Making films with universal appeal

Handing over awards to film artistes and technicians at the National Film Award-2012 ceremony held on Saturday last (May 10), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has emphasised the need for highlighting the country's Liberation War in films. Indeed, a number of films were made on the war but admittedly not a single one can be classified as a masterpiece. One or two has depicted the war more or less realistically but what makes a classic film with universal appeal is simply missing from them. The task of a great filmmaker is to happily accommodate the macrocosm into the microcosm. On that count, most films are found wanting and the rare few which have been capable of breaking through the commercial and mere entertainment barrier fell short of representing the ugly and cruel war at its most comprehensive. A comparison with classic films like "All Quiet on the Western Front", "The Guns of Navarone" and "Patton", all based on the World War II, only exposes the inadequacy of the effort of the local talents here to deliver something on a grand scale of eternal appeal on the celluloid.

Yet war films are of just one genre only. For a long time films have passed through a most critical time simply because talented filmmakers were elbowed out of the industry. It will take quite sometime to recover from the moribund state the industry found itself in. A promising young generation of filmmakers has come forward with new ideas and a highly developed sense of technology and techniques. But their challenge proves daunting because spectators or audience with appreciative minds have been driven out of cinema halls. The salacious and coarse films that came one after another through the production line have caused enough harm to the industry. Dull-headed moneyed people ruled the roost. The situation is changing slowly and little by little. Already a few young filmmakers have received awards in international film festivals. But their films are of the alternative genre called art films. Here the challenge is to portray life as it is and the underlying theme leaves a message rather imperceptibly for viewers who can appreciate it according to their classes and various positions in society.

Films or cinemas have their special language and it is very powerful. Books considered classics cannot be presented without bringing about the necessary changes. It is because of this a great filmmaker can come up with a creation of his or her own despite the fact that the original masterpiece is a book. It is a different kind of genius that is in order when the job of film making is at hand. Young filmmakers will have to go beyond their confines to take spectators belonging to the less educated class into confidence. Along with providing entertainment, they have a responsibility to society. People must undergo an experience where they can identify themselves with what they see on the screen and graduate themselves to appreciate values and refined tastes. It is a daunting challenge but hopefully the young generation will live up to the expectation.