Cinema Beyond Entertainment

Name: RAHAT TANVIR

ID: 24141038

What's the first thing that comes to our mind when we think about cinema or movies?

Entertainment!!! Right? 

For most people, movies' sole purpose is to entertain themselves. They don't want to be bothered about anything else. But Cinema is also another form of art.  In fact, it is considered among the strongest forms of art as it is an audio visual art form. It has the strongest influence on people. Now there is a contradiction for decades between art and meaningless entertainment. Arts purpose is to reflect the reality of the society and speak up for the voiceless. As a result, there are always two variations that exist in every art form. One is the commercial one and another one is the pure artistic one.

But why is it important to watch movies?

We watch movies because they can make us experience moments  that are outside our daily lives. They allow us to step into the shoes of a soldier and witness the horror of war, walk in the rain with a couple falling in love. Movies have the power to transport us from the time of prehistoric hunters and gatherers to futuristic space travelers. Movies provide commonality across all manner of divides and they speak for those who don’t have a voice for themselves. 

Movies might not cure cancer or save millions of lives, but they can definitely change them. We watch movies because movies matter. Because they let us relate to other people . They let us suspend our disbelief. They inspire us, scare us, make us laugh, cry, dream, question. But the most important of all movies makes us empathize. Movies allow us an opportunity to look at human beings  with all their flaws and still accept them.

As Ingmar Bergman has said, “No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.” Watching movies thoughtfully and critically can give us better insights to deal with our social anxieties, broken heart and it helps us to connect with each other.

  

The reason that the girl in the red coat in Schindler's List is such a great symbol is because we all know what it’s like to be out there when somebody is in grave difficulty, fighting for their survival but we can’t do anything because we all are busy in our own survival. We have all felt that gut wrenching mix of sorrow and helplessness that Schindler feels as stares out at that innocent girl walking through the massacre. Hence, by learning more about Oscar Schindler we get to learn about those people who came before us, those who are around us and most important  of all, we learn about ourselves.

So next time while watching a film, see it as an opportunity to discover what it is, to be human.