I hate knowing the plot of a film before I see it, it spoils it somewhat for me
It’s difficult to avoid the plot outline when you’re browsing films to watch.
movie reviews, friends and then trailers and sometimes posters give away too much information
In fact I’d prefer to know nothing about a film before I see it – actors, director, setting -nothing (maybe the year it was made would be ok)
Ideally and I know this is impossible, I would be put in front of a screen knowing nothing about the film and there would be a good chance I’d like it
Am I being unreasonable/unrealistic – does anyone else have a similar view?
Certainly some of the best cinema (or movie-watching) experiences I’ve had have been for films I knew nothing about going in – I used to be a regular at the London Film Festival Sunday night Surprise Films, which were always great events, notwithstanding the odd duffer (“Johnny Mnemonic” anyone?)
(Odeon cinemas do something similar – Screen Unseen http://www.odeon.co.uk/screenunseen/)
My best personal example though, was seeing Woody Allen’s “The Purple Rose Of Cairo” on a trip to Sweden, a good few months before it came out in the UK, and knowing only that it was “Woody Allen’s new film”… the bit where *SPOILER ALERT* the movie characters first come out of the screen was a genuine and fantastic surprise, and one which would be spoiled by even the briefest plot description…
As for how you’d pick the films you go to see, to give you a decent chance of watching something you’ll enjoy, whilst knowing as little as possible, I’ve no idea, except for finding a trustworthy friend or three, telling them your parameters (certain actors, directors, writers, genres etc. and/or things to avoid), then letting them advise you that “Something Or Other: The Movie” might be worth a punt at the multiplex next week…
I would have agreed with you, but…
I’m sure there was some proper research done, wot I read about, where they worked out that someone’s enjoyment of a film isn’t lessened by knowing how it turns out. In fact, it’s slightly the opposite way.
It seems to go against common sense, but apparently it’s the truth.
I’ve found that on a few occasions actually. I catch the end of a film, think it looks good, and watch it from the start, knowing how it will turn out.
Many moons ago, I really enjoyed seeing the wife’s face halfway through From Dusk Till Dawn, which she had presumed was a straightforward crime film, as I hadn’t told her otherwise.
Conversely, we went to watch The Sixth Sense, whereby we had read there was a twist, hence we sat trying to work it out, which I did after a few minutes. To the annoyance of those round us, and the shame of myself (I didn’t realise I was saying it aloud until I had finished doing so!), I blurted out the twist to my missus.
It gets silly when you have a film like the new Star Wars one, where people are clamouring over themselves to find clues to the plot. I don’t know why they want to spoil it for themselves. Then again, The Phantom Menace plot was spoiled by the soundtrack album, amongst many other things of course – Jar Jar Binks, the plot, Ewan McGregor’s accent, the list goes on. But the soundtrack album came out before the film and anyone reading the track titles saw the piece entitled ‘The Death of [character name]’.
Please note how I didn’t put the actual name in, so I didn’t spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it. But if you haven’t seen it, don’t waste your time. Instead just read the track titles from the soundtrack CD, do the same for the next two and go straight to Episode IV.
Yes! Ever since I saw ‘Unbreakable’ cold and felt a genuine thrill when I realised what it was about, and then what it was ‘really’ about, I’ve been a big fan of watching films with no prior knowledge. I love the feeling of being taken into uncharted waters.
We still have Lovefilm By Post (I know!) so I get to experience it quite a lot. I can heartily recommend watching the film ‘A Perfect Getaway’ on these terms. No, don’t look it up…
I tend to notice if a film gets good ‘star’ ratings by reviewers. Anything that gets four stars or more I will avoid reading the review because I don’t want to know anything else about it. This works well. I saw both Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight without any idea what the actual story was. It is possible. And most enjoyable. I also used to avoid reading the ‘introductions’ to Penguin Classics before reading the actual book because there were too many spoilers. I prefer reading reviews after I’ve seen the film. I’m also the same with holiday destinations by the way. I like things to be a surprise.
I do think the whole “spoiler” problem is overstated. A relatively recent example would be the film 10 Cloverfield Lane, which is spoiled utterly by the gratuitously bolted-on title, but because it’s so well played and directed, you are completely immersed in the story and you forget the bit you already know – kind of like those bookended films that start with a scene near the end, then, over the next hour, take you back to that point and you’re, like, “oh yeah”.
The films that get spoiled by spoilers are those that rely waaaaaay to much on some third act twist rather than story craft/cinecraft to get you there. To this robot’s mind, they are also the films which have the least repeat watch value.
All that being said, I still don’t understand why contemporary trailers think it’s smart to reveal so many later plot developments…