Not Only Did They Win Oscars, But These 7 Movies Managed To Change Our World-View

“Movies touch our hearts, and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They open doors and minds.” -Martin Scorsese

A good film is more than just a way to make big bucks and fill theatre seats. Movies do so much more than just entertain an audience- they shape our minds. They stay with you after you’re out of the hall, you ponder over them and they force you to introspect about topics that otherwise wouldn’t have crossed your mind.

They say that film is one of the most influential mediums in art. The visual, auditory and emotional beauty that ensues from it forces us to delve deep within and touch our souls. We have a list of seven Oscar-winning movies that have changed our perspective of the world.

1. Moonlight

Image Courtesy- A24

Through the protagonist, Black’s chronicles we visit the three stages of his life- childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. A film on masculinity and the wounds it causes with the backdrop of class identity, racism, drug abuse and bullying, this one makes you feel humanity’s pain deep within your soul.

Dealing with an identity crisis within himself because of homosexuality, along with issues like bullying, racism, sexuality, drug abuse, and bad parenting, the film stays with you in some ways, forever. We witness a different way of living; having a drug addict and prostitute for a mother. You become so invested in Black’s life that by the end of it, you’ll be compelled to view the world with a new perspective.

2. Her

Image Courtesy- Warner Bros.

Who is to say ‘what is love?’ Her is a movie that challenges everything we know about the classic boy meets girl love story. There is no girl, there’s just an idea of a girl and the voice of an Operating System that the lead, Theodore falls head over heels for. Samantha and Theodore’s relationship cannot be defined in the classic prototyped love because it’s not. But what it is, is real and happy.

The two develop a deep and profound friendship, she helps him come out of a dark and hard time, but in the end, you’re left wondering if love can only be between two humans. This movie makes you wonder something strange about love viz. there is no love which is right, wrong, good or bad; it’s just pure and simple, LOVE.

3. Bridge of Spies

Image Courtesy- DreamWorks Pictures

We’re once again taken to the chilly and dark days of the cold war by Steven Spielberg. The mood, tension, and the atmosphere are all created to show us the story of a US lawyer entrusted with the responsibility to negotiate with the USSR and exchange spies between the two countries.

Different set of eyes, different interpretations, but here’s a beautiful side to this story: When the stakes are as high as they were during the cold war, with both countries literally having the power to destroy the world, blazing guns and ammunition aren’t the solution; sometimes talks and negotiations can win the world.

4. Hugo

Image Courtesy- Paramount Pictures

The legendary director, Scorsese has made a film unlike any of the ones he made before. Through the fabled tale of the 12-year-old Hugo, he shows his own love and deep adoration for films and filmmaking which can hardly be matched by few. The film is wondrous, fantastic and happy. Hugo goes beyond filmmaking, it is in a sense a love letter to those who truly consider cinema as art. You’ll relive the classic magic in films with a modern adventure and tactics.

It’ll take you back to your childhood when curiosity took you on multiple adventures and bring back the innocence of the good old days. And it’ll make you think- is curiosity more important than talent? Probably yes, because even Albert Einstein said, “I have no special talents, I’m only passionately curious.”

5. Memoirs of a Geisha

Based on a book by the same, the film instantly transports you to the cherry-blossom filled lands of Japan. Out of the many things we learn in the film, one of them is that a geisha means “entertainer”. We follow the life of little Chiyo and her blue eyes from being sold as a servant girl to growing up and becoming the most illustrious geisha they have known. We are forced to see the gorgeous world decorated with kimonos and art but are also faced with the ugliness of virginity auctioning and selling one’s body.

It’s a powerful movie that opens our mind to think beyond the world we’ve seen, known or understood. That our world isn’t quite the ‘normal’ world we like to believe it is. And even how ‘normal’ can be different from person to person. A geisha’s personal journey of ups and downs and still emerging victorious, these memoirs are one that will introduce you to a lifestyle you’ve never seen before.

6. Million Dollar Baby

Image Courtesy- Warner Bros. Pictures

The emotional sports drama roller-coaster of platonic love is basically juggling bittersweet emotions. We’re taken back to the classic boxing noirs that ruled the big screen but with a fresh, new twist. We see the relationship between an aging fight trainer and a girl who thinks that she can be a boxer as it blossoms before us and the teacher-student bond proves that love comes in all forms.

Their relationship starts on a sore note when Maggie, an aspiring boxer comes in with hopes and ambitions to make it. However, the coach, Eddie first refuses but then accepts the challenge. Over the course of the film, the bond that these two share blooms, it’s not one of your regular boxing tale stories, the subtlety and intricate nuances of human bonds will make you cherish even real relationships you have in your life.

7. A Beautiful Mind

Image Courtesy- Imagine Entertainment

Based on the incredibly, real story of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr, the film takes the viewer on a heartbreaking, jolting yet inspiring journey. The brilliant Nobel Prize academician suffers from schizophrenia. We watch as his life, studies, and professional sphere all crumble around him as the disease takes over his life. He starts

But the one person who is by his side is Alicia, his wife. In her own words, we start “to believe that something extraordinary is possible.” And voila, hope is reignited in the world. There is a lot of turmoil and conspiracies in Nash’s story but despite those uncertainties Alicia sticks by him, proving that a beautiful mind can only be surpassed by a warm heart full of love and devotion. Nash himself said, “The most important discovery of my life . . . is that only in the mysterious equation of love can any logic and reason be found.” And that’s what we should all fill our hearts with.

With the Academy Awards nearing, &Privé HD will be showcasing the finest Oscar winning movies to pique and satiate your cine-thirst. Welcome to ‘The Winning Side’, a movie marathon showcasing critically acclaimed Oscar winning films from 1969 to 2017, best of the best.

20 nights, 20 movies, the whole of February, Monday to Friday at 9 pm.
Tune in.

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