What is it about cinema that I love so much?
That’s a question I’ve been pondering for most of my life now, and it’s actually kind of an interesting one when you consider where I grew up.
I was born in 1984 at the Port Hardy hospital, and I quickly learned from an early age there was not a whole lot of “arts and culture” available here in the North Island. To be clear, that’s not me taking a shot at my hometown for lacking things to do, that’s just me calling it like I see it.
What Port Hardy did thankfully have however, was an actual brick and mortar movie theatre. As a kid I went to our local theatre every chance I got, and once the movie finally started playing, it felt like I had been transported into another world, far away from the shackled confines of smalltown Port Hardy.
The first movie I can remember seeing on the big screen was Honey I Shrunk The Kids. There was a short Roger Rabbit cartoon that played before it, and then the movie began. The concept of a scientist’s homemade machine shrinking his family blew my mind as a little kid. The practical effects were so incredibly well done, it really felt like I was watching an actual group of tiny humans make their way through a dangerous jungle that was really just their backyard.
I’ve been hooked on cinema ever since that moment, and as I’ve gotten older my taste in films has grown and I’ve broadened my horizons to all kinds of different genres. Action, horror, comedy, drama, you name it and I’ve probably watched it.
For the longest time, whenever someone would ask, I would always say that Good Will Hunting was my favourite film of all time. I first watched it after it came out on VHS when I was still in high school, and there was just something about Matt Damon’s character that I related to. The story of a troubled mathematics genius trying to come to terms with his past was deeply moving, and Robin Williams as the caring therapist who was just trying to help him made all the pieces fit together to create something beautiful.
It actually stayed as my favourite film of all time up until last year when I finally got around to watching The Big Blue.
The Big Blue is a French film that was made in the late 1980’s by legendary director Luc Besson, and it’s basically about a guy named Jacques Mayol who thinks he’s a dolphin. Okay, it’s about more than a guy who thinks he’s a dolphin, it’s actually a drama/comedy with serious themes about love, friendship, life and death.
There’s a bunch of intense free diving competitions in it, as Mayol and his friend Enzo Molinari compete to see who’s the best diver in the world. The Big Blue also features some of the most incredible underwater photography and spectacular locations you will ever see, but it’s the emotional intensity and deep themes that will ultimately stay with you after watching it.
When I first sat down to watch the three-hour director’s cut, I wasn’t expecting to see a film that would actually top Good Will Hunting, but that’s exactly what happened.
It’s pretty cool that I’m still finding films that move and inspire me.
Tyson Whitney is an award-winning journalist who was born and raised in Port Hardy.
@NIGazette
editor@northislandgazette.com
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