I recently had a discussion with Phil about those list of the 100 greatest films you see on TV occasionally and I was challenged to stop complaining about the state of them and make my own. I usually tend to disagree with the general public on what are considered the best films ever made, this has less to do with me studying film and more to do with me not wishing to see yet another clip from Star Wars and the same critics going on about how revolutionary it was and what great things it did for the sci-fi genre. It did do great things for the genre but this does not constitute status as the greatest film of all time.
Can a film list such as this which is inevitably subjective and based on preference ever really give a reliable account of the great films in cinema history or must we defer to it as the only decent list so we have to put up with it. I do not propose to attempt a compilation superior to, for instance, Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Films but I think rather than complaining or disagreeing I will make my own list and see how close It comes to theirs. After all, an objective appreciation of film and a personal preference of certain genre films, for example, cannot really exist given that anyone’s personal viewing history is determined by different things.
The movies we have already seen, for whatever reason, make up our own viewing history and we must examine this and discuss any list in this context. My love for cinema came about primarily from a habitual viewing of films, every Saturday night my sister and I would go to our local video store and take turns choosing movies, I occasionally having to put up with The Truth About Cats and Dogs and she more than occasionally having to put up with Aliens and Starship Troopers. The important factor was not which films were chosen but that we trained our selves to watch movies, we gave our filmic muscles a good word workout. This went on for about 10 years or so before I was forced to start paying for my own rentals.
People relate to movies in many different ways, some as a way to escape the dull repetition of their daily routine and others as a way to enhance the routine in an attempt to give it meaning. Whatever your reason for seeing a movie it all comes down to the same process: sit down, tune in and relax. I have spent 5 years of my adult life doing this and I discovered that instead of finding a meaningful way to do something worthwhile and productive I can watch movies and pretend to have an insight in to the working of the world. I love movies now as entertainment, I don’t take it quite as seriously as I used to, I have studied film for fives years and when I graduate in July I will have a qualification and that is what matters. The fact that this qualification has nothing whatever to do with my aspirations of working with kids is not important because I will take my experience and apply it where necessary.
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