Directed by James Cameron and Starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Stephen Lang
After twelve years, James Cameron comes back to us with another blockbuster (the last being Titanic, of course) with his story of Pandora (a beautiful and peaceful world very much like what we may imagine eden to be like) and the evils of human nature coming to take yet again that which is not theirs.
A very well known story.
Although, I did enjoy the movie as a whole, story-wise I felt like I had seen it many times before and the differences just weren't enough for me to say, "wow, what an original change!" It is very politically charged and I'm okay with that as long as it's done in such a creative fashion that it is more about story than politics. Avatar is definitely on the line for me where the politics are noticed but I could make an effort to overlook.
I am honestly surprised at the mounds of money (I mean, it surpassed Star Wars as the highest grossing and is still climbing towards the number two spot and it is no Star Wars, is it?) and critical acclaim this movie is creating. It was good, but that good?!
At the Golden Globes, it won the awards for best picture (really?) and best director. And, because of those awards, it is a shoe in for definite Academy Award Nominations for, at least the same best picture and director. Now, I can see it run away with a plethora of technical awards because, again, the 3D is amazing, but I'm not sure about the best picture nod. I guess time will answer that one. Maybe I need to see it again with a different outlook.
The true experience to look for here is in seeing this movie in 3D. I know I've yacked about this with you a couple of other times, but this is the first live-action adult themed 3D movie and the effects are incredible. They are a large part of what makes Pandora such a sight to see. I would see this movie many more times just to experience the look and the feel of such a beautiful, immersive world.
Yesterday, I read another blog I've been following from The Crossing (a local church) about how a large number of reports of Depression had surfaced from people who had seen the movie. Much of the thought behind this is that "Avatar created such a beautiful world that when we leave the theater, we have returned to the gray, dull, meaningless world of our own." I'm paraphrasing, of course. To read the blog, the link is below.
( http://www.everysquareinch.net/2010/01/can-watching-avatar-make-you-depressed.html?crossingpermalink=true).
So, what do I think of that? Hm.
Well, even though Avatar is just a movie, I believe that movies help us to be free to express feelings and longings that perhaps we don't feel free to express in our own lives. They create momentum to open conversations about ideas and dreams and everything else. So, yes, I can understand how people could be Depressed after seeing such a beautiful world that they cannot live in. They simply yearn for something more beautiful and more peaceful than what they've ever known and that is not here. Don't get me wrong, I'm the first to tell you that I seek out and hold dear all the little beautiful moments of my life and hold them closely to my heart. I have to. If I didn't, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be able to believe there was anything good left, but as long as I keep finding those little things I know there is.
Another thought I had was how we are a fallen and broken people. A major theme in the movie (and this was the one I felt had been done many times before it) was how humans find something beautiful and instead of working to create or live with what they've found, they simply try and take it. We are indeed a broken and fallen people filled with our own selfishness, sin, and impatience. That is what depresses me. We all have to work so hard to change and some of us don't work at all. I just have to realize that I can't change or save someone else unless it's something they choose to be open to. And, even if they are open to it, it takes a lot of help from the One who loves us; even in our selfishly impatient sinfulness.
I'm not sure what makes sense there, but there it is. If you haven't seen it, go. See it in 3D.
Enjoy.
Brice
I like your point, that art is capable of invoking the emotion but not creating it. This valuable power of art is sometimes attacked by those who are uncomfortable with the invoked emotion.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and it's 3-D display is the new standard for the casual movie-goer like me. To throw in my 2 cents on the plot, I thought it hypocritical that a movie would glorify violence so tremendously when a basic tenet of the movie was the value of peaceful, harmonious living. I also find it highly hypocritical when a movie ramps up the emotion against the killing of the "good" people (slow motion, agonizing relatives, etc), then tosses "bad" people out the back of the plane with nary a care for that guy's soul, parents, friends, etc.
On a lighter note, I think "adjusted for inflation" the movie "Gone With the Wind" is still the highest grossing movie of all time.
I appreciate your insight on cinema, thanks for letting me comment.