Film Club co-presidents reveal the facets of great film

Art can alter the course of someone’s life. In the 21st century where movies are the most popular form of art, millions of people’s lives are impacted by what they see on the screen. They might be inspired to teach a lesson, offer advice or change a person’s perspective. The way movies absorb attention enables audiences to get more involved in a story and in turn feel the full emotional impact. At St. Paul Academy and Summit School, Film Club offers students the opportunity to visit another world or see their own with a different pair of eyes. Film Club co-presidents seniors Drew Fawcett and Noa Carlson reflected on movies that had the greatest impact on their life.

Jack Benson

Q: What movie has had the biggest impact on your life, and why did it have such a big impact?

A: “Forrest Gump”. It introduced to me just how intense and funny, yet also serious a narrative can be in a single film.

Q: What movie made you the happiest or saddest while watching?

A: “Bridge to Terabithia“. It made me so sad. It taught me about loss.

Q: How do directors get people to feel strong emotions?

A: You get the audience to care about someone or something. That’s the key. If the audience doesn’t care, there’s no interest or drive in the movie. If you can make someone care you can make them cry… or laugh.

Q: What do you think makes a movie powerful?

A: Humanity. Appealing to the humanity of people with characters and plot really reach an audience.

Q: What movie has had the biggest impact on your life, and why did it have such a big impact?

A: When I was about seven, my parents showed me “Grease,” which was probably one of the first movie musicals I had ever seen, and I fell completely in love with that movie and eventually that genre. [One] movie that has impacted me is ‘The Ten Commandments.” It made me really appreciate special effects and what good and bad acting looked like. As well, I acquired an enormous appreciation for older films that did not have the special effects that we are used to today, but managed and did what they could to create beautiful and epic films.

Q: What movie made you the happiest or saddest while watching?

A: [Atonement] I was pretty sure that my heart was torn out, because it was such an emotional bash of my soul that I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

Q: How do directors get people to feel strong emotions?

A: An intention. By that, I do not mean a preachy message, but rather an intention for the movie to represent something or comment on something in the world, because without it the movie won’t mean much to anyone.

Q: What do you think makes a movie powerful?

A: A powerful movie is created through an excellent script and story-line, phenomenal acting, great directing, costuming, and set design. It is an effort from all departments to create a powerful and one-of-a-kind movie.

This story is reprinted from The Rubicon Print edition: Feb. 8, 2018