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Film is known to be the construction of images projected in rapid succession onto a screen to create the illusion of movement. However, this may be the technical explanation for what is happening but film stretches far beyond imagination and it is probably the most powerful medium of communication that the human mind has conceived. One of the great gifts of the cinematic experience is escapism; the opportunity to seek temporary respite from the high and low dramas that fill up our days and to lose ourselves in the taste of popcorn and the flickering images of shadow and light for a couple of hours. It is this reason why we watch certain films; it takes us away from some of the grim realities of life. Although many films are made purely for a didactic purpose a number of films have been made for their escapist values. Richard Dyer talks about the way in which musicals offer a ‘wish-fulfilment’ or a ‘utopia’ from our day-to-day lives. He states that musicals, whether it be film or a pantomimes, don’t ‘present models of utopian worlds’ but ‘what it would feel like’. By this I believe that Dyer feels that it would be essentially inappropriate to present utopian worlds on film mainly because utopias are created on a personal level. However, his view concerns the empowerment of the lives that are conveyed in ‘escapist’ films. It embodies the feelings that a utopia would bring; freedom, happiness and beauty. A prime example of the want to escape the realities of life would be the type of films made during World War II. One that stands out is Sullivan’s Travels made in 1941. The film revolves around a Hollywood director John Sullivan who, tired of making comedies, wishes his next film to be more relevant and meaningful and sets out on a journey to discover what living in poverty would be like. However, in one of the opening scenes where Sullivan declares he is going to make such a film – ‘a true canvas of the suffering of humanity’, his associate Hadrian asks whether they should make a nice musical instead. This contrasts Sullivan’s ideas immensely but ironically sums up the film ahead as Sullivan’s Travels skilfully mixes every conceivable cinematic genre type and tone of film possible - tragic melodrama, farce, prison film, serious drama, social documentary, slapstick, romance, comedy, action, and even musical.
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