What makes a ‘good’ film?

A well written story with a great cast, impressive cinematography and a beautiful soundtrack; are all features that anyone could refer to when ranking a film, but what about a film’s influence? How does a film affect the people watching it? 

An example of a film that had an impact on the industry for good was ‘Citizen Kane’. Which utilized a new style for shooting film; this new style was further applied on future noir movies such as ‘Double Indemnity’. Great movies have the ability to change things; from how a person looks at the world, to how a director decides to shoot a film. 

For an audience; a film that affects them on a more complex and emotional level tends to be more memorable; which creates a conversation between the viewer and the film ( the viewer begins to search for answers to questions within the film ). A film could have a great story, and amazing cinematography, but without a connection to the audience and the film, it becomes meaningless. 

A personal example of a beautifully choreographed film would be ‘her’ (2013, by Spike Jonze). ‘Her’ is a journey for both the audience and the main character (Theodore), as the audience follows the story of a lost man going through a divorce; and finding solace in a new artificial intelligence installed onto his computer. A unique love story between an artificial voice and a man. Throughout the film the audience is given short montages from the past of Theodore’s colourful life with his ex-wife, whilst also showing how dull his present is. As the audience becomes more acquainted with the character they begin to develop an attachment which later develops into empathy for the character. 

Furthermore the film also utilizes the effect of cinematography; the shots of Theodore mainly consist of shallow focus and single shots in contrast to those around him, such as couples; who are always shown in two shots. The single shots signify his loneliness and detachment from other people. The use of shallow focus highlights his detachment from his surroundings; as everything around him is a blur. There are always reasons why a director chooses to film in such a manner; they use it to portray a deeper message, or to enthrall an audience.

What makes a good film? My summary would be that everyone looks at a film in a different way; one may favour a film’s use of cinematography, whilst the other could favour a film’s storyline more, but I believe that those two are meaningless without the audience’s attention and enthrallment to the film itself, so a film that works harmoniously with the audience; utilizing all aspects of the film ( not only the cinematography and storyline, but its message ) is what I would consider a ‘good’ film.