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A Great Deal More Fair Than The Average Art Film


Some movies claim the distinction of an “art film” because they are made by some trendy director who used to blow up human heads for a living.

There are no exploding heads in this movie and I think it is a better movie for it. Oh, that other director would order lengthy sex scenes to move the plot along and when words failed he will have his actress vomit to show when she is upset, but this movie is the meat and potatoes type of film that doesn’t pull any punches without the exploding heads and vomit.

These so called “art films” of today only have a few years of shelf life in them compared to a film like this. Today you can have a protagonist mindless going from scene to scene killing people and the people who love it believe it to be wonderful and compelling entertainment. Compare this movie’s writing with the other film that was based on a comic book with characters that are as black and white as newspaper and it is not even a fair contest.

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Although My Fair Lady is a good film, I would hardly call it an ART film. There's artistry to it and in it, but It's classic Oscar bait. A prime example of the Hollywood system of it's era and doesn't really reach for any real truth outside of what is already explored in the story, which already existed before the musical anyway.

An Art film isn't defined by how much sex, violence, gore, singing or musical numbers it has, or any of it contents really. It's defined as art by how all of those elements are used to express an idea, or several ideas, within that story. Using the story, the camera, sound, music and editing to reach something more specific and honest that can only be realized by thinking about the film and dissecting it's practices to understand it's deeper meaning; which ironically enough, if done well, can be the same, but slightly different, for everyone.

So maybe you should stop worry about how much sex and violence is in Art films, and start thinking about the context in which they are used within the film, then decide if it's Art. Or maybe you should just open you mind and watch more films, because I really think you're watching them wrong if you think My Fair Lady was an ART film.

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