Day 193
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Months ago, I was charged with organizing a movie event for the 20-something small group at our church. I'd forgotten about it over the past few months, and--despite occasional reminders from friends--continued to forget about it until last week.
I'm not sure why I easily pushed it out of my mind; maybe because I assumed I would be able to come up with something easily when finally backed into a corner. Which is totally false. Maybe I just genuinely forgot. Whatever.
In the end the answer was staring me in the face. I'd collected a few recommendations in the back of my mind. But I'd also collected a few criteria: 1) something good 2) something (hopefully) not boring or too long 3) something "classic" or foreign, just to break from the mold a bit 4) something that asked big questions but also asks the audience to think 5) something entertaining
The answer was the Third Man, probably my favorite film (it and the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance duke it out for the #1 spot constantly). It's 1) a good movie 2) not boring or too long 3) both foreign (English, despite two American leads; it's also a distinctly European film) and "classic" (made in the '40s) 4) it asks PLENTY of big questions, and some of the moral quandaries still haunt me to this day 5) It's definitely riveting. Plus, it's written by Graham Greene, which is a big plus. Knowing the 20-something crowd well enough, I think most of them won't have a problem with it being black and white and old. (Seriously, I know plenty of people that refuse to watch "old" movies.)
It's a good movie. Very good. Incredibly good. Considered one of the best films of all time. Now let's hope my friends will dig it.
posted, with grace and poise, by Jason @ 3/17/2007 06:58:00 PM,
