On imperfect viewing conditions. |
I watch films on my laptop. I watch films while under the influence. Sometimes (tonight) I do both simultaneously…
Can I say that I have fully viewed a film seen this way? Well, compare Pan’s Labyrinth with The Devil’s Backbone: truly, such films benefit from the full theatrical experience, and Devil’s would have been even more affecting had I seen it properly. But as with a good book, I’m convinced that I can extrapolate from the material in front of me a fuller visual world, despite the limitations of a particular viewing experience. Can I depend on my imagination to take Lawrence of Arabia on a 2″ sq. iPod screen and turn it into the full cinematic experience? If forced to… perhaps…
Is there any defense I can give for viewing “serious” films while not quite in my right mind? Only to the extent that I can recognize an influence — and feel I essentially retain the upper hand over it. Alcohol is no more damaging to my opinion than watching a film under the influence of friends, whose responses, long before they are vocalized, begin to sway my judgment. In theory, the best practice would be to view all movies on filmstock, on a big screen, in isolation. But I so value the experience of watching a movie — not just the movie itself, but everything in my life at that time, everything going on around me, everything I feel outside the film — that I would hate to remove other influences so categorically…
This is part of my refusal to judge films purely objectively, and part of my insistence upon mixing my self into the viewing experience… everything I am and what I bring to it is part of my rating for any film — in that moment — and I will remember those things… viewing films becomes something akin to note-taking for autobiography…
But what the hell am I rambling on about? I’m drunk.
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