Watching Films, Again

Everyday, I hear everybody telling me that X or Y is a must-see movie. People get shocked with my ignorance about those films. And there are tons of movies mentioned in the books that I'll have to see. I wonder anybody would ever know all of these movies.

An award-winning film doesn't always impress you immensely. A classic film like Godfather can draw me to sleep. An experienced director may not have watched all of the Haneke's films. I discovered that the choice of viewing can rely heavily on our cultural background, taste and preference of purpose.

Life is so short, and it just no make no sense to me to try to be "clever" in watching films. Moreover, to score 100% in the knowledge of all films doesn't assure a perfect score in the profession of directing anyway.

I'm tired watching too many head-cracking films recently. I just want to watch a "normal" film, a film that allows me to sit back, relax and enjoy. The first 2 minute of VO in "All about Lily Chou-chou" had urged me to press the eject button on my computer. Next is the "The Birth of a Nation". Oopss.. didn't realised it's a silent film. Sorry, but not today please. I then inserted the "Kes" - one of the best films of the British director Ken Loach but it cannot be played!

Freaked out.

I searched "best romance comedy" on the website and surprisingly found the film "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", a film some friend mentioned to me the other day, on the top of the list.

After downloading the movie and fixing the subtitle for some time, I finally... Finally! get to watch a movie. Starred by Kate Winslet and Jim Carey, this is a very rare and refreshing piece. The story is based on the outstanding idea of using surreal setup of "erasing memory" to explore love relationship (it won the Best Screenplay in Oscars 2005) - an ideal model of surreal intertwining with realism. The emotional journey is distinctively portrayed in visuals, coupled with solemn music. The story kept me engaged throughout and gave me the impression of a short film. The part that I appreciate most of all, is the truthful treatment towards the change of the relationship - passionate yet dysfunctional, as most of us experienced.