“Listen,” I said. “I don’t know from writing a book. I have all this stuff in my head I want to get down, but what do I write about first? Where do I begin?”
“Start with the saddest thing you
can think of and get the audience’s sympathies on your side. After that,
believe me, it’s a walk.”
-Hollis Mason, 'Under the Hood'. Watchmen (Alan Moore - 1985).
In 2004, I was sixteen
years old and Mar Adentro, by
Alejandro Amenábar, premiered in Spain and then international theatres under
the translated title The Sea Inside.
Being interested in films but not nearly as passionate as I am now, I followed
the film with interest mainly borne out of the buzz that it was going to be a
contender for Best Foreign Language Film in the Oscars, competing against
notable heavyweights like Der Untergang,
or Downfall, and naturally being
Spanish I wanted Amenábar to win simply by virtue of his work being Spanish.
Childish, yes, but then again I was sixteen.
Normally at this stage
I would describe the film to you. Its plot, its characters, the intended
message of the director, but not only do I think I’d rather cover that in a separate
review, to be honest that’s not ultimately what made the film important for me.
I never stepped inside the cinema to see it and I only saw it when had been
released on DVD and was being broadcast on television. Really, I could almost
say that the film had almost no immediate impact for me.
Except one day, in my
curiosity to discover what other people thought of it, I went on RottenTomatoes, and from there I discovered Roger Ebert’s review of the film.
Even years later, I
remember what was written in Ebert's review, or at least in most of it. More
importantly, I remember how it was written and its effect on me. Here was a discussion of a film not as a product of a technical process, not a cold evaluation its pros
and cons like it was a piece of machinery just rolled off the assembly line,
but as an experience. An experience not
only of another man’s life but of how that same life reached back into Ebert’s
memories and experiences, conjuring up images of people he’d known, read about,
knew about. When discussing the protagonist he mentioned Helen Keller, Luís
Buñuel, and paraplegic students from his alma mater, the University of
Illinois, and clearly held them in the same consideration. In the same level.
The review stuck with
me. It still sticks with me. It was an evaluation of a film not based on a
pithy-and-easy ‘Check it out!’ or ‘Skip it!’. It was a recounting of an
experience, and how that experience had tied into a life. It was unlike
anything I’d read before, certainly unlike any film review I’d read before.
I was hooked. For
years I was a regular visitor to the site, though in the last few I admit I’d
been dropping off. I read as many of Ebert’s reviews as I could, incredulous
when he bashed a film I loved or praised one I despised, exultant when he
lauded my favourites.
Later I learned of the
full scope of Ebert’s career. Of his partnership with the late Gene Siskel and
of the show At The Movies With Siskel and
Ebert. While I've never seen a single episode of that show, it's strongly recommended by many as one of the best film review programs ever broadcast.
Later of course my
influences changed and I widened my horizons, but I maintain and always will
that it was Roger Ebert who opened the door to not only my now-much-grown and still-expanding knowledge and love
for film, but for my love for film reviews, and it is no exaggeration to say that
Ebert was and continues to be a major influence on me as a writer and aspiring film critic.
He’s dead now.
I start with this
story, and by paraphrasing one of my favourite works of all time by one of my
favourite authors of all time, to give you an idea of where I’m coming from.
For the longest time I’d been talking about working as a film critic. Writing
seriously. Doing something that I knew I would love. And for the longest time I
did nothing, because ‘later’ always seemed to be a better time.
This year, we’ve lost a
number of talented actors and writers, among them Ebert and most recently stop-motion master Ray
Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans). It is an
unavoidable fact that the world of cinema, film criticism, and entertainment journalism
in general, is changing irrevocably.
Now seems like a good
time to start doing what I said I’d do.
This is a place for my
musings on the strange, wide, and wonderful world we inhabit and the events
that take place in it. In it’s a place where I discuss not just films but
books, videogames, characters, songs, music styles, anything that I think can
tell a good story, really, or at least give you something to think about.
I hope you enjoy the
ride.
---
Roger Ebert’s review
of Mar Adentro (AKA The Sea Inside) from 2004 can be found here.
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