Just How Much Do You Know About Films?

Yeap, that's my question. How much do you think you know about movies? Watching loads of summer action flicks isn't exactly a great representation of  your knowledge. At least that I can say. I picked up this book randomly at Foyles Charing Cross Road couple days ago. As a film buff, I don't just watch movies, I wanna know more about them - history, film movements, styles of directing and so on. This has been a pretty productive summer for me, I've read and read, both fictions and non-fictions. In return, I've learnt loads about random things. When I bought this book, I was really interested in knowing more about artistic styles of Hollywood and European cinemas. I didn't read the description carefully enough, so it surprised me a lot when the book emphasizes more about social and political factors surrounding film production of different periods in particular parts of the world. Nevertheless, a pleasant read and I managed to learn some interesting stuff, from the style differences between the French New Wave (Godard, Truffaut, etc) and the New Italian Cinema (Fellini, Antonioni, etc), more clarity about non-dancing Indian cinema (Ray's movies), certain genres that have become more known in a country than another (Western films are often associated with Hollywood), and so on. I might have known some of them and I read the 400+ pages rather quickly (about 2.5 days). 

I want to write a little bit about my love for movies. How should I put it? Movies are something I've liked since I was young, without much realising how much certain titles have grown on me. I think the turning point was when I watched Schindler's List. That last scene, such a simple scene of people paying respect to Oskar Schindler. I wasn't able to stop crying. Since then, I started questioning myself how some films could be great and some couldn't. I've started going through some famous movie lists (e.g. various AFI, imdb, 1001 movies to watch before you die lists) to get an understanding of what good movies are. Movies have been with me when I was happy and sad. I have written some reviews occasionally, not long ones - short enough for Facebook status updates, and they're mostly on new movies. I truly wish I could learn more about film studies one day. I really wanna be involved in producing movies. I appreciate all kinds of movies although I'm more biased towards drama genre than summer blockbuster kind of things. Art house cinemas are something I support too - you'll be amazed when you watch some independent films and realise how much better they are than movies you often watch in cinemas.

I do wish I can pick up another book about the history of films, preferably one that talks more about different styles. I really wanna learn more about the French New Wave and the New Italian Cinema. I think I've found some good titles, but haven't been to a bookstore to personally check them yet. Maybe I'll write about my findings next time :)