The Shining

What makes a good movie? Why would anyone pay a good 20 Swiss francs for a blu-ray copy of a 30 years old film?

That is what I did today, and I have a good reason. Rania has not seen “the Shining”, and I decided that 20 francs is a small price to pay to save the universe from that serious flaw. It is not for me, it is for the survival of future generations

People who come to our apartment share the same comment, “wow, you have many movies”, and I do have. I watch much less movies now than I did a few years back, but I still keep my DVDs displayed on shelves with pride. How can I not?

I always say that I have a good taste in books and an indiscriminate taste in movies. A book, I think, is a huge investment in time and emotions while a movie is much less so. A book a solitary act of commitment to the ideas and craftsmanship of a writer, the willingness to spend hours arguing with them on subjects that are in many cases central to our lives; a book is like a mini-marriage. That is why I spend a long time reading reviews, looking at covers, learning about authors, and hardly ever buy from an airport bookshop, marriages hard without the precautions you know.

A movie, on the other hand, is more like a quickie. I want an instant, fulfilling surge of adrenaline/emotions/fear/love/interest (scratch off as appropriate) that can take me through an uneventful day. I am not trying to undermine motion pictures by the metaphor, after all, one-night-stands can be great!

While my willingness to see any movie is unlimited – if we agree that musicals are not movies, of course – there is a lasting impression only some movies leave you with. It is not about story, lines, camerawork, or the beauty of the female character; it is that vague quality where I can see myself in the words or actions of a character so remote and impossible it is even more true.

Think of it, what man cannot find consolation in the words of Master Yoda: “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by size, do you?” or understand the words of Eddie Temple: “You're born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you're up in the rarefied atmosphere and you've forgotten what shit even looks like. Welcome to the layer cake son.” Eddie, I trust you, and I will be up there where there’s no shit one day.

But tonight I will watch the Shining and get distracted because Rania will be on the other side of the couch curled in fear. I will hold her and remind her its just a movie, then pray that the piles of work tomorrow will not drive me into a Jack Torrance style frenzy in the office.

And here are your 500 words for today.