What is “Guardaquesto!”?
Cinema as art: Guardaquesto! is a blog designed for those who are passionate about cinema. Cinematography, also defined as the “Seventh Art”, has embraced the narrative genre, becoming the most widespread and followed form of storytelling above all due to its greater richness, compared to a book, of visual, auditory as well as emotional contents and stimuli. However, the pandemic that began in 2019 also hit this genre of art hard, resulting in a sharp containment of film production around the world. Furthermore, the pandemic has made us very isolated and this is where the idea for this blog came from.
Guardaquesto! is a blog designed to provide suggestions through articles on watching certain films, from which to draw inspiration and satisfaction. Films that you may have already seen but which, after reading the blog articles, you intend to see again with a different focus. Unlike other blogs, however, there will be no reviews or harsh criticisms of the films!
Genres that will be covered:
- Science fiction: genre represented by a series of the best Hollywood films to which several articles will be dedicated addressing the Hamlet-like question of being alone or not in the universe, the successes and failures of space missions, the search for life developed in celestial bodies other than Earth with the hypothesis of making, for example, the red planet hospitable through the so-called Terraforming process. Films of this type are better than a novel, they make the mind travel into hypothetical future scenarios in which new possibilities arise in terms of unthinkable inventions with which we can, for example, travel hundreds of light years and live perhaps 150 years.
A characteristic that makes the genre fascinating, in addition to the increasingly realistic special effects, is the ability to communicate messages relating to social issues and often raise alarms about real moral and environmental crises. - Action: genre that became more widespread in Hollywood in the last twenty years of the 20th century thanks to some male stars, such as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme and others. In this genre the emphasis is on an individual hero, with exceptional physical abilities. The violent hand-to-hand conflicts between this positive, athletic hero and several antagonists, who are also athletic and often have considerable strength, are the main feature of the genre. There are several subgenres: ranging from films closer to espionage (here is the link) up to martial arts films.
- Thriller: genre that uses suspense, i.e. the state of anxious tension generated by suspension, by waiting, as the main element of the plot. It is perhaps one of the most popular genres of recent years. Thanks to the adrenaline and his high level of involvement he was able to break through on the big and small screen.
There are many subgenres. They range from action thriller to passando per il thriller psicologico, il thriller erotico (qui il link), fino al thriller fantascientifico, tecnologico e legale (qui il link). - Drama: genre of film for which it is very complex to give a definition as potentially every film could be dramatic if feelings are central. Serious, problematic, non-light tones are a must. The genre is based on the development of characters, on the interaction between them and deals with themes of great emotional impact and in fact the audience is able to experience what the characters are and has the feeling of identifying with them.
- Comedy: genre of film that emphasizes humor with a happy ending but not necessarily (in this case the comedy will have dramatic characteristics). The presence of a daring story with plots and paradoxical situations is a must. The protagonist will be prevented from achieving his goal at least until the end of the film. The audience obviously identifies with the character, funny and unfortunate, due to the situations he experiences.
Here too there are many subgenres: ranging from the classic romantic comedy to the dramatic one, up to the horror one.
The themes covered in the articles will refer to human and social relationships, ranging from family values to friendship, filial love as well as the virtues of courage and heroism expressed in the most varied forms. Other articles will also deal with current issues such as environmental issues.
I bet you’ve already searched the web for what to see tonight but haven’t come up with anything. Well! Short illustrative articles about various films will be published every week. Enjoy watching Guardaquesto!
