Creative Work the Wind and Term Paper

Incredibly, it was "The Wind and the Lion" that started me realizing this.

There is a scene in this film in which President Theodore Roosevelt (played by Brian Keith) is at a shooting range with his children and the Secretary of State. Between firing rounds, Roosevelt takes time to clean his gun and have a conversation with his daughter about respecting one's enemies. It is a very quiet and strong moment...a powerful one.

Elsewhere, the Raisuli (Mulay Achmed Mohammed el-Raisuli the Magnificent, played by Sean Connery), is telling a story around a campfire about his imprisonment by his kinsman. The firelight plays on everyone's faces as they sit enraptured around the Raisuli. They are eating lamb or goat under the stars, and it is just a perfect moment.

The Wind and the Lion" is absolutely full of perfect moments. Roosevelt hunting bear in Yosemite, the Raisuli's conversation with Mrs. Pedecaris (Candice Bergen) over a game of chess, her son's dream of all the things that had happened to his family, even Roosevelt complaining about the way his rifle fits against his shoulder.The only things that happen quickly in this film are duels and pitched battles.

Perfect moments. How many have I had? How many have any of us had? Are we reduced to experiencing perfect moments vicariously? Is there nothing genuine in life anymore?

The answer is, yes, there is something genuine in life. Art is genuine; and a genuine, perfect moment is no less genuine, no less perfect, for its having been someone else's first.

Perfect moments are what I want to experience, are what I want to create for others to experience as well. For this reason, more than any other, I hope to develop my interest in filmmaking to a true craft, a true art, so that some day, another student hoping to get accepted to film school will write an essay like this one based on a film that has my name listed next to….....