The Chimp wrote:
I think people will still be watching it in 100 years time as a timeless classic ...
I was thinking about this c-word a few months ago. "Classic." What turns a phenomenon or a blockbuster into a classic? Movie channels on cable TV abuse the word classic e.g. AMC or TCM. Yes, TCM has
Casablanca, but they regularly show
Viva Las Vegas, too. So when does a classic become a classic?
I think The Chimp is right about the "test of time" his comment implies. But it is not just time. There has to be somehting else.
There are films like
Citizen Kane, which broke ground in many aspects of film making and thus is a benchmark film for all time. But people do not watch it regularly, because it does not bring out in the viewer any genuine emotional identification with the characters.
Conversely,
Casablanca was only noted as an advancement of the film art to the extent to which it showed what truly talented people behind the camera can do in a studio-lot-bound production. They just created a film that remains emotionally inspiring and awesomely entertaining. The reason we watch it is we are still pulled into the lives of the people involved.
And that is why The Chimp will be proven correct in 2103.
Casablanca's story is not less compelling today because the WW II setting is 70+ years in the past, there are no computers or cell phones, and the Hays Code prevented Rick and Elsa from doing anything more than noting Rick "let her pretend." So, too, The Park Hyatt's key locks, Bob's flip phone, and increasingly dated automobiles will not cause
LiT to fade.
In fact, I think just the opposite will happen. It will be rediscovered by each generation. Sophia Coppola captured some level of knife-cutting human truth that can not be taken away by the passage of time. In fact, I would suspect that with the removal of associated time and place experiences, the human components of the story will be even clearer for the viewers.
This is not to say the film will not be studied for its art. In fact, I think that such will be why the film will be studied. From a short and highly flexible script and with limited resources in every dimension of production, Coppola was able to cut deep into the core two people and allow us to experience their interactions with each other and the world around them. Her work will challenge directors for generations: She did it; why can't you?
