For me, storytelling is magical. And the two main ways that I indulge in it are through books and through cinema. I love the movies, including classic films that not too many see anymore. It is amazing that these movies, in the style and character of their times, can still connect and stir us. I have been wondering about this lately, trying to put my finger on what makes them so compelling. And, what triggered these thoughts, actually, was the news that Sidney Poitier passed away.
This was in January this year. Immediately, a lot got written about this trailblazing icon, whose presence and gravitas were one of a kind. He affected you, like you were in the presence of a special life force. I immediately wanted to see one of his movies - had not in a long while. I wanted to feel his celluloid presence. I saw his Oscar-winning charmer, ‘Lilies of the field’. Had actually never seen it before. Just beautiful - capturing so much of life in this simple black and white presentation. And he was supreme, of course.
I also happened to have re-watched ‘Paper Moon’ recently, an old favorite. Tatum O’Neal is wonderful in it. What is it about these old black and whites? Incidentally, the director of that movie, Peter Bogdanovich, also died at the same time as Sidney Poitier. Still need to see his ‘The Last Picture Show’, but have seen and enjoyed his comedy ‘What’s up, Doc?’. Another talented film maker gone.
Peter Bogdanovich had a life and career full of drama and controversy, as the internet can tell you. Sidney Poitier obviously had many struggles, just being an African-American actor in those times. The twists and turns and ups and downs of their personal stories are movies in themselves. And yet, their art transcends their lives and times to capture things universally human and timeless. One can’t explain what they feel they have in common with the African-American handyman (Poitier in ‘Lilies of the field’) or the German Nuns and Spanish-speaking people of a small Arizona town that he finds himself helping. But somehow one relates. Nor can one easily identify with the orphaned, precocious child (Tatum O’Neal in ‘Paper Moon’), who joins forces with a conman selling Bibles during the Depression era. But somehow, one relates. At the core of a movie is, of course, the story and the writing. Added to that is the acting, directing, editing, music, production and more, all of which can make or break a film. However, what seems to make a classic a classic, is its shared humanity, regardless of the humans, their backgrounds or the situations depicted. I find the fact of these universal themes particularly poignant nowadays, with increasing examples of divisiveness between people the world over. When a lot of us can be touched by similar ‘classics’, can we really be that different, if only we let ourselves be honest and feel? Are we all not, at our core, just human?
So, I hope we all read more books and watch more movies, be transported by the stories and remember and rejoice in our commonalities. After all, as the great Maya Angelou put it, “we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike”.
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