"Oh you like films? What sort of films do you like?"
"I like... Westerns... Sci-fi films... I like most films really."
Such is the repeated conversation I have with new work colleagues, fellow students, family members and the occasional total stranger sitting on a dirty Southeastern train. What I really want to say, but don't for fear of scaring anyone off, are the niche, genre-bending films I love; the type of selective stories that have similar themes, environments and plot points. The following categories all need snappier names, but if a film falls into any of these, I will enjoy it.
1) Period revenge films
Revenge films are essentially a sub-genre already as they are quite numerous, but I particularly love revenge films set in a historical era. The two leading examples of this are Gladiator and The Revenant, both of which absorb you into these bygone worlds and combine bloody violence with muscular filmmaking and a terrific leading performance. Weaker, but still very enjoyable, examples include Inglorious Basterds, Gangs of New York and The Outlaw Josey Wales (which is outstanding, but the vengeance is not a constant enough thread throughout).
2) Men form mutual respect for each other despite moral or cultural differences
When I look at my favourite films, this theme seems a constant. Scenes in war films where a German and a British soldier have a chat like they are friends have always moved me, such as the wire-cutting scene in War Horse. This theme is essential to the whole film, however. Take Heat, where Robert De Niro's bank robber and Al Pacino's weary cop realise they are effectively the same, work-driven person on different sides of the moral compass. The final shot, in which Pacino holds De Niro's dying hands, is masterful as it makes a Pacino a tragic character with little in his life to fill the new hole. The Last Samurai sees a US cavalry officer grow to respect the traditions and culture of samurai leader Katsumoto, with Tom Cruise ultimately embracing the Japanese way of life. Despite being enemies, they two find a mutual bond that is very moving. Some of my other favourites include L.A. Confidential, 3:10 to Yuma, For a Few Dollars More and In the Heat of the Night. Another similar moment in films is when servants of justice let the 'hero' have a headstart at the end because they do have some moral qualities (Curse of the Black Pearl, Face to Face).
3) 'One last job'
The 'one last job' film comes in a multitude of genres: heists, crime, war, action, Western. Because jobs, like pints, never really stop after one. So when Clint Eastwood rides out for one last bounty hunt in Unforgiven, the audience knows he will either die or will end up down the same violent path again. Logan, a spiritual remake of Unforgiven, also does a great job of the ageing hero having one more chance to save the worl- a girl. In the sensational Carlito's Way, Al Pacino has sworn off crime but soon finds the people around him don't feel the same way, sucking him back in despite our frustrations. Se7en is meant to be Morgan Freeman's final job before retirement, whilst The Wild Bunch uses the weary outlaw gang's final blaze of glory as an elegy for the demise of the Old West. And, again, Heat is the final bank robbery before a retirement to New Zealand. There is always a strong sense of quitting whilst you are ahead with these films, as destiny looms.
4) Sci-fi that goes crazy at the end
'Goes crazy' is rather vague wording but what this usually means is a third-act that goes into visually and aurally spectacular places that the audience did not see coming. The definitive example of this is 2001: A Space Odyssey's stargate sequence, which assaults the senses with lucid colours before blowing the mind with its final scene in the room. It is the scene that makes people debate its meaning afterwards. Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture has a similar moment where Spock enters this sublime space of vast scale and size as it works out the VGER mystery. In Contact, Jodie Foster's experience with extra-terrestials is another splendid, bombastic set-piece that stuns with its emotion too. That film's companion piece, Arrival, goes further with the emotion by providing an explanation to the entire film's structure and wowing with the potent use of Max Richter's 'On the Nature of Daylight'.
5) Man in wilderness
Essentially survival cinema, these films tell stories about man's relationship with the natural world. Beautiful cinematography inbound. The Revenant is the best recent example of this, showing Hugh Glass' battle to survive the cold, Native American attacks, an empty belly and his bear-sustained wounds. Jeremiah Johnson is slightly tamer, showing a mountain man building a home and raising a family in the wild. Life of Pi translates the story away from the cold mountains and onto a small boat shared with a tiger. The finale of Predator pits Arnie against the horrors of the jungle whilst Cast Away stranded Tom Hanks on an island and The Martian left Matt Damon on Mars. Then there's Deliverance, in which four men find themselves weakened and brutalised by the river, emotionally cut off from each other rather than geographically. Watching nature's violence gives you a new found appreciation for living in a nice home.
6) Lone person comes to town / hero has to leave because of the violence committed
This is the staple of a lot of Westerns, for which we have to thank Shane. Yojimbo did this effectively too, laying the foundations for A Fistful of Dollars and Django with their recycled plots. The loner enters this new place and acts as the audience surrogate to see the workings of this new environment. The Mad Max films also revolve around the perpetual loner. The latter part, that the protagonist must leave at the end because they represent the violence and suffering that led to the town's alleviation, is not always connected with the inital loner, though Shane does have to ride off with his gun come the end. The Searchers is undoubtedly the most famous of this, with the iconic final shot sentencing John Wayne's morally disrupted Ethan Edwards to wandering the southern deserts. This is also Frodo in The Return of the King, whose quest has left a toll that means he can never find peace at home. Ryan Gosling too goes to ultra-violent methods in Drive to protect those he cares about, even if it means scaring them off forever. It is often a bittersweet ending.
