{"id":12001,"date":"2015-12-31T16:02:33","date_gmt":"2015-12-31T16:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=blog&p=12001"},"modified":"2023-08-29T17:02:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T00:02:23","slug":"nine-movies-about-the-power-of-cinema","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/blog\/nine-movies-about-the-power-of-cinema\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Movies about the Power of Cinema"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Ilinca Calugareanu\u2019s documentary Chuck Norris vs. Communism<\/span><\/i><\/a>, <\/span>a handful of Romanians who endured the Cold War reminisce about congregating surreptitiously in cramped apartments to watch American action films on illegal VCRs. Some parts of the experience they recall fondly: like the camaraderie of movie nights, the weird dubbing and degraded video of the bootleg VHS tapes, and the films\u2019 foggy window onto the mysterious western world. Less fun? The constant threat that the authorities would knock on the door and confiscate their contraband. On balance though, the interviewees in <\/span>Chuck Norris vs. Communism<\/span><\/i> would say the worry was worth it. That\u2019s how much cinema means to people, that they\u2019d risk arrest to watch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even under less life-or-death conditions, fans will go to extremes to see a movie. They\u2019ll line up for hours, wearing hand-made costumes, or drive across the country to catch rare repertory screenings. They\u2019ll import grey-market region-free Blu-rays from overseas, or scour the pirating sites looking for films they can\u2019t find at home. They\u2019ll form societies and project battered old prints in hallways or in backyards. Some call this \u201ccinemania.\u201d Whatever the reason or cause, there\u2019s something powerfully compelling about flickering images: to experience, to study, and to make.<\/span><\/p>\n

The nine films below all consider the different ways that cinema captivates people \u2014 usually as a refreshing escape, but also as an unnerving obsession. These movies all speak to how motion pictures bring people together, and to how they can change something fundamental about who we are.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Infection<\/b><\/p>\n

Hugo<\/i><\/b><\/a> (2011):<\/b> Some Martin Scorsese devotees were a little too quick to shrug off his first (and so far only) attempt at making family-friendly entertainment. Brian Selznick\u2019s graphic novel <\/span>The Invention of Hugo Cabret<\/span><\/i> is the tale of an orphan who scrounges for scraps in a Paris train station, where he befriends a toymaker who turns out to be legendary filmmaker <\/span>Georges M\u00e9li\u00e8s<\/span>. Scorsese and screenwriter John Logan turned Selznick\u2019s book into something more personal than its simple, kid-centered adventure plot suggests. This is a movie about the history and craft of cinema, and how making films and loving films gives people a sense of purpose \u2014 and even a makeshift family. <\/span>Hugo<\/span><\/i> considers the myriad ways that technical wizardry can both entertain and inspire \u2014 and is itself a magnificent contraption.<\/span><\/p>\n