Everyday Canvas

Character-Driven Movies of the 20th Century

Prompt: Character Driven Movies
What are the most memorable character-driven movies you have watched?

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During the last several years, I have rarely been to the movies, but I appreciate their effects on our culture. Then, because I have been a rather reluctant movie-goer during the 21st century, I'm going to write about the few good movies that impressed me by being character-driven during the 20th Century. Since I may forget to mention other important ones, do remind me, please!

Well, we all know about Gone with the Wind, since it always gets thrown at us from just about everywhere. Based on Margaret Mitchell's novel, it is about a spirited woman during the US Civil War. This movie alone might just have had an effect on the women's movement later on.

The Godfather movies, as I recall, shocked and scared me. Yet, they had richly developed, unique characters and thought-provoking themes. Best is, they made me see, how human thugs could be.

The Shawshank Redemption is another movie that impressed, scared, and terrified me, since I had no idea what a penitentiary could be like. In that movie, I watched the resilience of the human spirit and the power of friendship. Other movies similar to it are One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs.

The last three I mentioned are not, by all means, happy or fun, but I can't forget them because with all of them, I felt scared and disturbed to some degree, as they were all thought-provoking, emotionally powerful, and ultimately rewarding.

There are a few other movies, too, that I would classify as character-driven, like Moonlight, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Casablanca. And I'm sure I've forgotten or bypassed several others that must have been unique experiences for me as they challenged me to see beyond the surfaces of people and conditions.

In short, I have learned something or other about life as I went along my years during the time I have been here on earth and good movies did help my trek by inspiring me with their deeply human stories and multidimensional characters.