Ribbon whaaat?

This whole conflict between Hollywood and the alternative cinema makes me giggle a bit. Every European filmmaker declares that Hollywood is decadent and that he despises it and spits on those who even try to compare his genius to anything of Hollywood. The latter of course does not give a shit as it makes a shitload of money and rarely takes the time to get involved in useless European discussions.

My argument certainly isn’t that Hollywood movies are good and European are bad; what I’m aiming at is that the juxtaposition – intentional to the bone – is simply childish.

Take The White Ribbon that I painfully watched yesterday. Yes, perhaps it is a piece of art in the cinematographic sense; yes, the cast is without fault whatsoever (especially the children). But once again I object the “art for the sake of art” standpoint. You may call me trivial but seriously, I need a message in a movie and that’s what I think they’re for. And if you deprive me of catharsis, if you leave me with nothing more but a tape of black and white images in my head after two hours – I consider those two hours wasted.

It’s what Lithuanians love doing with contemporary cinema as well. The freaking country of cinematic disaster, traumatized by gloomy Russian literature and not talented enough to pull off a Dostoyevsky they march on with their “Brisiaus galas” kind of mindset. Oh, there’s gotta be tears. And a deep dark depressing onset. And some violence for the sake of violence (and this is not addressed to Zero as I consider it a truly wonderful statement. And some very few truly inspiring movies like Balkonas. In your face Nereikalingi Zmones). Like the recent Lars von Trier, whom, I’m sorry, I don’t understand either (I mean duuude, if you suffer from severe depression and various phobias – do you really have to put me through it too?). And yet again I may be called an ignorant and superficial cinema nazi, but seriously, do we NEED that violence? Is it the only necessary tool to bring out the message? Cause honestly, I’m getting a bad case of compassion fatigue.

And yet there are masterpieces that may be a bit gloomy, a bit slow, but they do it for a reason, a message, something my brain feed on like vultures for days and days in a row. Like Das Leben der Anderen – it could be regarded as a slow movie but to me it seemed perfectly paced, bringing out the essence scene by scene, sound by sound.

Like the Cidade de Deus may seem too violent at times but it has nothing to do with hitting a penis with a hammer (thank you, Lars, for engraining that image in my mind for eternity). It’s a heartbreaking story which absolutely cannot be told without the images of violence – it is the essence of it, it disturbs and yet leaves you hungry for peace.

I even truly loved The Believer, as it sets off to explore self-hatred and self-search in such a painful, personal way. And Little Ashes – a quote from which I use in the opening of my blog and which has become part of my everyday life.

I could go on and on with examples of brilliant movies made all around the world for the purpose of sending a message. And to my mind a movie is much more powerful if it has one, rather than when it simply is a statement of a self-absorbed artistic individuality.