Bicycle Thief followed by Chungking Express made me obsessed with watching films. Dogville turned me into an angry person. The Graduate made me hope to become like Mrs. Robinson one day when I get older, and Cinema Paradiso turned me into a hopeless romantic.
The Outsiders changed my life. I never looked at people the same again after watching that movie in middle school. I also never looked at movies the same again because I now saw the kind of power and impact that can come from a good film. Army of Darkness has been my favorite film since I was eight and The Evil Dead many years later made me realize that films can be made outside of Hollywood.
Dracula (1931) For some odd reason my father had all of the old classic horror films on reel to reel and every once in a while I would convince him to break them out and show them to me. He kept them in these sturdy metal containers and this one time in particular, while he was retrieving them from the top shelf of his closet, he slipped and Dracula hit me square on the top of my little eight year old head. I haven’t been the same since.
senior year of high school i had no friends so i started to watch films to occupy my time… the two films that got me into watching films seriously were Taxi Driver and Raging Bull… that is also when i stopped watching crap movies
I hope you have found some friends since then. Reel life should not be a substitute for real life.
HARRY:
Is that a quote by Truffaut?
For me it was 1991’s Alejandro Jodorswsky’s Santa Sangre..from there backwards from Melies to Mathew Barney and Peter Greenaway.
I had always been into classic films (I was obsessed by Chaplin and Bogart as a kid), but when I was 12 years old, the university movie theatre was showing a print of Citizen Kane. No one else my age was really interested; hell, I wasn’t even sure I was interested, it had just been mentioned in so many film books I had gotten out of the library (mostly to look at the pictures).
Anyway, I took the bus out to the University of Victoria, and bought my ticket at their theatre and sat down. Changed my life. I can still remember with crystal clarity that shot of the reporter in the archives reading the rich man’s memoirs, the shaft of light streaming in from the window. i had never seen anything like it in my life.
Forbidden Games- It wasn’t the best film of all time, but it affected me in a way that no other has to date. Made me feel/think so much more about the violence going on that damage peoples lives.
Jesus, I don’t know.
It was probably a music video, though.
What changed me and made me realize I wanted more than just blockbuster movies (and wanted movies to be as close to reality as possible) was Truffaut’s “The Story of Adele H.” I was shocked to see, for the first time, a female character pimp for her man, stalk him, literally go mad; the last scene still haunts me (like the last scene in “Jules & Jim”) many years now. I was young, too inexperienced, put women on a high pedestal, and here was this fatalistic character on the screen defying film convention and formula. That was also the time I discovered Catcher In the Rye.
“A Clockwork Orange” surely was an eye opener both towards the richness of cinema and music, particularly Beethoven.
Before Sunrise and Before Sunset has turned me into a hopeless romantic. One day, I’ll meet my Julie Delpy in Paris, I’m sure of it. Ordet made me believe there was something worthwhile in “faith”, which is a rather large step for me.
Andrei Rublev. I can’t exactly explain just how much I’ve changed since viewing it, if at all. But I’ve never felt physically ecstatic and joyful at the end of a film, I was literally speechless.
The Decalogue restored my faith in human beings.
The Third Man, I stumbled upon it while watching Turner Classic Movies. I knew nothing of its reputation and only vaguely recognized Orson Welles. I hope I can blindly discover a gem like that again because it was a great experience.
The Reader. I’m not as pro-death penalty as I once was. I’m not saying that Nazis or any other war criminals shouldn’t be killed for their crimes. But I don’t think it is something to be used in order to seek revenge either.
8 1/2…Changed my idea of what cinema is and the endless possibilities this medium allows.
Probably Norma Rae. It was the first film I saw that was about inner growth and the ability to better yourself by the positive influence of another person.
I just saw 8 1/2 recently, and was incredibly moved by it. I saw little bits of Guido in me, and it was a film (I’m an aspiring filmmaker) that I could connect with so well.
The other was Cinema Paradiso (My favorite film of all time). I had loved films so much from the beginning of my existence, and a lot of people didn’t ‘get me’ and I had lots of friends that were older than me. And finding a girl that respected my enormous love for film was huge, and it took me a while to let go. Both of those films really affected me in the sense of how I hadn’t really related to films so well.
Passion of the Christ:
I was a sophomore in high school and I was already becoming weary of the types of movies my family and friends were all in love with. I already had a liking towards ‘mainstream’ artsy films like The Fountain, but I knew there were much better movies out there. I had started renting movies from ‘G.o.a.t’ lists and the one that really transformed me from casual movie goer to film lover was Passion of the Christ. I remember its realistic interpretation of Christ and its controversial ending affected me so much that from then on, every movie I watched I would thoroughly research everything I could about it afterwards and read interpretations which would lead me to more movies that were just as good, et al.
It was also the first time I noticed something called the ‘Criterion Collection’
lol
The Film that definitely changed me is Eraserhead. It was the first real Art Film that I watched, intentionally, with the knowledge that it would be something strange and somewhat of a Mindfuck. I loved it the first time I saw it and I’ve loved it ever since, every time I watch it. It opened the door of me not only becoming a big David Lynch Fan, but a real Film lover too. I cringe to think how different my Life may be if I’d have chosen not to watch Eraserhead.
Magnolia’s a Life changer, too, but I think I’ll save that for a different Thread.
The Thin Red Line.
Without no doubt,“Lilya 4-Ever”
I never knew film was that close to reality until I saw that movie.I was 13,and it traumatised me.I continued watching cinema-verite, focusing on The Dardennes,Abbas Kiarostami and Mohsen Makhmalbaf.Errol Morris and Werner Herzog followed, and that’s how my “cinematic” path started.Weird how I didn’t start out with Ford,Kubrick or Spielbergh.I still have lots of “american classics” to catch up on: I have never seen Casablanca,The Magnificent Ambersons or The Big Sleep.
For me it’s a tie between American Beauty and A Clockwork Orange
L’Eclisse
the lion king
Summer of 2008, just turned 15 years old, I already had enough taste to move past the normal teenage movies filled with explosions and action. I watched Requiem For a Dream on the internet, and it was amazing. It was the first time I cried during a film when nothing sad happened. Maybe I’m just weird, but I cry on nearly every movie I watch since then due to cinematography, dialogue, or the score. I spent the rest of the summer watching movies pretty much nonstop, I usually got in 7+ movies a day.
7+ a day?? thats way too much. you needed to go outside and play. what did you do this summer?
Faces
Before that I was lying to myself. I’d seen films with impressive cinematography and films with interesting plots and well-written dialogue but I didn’t really see the point behind it all. Then came Faces! It was and is the essence of film – people, humanity, emotion – and it let me go back and appreciate the truly great films I’d done wrong to by glazing over. I don’t even think I payed attention before Faces. I love its honesty and I LOVE how it spits in the face of nihilism and artifice. What a marvelous film. Thanks, John.
I always wanted to make films myself, but I never had a true understanding (or appreciation) for the medium. After watching Carne’s; Children of Paradise, I was stole away from the modern Hollywood film and kidnapped into the world of great cinema.
In order: Vertigo, Blow Out, 2001, Les quatre cents coups and Hard-Boiled.
Miss J
Bicycle Thief followed by Chungking Express made me obsessed with watching films. Dogville turned me into an angry person. The Graduate made me hope to become like Mrs. Robinson one day when I get older, and Cinema Paradiso turned me into a hopeless romantic.