A volcanic storm, a four-leaf clover, a film that the whole family will enjoy. Rarities. Like a pope who dies in retirement. I spent the holidays looking for movies that would suit my (grown) kids as well as their mom. No, it doesn’t get easier with time.
A severed finger with shears spelled the end of Sonny’s interest in The Banshees of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh. He is allergic to gory like his mother. He abandoned us a third ofa prophet of Jacques Audiard for the same reasons. “A whole movie family ! “, he quipped, after a particularly bloody murder scene.
My definition of a family movie is a movie that the four of us watch at the same time. Point bar. They are increasingly rare. While exploring the recesses of Japanese anime with the younger one, I lured the older one to the movies to aftersun by Charlotte Wells (a tribute to the father). I find it difficult, however, to reconcile their respective inclinations. They are resistant to most of my suggestions, which are often considered too “pointy”.
Two films that have rallied the whole household recently are The Fabelmansa bittersweet chronicle of Steven Spielberg’s formative years, and Almost Famous, a bittersweet chronicle of Cameron Crowe’s formative years. I noticed two scenes in particular, similar, in a car, where a parent describes his teenager’s passion – one for filmmaking, the other for rock journalism – as a “hobby”.
Early talent, obvious ingenuity, welcomed by the parent “provided it remains a hobby”. That is to say, something incidental, trivial, without real importance. A fun digression into a serious life journey.
Steven Spielberg was 13 when he won a first prize in Arizona for a 40-minute medium-length film, Escape to Nowhere, about the Second World War. Cameron Crowe wrote a first report for the magazine RollingStone at 16, after following the Allman Brothers Band on tour.
They turned their hobby into a profession, despite their parents’ reservations. They have managed to make a living with what they are passionate about. If writing in student newspapers can be considered a hobby, I have also made my hobby (since elementary school) a profession. This is not always possible.
Son will not become a professional soccer player. He has just decided to follow in his father’s footsteps in law school in the fall. His brother will not become a video game professional either. He chose to enroll in cinema at CEGEP. We’ll see where it all takes them.
They both have Ingres violins, as Man Ray would say. Hobbies that have nothing to do with their professional aspirations. For a long time, Fiston has had a passion for Lego blocks. He builds miniature buildings (from London or New York), spaceships or helmets inspired by Star Wars.
His most recent project? Manchester United’s stadium, Old Trafford. In its Lego incarnation, the “Theater of Dreams” has some 3,900 pieces. Son got into it over Christmas and all he has to do now is place the last plastic bricks in one section of the stadium. A meticulous work, of patience and tact, to which he devotes himself for hours for a month.
He impresses me, I who was discouraged at the mere sight of the pieces of a child’s toy to be assembled. I remember having dropped a few church words while trying to put together the parts of a cart used as a baby exerciser. Building IKEA furniture has never been my favorite hobby.
“I’ve been wondering a lot about the notion of a hobby for a while, my friend Isabelle told me this week. We are so into performance at work and sometimes even in sport that just doing something for the fun, it’s hard to fit into our schedules. It seems unnecessary. So it’s super good for your health! »
My main hobby is obviously healthy. Running. And if at another time, I was interested in performance, today, I only run for fun. That of airing my mind, taking a breath of fresh air and maintaining a minimum of physical fitness.
But it’s not just physical hobbies that are beneficial to health, as Isabelle reminds us, who sent me a file from washington post on this subject. It discusses the benefits of hobbies, particularly in combating dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Our brain is like any other part of our body, remind the experts interviewed by the Post. A brain needs exercise to stay sharp. Activities that require effort, concentration and a certain degree of difficulty. Otherwise the memory atrophies like an inactive muscle.
Over time, you exercise your mind less as you exercise your muscles less. We prefer the comfort of our habits: we go out less, we are less active, less sociable. The Alzheimer Society of Canada suggests different ways to minimize the risk of dementia, starting with trying to learn new things or simply staying curious, starting conversations, meeting new people.
The novelty is a stimulant for the neurons, which regenerate until the end of our life. It’s never too late to learn. Nor too early, for the rest. Think of brain-enhancing activities as a savings account, says a University of California expert. Stocking up from an early age is never wasted.
I bet that includes sharp movies.