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Topic: The Plight of the Epic ...
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted February 17, 2009 11:47 PM
The post about the "Ten Commandments" brought back something that I've seldom found not to be true ...
Most films touted to be epics (usually a film that's over three hours long), tend to bore me to an extent. There are exceptions, such as Schindler's List or Lawrence of Arabia, but as a general rule, most epics feel quite "padded" to me.
Take "Ten Commandments". There are whole sections that are long, drawn out talkfests, either in a romantic vein or just going on and on, and half or more than half the time, they add very little or anything to the film.
Ben Hur, (though I have this scope feature in my collection as well), is another example of this. The whole subplot of Ben Hur's love interest takes up at least a good twenty minutes of the feature, most of it in long extended speeches, which really brought the film to a dead halt.
Lawrence of Arabia didn't have that drawn out feel to it, however. Perhaps this was because there were no love interests in it and it was just plain good action or drama.
In the case of Schindler's List, it was a film that you'd dare not miss much from, though much of it was rather harrowing and even more tragic when you realized that it was based on fact.
What are your opinions on this, mi compadres?
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Claus Harding
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1149
From: Washington DC
Registered: Oct 2006
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posted February 18, 2009 10:36 AM
I agree that the attention span of many can be an issue; for me film has always been something where I don't mind making a effort even if it is long.
I think the physical use of time is one more tool a filmmaker has, the deliberate keeping of your attention for a longer than normal period, to give a different experience.
I have "Das Boot" in the director's cut version (3hrs +) and I also have the completely un-cut version which is made from the tv episodes, and that one is 4hrs, 52mins. Two different viewing experiences (and I did do the latter in one go, with a bathroom break or two.)
Filmmaker Bela Tarr is someone who paints on a very big canvas; his films run very long (his longest, 'Satantango', is about 7.5 hours. I have yet to work up the courage for that one.)
But in classic Holllywood epics, it does come down to: "is the script rich enough to sustain such a length?" As we know, that varies a lot.
The last 'big' film I think of in that tradition would be "Passage to India", Lean's last hurrah.
To go back to Osi's original question, though, one example of a film that had all the potential for being a memorable epic, and yet was a complete flop certainly was "Heaven's Gate"
Everything was theoretically there for that film to have become great....except a good script. It has beautiful moments and a lovely score, but as a big film, it really is much less than the sum of its parts.
Claus.
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"Why are there shots of deserts in a scene that's supposed to take place in Belgium during the winter?" (Review of 'Battle of the Bulge'.)
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted February 18, 2009 12:12 PM
I think a film can be as long as ou want to make it, as long as he film isn't allowed to bog own with scenes that just bring the film to qa screeching halt. Though young by this forum's standards, (early forties ... well somewhat young), I haven't been awed by the "something happening every moment" mentality that is so common today in movie goers, but something must be happening, at least story-wise.
As a scriptwriter, I know that if I write a scene that does nothing but bring the story to a screeching halt, even if it has magnificent dialogue, it has to go.
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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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I could have left out a few reels out on that one "way to long". ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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