Oedipus the King (1984 film). Essay Sample

The experience that comes with watching a film is unmatched when compared to either reading the same material or watching a play on the same. The play film helped me understand the book better while also providing entertainment to me. This was helpful since books are rigid and do not offer an aspect of entertainment in their use, while films can integrate the use of entertainment while also serving the purpose of passing knowledge to the reader.

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Secondly, the film can compress several aspects of learning into one through the use of audiovisual means of presentation of the material that was in the book. While books require analysis of the themes and the use of the reader's creativity when there is a description being used, the film provides visual aids that help the person watching to internalize the movie and understand it even better. Additionally, the use of sounds and voices makes the movie more memorable, with the characters' voices acting as a distinctive factor that separates the characters when one watches a movie. Sound effects create a dramatic effect and also triggering feelings in the person viewing it.

Through the film, I was able to understand so much more about the Greek culture and setting, since the use of visuals helps the watcher to get further insights into the film, its background and the contexts associated with it. Books overlook much information on the society, characters, and the setting in which it is set. Still, the use of films provides this information subtly without the producers having to offer a commentary on the same. For example, one gets the context of the physical features of the land in which Oedipus the King was written in, while also offering visual references like the location where Oedipus killed his father while also providing a visual breakdown of events that led to the events.

I have learned several lessons from the use of the film over plays and books. First, I have learned about the role of cinema in the preservation of cultural and historical events. Through films, popular cultural beliefs and works of literature like Oedipus the King are passed on to the other generations, hence maintaining the cultural heritage enjoyed in the past. Secondly, I have learned about the importance of films in education. Through the use of films, people can learn the needed information more effectively and enjoyably, thus making the learning process more comfortable compared to the use of books that face a degree of resistance in the education process.

The effectiveness of films in providing the information is also seen in the way it combines audio and visual forms of delivery to ensure pass the message across. The movies make the analysis of the original works easier since the themes can be visually seen, while the descriptions that would have been in written form are recognized by the person watching the film. Finally, I have also gotten to experience the time-saving advantage that watching a film is compared to reading the book. Oedipus the King's film is 97 minutes long. It covers all the issues addressed in the hard copy, yet takes a shorter period to cover them. While people need to revisit the books which they are reading to recap on their last readings due to the long periods it takes to read the copies, there is no need for recapping since one can watch the movies in one sitting.