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Comfort Movies
Jul. 3rd, 2019 01:46 amSince I'm currently watching the Fukunaga version of Jane Eyre for the second time in as many days I thought I'd ask if anyone else has a movie or movies they turn to for comfort. I don't just mean a movie you can put on in the background and never get tired of. I mean a movie that you specifically watch to feel calm, or soothed. I have a lot of movies that fall into that former category, movies I can watch a thousand times and never get tired of them. But the 2011 version of Jane Eyre is the latter for me. When I was in the hospital after having my gallbladder out two years ago, it's the only thing I wanted to watch. I would fall asleep to it and restart it when I woke up.
I maybe only watch it a few times a year, it's not something I could have on constantly because when I am capable of devoting my attention to it, I get lost in it. The cinematography and the score are lovely. And that's nothing to say for the story. Maybe it's because I love Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender as actors, maybe it's because I have an incredible soft spot for this particular love story. It's happy, but heartbreaking and there's just something about it I can't help but love.
There's something strange about the movies that feel like this for me. I'm not in the habit of watching period pieces, or romances, or even movies that make me sad before they give a happy ending. But apparently it's these types of movies I fall back on when I want to feel like things are going to be okay. There's only a handful of these I turn to other than Jane Eyre. For awhile it was that 2014 movie, Her, with Joaquin Phoenix. When I was younger and didn't have digital streaming options I would watch Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge or Romeo x Juliet on DVD. I also adored a very dumb Cate Blanchett movie called Pushing Tin. When I was really young it was the VHS copy of Gone with the Wind I would put on during a long weekend.
My mom did this too. I know she used to watch the old movie Gray's Anatomy and then later the movie Twister, when she needed a pick-me-up.
The list of movies I could watch a thousand times, just for fun, or to have on in the background just because, is so much longer than these six movies. The number of times I've watched Labyrinth or Pitch Perfect or even the LotR trilogy. But I don't know, they don't have the same affect on me. I adore Labyrinth and have since I was 8 or 9 years old. When I watch it though I want to be happy, it's joyful and it's about friendship and triumphing over thesexy evil goblin king. When I watch Jane Eyre, I want to feel sad just a little, but ultimately I want to feel comforted by the resolution of it.
I'm interested if people separate out movies like this? If you have a movie you turn to not just to watch it but to evoke a specific comforting sensation?
I maybe only watch it a few times a year, it's not something I could have on constantly because when I am capable of devoting my attention to it, I get lost in it. The cinematography and the score are lovely. And that's nothing to say for the story. Maybe it's because I love Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender as actors, maybe it's because I have an incredible soft spot for this particular love story. It's happy, but heartbreaking and there's just something about it I can't help but love.
There's something strange about the movies that feel like this for me. I'm not in the habit of watching period pieces, or romances, or even movies that make me sad before they give a happy ending. But apparently it's these types of movies I fall back on when I want to feel like things are going to be okay. There's only a handful of these I turn to other than Jane Eyre. For awhile it was that 2014 movie, Her, with Joaquin Phoenix. When I was younger and didn't have digital streaming options I would watch Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge or Romeo x Juliet on DVD. I also adored a very dumb Cate Blanchett movie called Pushing Tin. When I was really young it was the VHS copy of Gone with the Wind I would put on during a long weekend.
My mom did this too. I know she used to watch the old movie Gray's Anatomy and then later the movie Twister, when she needed a pick-me-up.
The list of movies I could watch a thousand times, just for fun, or to have on in the background just because, is so much longer than these six movies. The number of times I've watched Labyrinth or Pitch Perfect or even the LotR trilogy. But I don't know, they don't have the same affect on me. I adore Labyrinth and have since I was 8 or 9 years old. When I watch it though I want to be happy, it's joyful and it's about friendship and triumphing over the
I'm interested if people separate out movies like this? If you have a movie you turn to not just to watch it but to evoke a specific comforting sensation?
