BBM DVD WATCHING Habits and Reactions: THINKIN' OUT LOUD... POWERFUL FILM SCENES

[rtprod]

Hi guys,

I'm just curious how many times everyone has watched their DVDs since the release last month, and what reactions have been versus your theatrical experience(s).  How impcatful it has been may have to do with your home set up, but one thing I'm curious about is how often you jump to specific scenes versus watch the film straight through.  I usually watch straight through and have seen my DVD only twice since release (though I had an Academy screener since December so I got accustomed to the idea of having the film at my fingertips). 

I have found that I can't really watch scenes out of context by selecting individual chapters--I somehow feel like I am robbing myself of the cumulative emotional effect of seeing them play out as they were intended, and without the "build" it removes some of the power from the experience.  Anyone else experienced this?  And if you do jump to a specific scene most often, which one is it?  I know, I know, but let's try to forget about the first tent scene here for a moment guys....   

rt

[chefjudy]

  I agree with you on this one RT, I have watched it twice all the way through and cried both times - I think if I only watched certain scenes, it wouldn't have the same emotional impact as it would after having my guts torn out for two hours in a complete run-through.................imho

[DeeDee]

I know exacyly what you mean. You need to watch straight through or it loses alot of its impact.   I've watched my DVD 2 times with others and 4 times myself.  After watching 22 times in the theater, I noticed something I never noticed before.  In the second tent scene, right when Jack first kisses Ennis, you see Ennis' hand in between them like he doesn't know what to do with it.
I don't know why, but I found that adorable, and I don't remember noticing that in the theater.

The only scene I skip to once in a while is the lake scene.  The acting in that scene is so powerful, that each time I watch a new emotion emerges.  

[rtprod]

I have to confess that I have skipped directly to that scene a couple times but I have an interesting reaction.

I find myself, nearly each time I see this scene, looking away from the screen when Heath breaks into his "I'm nothing" line.  It gives me chills actually, the level of commitment he has in that scene and I feel as though I am eavesdropping on the private pain of another human being, and like it's something I should not see.  It also overwhelms me from an acting standpoint and I guess it just hurts to watch it.  Never once seen that moment without a few tears of my own.  That scene is unparallled in terms of writing and acting.  It just can't get better than that. 

I hate to digress here but this thread is bound to evolve as well and I have just thought of another angle to go on here.  Let's make a list of poweful film scenes that approach that level of emotional commitment and affect us that deeply.  Not just ordinary moving, but truly deep and profound.  The first that comes to mind is:

1. Meryl Streep's struggle with, and reaction to, her choice in "Sophie's Choice"

[ednbarby]

I have watched it seven times on the DVD.  Twice with others and five times alone.  The seventh and most recent time is the first time (and probably the last) I didn't watch it all the way through.  I stopped it after Ennis broke down in the alley.  For some reason, that night I just wanted to remember them as only having each other.  Which of course is what they always had, but I just wasn't up for seeing the women in their lives.  Except for the two walking by when Aguirre pulls up to the trailer, we never see a single woman in that first act of the film.  And that night, that was just the way I wanted it.

But I'm with you all that I don't think I could skip around, pick certain chapters and what-not.  And the next time I watch it, I won't just pick up where I left off - I'll start again from the beginning.  As you've all said, I think it would lose the full impact if I did.

To add to your list, rt:

2. Liam Neeson's reaction when he rides up over the ridge to see the mass graves of the Jews (and the little girl in the red coat on the top of one of them) in "Schindler's List"

[rtprod]

I have watched it seven times on the DVD.  Twice with others and five times alone.  The seventh and most recent time is the first time (and probably the last) I didn't watch it all the way through.  I stopped it after Ennis broke down in the alley.  For some reason, that night I just wanted to remember them as only having each other.  Which of course is what they always had, but I just wasn't up for seeing the women in their lives.  Except for the two walking by when Aguirre pulls up to the trailer, we never see a single woman in that first act of the film.  And that night, that was just the way I wanted it.

But I'm with you all that I don't think I could skip around, pick certain chapters and what-not.  And the next time I watch it, I won't just pick up where I left off - I'll start again from the beginning.  As you've all said, I think it would lose the full impact if I did.

To add to your list, rt:

2. Liam Neeson's reaction when he rides up over the ridge to see the mass graves of the Jews in "Schindler's List"

Gotcha.  Neeson's reaction was awesome in that moment. 

3. Oprah Winfrey's reaction to her grown children after being released from prison, returning home on Christmas in "The Color Purple"

[serious crayons]

I haven't bought the DVD, fearing I'd be tempted to overwatch and become desensitized. I hadn't seen it since it left theaters, so about two months. Then I rented it last week and watched it twice, beginning to end, because it was a two-day rental. Later, I realized my kids would be getting out of school in a couple of weeks, after which my viewing would be curtailed, so I rented it again yesterday and watched it once, beginning to end but FFing through a few parts because I was short on time. It has since become an eight-day rental, so I have it until next Friday and may watch it once again before returning it. (Always alone -- I've only seen the movie one time with someone else.)

I might be tempted to skip around more except that I a) agree that you lose impact that way, b) have lost my remote and c) watched some of the best parts time and time again on YouTube. Still, not surprisingly they are MUCH more intense on the DVD. Sometimes I do reverse and watch parts twice.

But rt, I think you should also ask how many times people saw it in the theater. I saw it "only" seven times there. If that number were different, it might affect how often I'd watch the DVD. Also rt, you didn't say how many times YOU have watched your DVD.

You expressed this really beautifully (though I myself CAN'T look away):

I find myself, nearly each time I see this scene, looking away from the screen when Heath breaks into his "I'm nothing" line.  It gives me chills actually, the level of commitment he has in that scene and I feel as though I am eavesdropping on the private pain of another human being, and like it's something I should not see.  It also overwhelms me from an acting standpoint and I guess it just hurts to watch it.  Never once seen that moment without a few tears of my own.  That scene is unparallled in terms of writing and acting.  It just can't get better than that. 

As for your other question, I'm sorry but I can't think of any. Either Sophie's Choice or Schindler's List might be a candidate, and I would hate to think I wasn't deeply moved by the Holocaust, but I saw those so long ago I can't remember my emotional reaction very well. I can tell you I haven't been tempted to watch any movie 10 times since I was a kid.

[rtprod]

I haven't bought the DVD, fearing I'd be tempted to overwatch and become desensitized. I hadn't seen it since it left theaters, so about two months. Then I rented it last week and watched it twice, beginning to end, because it was a two-day rental. Later, I realized my kids would be getting out of school in a couple of weeks, after which my viewing would be curtailed, so I rented it again yesterday and watched it once, beginning to end but FFing through a few parts because I was short on time. It has since become an eight-day rental, so I have it until next Friday and may watch it once again before returning it. (Always alone -- I've only seen the movie one time with someone else.)

I might be tempted to skip around more except that I a) agree that you lose impact that way, b) have lost my remote and c) watched some of the best parts time and time again on YouTube. Still, not surprisingly they are MUCH more intense on the DVD. Sometimes I do reverse and watch parts twice.

But rt, I think you should also ask how many times people saw it in the theater. I saw it "only" seven times there. If that number were different, it might affect how often I'd watch the DVD. Also rt, you didn't say how many times YOU have watched your DVD.

You expressed this really beautifully (though I myself CAN'T look away):

As for your other question, I'm sorry but I can't think of any. Either Sophie's Choice or Schindler's List might be a candidate, and I would hate to think I wasn't deeply moved by the Holocaust, but I saw those so long ago I can't remember my emotional reaction very well. I can tell you I haven't been tempted to watch any movie 10 times since I was a kid.

Hey latjoreme, thanks for commenting here.  Well, losing the remote is a new one but that certainly helps keep the film "itact" doesn't it?  LOL. 

I think I may have mentioned that I have only seen my DVD twice, and need to be in the right "head space" to watch it, meaning free from distractions and other obligations, and that hasn't happened enough lately. 

Come back when you can think of a powerful scene and make sure you add.  BTW, Streep was also very good in a miniseries named Holocaust, which I managed to see on video. 

rt

[Kd5000]

I agree with the other posters. I bought the DVD the first day it came out, yet I've seen it on the big screen more times then I've watched it at home on my tv, only 3. Go figure.   

Yes, it is dangerous to skip to your favorite scenes as now every scene in the movie can have both Ennis and Jack together. How much time would that be in film, a 50 minute film. Just a guess.  Maybe longer, maybe less. Anyone calculated that, total time in the film where Ennis and Jack are together.

By the way,l after Ennis and Alma get married, I did do some fast fwd to Jack and Ennis reunion kiss time period. Interesting to see Ennis waitin for Jack to show up. And the motel scene and the immediate scenes afterwards are quite good. 

I hope I didn't do anything wrong but DVD's make everything so accessible. Plus ppl are right, a powerful scene is usually something that doesn't happen right away. There has to be buildup beforehand so that it makes the reunion, other scenes I loved more worthwhile.   

[j.U.d.E.]

Ever since I got my DVD I watched it several times... But only ever until the 2nd tent scene (I hate the sudden jump everytime a little more, from when we see fun-wrestling Ennis and Jack change to Aguirre's face and the binoculars..). Then I fast forward to the reunion scene.. I haven't made it past that scene. So for over a month or more now, I haven't watched/seen the gut-wrentching scenes and other sad moments. Too scared..

However, I can watch the first very silent 8 minutes over and over...      From the very first notes of Santaolalla's score to when Ennis and Jack bond in the bar.

For 12 years now, I haven't dared to watch "Schindler's List" again. In 1994 I went the day it was released (in Madrid) in a packed! cinema. After the film, when the whole crowd left the theatre, there was not one single noise. The crowd was dead silent..

I never got beyond this one scene at the very beginning of "The Pianist" (with Adrian Brody) - spoiler ahead - when they push the old man in a wheelchair out of the window........... Just can't watch it again, or the rest of the film.

~ j U d E