Category: Movies

My Movie and Book Favorites of All Time

Four years ago I was a guest on Lisette Brodey’s Writers Chateau.

The other day I was looking over my answers to her questions. And decided if I did the interview today, I’d probably answer at least some of the questions differently. Such is the passage of time. 

But it’s still a good interview. You can read it on her website.

Today, on the blog, I thought I’d take another look at one of the questions she asked me. So here goes my re-assessment.

Favorite Film of All Time 

What is my favorite film of all time? This is actually a very difficult question. Mostly because I’m not a film guy. I’m a book guy.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t watch movies because I do. Especially in the past. Today, I’d rather read a book. And the older I get, the more I’d rather read than watch.

I thought about the answer I gave Lisette. Had my opinion changed in the past 4 years? After all, there are some truly outstanding movies out there. Would I pick a different one?

Some of the great movies, in my opinion, are:

        • The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
        • 2001: A Space Odyssey
        • Metropolis
        • Frau in Mond (Woman in the Moon)
        • The Remains of the Day
        • The Graduate
        • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (You might have to be an old person to really get this movie.)

In the end, I couldn’t pick just one for Lisette. And I still can’t pick just one.

Little Big Man

I think Little Big Man is one of the most significant movies ever made.

The movie is about what is important in life. It is an indictment of the hypocrisy inherent in political, social, and cultural values. And how destructive those false values become when they are imposed on individuals and other cultures.

What is true and good is not what society ordains. Those values come from within. The ultimate truth never comes from without. It always comes from within.

Late Spring

Late Spring is one of Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu’s greatest movies. And I think it is one of the greatest movies ever made.

In a totally different setting and culture, Ozu tells us the same message that we find in Little Big Man. What is true and good is not what society and culture tells us is true and good.

We need to live life for ourselves and not live our lives according to someone else’s standards.

Late Spring is a simple story, but Ozu took this simple story and made it into a powerful tale that champions the individual and condemns the society that seeks to crush that individual.

Favorite Book of All Time

This one, too, is difficult. There are so many good books. And I’ve read a number of very powerful novels and stories since I answered Lisette’s question.

A few of the works of fiction that are in the running for Favorite Book of All Time are:

        • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
        • An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
        • On the Beach by Nevil Shute (has one of the most emotionally powerful endings I’ve ever read)
        • The Macdermots of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope
        • “The Spotted Dog” by Anthony Trollope (a long short story that is truly gut wrenching)
        • Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
        • Wingman by Daniel Pinkwater (a kid’s book that is so incredibly emotive I think it is actually a book for adults)
        • 1984 by George Orwell (so real it scared the crap out of me)
        • Church Mouse by RH Hale (one of the most atmospheric novels I’ve ever read, with amazingly memorable characters)
        • The Boom Town Saga by Caleb Pirtle III (3 novels that actually are one long story; the series contains 2 of the most well-drawn characters I’ve ever read)
        • Last Deadly Lie by Caleb Pirtle III (this book was a great discovery: the characters are absolutely phenomenal and the storyline is a stunner)
        • Don’t Dream It’s Over by Matthew Cormack (the best post-apocalyptic novel I’ve ever read, and one of the best novels I’ve ever read)
        • James Vincett is a science fiction author with, so far, 5 titles, in 3 series, in his universe. Mr. Vincett’s worldbuilding is simply awesome. One of the most imaginative fictional universes I’ve read.

But given all of the above, plus the ones I didn’t list, I think I will stick with my original assessment.

Sredni Vashtar

My favorite “book” of all time is the short story “Sredni Vashtar” by Saki.

To remember a story you read 60 or so years ago and never forget it definitely means it had a tremendous impact on you.

Like my all time favorite movies described above, “Sredni Vashtar” is a story about a revolt from convention, a revolt from those who think they know what is best for us, but in the end don’t actually care about us. They simply want us to conform to their life goals and purpose. It is a story about becoming free.

And there is nothing better than being free.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

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Movie Review: The Before Trilogy

The plotless movie. The plotless novel. The plotless story. How can a movie or a work of literature have no plot? Well, the answer is simple. It can’t. All stories have a plot of some kind, because the plot is nothing more than what happens in the story.

Plots are fairly simple. They are, broadly speaking, some manner of:

  • Adventure or Quest
  • Love story
  • Puzzle
  • Seeking of Vengeance or Justice
  • Pursuit or Escape
  • Self-Discovery

What makes a story, however, is not the plot. It’s the characters. As Ray Bradbury advised writers: create your characters, let them do their thing, and there’s your story.

Recently, my wife and I watched the movies Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. The movies were written by Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy, and directed by Richard Linklater. They tell the story of Jesse and Céline who meet by accident on a train and eventually become parents of twin girls.

The movies are described as “minimalist” because nothing much outwardly happens in them. Each movie focuses on Jesse and Céline talking about life. The only movement is that in each movie the action, such as it is, takes place in the span of one day. Which means the storyline is driven by the shortness or brevity of the time factor. A standard technique used to induce suspense or a sense of urgency.

Personally, I think the movies are brilliant examples of what the “plotless” tale is all about. Which is the characters. These movies are in depth character studies. Through dialogue alone — often what isn’t said being as or more important than what is said — the writer tells a tale that is profoundly moving.

In Before Sunrise, Jesse, an American tourist in Europe, accidentally meets Céline on a train bound from Budapest to Vienna, where he will catch his flight back to the states. On a whim, Jesse asks Céline to spend the day with him before he has to catch his flight. She agrees.

The rest of the movie is nothing more than the two walking around Vienna talking and sharing little experiences together. In the course of the day, they fall in love, and promise each other to meet at the train station in six months. They also agree not to exchange any contact information.

Before Sunset picks up the story nine years later. Jesse is in Paris on the last day of a book tour. He is now married, with a son, and is an acclaimed author, having turned his one day love affair with Céline into a successful novel. Céline learns he is in Paris and shows up at the book shop where he’s giving a talk and autographing books.

After his talk, he and Celine leave the shop with the intention to get a cup of coffee and catch up on what has happened with each other. The shopkeeper reminds Jesse as he leaves he needs to be back in one hour to catch his flight. The two walk to a coffee shop and then begin walking around Paris talking about their lives. In the course of their conversation, we learn Jesse flew to Vienna to meet Céline. She, however, didn’t show because her grandmother had died. Eventually they end up at Céline’s apartment and Jesse misses his flight back to the States.

The final film in the trilogy, Before Midnight, takes place eighteen years later. Jesse and Céline are in Greece. They are now a couple with twin girls. Jesse’s son from his ex-wife flies home at the beginning of the movie. The parting of the father and son sets up one side of the conflict. On the other, Céline wants to take a new job with the French government, feeling unfulfilled in her current job.

The couple have been given a night in a hotel for a romantic evening. However, the night turns into a battle of angst and wills and agendas, climaxing with Céline saying she doesn’t love Jesse anymore and leaves.

Jesse finds Céline after a time. She wants to be alone but he asks her to listen to him and she relents. He tells a story and Céline eventually thaws. The ending of the movie is somewhat ambiguous, but we’re left with the feeling they stay together.

What I love about these movies is that through dialogue alone we learn of the hopes and fears, the dreams, and the failures of two ordinary people. How chance events can change one’s life forever. And that no matter what, we always have choices.

I think the movies should be seen close together, much like the Mad Max movies, in order to keep the story flow fresh in ones mind. They are fabulous films. A testimony to the power of character over plot.

As always, I appreciate your comments. And until next time, happy reading!

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