Why Cinema?

I often wonder what about cinema draws me in so passionately. What about movies makes me constantly want to talk and discuss it with everyone. Why do bad films annoy me and why do I spend thousands of dollars on going to theater and buying movies so I can watch them over and over again. Why do I push myself as an editor to be better and improve everyday so I can improve my skills? Do I want to achieve such glory as the people that have lived before me and made some of the greatest stories ever told? Do I see movies as an escape from my own life? To answer any of these questions would take longer than a simple blog post but today I feel inspired to write, to write about why I love movies. I must admit that watching a recent video on youtube (Birth to Death as told by Cinema - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BppqSwvuLRA) is what caused this burning inside of me to write so check it out for yourself it is a great video.

So what got me into film into first place? Well as a little kid I grew up watching Jurassic Park from age two when my father put me in front of the TV and played the movie for me. I didn't realize it for a long time but this was the beginning of my love for cinema. I would watch that movie every day countless times waiting for the huge T-Rex and stealthy velociraptors to show up. I was entranced and fixated on the screen whenever it was playing. From there I would constantly try to watch any movies I could find, everything from Disney films to Small Soldiers. As I grew up the fire inside me grew, any time my family went to the movies I was ecstatic and I wanted to talk about them afterwards non-stop asking everyone what their favorite part was or what they did/didn't like about it. I also grew up with a father who would always talk films with me, quoting his favorite lines and telling me some of the great movies I would have to watch when I got older. It was a great way for my Father and I to connect.

Nothing else happened for me until I reached high school and I saw a class called "Intro to Film Studies" and being a dumb freshman I thought watching movies for class was going to the be the easiest thing ever. Little did I know that from there I would become a cinephile and it was really all thanks to a film called Pickpocket. Released in 1959, Pickpocket was written and directed by Robert Bresson and in those short 75 minutes I was in awe of this movie because of the simplest little thing, the noise of shoes tapping against the ground as people walked. I am sure I had heard this noise before but something about Pickpocket fascinated me and from that day on I was engulfed in a world I still am gladly in today. The rest of the class taught me to look at film as an art rather than pure entertainment. I saw a wide range of films from Singin' In The Rain to Days of Heaven. I was experiencing a whole new world and loving every second of it. I was fascinated by this visual medium that was showing me such beauty that I never knew could exist in this world whether it was the beauty in nature or the beauty in humanity.

I started to watch films more critically and becoming a fanatic, trying to find more people who felt the same way I did. I couldn't stop thinking about movies, day and night they would play in my head. I was obsessed but I still hadn't had that moment of realization. Something was missing for me and I had no clue what it was. Then one fateful night when I was 16 I was flipping through channels on TV and came across a film I had never heard of before, Requiem For A Dream. My world would be changed forever. No longer did I look at the world or film the same. While most people get depressed after seeing Requiem For A Dream I was inspired and awe struck. Never before had I seen a film perfectly blend everything together so cohesively. The music, the people, the editing, the dialogue, the story, and the climax was on a whole new level of cinema that I was just beginning to grasp. From that day on I knew that my life would be surrounded by movies. Ever since then I have been a movie addict, watching movies obsessively and uncontrollably and loving every second of it.

So I still haven't really answered why. Why movies? Is it the exploration of worlds unknown to us? Well that certainly plays a part because while we can never see everything life has to offer us, film gives us a little insight into worlds that we may never have the chance to see otherwise. Is it because film brings us together? Undeniably film speaks a universal language that brings people together unlike any other medium in my opinion. These questions and more could serve the answer but I look at a quote from Michael Haneke that explains to me why I love film so much.


"Film is 24 lies per second at the service of truth, or at the service of the attempt to find the truth."

Truth. This is what burns the fire inside of me when it comes to film. I am in the never ending search for truth. It could be the truth of the human experience or of the universe around us. Film is constantly attempting to find that truth. When I watched Chasing Amy recently I discovered truth about myself and my own personal problems that I let get in the way of relationships and it spoke to me like few films could. You can also look at films like The Breakfast Club and American Beauty that speak truths of life and how we as humans work unlike anything else could. Its more than just that though. For me action films speak truth to me about the inner warrior in me that wants to go out and kick ass like in The Raid Redemption. Films like The Tree of Life make me explore my personal views on the universe and existence. Comedies like Groundhog Day help me rediscover laughter and what affect humor has on life. I could go on but for me films speak to us on a personal level unlike any other medium. While some could argue video games are a step above movies because of the interactivity and I understand that argument but nothing impacts me more than watching characters on a screen and watching a story come to life. I learned in Psychology about mirror neurons, neurons that are activated in our bodies like for crying or laughing when we see someone crying or laughing. So when watching someone cry on screen our brains are activating the neurons in our brains that make us cry. On a biological level whether we know it or not we are connecting with characters no matter what the go through. It makes sense then why we get pumped up watching 300 or sad when watching Awakenings. In my opinion it is because of that connection where we are able to find that truth in cinema.

Nevertheless I have no idea whether any of this made sense or if anyone will read it but I wanted to write it. Films speak to me about human truths more than anything else in the world. Humans creating stories for the world to see. Characters being brought to life in front of our very eyes and making us question our own life. With me there is no such thing as  "fourth wall", in my opinion film is just as much a part of the real world as we are.

-William McAbee