episode 1 in-flight movie
I love to watch movies on airplanes.
As an avowed movie buff and someone who works in the film industry, albeit on the margins of the industry, I probably shouldn't say this too loudly. However, once I am on a long flight overseas, I immediately reach for a booklet of the in-flight movie lineup as if to say that this is half the fun of the trip.
Even on business trips where I have to get a good night's sleep on the plane, it is not uncommon once or twice that I end up watching a movie for eight hours straight, only to be exhausted after arriving at my destination.
However, staring at the tiny LCD screen stuck apologetically to the back of the seat in front of you and straining your ears to hear the sound coming from the cheaply-attached earphones amidst the roar of the airplane is a pretty poor environment in which to view a movie.
Therefore, some movie genres are not suitable for watching on airplanes. For example, movies with dark and quiet screens, such as horror, suspense, or heavy drama, are not suitable.
I had previously seen "World Trade Center," Oliver Stone's depiction of the 9/11 attacks, on an in-flight flight, and since most of the story was about Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena, who were buried alive in a collapsed building, and most scenes were in darkness, the LCD screen on the plane was It was no longer just blackness, and I listened only to the voices of the two men encouraging each other without any power. I don't know if I "saw" the movie by only listening to the sound, but it was a good movie, I think.
So what makes a good in-flight movie? It is definitely a comedy film.
This is a bit of a wild classification, but comedies are usually brightly lit, and the characters are usually loud and sometimes boisterous. Or, if they don't say anything, they make silly expressions, gestures, and showy movements, making them easy to watch even under the poor in-flight conditions.
I think the first comedy film that opened my eyes on the plane was "Mean Girls" (2004) (I'm not sure on which trip I saw it, but it must have been on the flight to the destination because I remember that I was still thinking about this film when I arrived).
Although I had always enjoyed American school comedies and had systematically watched them, I never expected to encounter a monumental masterpiece of the genre on a plane.
Title 1. "Mean Girls"
The main character Kadie, played by Lindsay Lohan, was born and raised in Africa, and her transfer to an American high school is the story of a school caste war, and at the same time, it is likened to the communication of a cross-cultural gap, while being a life-size story in the school, The film was a rare film experience that added the unique situation of watching a movie on a plane, such as the expectation and anxiety of going to a foreign country in the real world.
After rewatching the film again, I found that Amanda Seyfried was outstandingly cute and outstanding, as well as Rachel McAdams, a member of the "Plastics," the film's one-time villain. She is a supporting character, but her subsequent success in the film is also very convincing.
From a modern perspective, the film may seem somewhat dated in terms of values, but one can also see the budding of, for example, "Book Smart: The Party Debut on the Eve of Graduation" beyond this film.
I mean, the fact that it can be set in the midst of the short shelf life of recent American comedies and not be outdone is amazing in its own right.
Since then, the first thing I do when I board an airplane is to consciously look for comedies, especially American comedies. My interest in comedies, which I had always liked, deepened many times over when I saw them on the plane, not in the theater or even on TV.
One might say that I was fascinated by the perverse gamble of wanting to encounter a masterpiece film on a plane.
In fact, when it comes to the comedy genre, the odds of encountering an outstanding work seem extremely high.
In addition, many of the American comedies shown on board are films that have not been released in Japanese theaters. I assume that this is because they are trying to make a profit from in-flight screenings if they have to produce subtitled/dubbed versions when they are made into software without being released in theaters. However, since the actors and directors are not well-known enough to be released theatrically in Japan, but the films are probably hits in the U.S. or simply interesting, it is not surprising that there are many masterpieces in the series.
Title 2: "Thief is the Beginning of Happiness
Thief is the Beginning of Happiness" (2013) is another masterpiece of cinema that I saw on the plane, but it too has not been released in theaters.
The story is about an accountant played by Jason Bateman whose credit cards and all other personal information are stolen by a fraudster played by Melissa McCarthy, but it is more emotional to watch it in the neutral zone of the plane with no nationality and only a passport to prove your existence (the original title is Identity Thief).
It is, however, a film of great lightness, and Melissa McCarthy's joking and droll antics are endlessly amusing, but the occasional glimpse of the thief's darkness and loneliness is a faint bass note that echoes weakly alongside the gaiety, creating a very strange balance in the film. It is a film with a very strange balance. It is also an irresistibly sad film.
I wonder if the films I have mentioned could have been encountered outside of the airplane environment.
When one goes to the cinema, one usually decides in advance which movie to see, but when one watches a movie on an airplane, one is simply choosing from a more limited number of options in a closed space. Therefore, encounters with movies are more spontaneous.
Come to think of it, watching a movie on an airplane is not an end in itself.
To move, we must sit still, and to endure sitting still, we are offered, for the time being, the entertainment of a movie.
While I was rambling on about the futility of sitting from the movies I watch on airplanes, Mr. Sudo, the editor who invited me to join this Series, came up with the title of the Series, "Sitting High.
PROFILE
Born in Tochigi Prefecture, graduated from Tokyo Zokei University. He has been designing mainly graphics for movies, exhibition publicity materials, and books. Major works include "Paterson," "Midsummer," and "Tabi no Owari, Sekai no Hajimari" for films, "Shuntaro Tanikawa" and "Moomin" for exhibitions, and "Birds/Banana Yoshimoto" and "Small Boxes/Yoko Ogawa" for books.
