Coming out of a cinema the other night, a friend asked me if I thought I understood the film we'd just watched. I said I didn't know.
"You do know", she said, "It all comes down to the Six-Word Rule: if you can describe it to me in six words you have understood it. If you can't, you haven't. Not yet, at any rate."
As it happens I couldn't have described the film in sixty words, let alone six, so I guess she made sense.
After that night, I found The Six-Word Rule to be a good exercise when thinking about the essence of films, or of anything else, for that matter.
And I discovered something else.
I discovered that the six words you choose tell as much about you as they do about what you are describing.
They are the kaleidoscope through which you choose to look.
Here are some of my favourite films in six words:
- A Clockwork Orange – A Glimpse of Humanity’s Violent Future
- A Good Year – Brit Inherits French Villa Rediscovers Life
- A Matter of Life and Death – Pilot Pleads Heaven for his Life
- All That Jazz – Talented Choreographer’s Autobiographical Self-Destructive Musical Odyssey
- Amélie – A Girl’s Parisian journey of Self-Discovery
- American Beauty – Middle-aged Man Finally Re-Evaluates his Life
- American Graffiti – Nostalgic Look at America’s Sixties Youth
- An Englishman Abroad - An Actress, a Spy, an Era
- Apocalypse Now! – A Dark Journey into War’s Madness
- Apocalypto – One Man’s Fighting Chance for Survival
- Army of Shadows – Legendary French Resistance in Wartime Exploits
- Barry Lyndon – Social Climbing in 18th Century Ireland
- Blow Out - When a Photo Becomes a Mystery
- Bronson – Violent Tale of Infamous British Convict
- Brother – Yakuza Gang-Member Joins Brother in US
- Casablanca – Love and Sacrifice in War-Torn Africa
- Citizen Kane – Rise and fall of American Press-baron
- City of God – Violent Favelas’ Life and Death Legends
- Conspiracy – Nazis plan Final Solution over Dinner
- Days of Glory – Heroic Algerian Unit Fights for France
- Defiance – Jewish Belorussian Brothers Become Resistance Legends
- Deserto Rosso - the Rural Face of Industrial Progress
- Die Brücke – War Comes to Conscripts Defending Bridge
- Drive – Stunt-driving Criminal Finds Love and Trouble
- Empire of the Sun – Boy’s Dramatic War Experience in Asia
- Enigma- Code-breaking Maverick Risks All for Love
- Forrest Gump – Simpleton’s Journey through Modern US History
- Four Weddings and a Funeral – British Humour Celebrates Love and Death
- Funny Games – Rewriting the Rules of Film Terror
- Fur – Creative Interpretation of Iconic Photographer’s Life
- Gone Baby Gone – Missing Child Unites Community, Divides Couple
- Goodfellas – Mafioso Witness Reminisces the Good Times
- Hana-Bi Fireworks – Ex-cop’s Tale of Wife and Death
- High Society – American Heiress Bride-to-be Gets Cold Feet
- Hommes Femmes: Mode d’emploi – Policeman and Tycoon Cross Vital Paths
- House of Games – Psychologist’s Dark Journey into Conman’s World
- In the Electric Mist – Past and Present Crimes Haunt Louisiana
- In the Mood for Love – A Love Born through Shared Secrets
- Inception – Mind-Travelling Sortie in Sleep Goes Wrong
- Julie & Julia – Culinary Icon Transforms Blogger’s Manic Life
- Julius Caesar - When Ambition Makes the Noble Fall
- L'Avventura - When an Island Trip Changes All
- La Crise – Man is Reborn through Losing Everything
- La Notte - A Couple's Journey Into the Night
- Le diner des cons – Patronising Parisian’s World is Turned Upside Down
- Le gout des autres – Comic Stories Intertwine to Celebrate Tolerance
- Margin Call – The Eve Before Bankers Kick-start Recession
- Master and Commander – One Captain, One Ship, Many Adventures
- Memento – A Mystery Man with No Memory
- Moon – Man Mining Moon Uncovers Vital Mystery
- My Favourite Year – Screenwriter’s Tribute to Cape-and-Sword Idol
- North by North-West – International Conspiracy Involves Unwitting Advertising Executive
- Our Man in Havana – Salesman Risks All by Impersonating Spy
- Pulp Fiction – Crime Meets Comedy through Surreal Caper
- Rear Window – Voyeur Photographer and Fiancee Spy Crime
- Reindeer Games – Ex-convict’s Dream Turns into a Nightmare
- Renaissance Man – Man Teaches Shakespeare to Military Underachievers
- Saving Private Ryan – Adventurous War Mission of Brotherly Principle
- Solaris – A Couple, Another World, Another Beginning
- The Deer Hunter – America’s Vietnam War through Friends’ Lives
- Sunset Boulevard – Murdered Screenwriter Recalls His Final Days
- The Devil’s Double – Dictator’s Psychotic Son Hires Headstrong Double
- The Fallen Idol – Hero Falls Victim to Boy’s Imagination
- The Godfather – Mafia Family’s Struggle in Modern America
- The Ides of March – Political Campaign’s Brutal Reality Tests Loyalties
- The Leopard – Chronicle of a Sicilian Nobility's Fall
- The Lives of Others – Man Finds Dignity Despite Spying Others
- The Men Who Stare at Goats – Operative Recounts US Army New Age Experiment
- The Pianist – Pianist’s Odyssey through Warsaw’s Wartime Ghetto
- The Shawshank Redemption – Wrongly Imprisoned Man Chases a Dream
- The Shining – Writer Possessed by Hotel’s Evil Past
- The Silence of the Lambs – Psychiatrist Turned Serial Killer Plays FBI
- The Third Man – Crime Writer Chases Friend, Finds Spy
- The Town – Bank Thief Finds Dignity in Love
- The Truman Show – One Man, One Life, One Reality-show
- The Usual Suspects – The Eloquence of a Criminal Imagination
- Two thousand forty-six (2046) – A Lover’s Trip to the Future
- Vertigo – Man Scared of Heights Searches Truth
- Waltz with Bashir – Israeli Ex-soldier’s Trip into his Subconscious
- Zatoichi – Wandering Bone-setter Swordsman Defends the Oppressed
Alberico Collina