The power of movies

Having followed a link from kottke.org to a converstaion between Errol Morris and Adam Curtis, I stumbled across a wonderful short film made by Errol for the opening of the Oscars in 2002 (I think…..)
In a brief exchange, Jerry Brown (Mayor of Oakland, CA) says:

Jerry: Movies are an escape.
Interviewer: Just an escape?
Jerry: Well what’s wrong with that? That’s quite a lot.

Movies are exactly that. An escape.
The difference between great moves and other movies is that a great movie gives you something to take back to reality.

A personal example:
From Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When
meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run
quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under
the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved
from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still
get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything.

This is actually from the Hagakure (the book of the Samurai, available to download here).
This single paragraph of text (and its significance and importance within the film) not only changed my understanding of the film, but my understanding of life (made it a better film second time around too).

Just a small example of the power of movies.

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