Hollywood films have always been divided in two categories, the
big budget action-adventure extravaganza and the quiet low-budget
Indies. In addition to that, there is also a subcategory: the
technology driven films and the human stories.
Recently in American cinema, there has been a large number of
those technology fiestas including most Peter Jackson's
deliveries of the three installments of the Lord of the Rings.
Then Harry Potter, Spielberg's War of the Worlds, Spiderman 1 and
2, amongst countless others.
There have also been a few surprises in the story /
character-driven independent flicks like Machiavelli Hangman,
Napoleon Dynamite, Million Dollar Baby and Sideways.
It has been a rule of thumb that when a film can be one or the
other, but it can never be both. Unfortunately that statement has
come to be known as truth. Although some films like Spiderman 2,
despite their gigantesque budgets, have tried to come close to
a decent story, they haven't been able to recreate the golden
age of cinema.
Before those great human stories that James L. Brooks brought to
the screen like Terms of Endearment and As Good as it Gets, there
were big-budget films that also dealt with the great complexities
of the human psychology. Think of films like Lawrence of Arabia,
Ben Hur, Gone with the Wind, Godfather 1 and 2.
These days, big budget is indirectly proportional with storyline.
The closest that modern times have come to those ageless classics
was Gladiator with its lavish set design and locations, but even
then, the story was slim.
Titanic became the most expensive film to ever be produced and
although it won 11 Oscars, it was criticized all around for its
lack of story.
Those filmmakers who didn't have financial backing when they
started, are the ones who got themselves used to writing with
low-budgets in mind. And those who had the means all along to
produce the best-looking films didn't see the necessity to
concentrate so much on human stories.
Hollywood has to wake up and find a reasonable medium between the
two so that we can go back to the time of those great classics
that will live on beyond the years and the dollars. We are
finally in an age of filmmaking where exciting new technologies
are being introduced into the market, special effects and
animations are achieving eye-popping visuals. Instead of relying
completely on these strengths, filmmakers have to learn to
incorporate them into the whole meaning of the film.
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