After beginning to study classical cinema at the start of the year for one of my courses, i have had a lot more interest in watching older films. I used to think that they were boring, weren’t exciting and were a more of a piece of homework, something to get out of the way back in year 10 studying Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’. I have come to appreciate classical cinema and the depth of meaning and technique that comes with it in comparison to many films i have seen today that seem to be made purely for the viewers entertainment with the classic romance between a couple, who have a fight or encounter a problem which is then resolved and before you know it they are reunited, which i understand is pleasing to watch occasionally if you’re looking for a soppy romance to make you wish that you had what they have.
Just recently (tonight actually) mum asked what we wanted to watch and i had pre-recorded a whole series of Alfred Hitchcock’s films which i suggested we watch, and her along with the rest of my family’s response was a look as if to say ‘are you serious?’. My mother stated that old films are dated, of bad quality, bad acting and boring to watch. So i related this back to before i began to study classical cinema and thought that maybe at the time of production its audience were more educated to what the film was trying to portray as so many people that i know groan when i suggest we watch a classic. Or maybe, they don’t actually understand the depth of meaning and the actual storyline the director was attempting to convey. I asked her what she meant by ‘dated’, the dictionary defines it as ‘to indicate or expose as being old-fashioned’. Ok, so it is old-fashioned, what is the problem with that? Why is something old-fashioned, something that was the platform from which we built how films are today, seen as a bad thing? Classical films to me, seem to be so much richer with meaning and creative with techniques whereas today it almost feels as though the film is rushing to get to the end. I believe that society needs to be more exposed to classical film to educate viewers on what the true meaning of a narrative is and how it should appear. I wish when i asked someone why they don’t enjoy watching old classics, they would answer me with a solid response that provided me with an answer so that i didn’t have to write this post. However, it just confuses me when we are studying all of these great old films, a majority of the general public (in my surroundings) who don’t study film, avoid watching classical films.
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