"“Art imitates life, and life imitates art. I don’t think you have to choose between the two, and I think…I think we’re a violent people.” James Gillham says this to his co-host Matt Gamble about an hour into a recent episode (4.3 – “At the Movies”) of their podcast High & Low (Brow) in which they discuss, among other things, the role violence plays in contemporary media. It is a very wise statement, and it neatly sums up a few things that have been on my mind for some time now – especially recently, what with the increased discussion of gun control in the USA following such horrific incidents as the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre shooting and Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my personal tastes in films and how they have changed over the years, but also about peculiar little things I’m taking greater stock of – like how, in the midst of the talks and debates about gun control, while the abovementioned incidents are still fresh in people’s memories, films like A Good Day to Die Hard, Olympus Has Fallen, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation keep filling the multiplexes."
To read Marc Saint-Cyr's great article
The Case for a Gentle Cinema in its entirety check it out on his blog
Subtitle Literate.
What a thoughtful and well-written article, Marc. You managed to beautifully articulate some of what I was struggling with when I made those comments to Matt on our show.
ReplyDeleteWhile I haven't seen Django Unchained yet, I think Inglourious Basterds is an excellent example of the use of excessive violence sans conscience when compared to something like Hitchcock's Rope.
I'm going to have to brush up on my world cinema in order to keep up with the rest of your examples. :)
Great work!
regards,
rowena of Candles