WHAT MAKES A MOVIE GREAT?

PLACES IN THE HEART

With a number of the movies we have revisited in recent weeks both Norma and I agreed they ‘ticked all the boxes’. After watching PLACES IN THE HEART again last night, a movie which without doubt ticks all the boxes, I reflected on what would be the component parts of a movie or book that ticked all the boxes. The criteria would need to be universal and be able to be applied to the drama, the thriller, the romance and each genre. This is my conclusion:

• A strong and engaging story that captures the viewers interest and imagination.

• Driven by fully rounded tri-dimensional sympathetic characters who interact with eachother in logical and cohesive ways that not only delineates them, but advances the story. In a literary context ‘sympathetic’ means not just likable, but someone the viewer responds to and either loves or hates.

• The dialogue should be ‘in character’, something that character would logically say, plus it should advance the story, or foreshadow events to come.

• The director will draw the best from the cast and the crew, quite often in a style that is their hallmark and often identifiable, as in Hitchcock, David Lean, Stanley Kramer or Steven Spielberg.

• In the best movies cinematography is a critical part of the effectiveness of the film, and because it orchestrates where and how the actor inhabits the environment, this will often be what we recall from the scene.

• If it is a movie it will almost certainly have a relevant and evocative score, carrying you to a dramatic or romantic moment with only a few bars. Think of the glorious evocative scores of movies such as DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, THE GODFATHER, DANCES WITH WOLVES and SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. A few bars and you are transported to be with Yuri and Tonya as they traverse the frozen landscape, or Michael Corleone back in Italy, or John Dunbar, a lone figure on the western prairie watching the wolf.

• It will be a movie or book you will reflect upon after it is over, bringing to mind scenes or exchanges that were pleasing to the eye, the ear and the heart.

• You should have a desire to watch the movie or read the book again to savour the pleasure of the experience.

• Denouement. The general structure of a work, movie or novel, is three acts, a climax and the denouement. In a long work Act 2 may be expanded out to further develop the story. The denouement, usually quite short, unravels the knots and pulls the loose threads together into a satisfying, and, in the best cases, memorable conclusion.

You may want to add a couple of items, but I think most diligent readers and viewers (and certainly writers) would agree with my analysis.

So why does PLACES IN THE HEART take its place among the ‘all boxes ticked’ selection?

To give some background, and identify one of the reasons this is so good, Robert Benton was born in Waxahachie County in Texas and in writing the original screenplay he obviously drew on his and his family’s experiences in that part of Texas during the 1920s and 30s.

He has excellent credentials as both writer and director with movies such as BONNIE AND CLYDE, KRAMER VS KRAMER and STILL OF THE NIGHT.

Sally Field plays Edna Spalding, who is widowed when her husband, Royce, the sheriff is shot and killed by a drunk negro. Typical of the times Royce handled all the ‘family business’ and Edna doesn’t even know how to write a cheque. Despite the bank putting pressure on her to sell their 40 acre property she is determined to keep the property and raise both her kids herself, not farm them out to relatives.

Enter Mr. Will (John Malkovich) a blind World War 1 veteran, and Moze (Danny Glover) an itinerant Negro, who contribute positively in Edna’s fight to save her home by planting 30 acres of cotton.

The scene is set, the viewer is caught up in the struggles against both man and nature. The dialogue is true to the ear and the performances uniformly excellent. The unfolding plot is both logical and credible and I feel anyone who was not touched and moved many times during the almost two hours must possess a heart of stone.

It is a movie you think about after and push to the back burner to watch again – an enduring pleasure.

The denouement of PLACES IN THE HEART is one of my favourites, a perfect conclusion with the reading of the 13th chapter of Corinthians and the camera panning over the members of the church taking the blood of Christ, then focusing on Edna and her family, Mr. Will, Moze, and finally Royce and Wylie, both of whom are dead.

To me, Robert Benton’s best work, garnering a richly deserved Academy Award for Best Screenplay, plus a Best Actress Oscar for Sally Field. He was 89 on 29th September 2021, and hopefully still going strong.

This will be of the most interest to the movie buff and writer because you are the people who analyze what you see, read and write. Why was this great? Why did it work so well? Or this should have been good, why didn’t it work?

Any thoughts or comments will be most welcome.

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