BENEVOLENT WORLDS

By: Keaton Kail

A selection of my favorite films in which there is no menace, villain, or necessary antagonist — or, in which if something presents itself as evil, it is revealed to be, simply natural, complex and human.

This group defies tension between good and evil, and instead exist within a world that is, to quote Roger Ebert, ‘benign". He used the term in a review of Miyazaki’s MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (which is definitely near the peak of what I consider, without a hint of irony, the ideal of filmmaking) but I believe the thought can be expanded to several different types of cinema – most effectively: slapstick and screwball comedies, children’s cinema, and a trend of world cinema focused on carefully calibrated moods instead of ‘plot’.

In these films, characters develop and experience the world, they know fear and sadness, joy, hope, and even despair (in fact a few explore extremely dark and contradictory human emotions), but these things are accepted as essential to life, not agencies of evil as something that contradicts life. There are never single dimensions to the actions of characters, and if often this leads archetyping, or a sort of wandering reverie, the films never cop out of relavence.

They relate themselves to our own world through a gentle kind of satire. They are deeply humanist, and show affection for and understanding both the foibles and triumphs of human nature, society and culture. They greet dualism with a humble, loving reminder that life is full of gentle irony, hope, and wonder.

In every case, it seems, the wisdom of these films come from children or from adults who, to their benefit, view the world like children.

Please disregard the ranking- the list is presented in chronological order. Challenge me if you’re not buying it!