Cinema and Theatre
Many people believe that cinema and theatre are somehow opposed to each other. Theatre is ‘old art’ and cinema is ‘new art’. It’s not at all like this. I think it silly to argue about this question. Let the first like theatre and the second like cinema. I don’t belong to one group only. I can’t say that I am a theatre-goer, I have been to the theatre just a few times. And I have never been impressed. Now people come to understand that theatre as a social and artistic phenomenon needs something else, that could attract people. That’s why we see quite a lot of so-called ‘street-theatres’ with their performances which include fire-shows, acrobatics and many other curious things.
I have never been able to read plays. It seems boring to me, I don’t like the form of the play – it’s not easy to understand and not convenient to read. It seems that the logic of narration is somehow ‘broken’. I like to read usual books with passages of normal length.
But still I have a few acquaintances who are theatre-goers. We don’t talk much about the theatre with them, though.
Cinema is a newer and a more spectacular phenomenon for me. Don’t think that I like cinematography for its special effects only. No way. I have watched a lot of ‘good old stuff’. One of my favourite directors is I. Bergman. And I strongly advise to watch his masterpiece ‘Fanny and Alexander’ if you have time some day. Such films make people think.
I don’t often go to the cinema. I would watch films more often if I had more time. There are quite a lot of genres. I watch films in accordance with my present state and mood. Sometimes I can watch several action films running. Sometimes I need a horror film just to stir up my imagination and emotions. But my absolutely favourite genre is the historical one. It’s not necessarily a feature film, it may be a documentary. It’s even more interesting to see some real footage coming out of the past. I have watched a lot about the Second World War. I always watch them in the original and strongly advise you to do the same. The more you see in English, the better you understand the language and its peculiarities. The best films in my opinion are ‘Brave Heart’, starring Mel Gibson, ‘Gladiator’ and many others. I have watched ‘1492: Conquest of Paradise’ recently.
What I don’t like about modern cinema is the 3D technology. It hurts people’s eyes and is not safe to use. Unfortunately, there are a lot of good films presented in 3D only.
To finish with, I would like to tell you about a very interesting animation film director – A. Petrov. It’s not even animation completely. He created several films, using a unique technology – he paints every frame on glass, it makes the drawings transparent and weightless. Only one minute of filming requires more than 1 000 frames, and one can paint 15 within a day! It’s great work!
So, it’s not special effects that make a film impressive and memorable. A film should contain a part of the artist’s soul. Then it will shine on for a long time like a star among the rest. The same can be said about theatre and any other kind of art. And true art must never be ‘An art for art’s sake’. It must leave something in the soul of the spectator. Try to search for such Art and find it.
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