What Makes a Movie Memorable?

Movies are an incredibly powerful form of communication. They can stir up emotions, spread a message and serve as a call to action. Have you ever wondered how they’re able to do that? How can plots we know are just fictional reach us on such a deep level? Is it because we can relate to the characters and their experiences? Or is it the use of music and cinematography that affect us without realizing?

In other words, what makes a movie memorable? Some of us tend to remember complex movies, with a lot of subtext and a meaningful theme, movies that make you reflect on the philosophical and social implications. Others remember the ones that kept them engaged on an emotional level, that were thrilling and entertaining all through to the end. 

François Truffaut remarked that as a director, a truly inspiring sight was to look at the faces of the audience while watching the screen. If the film was good, you could see on their expressions that they were transfixed. For a short period of time they were in a different time and space, concerned with lives that were not their own. 

The most memorable films in history are praised for their creative score, enthralling cinematography and strong endings and how these elements are combined eloquently to bring forth the story and theme. Without these elements a movie is worse than bad. At least people talk about bad movies. The movie becomes forgettable. 

Subtext

Subtext is conveyed through just about any element of the film. It can be written into the script, developed through editing or suggested through cinematography. Subtext is essentially using subtlety to send a message to the audience without explicitly saying it. When a movie over-explains the plot and has awkward expositional scenes, the story begins to feel artificial. The spell is broken. That’s why they say show, don’t tell. The audience doesn’t get a chance to explore, to think and figure out the message, they’re being told how to interpret everything. 

Some of the strongest scenes are the ones with minimal dialogue, where the actors have to read between the lines and play their character’s hidden motivations instead of just reciting words. It makes for a far more interesting performance. 

Quentin Tarantino and Aaron Sorkin are two of the true masters of subtext. The characters they write tend to keep their desires and intentions concealed. The actors are playing a character that’s playing a character. 

Scores

A good film score pulls you deeper into the scenes. Synth sounds or a string section isn’t enough to enhance the experience. Think of movies like Arrival or Swiss Army Man that use unique scores to complete the tone and atmosphere. 

Stanley Kubrick was an expert and underlining the themes and psychology of his characters through music. We would choose the most unexpected pieces of music or songs to create an ironic effect. His trademark is having a character sing a famous song in such a way that it changes both the meaning of the song and the context. 

Think of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ when supercomputer HAL sings Daisy as he’s being disconnected suggesting he’s human in more ways than one. Or in A Clockwork Orange, Alex starts bellowing ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ while he’s committing a horrific crime which reveal how much he enjoys it. 

The movie ‘Full Metal Jacket’ follows the stories of a group of soldier as they train and are subsequently deployed to Vietnam. Some of them end up in the same squad and engage in combat with a sniper who is revealed to be a teenage girl. She is mortally wounded and they respond to her pleas with a mercy killing. Afterwards they march back and sing The Mikey Mouse March. The song reflects the sense of brotherhood between soldiers that have been through hell together, as well as their collective loss of innocence. This song was from a popular TV show from the 50s that they grew up listening to. They’re surrounded by the horrors of war and this is their way of rebelling against the songs they’re made to sing and an attempt to keep their spirits up. 

Cinematography

We humans are very visual creatures and we’re more likely to remember specific scenes from a movie rather than the whole story. This makes it all the more important for the cinematography to be thoughtful, engaging, to pull us in, so we can see the world though the characters’ eyes and experience their emotions, drawing us into their lives.

Cinematography is an art and it serves to convey the message behind the narrative and to enhance it. Some examples of captivating cinematography can be found in Birdman, Roma and Sicario. The effect has to be intentional, it’s memorable when it means something, something more than just aesthetics. 

Ending

The ending can make or break the movie and it makes sense because this is when the plot is concluded, the protagonists completes their arc, questions are answered or left for the audience to ponder over. All of the dramatic potential of the movie lead is finally paid off in the last 20-30 minutes and this is what you leave the movie theater thinking about and this is what you’ll remember the most. 

A great ending doesn’t just tie off loose ends, it should be when a comedy is at its funnies, the most romantic scenes of a love story and the scariest of a horror movie. You should leave wanting nothing more but to talk about it and when you’re home, as you lay in bed about to fall asleep, you should still be thinking about it. 

Some of the complaints regarding big studio blockbusters nowadays are caused by how these movies are no longer written as complete entities but rather segments of an ongoing franchise. Many of them are left on a cliffhanger as to allow for the production of a sequel, another one after that and so on until it feels like it doesn’t mean anything and it’s not going anywhere. The producers are just trying to stretch a story until the well’s run dry. There’s no catharsis, it keeps going until people lose interest and stop buying tickets.