Skeptical Film

Last updated 03/18/07.

Published on: October 4, 1999

I was discussing my favorite films with some friends recently, and to my surpise I realized that they were all fundamentally skeptical. I don't know why I should have been surprised to realize that, but knowing myself has never been my strong point.

There aren't too many films that I would say promote skepticism or skeptical views: indeed, most film has entirely opposite purposes, the suspension of disbelief or the adoption of propaganda.

But there are a few which leave you with new, skeptical views afterwards that are hard to dismiss. I'm not talking about rabble-rousing films like The Big One, which have explicit and specific political messages, but films that make you question the common background assumptions we have always held. Even better, these few films which I love are also distinguished by some of the most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen. These film references are all linked to Amazon.com, where you can read reviews and further explanation of the stories.

M
A BRILLIANT movie, sharp, intense, fascinating: I can't praise it enough. It may take a while to think of ways it is skeptical, until you remember the "courtroom" scene, and the contrast of the "prosecutor" to the insane child murderer. I wonder if Charlie Chaplin's trial in Monsieur Verdoux was influenced by that scene. But even more ominous is the extraordinary German recordkeeping that the police use to track down the murderer, the same kind of recordkeeping used shortly later to track down the Jews for the Holocaust. If ever there was a film that illustrates the tradeoff between civil liberties and enforcement of law, this is the one. I consider that the skeptical strong point of the film, leading us to be skeptical of extreme demands for either at the expense of the other.

Black Robe
This movie serves the cause of skepticism on two fronts. The first, is the unflinching realism of its portrayal of native Americans, which illustrates the shameful cinematic conventions of Hollywood treatments, including the most recent. The second, is the startling portrayal of the Indian beliefs as more realistic than the lunatic beliefs of the Jesuit. This is perhaps the most anthropologically accurate period film ever made. Equally accurate (and painful to watch) is the violence: no "bang", Indian falls off the horse, cut to next scene symbolic of victory. Instead, we see the effects. That tells me more of the meaning of violence, a quality all too rare in film.

Little Big Man
Picaresque stories like Little Big Man and Candide have a long tradition of skeptical satire, that unfortunately doesn't seem to have made the move into cinema very often or successfully. Little Big Man was one of the first movies to successfully cast a skeptical eye on the assumptions of Indian fighting stories, and it did so with amazing humor and intense emotion. I cry during this movie. Of the five listed here, I'd guess that this one is the easiest and most likable for most people.

Harakiri
The great Japanese cinema I've seen is strongly skeptical of the glamorization of the samurai. This film's message is to question honor, both overtly in the cynicism of the antagonists and honesty of the protagonist, and indirectly at the end by showing how the facades of public honor and dishonor can be maintained despite the most shameful events. The realism of this film, especially of the death and combat scenes, is shocking compared to the martial arts tripe we are used to. One word of warning that might help in the comprehension of the film: large portions of the film are retellings of recent history by the doorman to the father, and then by the father to the assembled house. Without recognizing this, the story seems very jumbled.

Rashomon
This is a film skeptical of the knowability of truth and the past. There has been a rape and a murder. The highwayman, the raped woman, the ghost of the dead man (through a seer), and a peasant onlooker all relate their accounts of the events, each invalidating the accounts of the others. Kurosawa directed, and Mifune played the bandit: who could ask for better?

All of these films are available at better rental stores, and now are available at reasonable prices. Black Robe, the best of this excellent lot, may be the hardest to find in my experience.

If anybody would like to provide links to other reviews of these films, or discuss other films that are skeptical at a high level, please list them. Counter image omitted.