I just watched the movie Mediterraneo, which is more than 20 years old and I was pleasantly surprised from the movie.

Even though it’s clearly and old movie, you can watch it quite well.

So I wondered: what makes a movie stand the test of time?

Many of the blockbuster we see right now won’t probably be there in 10 years, let alone 20.
We go by mood and go with the flow, that’s why they won’t probably survive a decade.

But what about the others? What did they do right?
Looking at this movie there was no fancy direction, it was a simple movie that touched profound topics with lightness.

I think what makes it tick is the pace, the characters, which are not overly complex, nor ordinary, yet they do have enough character to make them look very real.
Also the characters are human and act like a human would do.

In other movies character are often defined by extreme behaviors, excessive need of power and so on. They are not real, nor they feel real.

Making a good movie requires you to put normal people into a marvelous situation to narrate it.