Trivia: Guess the Movie!
in Movies ·
This quote isn't actually from a movie, but honestly, it doesn't matter, it's good:
There’s this feeling lately that movies aren't really essential anymore. Back in the day, making a film felt like a necessity for the creators—they just had to get that specific story out there—and for the audience, too, because those films provided actual answers. People needed them. We’ve drifted away from that now. Personally, I don't think films are strictly necessary these days. They lack that existential drive. Filmmakers can just as easily pivot to making other interesting stuff; it feels a bit arbitrary now. The problem is that you can make a movie about absolutely anything, which is arguably a downside. If a film can be about anything, and it doesn't *have* to be about something specific, it just turns into a consumer product. And I think that’s exactly where we are right now in history. We're living through late-stage capitalism, this peak era of consumerism, and everything around us has shifted. Movies have shifted right along with it. Everything has been stripped down to how easily it can be swallowed up and consumed. Film didn't escape that fate. So, movies offer fewer and fewer answers to the big, necessary questions. When they're just products, they aren't designed to provide answers. There isn't supposed to be a demand for questions. They stop being about anything in particular. They aren't about life, because they aren't meant to engage people, or focus them, or force them to look at their own existence through a different lens. Instead, they're mostly built so people *don't* have to look at their lives. Naturally, that’s the polar opposite of what cinema used to be, or what it was intended to be. But I don't really think we should whine about it. This is happening to our entire culture, so of course it's happening to film. I see it as a passing phase, though. In the long run, there’s this massive, undeniable hunger for stories. There's a fundamental need to find meaning. People need meaning in The Long run. Sure, at this exact moment, people just want to consume everything else instead of seeking meaning. But eventually, that need will become the most powerful thing we have. It'll be stronger than the urge to just be entertained. People are getting fewer and fewer answers. They aren't getting them from the government, they aren't getting them from churches, they aren't getting them from any major institutions, and they definitely aren't getting them from TV. Because of that, I think the movie theater will hold onto its status as a special place. It’ll stay a spot for a certain kind of connection with others, a place you go because you actually feel a need to be there. I believe that, ultimately, films will find their reason for existing again.
Wim Wenders (1995)
There’s this feeling lately that movies aren't really essential anymore. Back in the day, making a film felt like a necessity for the creators—they just had to get that specific story out there—and for the audience, too, because those films provided actual answers. People needed them. We’ve drifted away from that now. Personally, I don't think films are strictly necessary these days. They lack that existential drive. Filmmakers can just as easily pivot to making other interesting stuff; it feels a bit arbitrary now. The problem is that you can make a movie about absolutely anything, which is arguably a downside. If a film can be about anything, and it doesn't *have* to be about something specific, it just turns into a consumer product. And I think that’s exactly where we are right now in history. We're living through late-stage capitalism, this peak era of consumerism, and everything around us has shifted. Movies have shifted right along with it. Everything has been stripped down to how easily it can be swallowed up and consumed. Film didn't escape that fate. So, movies offer fewer and fewer answers to the big, necessary questions. When they're just products, they aren't designed to provide answers. There isn't supposed to be a demand for questions. They stop being about anything in particular. They aren't about life, because they aren't meant to engage people, or focus them, or force them to look at their own existence through a different lens. Instead, they're mostly built so people *don't* have to look at their lives. Naturally, that’s the polar opposite of what cinema used to be, or what it was intended to be. But I don't really think we should whine about it. This is happening to our entire culture, so of course it's happening to film. I see it as a passing phase, though. In the long run, there’s this massive, undeniable hunger for stories. There's a fundamental need to find meaning. People need meaning in The Long run. Sure, at this exact moment, people just want to consume everything else instead of seeking meaning. But eventually, that need will become the most powerful thing we have. It'll be stronger than the urge to just be entertained. People are getting fewer and fewer answers. They aren't getting them from the government, they aren't getting them from churches, they aren't getting them from any major institutions, and they definitely aren't getting them from TV. Because of that, I think the movie theater will hold onto its status as a special place. It’ll stay a spot for a certain kind of connection with others, a place you go because you actually feel a need to be there. I believe that, ultimately, films will find their reason for existing again.
Wim Wenders (1995)