Monday, July 6, 1998
Another day, another list
of great films ‘for the ages’
COLUMN: AFI’s Top 100 next from line of critics bent on
appearing smartBy Lonnie Harris
Recently, the American Film Institute (AFI), yet another
organization predominantly made up of "Hollywood establishment,"
compiled what it believes is the authoritative listing of the top
100 best American films of the last 100 years. Though the creation
of any objective listing of the best pieces of any art-form would
be quite an auspicious undertaking, it seems that this is a common
phenomenon among film fans. Whether or not you’ve noticed, movie
fans tend to be, well, snooty. For this reason, lists of best,
worst, funniest, most artistic, best photographed, most creative,
or most original films of the month, year, decade and century seem
to pop up constantly and without warning.
Now, AFI has forced its opinion upon a nation of unwitting film
fans, and once again it has informed all those not "in the know"
that "Citizen Kane" is, indeed, the best film. The publication of
this list seems to beg the question: what is the point? Why do
people who love the art of filmmaking feel this unnatural obsession
with ranking every movie that comes out into theaters? Open up the
Calendar Section of the Los Angeles Times, peruse the Arts and
Entertainment page of the Bruin, or even turn on the evening news
and you are almost bombarded by talking heads informing the
ignorant public that, whether or not the viewer enjoyed "Godzilla,"
the movie was a failure.
Everyone in Hollywood has an opinion. However, wouldn’t everyone
agree that movies are about as subjective an outlet as could ever
be invented? Different people enjoy different movies for different
reasons, and trying to explain this phenomenon is just about the
most useless pursuit imaginable.
No other art form or creative outlet demands such harsh and
strict categorization. I have never seen a list of the top 100
frescoes ever painted (although I’m sure The Last Supper would be
in the top ten), nor have I ever heard what is undeniably called
the best piece of classical music ever written" (although
Beethoven’s Ninth is a shoo-in.) The only thing these lists do is
assure some movie fans that they are intellectuals because they’ve
seen more than half of the films represented and others that they
have all the cerebral firepower of a can of pork and beans, because
they have not seen "Lawrence of Arabia" in its entirety.
Perhaps we feel the need to organize our films competitively
because the art of cinema affects our lives so dramatically. I like
sculpture, but I can’t really say that anything Rodin ever created
touches me in quite the same way that "Top Gun" did when I first
saw it. Nor can I say that I have ever felt the same sense of awe
toward a creation of Frank Lloyd Wright as I feel toward
Hitchcock’s "Rope" or Kubrick’s "A Clockwork Orange." Movies have a
way of picking up on both the best and worst of human existence and
displaying it on a large screen for our collective amusement. This
personal connection probably has a lot to do with the endless
analysis of filmmaking.
My only concern is that such lists almost take away from the
magic of watching movies. When we look at a Martin Scorcese movie
as a piece of Americana, instead of as a thrilling glimpse into the
lives of a few individuals engaged in criminal activities, we take
away a little piece of what the director was trying to provide.
Orson Welles didn’t make "Citizen Kane" so that stodgy old people
could one day say it was the greatest film of all time: he made it
to move people (and to make money, of course). Watching movies is
supposed to be visceral and personal, not academic.
With that said, I must admit to not being wholly innocent in
this matter. I, too, am guilty of incessantly over-analyzing
films.
In countless reviews for the Bruin, I’ve forced movies to
conform to my own personal guidelines, and often have refused to
admit I was wrong in the face of constant hounding from others who
have differences of opinion (although I still hold that "Deep
Impact" was boring and melodramatic).
So, in the interest of total hypocrisy, I felt it important to
include films that I feel the AFI unneccesarily left out of its Top
100 list. Here goes: "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Big Sleep,"
"Three Days of the Condor," "The Great Escape," "The Sting" and
"All The President’s Men." Are they trying to tell me that "Forrest
Gump" is better than "The Big Sleep?" What are they smoking? Oh,
sorry … I couldn’t help it. None of us movie buffs can. The
secret is to watch and enjoy whatever movies you so desire, and
ignore those who would tell you they aren’t as good as "Gone With
the Wind," "Ben Hur," or even "Soylent Green."
Lonnie Harris wants everyone to know that even though he is
Jewish and reviews movies, he does not look like that fat cartoon
character "The Critic." You can contact him at keyser@ucla.edu.