The Cinema has only been around for about a century. Though technology and culture changes have of course impacted it massively, it’s still of critical importance to bear in mind that even without these exterior forces, film has still undergone notable refining as a craft throughout the decades. What this has taught us is that there are several elements that contribute to making good movies. Some decades have perfected certain elements, while other decades have prioritized others. Here are, by my estimation, the ingredients needed to make a good movie.
Sensory Spectacle. This may be the most popular ingredient right now. Make a film that’s visually arresting and you need do little else. Still, minutiae are not to be forgotten. If you haven’t watched, or listened to, The Revenant in an environment which does justice to the film’s sound design, you’re missing out. Narrative Eloquence. I don’t just mean plot complexity; plots don’t need to be complex to be excellent. I simply mean how well a story is written and told. Each and every film has to, in some way, provide enough information to keep their audience in the loop, and little enough so they're interested in what happens next. Moral Substance. A film doesn’t have to teach you a lesson, but it does need to have the characters learn something one way or the other. “The hero’s journey” is the best type of story to tell. If a film can tell the hero's journey in a way we recognize, while still making it new and exciting, it's guaranteed to be a classic (i.e. Star Wars: A New Hope). Rootability. If the protagonist isn’t likable or at least intriguing, you can forget the whole movie. This is the most basic and maybe the most indispensable ingredient. Acting and production. Naturally, if a film has poor acting or was not produced well, it can kill an otherwise good movie. I won’t make judgement calls on this factor when I rank decades; I feel it’s assumed that good films from every decade have sufficiently good acting and a quality of production proportionate to their era. Now that we're done with all that, here are my favorite decades. *I felt it was necessary to combine the 50s with the 60s, the 30s with the 40s, and the 1920s with anything that precedes them. It’s quite difficult to divorce these decades with regards to style and artistry. If you feel differently, please let me know! 1990s. This decade did an awesome job on narrative eloquence. Stories were written well and told well. Some gems from the 90s: Shawshank Redemption, The Legend of 1900, Goodfellas. 2000s. Narrative eloquence with spectacle thrown in. Favorites: Memento, The Lord of the Rings, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. 2010s. Spectacle was on full blast this decade, with some narrative eloquence thrown in. Favorites: Interstellar, The Revenant, The Grand Budapest Hotel. 1970s. Rootability. Sort of; the 70s dominated in creating the most memorable protagonists. Favorites: The Godfather II, Star Wars: A New Hope, Rocky. 1980s. Rootability with narrative eloquence thrown in. Maybe the most perfect film was made in the 80s. Favorites: The Goonies, Back to the Future, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 1930s/40s. These decades were absolutely bonkers for narrative eloquence. Rootability is also big here. Favorites: It’s a Wonderful Life, Casablanca, Aresnic and Old Lace. 1950s/60s. Narrative eloquence and, surprisingly, spectacle. Favorites: Stalag 17, Ben-Hur, 2001: A Space Odyssey. 1920s. The silent film era relied heavily on spectacle but also did well on narrative eloquence. Favorites: College, The General. Interested in reading more? Check out my top 50 Favorite Movies, Five Movies Everyone Should Watch, Star Wars movies ranked, 50 Favorite Albums. And don't forget to check out my music podcast, Two Track Audio, wherever you get your podcasts! Image: Flickr, Cjaegel
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Nick MartinMy name is Nick Martin. I write sometimes. These are my thoughts. Archives
July 2021
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