We live in a changed world. The events of September
11th have permanently altered the way we think and
feel, whether
we like it or not. When the tragedy first occurred it
seemed to me that it would be impossible to ever watch
a movie again.
How could you be entertained by fictional dramas with
the horrible images of buildings and airplanes, smoke
and fire,
bodies falling a hundred stories, seared into your
mind's eye?
It has only gotten harder in the days and
weeks since the
events. As Bruce Springsteen sang at the "A Tribute to
Heroes"
telethon, "My city's in ruins" and it couldn't be
truer. Walking the streets of
Manhattan means passing thousands of flyers with the
faces of the missing. Walking Brooklyn's promenade
means
standing over hundreds of lit candles and hand-written
prayers. Simply riding the subway to work means
looking up at
the
hole in the skyline during two brief above ground
stops on the way to the city. Still, a little
distance
has also reminded
us why we turn to entertainment in the first place.
Much of our popular culture has been recontextualized.
Tom Petty's "I
Won't Back Down" with its lyrics "You can stand me up
at the gates of hell but I'll stand my ground"
suddenly sounds like a
battle cry, and the entirety of U2's The
Unforgettable Fire has become a gospel hymn.
I
don't subscribe to the
notion that times like these call for light
entertainment to take our minds off the real world. If
you want pure escapism then
you already know what to watch. I also don't think
that the time is here for simplistic patriotic films.
We have all seen the
horrors of war and know that the right course today is
much more complicated than that. I think that we need
to seek out
films and music that help us understand what has
happened and what is still to come. Perhaps that's why
films like The
Siege have seen a boost in rentals. In their
mourning Americans feel a need to know more. These ten
movies inspire
us,
challenge us, and, ultimately, define us.
Casablanca
One of the most effective and affecting war-time
movies ever to come out of Hollywood, this endlessly
fascinating film
combines romance, intrigue, and drama to help us
understand that, even though the world is full of
shades of gray,
sometimes there truly are causes worth fighting for.
In times of peace it's the hopeless love story that
grips the heart but
right now it is the sense of rage at a world filled
with injustice, and the bravery to stand up to it,
that hits hardest.
Fantasia
Most of the film is not relevant right now but at a
recent candle-light vigil I was reminded of the moment
that the "Night
on
Bald Mountain" nightmare turns into "Ave Maria", a
somber unearthly scene that perfectly illustrates the
transition between
the darkness of the night and the hopefulness of the
dawn.
Fearless
The scenes of the plane crash may be too much for some
to bear right now but the story of a man trying to
understand
why he lived while so many others did not couldn't be
more timely. Many of us may wonder why we were so
lucky to be
spared. There may be no answer but Peter Weir's
gripping, spiritual drama attempts to at least shine a
light into this
unknowable void of grief.
4
Little Girls
While the recent events may be the most extreme and
damaging attacks ever carried out in our country,
there have been
countless others, both from abroad and within. Spike
Lee's achingly sad documentary looks back at the
bombing of a
Birmingham, Alabama church in 1963 that left many
wounded and four young girls dead. In experiencing the
lasting sense
of grief carried by the families of these girls we can
try to begin to comprehend what it means to
suffer.
Grand
Illusion
Jean Renoir sought to show the uselessness of war with
this masterpiece but what it best conveys right now is
the need to
break down barriers. As men on both sides of the bars
in a World War I prison camp cross lines of rank and
country, a
sense emerges that there is hope that one day these
designations will no longer matter.
In
the Heat of the Night
Right now suspicion abounds. Misguided, angry
Americans are firebombing mosques and attacking those
who look
different than them. What they don't see on the
outside is that these people are also Americans. What
Rod Steiger's Sheriff
Gillespie didn't see on Sidney Poitier's face was that
he, too, was a law enforcement officer. And,
ultimately, by teaming up
with this man he himself became a better cop. A bold
civil rights story, In the Heat of the Night is
never stale and
always serves to remind us of the ways in which we
aren't all that different beneath the surface.
The
Last Temptation of Christ
I am not a religious person but I still find Martin
Scorsese's heartfelt ode to Jesus endlessly moving.
Perhaps it is in the
complexity and profundity of portraying Jesus' life
more as a journey than a mission. As he struggles to
understand what it
is that his God wants of him he experiences pain as
much as joy. In the most important moment Jesus asks
Judas to betray
him so that he can willingly give his life. Judas is
almost to distraught to do it and Jesus tells him that
he has the more
difficult task. With this scene the film rejects
nearly two millennia of anti-Semitism and helps to
unite two of the world's major religions - and by
extension all the people in the world.
Life
is Beautiful
Roberto Benigni's Holocaust comedy achieves a level of
empathy rare in film. By emphasizing the human spirit
over the
fate of the body he reminds us that it's the love and
respect that we have for each other that counts, not
the politics and not
fear. By dividing the film in half (sweet romance and
trial by fire) Benigni makes sure that we know exactly
what it is
that has been taken away from the characters and also
what never can be.
The
Sweet Hereafter
Atom Egoyan's mournful examination of the effects of
loss doesn't involve terrorists or evil deeds.
Instead, the children of
a
small Canadian town fall prey to a simple accident:
Their school bus runs off the road. In trying to
rebuild their community,
and in realizing that it can never be the same again,
the film finds a quiet dignity embodied in the actions
of one wounded
girl.
Three
Kings
David O. Russell's Gulf War heist film displays a
skepticism for US military action that many might find
divisive in the face
of what lies ahead. What the film really does,
however, is examine why we get involved in foreign
disputes in the first
place.
By criticizing the initial cause of our attacking Iraq
(and the fact that it was our assistance of Iraq in
their war with Iran that
came back to harm us), Three Kings opens itself
up to a true analysis of why we fight. In the film's
final act it
becomes absolutely clear: Simply because there are
people out there who need our help.
This short list is woefully incomplete. In the weeks
and months ahead we will each find our own way to
watch movies.
Maybe it will be the same as before, maybe not.
Hollywood has scrambled its plans for many future
releases, from delaying
openings, to indefinitely postponing some, to
scrapping some planned films altogether. In that time,
however, we have the
opportunity to share with each other exactly what it
is that we need from the movies. Maybe we can add to
this list over
time and create a canon of films that can help us, in
some tiny way, to cope with what has happened and to
build what's to
come.
- Gil Jawetz
