Films: Their Artistic Importance

I have found in my years of high school that few people truly know a good film when they see it.  The entire idea of what is good and what is not is, of course, completely up to an individual.  Some people can listen to the persistent pounding and screaming of death metal, while others can listen to the classical arpeggios of violins and cellos.  Still, people can listen to the beats and auto-tuned voices of (some, if not most) rap artists; and while some may not understand another's like for their particular taste of music, they cannot truly distinguish how it could be considered bad.

But can this be applied to film?  I'm not quite so sure about that.  I feel like I'm a film snob.  I love good films.  Ones that should be commended for their masterful use of cinematography, or the superb acting that they hold.  So when I hear--like last year--how a film like Step Brothers could win the majority vote for Funniest Film Ever Made, I sort of lose faith in the school system.  You can't subject people to good music, because what is good depends on the listener; but you can subject people to good movies and books.  The watcher/reader may not necessarily like them, but he or she will learn a valuable insight into each medium.

A student will never be able to go through school without hearing the names Hemingway, Shakespeare, and Orwell thrown around; it's scary to think that some people will go much of their adult lives without knowing the names of Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorcese, Ron Howard, and Steven Spielberg.  Why, I ask, do we not have a film class as an elective in schools?  Why can't we at least give the choice to subject students to films that will actually exercise their mind?  If you introduce students to the beauty of film, only then will you see the true importance of them.

"Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted, and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost. Anyway, I don't think it would have explained everything. I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle."

Allow me to direct your attention to the film that is considered, by many, to be the best film ever made.  Orson Welles created his masterpiece in 1941, entitled Citizen Kane.  Upon the first view, it's hard to really find anything all that different about the film.  "Best film ever made?" you say, "How could this be considered the best film ever made?"  Only after you see it a few more times will you notice how it all works.  The use of deep focus in many of the scenes; the artistic masterwork of the camera's hard, journalistic viewpoints during interviews; and its strong use of lighting and masterful acting distinguished Citizen Kane from all other films.  Not only this, but it completely distinguished the entire genre of film as something truly meaningful.  It revealed to all that film is art with a purpose, not just a way for Hollywood to cash a buck.

Can a school not encompass the idea of an artistic film?  Can a school not view incredible films such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey or Citizen Kane to teach students and cause them to analyze more than just the underlying themes, but the use of lighting, angles, acting, and objects in a scene that compliment the entire message?  Evidently not.  And this is why we hear every day students talking about that latest spoof movie, or Michael Bay's newest explosion fest.