Theatre and movies are the biggest tributaries of literature. Not everyday do you come across such movies that impact you under the skin, the ones that make you question your existence and your current principles. The art of expression is rare. Writing is a profession that demands the best of your thought process. Your perspective should not only convince readers but also be intriguing enough to bring about a change. Given below is a list of movies that every aspiring writer should watch.
1) Dead Poet’s Society
A movie that promotes non-conformity ; finding ones own voice and the courage to make it heard and that itself is an inevitable part of any writer’s journey and work. The constant charm of the English teacher, Mr. John Keating (Robin Williams) in describing the conflict between Realism and Romanticism topped with the concept of CARPE DIEM (seize the day) does not fail to keep the audiences stick to the movie. You really haven’t watched the movie until you cry in the last scene. Watch out to feel the beauty!
2) Stranger than Fiction
The protagonist of this movie Harold Crick (Will Ferell) is also the protagonist of an authors’s upcoming book. The movie actually begins at a point when Harold hears the voice of a woman constantly reiterating the intricacies of his day to day activities. The rest of the movie is about how Harold’s life was governed by a writer’s (Emma Thompson) mind and eventually her book. Harold then decides to change his life and finds love. The lines in the movie by Professor Jules Hilbert(Dustin Hoffman) “To find what story you are a part of, you must know what story you are not a part of” encapsulates the complete idea of this tale which is absolutely stranger than fiction!
3) The Hours
This adaptation of “Mrs Dalloway” remains my favourite of all. You can call it a Feminist text, yes! But the issues it covers defines the variety and the automated existence of life. The movie gives us three different approaches to sexuality and suicide. Also, it elaborates the concept of “A room of one’s own” explaining how the human responsibilities and guilts govern our lives. The three parallel lives in this movie is definitely a treat to any writer willing to capture different mind sets all together.
4) Midnight in Paris
A visual of delightful imagination of a man who is an aspiring novelist.I am sure this movie is any literary person’s dream. The world offers a name dropping view of artists and an ambivalent view of nostalgia in the dream city Paris. Gil’s(Owen Wilson) holiday is hugely improved when on the stroke of midnight over a number of nights he is miraculously transported back to Paris in twenties where he meets the art giants like F.Scott Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Salvador Dali, and Gertrude Stein.
It indeed is imagination at its best!
5) Adaptation
Not each one of us have the inner vitality to chase our dreams, either we are scared that it might leave us with lesser appetites in life or make us socially unacceptable. Tension is at the heart of Adaptation. Passion is the food for life to some and to some it’s nothing more than a fancy word. The crux of the movie lies in the lines said by John Laroche (Chris Cooper) – “Adaption is a profound process, it means how to survive in this world”. Mental conflict and different notions with an unsure success graph is objective to the youth of this nation. Why only writers?
Did we miss out on any? Tell us in comments below.
Read: Seven Movies a Media Student Must Watch
