Good Scene / Bad Scene
Chosen by Alex De La Iglesia, the director of 'la Comunidad' (released today)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Good: 'King Kong' (Merian C Cooper and Ernest B Shoedsack, 1933)
My favourite scene (right) is when the film-director character is standing by the wall and the girl is standing on the other side, tied up and waiting for King Kong, the giant ape, and you're not sure what's going to happen next. You start listening to the music - the cellos are like an ape grunting and it lets you know that something big is coming up. The trees start swaying in the distance and then King Kong appears - this giant monster and takes the woman as bait, like a big sacrifice to the Kong God. In a subconscious way you enjoy it as you never enjoyed anything in your life. I saw this as a four-year-old boy through a door slightly ajar because my father would not allow me to watch it. Now I understand why I liked that sequence so much: trying to remain hidden behind that door, I was in the same position as the film director hiding behind the wall, and that wall represents the barrier between reality and our subconscious dark side. We all want to possess that woman, to hold her and undress her as if she were a doll. We all have a giant monster in ourselves who wants to possess this woman and play with her in our gigantic hands. That's what movies are for: to make the impossible possible.
Bad: 'Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi' (Richard Marquand, 1983)
The worst moment of my life was when Darth Vader takes off his mask and underneath there's this green-faced grandpa in his fifties. I had always imagined that underneath would be the essence of evil, some kind of diabolic Dr Phibes, corrupted by evil. Suddenly we find this Santa Claus with stomachache. Darth Vader is an amazing fantasy character - I use him in my film when Charly wants to escape the horrors of his everyday existence and he dresses up as Darth Vader. I was one of the people very affected with the Star Wars mania. I watched Star Wars over 25 times at the cinema and countless times on video. I saw The Empire Strikes Back over 40 times and I felt that if the first movie was one of the best adventure movies I'd ever seen, the second one was even more amazing since the hero of the movie was also the villain. I almost had a nervous breakdown when Darth Vader was revealed to be Luke Skywalker's father. After such a dark and mature second episode, I couldn't believe the third was so terrible. I can't even blank it from my memory. I'll never understand how George Lucas, apostle for the truth, could do such an aberration. I hope that someday, someone will avenge Darth Vader's soul.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments