In general, films don’t make me feel much. They don’t make me cry, the don’t make me feel a sense of loss, etc. I just sit back and enjoy the experience. I’m probably missing out on something through this, but in general, this is the way I view films. However, there are a few that can manage to make me emote. The Gathering Storm is one that has made me cry. This bit where Clementine Churchill returns from being in Komodo for 4 months is one of the most powerful bits of film I’ve ever seen. It had the biggest effect on me when I first saw it when on holiday in 2002 as I missed Fran so much, but still it makes me feel sad, as there is no better example of what love is.
Another film stirred up some things in me recently though, which was Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Right at the end, where Aragorn at last is reunited with Arwen, something strange boiled up inside me. Suddenly every loving feeling I’ve ever felt towards Fran came screaming back. I wanted to marry her again, I felt as deeply connected as I had before. I felt that if I asked, she’d say yes and everything would be ok again, but then, within 30 minutes it has passed again. It really is an amazing film, just even for managing that. Easily the best of the trilogy, and at last the things that I know must be computer effects don’t look like computer effects (apart from Gollum, he’s amazing, but not quite right yet). Can’t wait for the Extended Edition now. Funny thing is I had already agreed with Fran to go and see it with her beforehand. I did get a message from her today wondering if we had agreed to go and see it, which I assume means someone else has asked if she wants to go and see it. What to do now, what to do…
The LOTR series is a masterpiece – especially The Return of the King. The colour and texture of the film is amazing, and the digital effects (aside from Gollum and the odd cave troll) are effectively unnoticable. Arwen’s vision in the forest is an amazing effect – it’s given me a challenge to replicate (hah!) it when I find the time.
The emotional build-up in the final 20mins is sublime, peaking with Aragorn &c bowing to the 4 Hobbits and later as Frodo leaves for the Grey Havens. Sadly the general populus of Middlesbrough weren’t blessed with an appreciation of such things and all but 4 of the audience left the moment the credits started to roll. (I expect they’re the sort of people who enjoy having some half-witted continuity announcer interupt the credits on TV to reveal when the next episode of Eastenders is on)
Erm, apologies for the rant there!