Why do I love Film?

This is a great question, and it is extremely difficult to answer, however I will try my best, and I’ll start within another medium; books.

Books are great, they offer vital sources of information and enjoyment from every field, whether it be romance, comedy, adventure or good old non-fiction books that supply us with endless, often inconceivable knowledge.

It is in my reading of a book called “Death by Black Hole” by Neil DeGrasse Tyson that an ironic moment occurred; I realised that whilst reading is great, it just isn’t quite Film.

In Neil’s book he says:

For me, it’s purely a matter of economics; to see a movie is cheaper and faster than to buy and read the book on which it is based.

This I found so true, and yet I didn’t quite agree. Books provide the reader with knowledge and an experience that Films can’t always offer. So I still hadn’t quite found my answer as to why I prefer Film. So I read on, and Neil brought me more.

He went on to voice his opinions on film and the term “artistic license” often used within film. He compared this to art. Here’s what he said:

Suppose that whenever artists drew a woman they gave her three breasts, seven toes on each foot, and an ear in the middle of her face? If this did not start a new movement in artistic expression, then artists would have to go back to school and take basic classes in anatomy.

This was Neil’s way of saying that he believes Films should respect the cold hard facts; whenever they represent the Cosmos within Film, it should be factually correct and that, if artists did what Filmmakers do, then the world would stop and stare.

But I think Neil is wrong.

I think that’s what so great about film. That’s what makes Film so special, so different, so beautiful. The concept that, as Filmmakers, we don’t have to stay immersed within the bubble of reality, the fact that we can break free from the chains of actuality and release any concept we feel necessary into the world for millions to view and form their own, personal opinions on. Not to tell the world that 1+1=2, but to say 1+1=whatever you want it to be.

Mr Tyson stated in his book:

Mark Twain once said ‘Get your facts right first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.’ (1899, Vol. 2, Chap XXXVII)

This is important. As Filmmakers, we mustn’t use the term “Creative License” as a scapegoat to produce any old rubbish and release it for the soul purpose of profit. It is important we know our facts, then we create the reality we desire from those facts.

So I think I love Film for the very reason Mr DeGrasse Tyson hates it, for the fact that it allows us to distort reality and escape the world for the time in which we immerse ourselves in it.

Film is a thing of beauty, so if you ever feel trapped in reality, worried about that essay you haven’t yet written, or that question you cannot solve, relax, watch a Film, and disappear into your very own world.

Those were just some of my thoughts. Let me know what you think with a reply.

Deen Hussein.

Shout out to Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the book is great.