Of all aspects of film as an art form, none drew me to the medium more than its unique way of challenging the way that we look at the world. These are a few quotes that have meant the most to me over the years.
"I don't know what I've been doing with my life all these years." - Man 1
"We only realize how beautiful life is when we chance upon death" - Man 2
Ikiru (1952). Directed by Akira Kurosawa
This film has remained in my yearly Christmas rotation and I consider this exchange to be its thesis on purposeful living with the time that we are afforded.
"I feel my life turning. All it needed was a direction. You drift from day to day, years go by. Then a change comes. I am able to change. I can be a good person. What a strange thing to happen, halfway through your life. What luck."
Light Sleeper (1992). Directed by Paul Schrader
Paul Schrader's moody 3AM midlife crisis flick never fails to give me hope on each viewing that redemption isn't out of reach for any of us that are willing to acknowledge our mistakes.
"I can't afford the luxury of anger. Anger can make me vulnerable. It can destroy my reason and reason's the only advantage I have over them"
The Last Man On Earth (1964). Directed by Ubaldo Ragona & Sidney Salkow
My personal favorite adaptation of Richard Matheson's survival horror novel I Am Legend, speaking to the very human urge to use intellectualism as armor.
"It's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid"
High Plains Drifter (1973). Directed by Clint Eastwood
From Eastwood's supernatural revenge western, a reminder to consider how much of our reactions to external events are based on our own anxieties.
"Some men you see every day for ten years and you never notice; some men you see once and they're with you for the rest of your life."
3:10 to Yuma (1957). Directed by Delmer Daves
I have always taken this line as prompting viewers to be observant about the people who have an impact on our lives and appreciate them while we still can.