After a viewing whether in the cinema or on cable TV we always emboss our opinion on the movie. Frequently this opinion is indelible particularly if it's either terrible or terrific. Yet every once in a while a particular film resurrects itself in our subconscious and compels us to give it another chance at redemption. This occurs when our lives change, when we mature, when we have more life experience, and when we're more empathetic.
Personally this occurred with three films: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Annie Hall (1977) and The King of New York (1990). In each case in my first viewing I thought they were horrific and boring. All three films are NYC focused yet initially even as a native New Yorker I had a tough time understanding the characters, their roles and their purpose. After subsequent viewings, thanks to the magic of cable and DVD services, they're all on my highly recommended viewing list
Midnight Cowboy starred Jon Voight as a cowboy who travels to NYC with the delusional mindset that rich ladies will throw themselves at him and that he'll live the easy life as a gigolo. The brutal reality is quite different and he ends up trolling the subculture of eccentric, starving artists far below the social station he desired. Even in the 21st century it's déjà vu as armies of young people flock to NYC for "fame & fortune" in finance, high-tech, or the creative fields most of whom experience the crushing rejection and sometimes end up decamping the Big Apple like Jon Voight's character decades earlier.
Upon first viewing I thought that the comedy Annie Hall was ridiculously silly and the characters played by Woody Allen and Diane Keaton were downright idiotic. During my acquisition of life experience not only did I understand better, but I was imperceptibly unknowingly becoming the Woody Allen character with his mindset in my relationships. And when you're in a relationship, the surrounding environment isn't as ugly as you think it is. The movie's release in 1977 was during a time that The Bronx was burning and NYC was just another apocalyptic American urban jungle. Notwithstanding, the film focused on their comic and quirky relationship and almost nothing on the urban dangers.
Finally the gangster flick The King of New York. In my initial viewing I was confused as to why the recently released gangster Frank White, played with gusto by Christopher Walken, returned to a life of crime risking everything. This criminal's insatiable greed parallels those white-collar criminals in designer business suits working on Wall Street who continue to push the envelope even when they can see the edge of the cliff. Frank White's mini-lecture to a detective (Victor Argo) on the government's hypocritical war on drugs rings true today similar to the bankers' complaint to government about additional oversight regulations.
The films never changed. I did. I've seen each of these films several times over the course of many years and with additional life experience appreciate the messages that they conveyed like layers being peeled away. After my first viewing I was clueless. After the second viewing I got a better understanding and what the director wanted to say but it was still unappealing. The third time I secured the emotional understanding and sympathy. And by the final viewing, I developed a bond with the characters.
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