Golden ages of cinema

I recently read an interview with Michael Fassbender (lovely Fassbender) in which he claimed that indie cinema went through a particularly good period in the late ‘80s (Betty Blue, Paris Texas, The Big Blue, and many others that I can’t remember) – but also acknowledged that this opinion may be purely due to his age.

I expect it is purely due to his age, as I feel identically about the late ‘90s.  It still so vividly feels like such an exciting time for film.

In a very short period of time (during which I was in my final months of living at home, and my friend Matt worked in the local video shop), I watched: Buffalo 66, The Virgin Suicides, Battle Royale, American History X, Run Lola Run, Festen, The Opposite of Sex, The Last Days of Disco, A Room for Romeo Brass, Boys Don’t Cry, Fight Club, Man on the Moon, Sweet and Lowdown…

I also watched loads of the older films that I still love (chiefly Betty Blue and Paris Texas from the ‘80s, and older films such as the Kubrick version of Lolita and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?).  At the turn of the century, I briefly lived next door to a cinema and saw so many films they all blur into one – I remember Amelie, Mulholland Drive and a lot of Mexican/South American cinema that I was seriously into at the time.

So, yeah, I think it was probably just my age.  Then again, thinking about it, I am still constantly watching loads of films that I consider to be among the greatest ever (from Black Swan to Kickass).  So, maybe – happily – all eras are full of classics if you think about it enough.