Ecstasy in 35mm

It was my great pleasure the other day to see at the courtesy of my work place Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, I shall come back to the film later I am however more concerned with describing and discussing the experience in general. You must understand that this was no ordinary film viewing in regards to my usual film viewing. This film is an old 80’s high school classic, and it was on its original 35mm ream. This may seem small and insignificant to many but it really isn’t for a number of reasons. The fact of the matter is that unless you are desperate to see a film you might as well wait for it to come out on DVD or at least till it can be downloaded, and what with the difference in release dates with some films it’s occasionally possible to download a film in good quality before its release here in Britain. So the only real reason to go to see it on the big screen is for the sake of seeing it on the big screen, for the experience. Seeing emotions, action and in depth stories on the big screen is now an experience in amazing detail with fantastic resolution and definition. With new technology being advanced everyday films having amazing special effects that can create whole new worlds and if 3D prevails films can literally leap out at you. There is something that seems to make the emotions we experience bigger the bigger the picture is. What was different about this was that the resolution was distinctly poor, there were scratches, a constant hissing and the film jumped with the sound not even fitting in places. It was gloriously flawed, and something about this flawed nature seemed to give the film a greater effect then any amount of realism in the picture or special effects or 3D ever could. It felt more like a movie. I knew that that morning our only fully trained projectionist had come in, taken the reels out of their casings and spliced them together as best he could with the old materials, something that took him years to master and genuine skill to get it right. It seems odd but seeing the cigarette burned image really reminded me that films are an art form and I think at time modern technology can shroud that. It was strange that the viewing was truly fantastic because it was 35mm. On the other hand though the movie by itself was pretty good…

The classic tale of the infamous Ferris’ escape from school on a beautiful day with his girlfriend and best friend, evading the determined principle and dodging family members is one most people will know if not seen themselves. How the young run from growing up to spend a day basking in sheer experience whilst also tackling a number of the issue they are growing up with as well as looking at the potentials of the future is a wonderful storyline. I do find myself taking the view that this story is not about the titular character, he is actually a plot device, the focus is his friend Cameron. The lonely hypochondriac with a depressing outlook and uncaring parents is dragged into a world of pure enjoyment and discovery, stripping away his morose nature by introducing him to possibilities and showing him who he can be. Of course Ferris still features heavily, with him and Sloan showing Cameron how life can be on their at time unbelievable adventure. Amidst their youthful abandon we also see the cynical principle out to catch the undisciplined wolf amongst the sheep of his students, as well as following the angry jealous sister. This film that pokes fun at the stern nature and expectations of adulthood as well as some films is a great classic. Though at times the story goes beyond the believable and into a ridiculous tangent it generally sticks to a just about believable plot with hilarious hi-jinks as set in motion by Ferris who kicks down the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience involving them. A great and funny film that makes you want to take the advice of Ferris, to stop and view the world.