CineTV Weekly Prompts - #11: Two of the movies that made an impact on me.

about 1 year ago (Edited)

Good afternoon, in my life as a film addict there are many films that have managed to impact me for their plot, their realization and for what they have managed to entertain me, and there are others that have driven me to have more love for cinema, to discover other films that at least for me become cult or contribute something more to my knowledge about cinema. Here I present two anecdotes that exemplify my words.

1.- A Dracula that impressed me.

When I was a child (in the 70's), I used to sneak out after midnight to watch television, especially on Fridays, when Channel 2 (Radio Caracas Television) showed a program called Señor Cine (Mr. Cinema) and the movies they showed were horror films.

I witnessed stories related to: walking mummies, menagerie men, gorgons, two-headed men, the Frankenstein monster, witches and vampires. I have to say that some movies impressed me but others amused me, arriving the moment that I understood that nothing I saw in those movies was real.

The first vampire I saw was not the one starred by Bela Lugosi, but by Christopher Lee, who presented an imposing characterization as Count Dracula, it was very scary to see him with red eyes full of blood. The film was called Horror of Dracula.

This Dracula under an aristocratic appearance hid all the fury and evil that tried to be contained by his nemesis Van Helsing, spectacular Peter Cushing. In many occasions Christopher Lee transmitted much more emotions with his looks and silences than with his dialogues. He is a monster who rejects the moral standards of society.

An additional element that I didn't realize until I came of age, is that perverse sexual charge that the film exudes.

The setting and lighting in the film more than do their job, generating uneasiness in the viewers.

I think Lee's performance gave me a fascination for these beings of the night, which is why I have a whole collection of vampire movies, including the classic version with Bela Lugosi, Francis Ford Coppola's vision of Dracula, a version of the original 1931 Dracula that was filmed parallel to Tod Browning's version, The Fearless Vampire Killers directed by Roman Polanski and many others.

Source

2.- Raiders of the Lost Ark and Fritz Lang.

In 1981, mythical action and adventure movies like Mad Max 2, Nighthaws, 1997: Rescue in New York, were filmed, and I could not see them until they came out in Beta or VHS format, the reason was that due to censorship in my country, Venezuela, I could not go to the movies to enjoy them.
When I was 13 years old I really wanted to see Raiders of the Lost Ark, but the film was suitable for people over 14 years old. At that time I would see the marquee of the movie theater where the film was shown, and the box office would show it from 10:00 A.M. to 8:30 P.M.

In a burst of courage I told my mother that I was going to school, but that day I ran away from classes, I had two jackets on at the same time and wore high heels, I thought that made me look much older than I was.

I went to the box office at about 9:30 A.M., the line was very short, (it was a time when people were either working or studying), and I managed to buy my ticket. The guard at the entrance laughed at me so I assumed that it would be impossible to enter the movie theater, to my surprise he broke my ticket and let me in, at this time I assume he was laughing at my attire.

After sitting down with an exaggerated amount of candy and watching the regulatory news, the magic began: the little mountain of Paramount Pictures became real, there is a jungle full of dangers, a huge stone ball that threatens to crush the main archaeologist, an angry Indian tribe, snake nests, Nazis and an ark of the alliance with supernatural powers. I was witnessing the birth of the mythical Indiana Jones, an adventurous archaeologist who lives dangerous and entertaining adventures that border on the fantastic.

I liked the film so much that I stayed to watch it one more time in a continuous show, it reminded me at times of a movie I had seen on television called The Secret of the Incas, mostly because Harrison Ford's costume was very similar to the one used by Charlton Heston in the aforementioned movie.

Source

Subsequent to the viewing I found out that one of the antecedents of this film are the films of Fritz Lang: The Tiger of Esnapur and The Indian Tomb, two films that I recommend to see together because they are related to each other. This viewing motivated me to revisit an earlier work by Lang, a masterful film called Metropolis, for which I thank Spielberg and company.

Every time I want to spend moments of fun and entertainment I watch this first Indiana Jones film and I remember how the film unintentionally induced me to discover Fritz Lang's Masterpieces such as Metropolis, M, the Vampire of Düsseldorf and Dr. Mabuse, as well as the already mentioned The Tiger of Esnapur and The Indian Tomb.

This is my participation in the CineTv initiative CineTV Weekly Prompts - #11 Link Here . I hope you get motivated and participate by sharing these stories that make us fall in love more with the seventh art. Best regards to all.