Over the years, hundreds of movies have been made all over the world for everyone to view for their entertainment. Many have gotten enjoyment out of these movies and have made many people's lives different in some way. One thing that people tend to look back on are the movies that made them feel nostalgic when growing up, but no one ever talks about the movies that are purposely made to be nostalgic.
Nostalgia in Film
When it comes to nostalgia in film, nostalgia doesn’t necessarily mean old. "It means a certain feeling typically associated with the use of a 4 to 3 aspect ratio, grainy look so the loom for film the lower quality the more nostalgic so 8mm 16mm and maybe even 35mm although that barely has any grain and the use of an anamorphic Lense it has the nostalgic feeling because it makes everything sort of look like a painting you know and the iconic blue streak you feel me?" (Taliferro, Josiah)
To put it in more understandable terms, when it comes to nostalgia in film, it is more than an emotion being depicted from the screen. Nostalgia in film, even if you haven’t seen the movie before, is all depicted through different aspects, these aspects being, aspect ratio, types of lenses, color, texture, etc. So, while you could have never seen the film before, you could still feel a sense of nostalgia from it.
The Royal Tenenbaums
“The Royal Tenenbaums” is a film directed by Wes Anderson and made in 2001. The film itself tells the story of the Tenenbaum family, a dysfunctional family that has all split up and taken different paths in life, coming back together under the same roof for the first time in a while for distinct reasons.
This award-winning film shows the different perspectives of different members in the family and shows all of their own sides of the story while also tying them all together in some way. The film itself, although one that may not have been seen by many others, still gives off a nostalgic feel no matter who the audience is due to the previously mentioned aspects.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Image Credits: Luke Rauscher from Wikimedia Commons
“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” or more commonly referred to as E.T., directed and released by Steven Spielberg in 1982, is a family sci-fi film about a troubled child gaining the courage to help a friendly alien escape from Earth and return to his home planet. This Oscar winning film is another nostalgic movie for anyone no matter the age and could even be considered to be a movie classic. It’s also a great representation of how no matter how different someone may be, they can still be caring and that you should never judge a book by its cover.
The Truman Show
“The Truman Show,” an award-winning film made in 1998 by director Peter Weir, is a film that plays around with perspective a lot. The movie itself is about an insurance salesman whose life is a TV Show. It isn’t a regular TV show though because the main plot of the story is that Truman doesn’t know that he is in a show, but everyone else does.
This film uses the grainy texture to play around with how people perceive the film itself and it helps give off the effect that it’s a nostalgic film. Not only is it nostalgic, but it also gave me the feeling of Déjà vu when I watched it.
The Breakfast Club
“The Breakfast Club,” released and directed by in John Hughes in 1985, is one of the best examples of nostalgia in film. The film itself is about five high schoolers from completely different cliques and home lives being put in detention together. By the end, the five of them come together, putting their differences aside and becoming friends in the end.
The group itself consists of a nerd, a “princess,” a delinquent, a jock, and a basket case. The film is considered nostalgic by many and also gives off that grainy texture on film to play into the effect.
Ferris Buellers Day Off
“Ferris Buellers Day Off” is another film directed and released by John Hughes in 1986. The film is about a senior in high school playing hooky one last time before he graduates with his friend and girlfriend. While playing hooky from school and going out to do extravagant things, the principal of their school is doing whatever he can to get Ferris in trouble but ends up always being outsmarted by Ferris. This film, like the others listed, uses this same grainy texture to give off the nostalgic effect.
Although only five movies are listed in this list, there are many more that can be considered nostalgic, even from a non-filmmaker stance. Everyone has their own definitions of nostalgia in film, but that doesn’t mean that people are wrong when they say something is nostalgic and someone else disagrees. It all just depends on how someone else feels about the subject.
