How to Watch a Movie

            How should we watch a movie if we’re looking for experiences deeper than what we’ve had before? For ways to say more than, “It was good,” or “It stank to high heaven”?

Paul Ricoeur’s three stages of belief suggest a path. The stage I’ve been in, with respect to movies, is first naïveté, the uncritical, childlike acceptance of whatever the filmmaker has to give me. Now I’m collecting equipment for engaging in critical reflection, the second stage. However, I don’t want to continue standing at a distance from movies; I want to enjoy them. This calls for second naïveté, a combination of acceptance and reflection. For Johnston, the ideal situation is to experience a movie fully and reflect on it later; but I wonder whether, once we are wise to techniques of storytelling and moviemaking, it is possible to separate experience and reflection. The thing is to become a happy philosopher!

Critical reflection on the movies requires understanding at least these points:

Movies tell stories in three ways: images, words and music. All of these are happening when we watch a movie.

Stories are composed of several elements: character, plot, setting, theme, tone, mood, point of view, and something Johnson calls atmosphere, the inevitable “givens.” (I wonder if he means context?) “Admission” focuses on the character of Portia Nathan and her dilemma when she meets the boy she thinks is her son. In a character-driven story, the character is often changed by the challenge he or she meets. “Oblivion” is plot-centered: how will the alien threat be resolved?

Stories have a three-part structure. Johnston calls these Acts 1, 2 and 3; but I prefer a homemade definition. Stories start with a situation of stability. It may not be peace and light; in a war movie, a battle; in a murder mystery, a dead body. Nevertheless, a story starts with a place for the viewer or reader to stand. Then a conflict arises, disrupting stability. Usually, it is that the main character is presented with a challenge. In “Schindler’s List,” what happens when Oscar Schindler recognizes the humanity of the concentration camp detainees? Finally, there is resolution, which may go well or badly for the main character. The first and third parts are much shorter than the middle one.

Movies fall into four categories, which can overlap: realism, fantasy, entertainment and education.

They appear in a gazillion genres: love story, romantic comedy, screwball comedy, science fiction, thriller, detective story, gangster film, Western, horror film, etc. Each genre follows certain conventions, which help the viewer to make sense of the story. In “Oblivion,” there is the expected clash between humanity and an extraterrestrial intelligence. In “Admission,” a romantic comedy, Portia and John fall in love.

A movie is constructed of cuts and shots. Cuts refer to the editing of the movie; they are concerned with the use of time. Shots refer to the framing of its scenes; they are concerned with the use of space. Last night I practiced looking for cuts and shots while watching a Hercule Poirot mystery on television.

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