An Ode to the Masterpieces

“The cinema is not a craft. It is an art. It does not mean teamwork. One is always alone on the set as before the blank page. And to be alone… means to ask questions. And to make films means to answer them.” – Jean-Luc Godard

I still remember the evening of December 21, 2014. My friends and I went to the cinema hall to watch Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’. It is not that I was watching a Nolan film for the first time, or that I hadn’t watched a lot of good movies before that. I was a big movie buff by that time and even though I was yet to see many of the classics, I had seen quite a few of the very good and the very popular ones. The reason why this evening was different and got embedded in my memory is due to the effect this movie had on me. I remember not moving away from my seat for at least 10 minutes, even after the movie had ended (compounded by the fact that this wasn’t a Marvel movie, and you had to sit in to watch the post-credit scenes). This movie made me realize the importance of cinema in my life and how it will always be more than just entertainment for me. So, I write this as an ode to the most amazing movies that I have seen and the lessons they have provided me with.

Thank you, ‘Interstellar’, for showing me how cinema can show the most complex aspects of life and science in the most beautiful of ways. Thank you for showing me how our daily problems are so damn small in comparison to our role in this world, how insignificant we are in comparison to this cosmos. How time is a concept well beyond just the clocks or the Physics problems and is the very, definition of this universe. Also, this movie has the honor of being the first to make my eyes welled with tears!

Thank you, ‘The Dark Knight’, for giving the world of cinema the best on-screen villain, one which changed the very definition of it. Thank you for showing me what a true superhero is, which is nothing but a man with the courage to do what is right and with the hope that good still exists. And the biggest thank you for giving us the movie we not only needed but also deserved!

Thank you, ‘Good Will Hunting’, for giving me a new definition of a genius. Thank you for showing how important it is to love, how important it is to be vulnerable and not to be afraid of letting go. This was how I came to know that life is much more precious to be just spent caring about one’s own interest and how coming out of the comfort zone is what defines life. Also a big thank you, to one of the most memorable scenes in cinema history, as Robin Williams gives the true reflection of what happens when life hits you, sitting on a bench near, the lakeside. A combination of love, friendship, happiness, sadness and, imperfections.

Thank you, ‘The Godfather – 1&2’, for giving the finest offer of six hours on screen, which I just could not refuse. Thank you for bringing the two most amazing talents in cinema history on screen together, also for introducing me to them, Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro. It is an absolute masterclass of acting, direction, storytelling, scriptwriting and one of the finest examples of how to connect the audience directly with the protagonist of a story.

Thank you, ‘Fight Club’, for providing the craziest 2.5 hours on screen. This movie which starts off with a crazy theme and plot which gets bizarre with each passing sequence until it finally blows your mind with an amazing end to the story. This is the movie which introduced me to one of my personal favorites that is the one and only Brad Pitt.

Thank you, ‘Inception’, for being the one and only of its kind to be ever made. No movie, according to me, can ever portray such a complex and never thought of before topic in such an entertaining and yet such a grand way as this movie as done. Featuring another one of the acting greats, Leonardo Di Caprio, this is a movie that had me glued to my seat and gasping for breath till the last shot, which in itself is not for the faint-hearted. Thank you for making me lose my sleep for at least 2 days, as I lay in my bed pondering about anything and everything that the movie talks about and also losing my ‘dreams’ over it.

It is movies like these, and many more that makes life worth living!