About halfway through my postings of my Top 25 Favorite Movies, longtime college friend and annoying contrary muse "Tuck" texted me this message: "If, at the end of your 'my favorite movies' series, you don't write a wrap-up of what connects these movies (thematically, structurally, philosophically, artistically, etc.) other than your good opinion, you won't have answered the central question of 'why this series?'"
Do you see why I call him my "annoying contrary muse"? I hadn't blogged in forever until he told me a couple of months ago to get up off my ass and start writing again. Thank God for honest friends. Plus, every writer needs someone who cares more about the quality of the work than boosting your self-esteem, and Mike's been my most honest critic since the late eighties.
So what ties these 25 films together, and why did I choose them instead of many other worthy contenders? As I said in the introductory blog, these are all representative of movies from a variety of different genres, so the voice and tone of each movie is distinctly different. I did try to balance the concept of "my favorites" (hence the much-ridiculed choice of The Cutting Edge, which I will not apologize for loving like a teenager's first crush) against "the best," which placed Schindler's List ahead of Inception at the pinnacle of the list.
The artistic connection is obvious—it's a list of great directors. One of my biggest dreams as a kid was to be a movie director. I used an old Super-8 camera to make stop-motion animation movies in my teens. Look at the directors on my list: Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarentino, Jonathan Demme, Brad Bird, Ron Howard, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, Rob Reiner, Ivan Reitman, Cameron Crowe, Mel Brooks...a list of amazing artists whose careers would fill at least several dozen "best movies" lists.
But that's not the commonality to be found in my list. These movies are reflective of who I am and share as a central theme the most important quality in my life, the value I see as the most essential component of human life: Redemption.
Redemption is a word that goes back thousands of years that originally meant "to be bought out of slavery." In the modern sense, it means restoration, to have something that has gone wrong to be made right again. As a follower of Christ, it means that my previous life of pessimistic hopelessness and cynicism has been redeemed by unconditional love so that I can live with hope and optimism. As a recovered alcoholic, it means that my slow march to an early grave was redeemed with a life in recovery that has been, for more than 25 years at this point, characterized by happiness, joy, and freedom. As a philosopher, it means that I am a champion of the idea that the universe and all that resides in it has a specific reality and meaning that transcends the narrow boundaries of our short human lives. Redemption is the theme of my life, and each movie on my list is, in big and little ways, a narrative of redemption.
The Romantic Comedies
Dan in Real Life is about how a widower finds new love; the wrong that needs to be made right is the unfortunate reality that his perfect mate is dating his shallow brother. Almost Famous, The Cutting Edge, ...say anything, and When Harry Met Sally are about overcoming the obstacles that keep us apart from the ones we love. Russell's cynicism about the music business is redeemed by William's youthful passion. Doug and Kate redeem their Olympic dreams by learning to trust each other. Lloyd and Diane are redeemed from their family's and friend's expectations. Harry and Sally are redeemed from the past mistakes of failed relationships.
The Animated Features
Ratatouille is an underdog (well, under-rat) story; how someone from humble beginnings can become a great artist. Remy's talents redeem his antagonistic relationship with humans, as well as redeeming Linguini's relationship with his late father, Chef Gusteau. In The Incredibles, Bob redeems his misery of living in hiding and not using his super powers by defeating the villain he created out of his own disregard for others, and in doing so, resolves much of the conflict in his marriage and family. Hiccup and Toothless redeem each other's lives in How to Train Your Dragon while also resolving the age-old conflict between Vikings and dragons. It's a story about enemies redeeming each other as friends.
Science Fiction
Kirk finds redemption for his past mistakes with Khan, his relationship with Carol Marcus, and most of all, his sense of age and mortality in Star Trek II. Roy Neary is compelled by obsessions he doesn't understand to find redemption in alien contact in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Neo is, quite literally, "The One," the redeemer of humankind in The Matrix. Ripley redeems her nightmares and saves Newt, who becomes the daughter Ripley lost during her years drifting in space, in Aliens (which is why I refuse to acknowledge that the next movie even happened). Finally, The Empire Strikes Back is part of an ongoing double redemption story: redeeming the galaxy from the tyranny of the Empire, and redeeming Anakin Skywalker back from the Dark Side of the Force.
Comedies, Thrillers, and Action/Adventures
Although they are both silly beyond measure, Young Frankenstein and Ghostbusters both feature scientists who are trying to redeem their reputations by proving that their scientific theories are true. They succeed in both instances, with disastrous and hilarious results. In the thrillers, the protagonist must redeem their people from a monster. In Jaws, Chief Martin Brody has to save his home from the shark, and in doing so, confronts his fear of the ocean. Clarice Starling is tasked with saving Catherine Martin from the serial killer Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, and in turn confronts the demons of her own past with the counsel of another monster, Hannibal Lecter. John McClane and Indiana Jones are both redemption heroes in Die Hard and Raiders of the Lost Ark. McClane saves his wife and the other Nakatomi hostages, while Dr. Jones saves the world from the specter of Nazi domination. In both cases, their redemptive heroism mends their relationships with the women they love.
The Dramas
Henry Hill's redemption story is ironic because he doesn't want to change or leave his life of crime, but he makes that selfish sacrifice to save his own life, as well as his wife's and children's, in Goodfellas. Pulp Fiction's redemption story is much more clear, as Jules decides to leave his life of crime after the miracle of the missing bullets. In contrast, Vincent rejects the notion of the miraculous and ends up dead in Butch the boxer's bathroom.
In Apollo 13, the crew finds their redemption in "successful failure"; they failed to land on the moon as planned, but they made it home safely. In this case, hundreds of men and women worked tirelessly to bring the three astronauts home alive. The Shawshank Redemption has the word in its title, for Pete's sake. Andy is redeemed from a crime he didn't commit, and by keeping his own hope alive, he redeems Red from his own hopeless imprisonment. For Dominic Cobb in Inception, he must find a way to redeem himself from the guilt he feels over his wife's death, and the only way for him to do this is to confront her in the dream reality that they created and that destroyed her. The entire mission for Cobb is about saying goodbye to Mal and getting back to his children.
Finally, Schindler's List is about a man who was a literal, traditional redeemer. He used his own ill-gotten fortune to buy the lives of more than 1,100 Jewish men, women, and children who would most likely have perished in the Holocaust had it not been for his determination to save their lives. As he is told at the end of the war, "He who saves one life saves the world entire."
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