Five for Five – Human Emptiness is a solid theme yet final result is true enjoyment

I have just completed a stretch of seeing five films over 5 consecutive nights.  Although not an intended theme when I chose the films, all five shared at least one theme dealing with human emptiness.  The five were  Hologram for A King, Love and Friendship, Fireworks Wednesday, The Meddler and Papa Hemingway in Cuba.  Just to be clear, I am not saying that this was the only theme or even necessarily the primary theme.  But “emptiness” was one of the themes in each.  One of the interesting things for me was to see how it was portrayed differently, by five very different types of characters under totally different circumstances.  And it is precisely those nuances that provide me with such enjoyment in my film viewing.  The emotions elicited in me as the viewer were just as varied due to the rest of the character’s personality traits.  My emotional range went from being able to identify and empathize with the character, feeling sorry for another to loathing toward a third. I concluded the long weekend with an uplifted feeling at having seen some really excellent filmmaking.  The camerawork in two of the five was superb.  In two others the use of music was a perfect part of the storytelling.  The scenes would have been totally flat without the chosen music and the tempo.  Each of the movies had at least one very special acting performance.  Getting more enjoyment from films requires the viewer to be open to and see the smallest elements that play such an important part in conveying the many messages conveyed through the images and sounds.