Cinema has become a major conversation piece today. Its
emergence as a major art form is perhaps not so surprising cos it is
comparatively easy to understand the nuances of a film (vis-à-vis how it may
take a professional dancer to fully comprehend the nuances of a dance
performance). Cinema draws its themes from a huge stable of individual,
economic, emotional, political and social contexts; incorporates other art
forms like dance, music in the exploration of the idea/ story; and is widely
accessible. All reasons for it to percolate to the drawing-room discussion.
From an individual POV, cinema or as it is widely known,
‘films’ (cos they were initially recorded & exhibited on photographic film)
existed for me as a diversion. Hanging around, eating out….& watching
cinema came within the same ambit i.e., activites that you undertake as ‘fun’
& in the company of friends. Now I feel differently. Oh, watching them remains the fun, social activity that it
always was but now, there is an added element of observation, identification
& seeking coherence involved. Sometimes I feel that lending individual
sub-texts to films rather defeats the purpose for which maybe, cinema was first
born (one of the first films made by theLumiere bros is L'Arroseur Arrosé, a slapstick ). Further, defining your own points of
engagement for seeing films & more importantly, enjoying them may curb some
of the simpler pleasures of cinema. How many times have we gone to see a film
and end up disappointed cos it does not simulate our thoughts/ emotions the way
we imagined?
The working idea then,
must be a careful blend between comprehending cinema as a scientific, aesthetic
& cognitive medium & enjoying it for its own emotions & letting
your own be influenced, even momentarily. There are films which involve your
emotions vis-à-vis the ones that involve your thought – great films achieve a
harmony between these two.
When the faintest idea that becomes a film is storyboarded,
layered with locales & music, supplemented with lights and miniscule camera
movements that show you only what the director expects you to see, I get an
inkling of what the process of filmmaking involves. All that films demand is
our consciousness and time – both commodities that we may loath to provide. Sometimes
a great film doesn’t even demand that you bring your knowledge and
sensibilities with you when you sit down. It draws you gradually in & you
feel yourself move & see yourself
wrapped in it. They create a
wonderful space in your mind & heart that you knew never existed before.
Someone who has seen Chaplin’s City Lights (1931) will know
what I’m talking about here. And that is why we see cinema and exploration of
this supreme beauty that sometimes exudes through films, is why I have started
this blog – a blog about cinema.
