The Independent has a piece today with celebrities nominating the movies that changed their life. The results are quite interesting, especially Ali Smith who chooses Celine and Julie Go Boating and explains the effect it had on her writing. Yes I am biased because she chose my favourite film, but she also shows how meaningful it is in a very specific and personal way which most of the respondents did not. Gordon Brown claims his was The Chariots of Fire "because it's all about the potential of young people being realised", which is possibly the most political statement he could make. Despite that and some of the other banal comments I think it is really valuable to acknowledge the importance that particular films hold for us both personally and culturally. Which is rather the point of Film Club asking the questions as it functions to show films to children and encourage them to embrace film. This is one of many things happening at the moment to raise the profile of film as a valid cultural and educational medium and is part of a new FILM: 21st Century Literacy strategy which is really good news for culture and education in the UK.
In personal terms I am not sure that I can think of a particular single film that changed my life, not in the same meaning anyhow. My going to see Face by Antonia Bird changed my life in that it renewed a friendship, which led to me getting a job at the cinema, which resulted in my meeting my partner through a colleague there. But the content of the film didn't do this. However, there are so many films that can be seen as important in influencing who I am and how I view the world. I'm going to have to think about this further...
