The classic movie is one of the best things we've come up with since the hamburger. When we were kids, there were only three TV channels, so the classic movie was the only show we could watch.
So, what exactly is a "classic" movie? Can we just think of it as something from a black-and-white film noir? Includes some of that bad classical music? How about big wigs made of powder? Do you think about how formal both the characters and the clothes of the time were? Does a movie win 10 Oscars make it a classic? Or do you think that the only thing that makes a movie a classic is how people think of it?
The classic movie is one of the best things we've come up with since the hamburger. When we were kids, there were only three TV channels, so the classic movie was the only show we could watch. On those good old Saturday afternoons and Sundays, when my dear father wasn't too busy watching sports on TV, we could watch those old classic movies with glamour girls and guys who made us boys want to be cowboys.
Even though there is a clear difference between classical movies and classical movies with only classical period elements (music, costumes, storylines, etc.), I'd like to talk about how enjoyable it is to watch a classical movie from the past or present that only takes place in one time period and has only classical period elements.
I tend to think of black-and-white movies as being about pretty girls and handsome guys, comedies as being about old people, and histories as giving us a glimpse into how people used to live. They were just like us, but they had a certain something extra that we need to find out, learn about, and finally appreciate in order to do them the justice they deserve.
Take Impromptu, which is my favourite classic movie of all time. This movie is mostly a reenactment of a couple of years in the lives of George Sand, Franz Liszt, and Friederich Chopin, as well as the royal and wealthy people who let artists stay with them in exchange for good company and good entertainment. The movie is mostly about Sand, who wants to get together with Chopin and is just as aggressive as he was weak. The costumes, the music, the dialogue, and the setting are all as impressive as the direction, technique, and way the words and feelings are said. There are even one or two themes that people from the beginning of time to the present can relate to or enjoy. These themes include love and hate, good and evil, as well as longing and belonging.
Other classic movies I like are those that aren't as mainstream or well-known. I would put Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, Wilde, and Jefferson in the same category as Amadeus, Emma, The Piano, and any number of Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson movies, even though they were made after classical times.
