What makes a good film?
The key elements that make a good film are a mixture of a passionate director, a well-written script and outstanding actors, combined with great cinematography, an emotive story and a unique soundtrack. However, there are many more factors that can be considered to make a film “good”. What makes a film good can also differ depending on the audience and what they enjoy.
As an example, I will be using the film ‘The Dark Knight’ which was directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan. It won the People’s Choice Award for Favourite Movie in 2009 and was ranked as the 15th greatest film in history on Empire’s list of the “500 Greatest Movies of All Time’.
As with most of Nolan’s films, ‘The Dark Knight’ has one of the best casts of talented and well-known actors. Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker in the film, even posthumously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
One of the main reasons why ‘The Dark Knight’ is a good film is because of the underlying messages it presents. It shows that when faced with a crisis situation, the best and worst traits in mankind emerge. This was proved multiple times throughout the film, but the scene where this was most prominent was during the tense boat sequence towards the end of the film where an ultimatum was given to the passengers on both ferries.
The soundtrack in ‘The Dark Knight’ is incredibly unique and tense and was composed by Hans Zimmer. A soundtrack can introduce a tone throughout the film, as is the case with the Joker’s theme (“Why So Serious”) which consists of two notes played by electric cello, solo violin, guitars and a string section. Zimmer used razor blades on the string instruments to achieve the tortured, twisted sound to join the character on screen. A soundtrack can also portray hidden feelings such as, in the main theme, Zimmer used two repeated notes to represent Batman’s pain and guilt.
A good representation of mise en scene in this film is the last time the Joker is on screen. In the scene, he is hanging upside down as Batman confronts him, however the camera rotates so that the Joker’s orientation appears right side up. This reflects his final turning of the tables on his adversary, and being upside down with the Joker’s anarchy in these final moments leaves the audience in a state of unease that, even though he may have not won every battle, his plans with corrupting Harvey Dent has succeeded which shows that he won the war.
The film might appeal to many due to the amount of genres it covers such as action, superhero, thriller and drama. In films, genres are important because they give a standard for the audience and they know what to expect.
In conclusion, there are many factors that work together to create a good film, but the most important element is to create an interest for the audience.
