The perfect movie thread........

[Guest Lord of The Curry]

Now, first off, PLEASE don't confuse this as a "favorite" or "best of" thread......this is one to discuss what everybody thinks is a perfect film, if such a film exists at all. It came to my mind today as I was watching Lord of The Rings, which is my favorite film. I then thought to myself, "Is this a perfect film?", to which the answer was "No."

 

So, what is your "perfect film" and why?

 

I have one and only one. Directed by Atom Egoyan, based upon the novel by Russell Banks: The Sweet Hereafter.

 

This movie to me is absolute perfection, for many reasons.

 

#1- Faithfullness to the original concept, in this case a novel. I've read the novel and there isn't a second when I watch the movie I think "Hey, that wasn't like the book" or "Well, it was better in the book."

 

#2- Casting. In my mind, there has never been a better all-around cast in movie history then this one. They aren't all big names, they aren't all gorgeous Hollywood-looking types. But they all play their parts to a tee. From Sarah Polley to Maury Chaykin to the brilliance that is Bruce Greenwood, they all work hard and it shows.

 

#3- Impact. I've seen a lot of movies that have left me with a certain feeling for days and days after seeing them ( Saving Private Ryan, Requiem For a Dream, Magnolia) but this movie takes the cake. It is, unquestionably the saddest film I've ever seen in my life. There is no happy ending. There is no closure. You walk away almost feeling cheated that you didn't see everything end up peachy and people smile. Then you remember what the movie is about: reality. This movie is what is real. The people in it are your neighbors. The dialogue is stuff you'd say. The setting is your hometown. Wholly, 100% real.

 

What about you all? What's YOUR perfect film?

[Guest DARRYLXWF]

Chariots of Fire

 

Great Plot that goes in depth to more complex issues, great casting, great music and made me think about my own character for the next week and a half. Nothing has come close to the impact this film had on me.

[Guest razazteca]

perfect film is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, directed by Ang Lee and fight choregraphy by Yuen Woo Ping.

 

not sure how true it was to the book but it was a great film. It was a Martial Arts movie with an actual plot, this is a rare thing. The movie had a deep plot with subplots of romance, revenge, honor this is a movie with several levels. It could be enjoyed just for the beauty of the fights with the now cliche wire Kung Fu or the romance between Michelle Yeoh & Chow Yun Fat or Zhang Ziyi & Chan Chen or the teacher pupil relationship of Zhang Ziyi with the main characters.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

Shawshank Redemption

 

It took the two biggest prison cliches in the 'wrongly accused prisoner' and the 'escape' and made it work so well.

 

Fabulous lighting and musical score.

 

The way it all builds toward the end. The rock hammer, salvation lies within, the poster, everything - it all comes together and it makes sense.

 

Robbins and Freemans chemistry and individual performances.

 

C'mon, is there any better ending than the beach scene?

 

It had a narrative and it worked!

 

Many different themes - redemption, obviously, is key. Though they are able to work it on different levels - not only Andys redemptions, but Reds' as well.

[Guest red_file]

I'd have to agree on The Shawshank Redemption. I've yet to find a flaw in the film; even the accusations of sentimentalism don't seem founded for me. Everytime I watch the movie I'm amazed that they got everything so perfectly right.

[Guest godthedog]

big flaw for me in 'shawshank' is the sheer amount of cliches they have. why of COURSE there has to be a rough group of homosexuals! of COURSE there has to be a rough-but-very-likable young buck who could help the hero but gets killed! of COURSE it has to turn out that he's innocent! of COURSE his best friend is the only guy in the whole damn prison who says he's guilty!

 

something about the concept of the movie that i don't really like, although it doesn't change my enjoyment of it as i'm watching it, is that it glamorizes prison life. warden and homosexuals aside, it's shown as a tight little community full of nice guys and opportunities to better yourself (the chessboard, making the library, etc). at age 12 when i first saw it, halfway through i thought "wow, if this is prison life, i want to go there." it's just really...artificial.

[Guest C.H.U.D.]

I'll have to go with Blade Runner. I know the characterization is kind of weak, but the music, art direction, cinematography and atmosphere are so amazing I can almost feel it.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

Memento. It wasn't that faithful to the short story, but it wasn't meant to be, as they were both done at the same time, so the movie wasn't an adaptation of Memento Mori. I couldn't have picked the cast better (for some reason when I saw the poster I thought that was Micheal Biehn instead of Guy Pearce). I don't know what kind of impact it made, so I can't comment on that.

Taxi Driver I think is perfect, too. Impact was there, or so I heard as I wasn't alive when it came out, the cast is perfect, and it wasn't based on a book or anything so that doesn't count.

[Guest red_file]

big flaw for me in 'shawshank' is the sheer amount of cliches they have. why of COURSE there has to be a rough group of homosexuals! of COURSE there has to be a rough-but-very-likable young buck who could help the hero but gets killed! of COURSE it has to turn out that he's innocent! of COURSE his best friend is the only guy in the whole damn prison who says he's guilty!

Strange. Most of those cliches serve thematic or charaterization purposes. How could we believe Red's tale if he was one of those types of cons who lied about why he was there? How could we see Andy's inner strength and dignity without him surviving the "rough group of homosexual" advances? Something needed to serve as a breaking point for him to leave. And the movie kinda falls apart in he's guilty.

 

Which, of course, is not to say that they couldn't have used other characters/situations that have not achieve cliche status. I had no problem with them; YMMV.

 

at age 12 when i first saw it, halfway through i thought "wow, if this is prison life, i want to go there." it's just really...artificial.

 

I'm say that's tempered by the hostility of the first half of the movie and the institutionalization of Brooks in the second half.

[Guest godthedog]

not my very favorite movies ever, but i'll be damned if i can find anything wrong with 'the godfather' or 'the seven samurai'.