Footprints
by Budd Glassberg
Reprinted with permission from the Zionsville Times
Sentinel on November 28, 2007
Don’t Wait For the Video
“Bianca’s in town for a reason” - Dagmar
Part of the process is convincing yourself that what you are seeing in front of you is real. It takes some imagination and an ability to dissociate yourself from your surroundings. Sitting in a darkened theatre among a throng of other pretenders adds to the process, more so than sitting at home watching a glowing screen where interruptions are but a phone call away. There is nothing like going to a movie to enhance the world that a director and some actors create for you. The better films find a way to immediately capture your mind and bring you to a place where you can be a fly on the wall; an observer of other peoples lives. The further it takes you from your known reality, the more difficult the job for those making the movie.
We have all had the experience of going to a movie that was highly recommended by someone we trusted only to find the movie was not to our liking. Individual tastes in movies are certainly a factor, but there are other reasons why we may not have enjoyed the film. It could be that we brought some of our own baggage to the theatre that we were unable to leave behind when the movie began. Having a bad day could cause us to not enjoy a movie that we would love on any other day. Unable to let go of something that happened in our day could have gotten in the way of our ability to suspend reality long enough to believe in the world created for us. Other factors could be our surroundings. Watching the movie at home rather than at a theatre could invite enough of our own surroundings to keep us from losing ourselves in the story. Sometimes just pausing the movie while taking a phone call can break the spell and cause the viewer to begin to question the plausibility of the situation on the screen.
Some movies are just made to be watched in a theatre. Special effects superhero cinema certainly ought to be viewed on the big screen and can be enhanced further by the IMAX experience. There is another type of film that begs to be watched in the theatre. It is the kind of movie that stretches plausibility to such an extreme that the viewer must buy in to the concept from the beginning and cannot let go of it until the closing credits. Two examples of this type of cinema are, “Field of Dreams” and “Terminal Man”. I enjoy both of these movies in the theatre and found neither worked as well in video.
Last week I had the good fortune to leave the theatre saying, “I loved that movie.” The movie’s pace, touching humor and astute acting combined to catapult me into a world that I would like to think actually exists. The premise of the movie is so obscure and silly that description of it would only serve to turn prospective viewers away. Watching it with so many other people only added to the enjoyment of it. No one left the movie without a smile on his or her face.
I have never written a movie review
and from what I have said about this one, my streak is still intact. “Lars and the Real Girl” is only playing at
one theatre in town. Leave your troubles
at home and allow the film to bring you to a small
Those of you who have read my other columns know that I am not a fan of competition and awards when it comes to the arts. This movie has caused me to change my mind about this. I think one of the main characters, Bianca, ought to be nominated for best supporting actress this year. She is so convincing in her role, I cannot imagine her playing anything else.
Don’t wait for it to come out on video. See it before it leaves town. The less you know about it before seeing it, the more you will like it. Enjoy it with others by watching it on the big screen. Go to it because you will leave the theatre feeling better than when you arrived.
Budd Glassberg lives and works in Zionsville and is a 23 year resident of the community. Visit www.runz.com for reprints of all his columns. You can reach him by email at budd@runz.com.