TARKOVSKY

I have completed some research on Tarkovsky, and found him to be a very interesting individual. These are some videos which I’ve found interesting courtesy of YouTube.

Tarkosky stated that cinema was in an unhappy state because it relies on money to survive. Although these comments were perhaps a very long time ago, they’re still relevant today.

Many filmmakers find themselves having to restrict their creativity, and artistic expression in order to be commercially viable.

Films that struggled to ever see the light of day include, the likes of ‘The Fountain’, ‘Being John Malkovich’ and ‘American Beauty. They were only made because of the reputable filmmakers that took charge of them.

Most films and/ or filmmakers find themselves in a difficult state, as major studios won’t fund them. I used to blame studios for all the poor films that I was tortured with over the years. But now I’m not so sure it’s black and white.

Are the producers responsible for these crap films? Or are they just catering to the public?

It comes back to the nature vs nurture. We can argue a possibility that due to the mindless films that have been produced over the years, has now resulted in audiences being accustomed to watching poor films.

In my opinion films like Bad Boys, Transformers, Triple X may be poor films, but we can’t deny that they gross a lot of money.

Producers would argue that the public wouldn’t watch certain films that have experimental elements such as the ones mentioned above, and would argue that these kind of films don’t sell as much.

However, if mindless films continue to populate cinemas then how can we expect people to appreciate different films.

It’s not just feature filmmakers that find themselves in this position, but also documentary filmmakers are also found having to censor most of their material to suit the needs of the producer.

The marketing of a film is also something Tarkosky mentions and today films are sold like a product. Today you see a film advertised in fastfood restaurants like McDonalds, breakfast boxes like cornflakes, toys, consumerism and capitalism have infiltrated the cinematic arts.

Another point worth mentioning is how he mentions a film’s success is dependant on how much money it makes. A film like The Shawshank Redemption, or There Will Be Blood didn’t gross much money at all, but there’s no denying that they are classic films. ‘Good films are not seen by the masses’

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