Film & Foto: It's a Wonderful White Roman Holiday Christmas

I love the classics; when it comes to movies I grew up on TCM and AMC. One of my favorite movies is Roman Holiday, which, if you haven't seen it is a movie to put on your must watch list.

So why do I love the classics? And what do I find missing in many modern day films? Yes, I do feel like something is missing.

I find in watching the classics (and in watching modern day movies) I view film and photography in much the same way. I put a both through the same rigors, and when a movie fails it is often for the same reason as a photograph. So what is that reason?

Content vs. Flash

To me the most important element of a movie is the story, and while this may seem obvious I feel it is lacking in many of today's movies. It has come to play second fiddle to action, flash, and CGI. But these elements cannot replace the story, and when they do it's like using photoshop to fix a bad picture. 

When you strip away everything from a movie but the story, can it hold together? The classics had nothing to distract, nothing to divert attention from the storyline. Most were shot in black and white, and like a black and white photo, if the content wasn't compelling it wouldn't hold up. 

Old movies had to draw you in, make you so enthralled in the characters that nothing else mattered. How often do you fall in love with a character today? How often, when you watch a movie, are you so enthralled in the story that all else (action, costume, music, etc.) disappears. 

There's an interesting quote in the art world:

If you can't make it good make it big, if you can't make it big make it red, if you can't make it red make it shinny. 

Have today's films fallen into the categories of big, red and shinny? This is not to say an action film shouldn't have action, and it's not to say CGI doesn't have it's place, or that costumes, art direction, and music aren't important elements. But when these elements override the story; when they are used to hold a weak story together we, the audience are cheated.

If the classics were able to hold audiences without color, without explosions, high intensity car chases, and extended sex scenes, why does it seem necessary to have those in films today? Because we can? Wouldn't it be better to use these elements to enhance a story, not create one? 

When I go to the theatre I want to see a movie, and to me movie = story. It means characters I want to root for, mysteries I can't solve twenty minutes in (of that are so obscure by the end I just don't care), and action sequences that don't leave me thinking "he should be dead and I no longer care that he isn't'. 

Entice me. Surprise me. And please, please bring back the element of story telling.