish Captain and a housekeeper with no qualms about cutting a fellas face in half (almost).  But I did find myself wondering why I didn’t find it ‘brutal’.  Is Charlie Skeoch really right in suggesting I’m a bit mental?  Has it more to do with the sort of films that I enjoy watching?  Have I become de-sensitized? (A 5 year old review that I wrote does mention the gore – but it wasn’t something that I particularly noticed on this viewing.  Perhaps there is just more to look at than a bit of blood…)

Personally, I think the fact of the matter is that it’s a mixture of all of them.  Except the mental bit.  Mikel hit the nail on the head when he mentioned seeing Halloween (I think it was Halloween – it’s been a long day – correct me if I’m wrong), for the first time and being so utterly terrified by it, and having been chasing that ‘hit’ ever since.

B & I were talking about horror films last night, and I said very much the same thing.  We were talking about Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and how (amongst other things), the original trailer was banned as it terrified audiences so much.  I said that I would love for something to scare me so much.  I think the first time I was truly terrified by any kind of film was the first time I saw Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  Genuinely.  I hid behind the sofa.  Admittedly, I was rather young at the time, but still, perhaps in some way I really enjoyed being so terrified I had to hide.  I long to see a film that has a similar effect on me now!

The closest anyone seems to get is simply ‘making me feel a bit uncomfortable’.  Perhaps that’s why I love Takashi Miike so much – he is really rather good at doing that.

And on to the ‘Little Bit Extra’.

I was asked what makes me happy today (contrary to popular belief, there are a number of things that make me happy), and then it went on to films I like.  So I started thinking about films I like, and particularly, that make me happy.

So, for the asker of the question, here are some films that make me happy;

Amelie
Happiness of the Katakuris
Breathless
My Neighbour Totoro

These are not necessarily ‘favourite’ films, but they have certain things about them that make me happy in some way.  And I could only think of 4.