A quarter-century later
With this year’s Academy Awards behind us, it’s a good time to look further back, at the movies celebrating the 25th anniversary of their release. Some of the 1993 films below represent truly excellent cinema. All are worthy of conversation and reflection today.
Here, then, is my second annual list of 25-yearold films whose lessons I recommend:
For those who consider political adversaries vicious monsters they dare not approach, The
Sandlot. Too many today have forgotten the childhood cycle of cooperation, risk and discovery. If kids can do it, the rest of us can too. True, sometimes the dog in the next yard really is a beast you should stay away from. But sometimes, when you finally knock on the door, this happens.
For those who worry about the consequences of out-of-control technology, Jurassic Park. I mean, seriously. What else? Because Steven Spielberg’s interpretation of Michael Crichton’s best-seller is so tense and thrilling, it’s easy to forget that the film preserves the novel’s cautionary message about technocratic hubris. The special effects have aged well. Also, vintage Jeff Goldblum.
For those across the political spectrum who have grown alarmingly casual about how they toss around the words “Nazi” and “fascist,”
Schindler’s List. Spielberg’s Holocaust masterpiece is difficult to watch but impossible to turn away from, in part because of the power of the narrative, in part because of the rich interplay between Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes.
For those who still doubt that a truly deep and profound love can come in many different forms,
Philadelphia. A well-deserved Oscar for Tom Hanks as a gay lawyer dying of AIDS, but don’t overlook Denzel Washington’s remarkable turn as the lawyer’s lawyer.
Falling Down: A film conservatives should watch to understand how liberals think conservatives think. Middle-class white male gets angry, goes on rampage, but the triggering grievance is trivial. Worth seeing for the we’ve-allbeen-there “that’s not our policy” scene.
In the Line of Fire: A film liberals should watch to understand how conservatives think conservatives think. Clint Eastwood, as an aging Secret Service agent, is a stand-in for a generation determined to stick to the values it grew up with. Intricate cat-and-mouse between Eastwood and John Malkovich, who plans to assassinate the president.
Needful Things: A film liberals should watch to understand how conservatives think liberals think. If somebody promises to give you what you want free, chances are you’re not getting what you think. (Money quote: “Everybody is insane everywhere!”)
Finally, for all of us, especially those who find the present moment so dreary that every day seems exactly the same, and see the era a winter dark and bereft of hope, Groundhog Day. The lesson is that we can emerge with joy, but to do so must seek truth and beauty in the small . . . and within.