I watch too many movies. There… I’ve admitted it. While others are reading books or debating the great issues of life at sophisticated dinner parties – or so I imagine – I’m enraptured by the latest Hollywood epic playing on my Blu-Ray and magnified through a large-screen projector and 5.1 surround sound system. As guilty as I feel, I can’t help but be captivated by these two hour lodestones of modern culture. To be sure, movies are rarely philosophical masterpieces (and I rarely watch art-house films anyway) but I am usually compensated by an art form that is rich in narrative, humour, imagery and/or auditory beauty .
On the other hand, some movies do provide occasional insights that resonate with my own experiences. I’ve always believed that wisdom can be found anywhere if you look hard enough. Even in Hollywood.
Here are a few:
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1. Charlie Wilson’s War: On American triumphalism in the aftermath of the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan…
2. Breaker Morant: On law and morality during war…
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: On the meaning of death…
We’re meant to lose the people we love
4. Hannah and Her Sisters: On the meaning of life…
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Is there a line from a movie that you remember well?