Low Budget

Being confined is good for you

Today I had to send Henry V, starring Kenneth Branaugh, back to Netflix. It sat in my DVD player for weeks. I've made it through about one hour. I'm told it's a good movie, well worth my time. But the TV is in my room. My room is, currently, a mess. Also, there is a computer and a PS2 in my room. The only place that is far enough from the computer and the PS2 controller for me to watch a movie like Henry V is in bed. But then sleep becomes an option.

A good movie doesn't have to catch you and hold you from the beginning. IT doesn't have to thrill you every moment. In fact, a movie may build up tension, may spend time creating background, develop character, whatever. To do that, the filmmaker is relying on someting holding the audience in place. Discipline could work, but that's hard to find among the MTV generation. Traditional movie theaters work. You've bought your ticket, found your seat, and it's dark. Moving around brings social approbation. This is one reason films will always have far greater quality than television shows. Television audiences are fully equipped with remotes, so you have to entertain them through each moment instead of building a quality product.

The danger is that, as DVD sales become more and more important, filmmakers will lose that guarantee of a bound-up audience.

posted by dan @ 9/20/2004 10:04:00 AM