Film vs People

Cinematic art is about going against most people’s wishes. Often, it makes people feel bad. How many times we hear that groan coming from us while watching a film. If a film is crafted with patience and empathy towards the viewers these groans will not tire or throw them out of story. Rather, they will inspire, even empower. You might even say, I have realised something about us during this film, and I want to include this in my thoughts more often, so that may be it can change me for the better.

People who ask questions have to be prepared to groan a lot during the course of their life. They are up against most people’s wishes, sometimes their own too. It sounds paradoxical that what makes us feel bad at first works out better for us later in life. It’s true for life, so why not cinema?

Many of us still don’t trust cinema has the truth to change us. But it does. Film is not the filmmaker, it has its own entity. It is a tool to ask questions and an attempt to explore some answers, which may or may not come. It has limitations, yes. But when used well, it can be sharp and concise. When a film is asking a question, it affects the viewer as it once did the filmmaker who asked that question. Film is not a medium to provide solutions. That is best left to the journalist or the priest.

Sometimes, rarely though, answers do come during the course of making or watching the film. Both filmmaker and the audience shouldn’t take credit for these answers. They should devote these answers to the film or the story and share them with the world selflessly.