La Reine Margot - Queen Margot

1994 by Patrice Chereau

16th Century France is torn between the Catholics and Protestants. King Charles is a puppet, behaves like a semi lunatic, between the power struggles of Queen Catherine, a Catholic, and Coligny, a protestant, who is increasing his control over the king. Queen believes a political marriage between Margaret - Margot, her daughter and King Henri of Navarre (protestant) would bridge the divides. The marriage is done with, against the wishes of Margot who is well known for her sexual adventures, which will prompt her even to the streets of Paris looking for extra ordinary men. Even after the wedding, Margot tells him this wedding does not compel her to sleep with him. During the feast Margot is still searching for other men amongst the guests whereas Henry is attracted to another girl in the family. There are issues even in the feast because of the religous sects. Margot sends off Henry from her suite, and the secret invitee to her suite is not happy about her converstation with Henry and walks out. She is without any man for the night, so queen Margot goes out to the street and meets a charming man La Mole.

Queen Catherine has ordered for a secret killing of Coligny to gain back her influence on her son, the King. She and her two younger sons force the King to order a war on the Protestants, fearing a backlash from Protestants because of the assassination attempt on Coligny. That  night about 6000 protestants are killed in the streets of Paris, Coligny too. La Mole, should have been killed but is saved by Margot.

Henri is like in a house arrest but with the help of La Mole, Margot tries to help him escape. In the first attempt, during a royal hunt, instead of escaping, Henri saves the king from a wild Boar attack. The King who had only just signed an order to kill Henri, before setting out for the Hunt, realises that even his brothers, who just watched him being attacked by the Boar only seeks his death, and he has a true friend in Henri. Back in the castle, he saves Henri from the assassination plan and even introduces him to his mistress. Margot also saves Henri from yet another murder attempt by the Queen and her brothers. Margot is now seen more as a traitor by the Queen and her brothers. There is yet another plan to poison Henri, but it is the King who is poisoned instead. King Charles is sure about his slow death, and helps Henri to escape but does not want Margot to leave with him.

Back in Navarre, Henri plans to bring back Margot and appoints La Mole for the mission. However La Mole is caught and his execution is ordered. Margot realises that the only way to save La Mole is to plead to the king, who inspite of being in deadly pain, right in front of death, doesnt help her and have his last breath. Margot collects the head of La Mole from the executioner and escapes to Navarre.

The movie is based on the 1845 novel by Alexandre Dumas. I am not sure I well explained the plot above. The movie has many sub plots like the love between Margot and La Mole, the enemity between La Mole and one Catholic killer in the night of the massacre, both ending up seriously injured and are being taken care of by the Palace executioner who helps La Mole to escape Paris, but on his return their enmity turns to a strong friendship, the terrific political dramas involving King Charles, Queen Catherine and his brothers, the special hate-love married life between Henri and Margot and so on.

This is really an epic of a movie. So much passion, so much intensity, its difficult to explain. I felt like watching the movie once again immediately when it was over. Each and every kind of human emotions and expressions, whatever it may be, is out there in its best. I have to say this movie has everything, but it is still not a popular entertainer. This movie is a great piece of dramatic art. I was so moved and touched by the movie that I really want to meet Patrice Chereau, the director. He is an extra ordinary genius to have planned and conceived this movie. May it be the wedding scene in the beginning, that shocking wedding feast, the massacre, the relationships of Margot with Henry and La Mole, the hunting scenes, the drama between Queen and the King on the death bed, or that final scene in the castle where Margot is just about to be raped by her brothers and cousins, he has brilliantly managed to keep us on the edge of the seat.

Cinematography is more than brilliant or beautiful. There is a particular shot, where Margot and La Mole makes love in the outskirts of Paris, I cannot think about any better frame of a love making scene. There are so many scenes that I could talk about, but this one really stood out for its novelty. So are all the technical aspects in this movie and especially the costumes. All the actors have been brilliant, but we will be haunted by Margot (Isabelle Adjani), La Mole (Vincent Perez), Henri (Danielle Auteuil), King Charles (Jean Hughes Anglade) and Queen Catherine (Virna Lisi). Even amidst all this tense drama Danielle Auteuil will make us laugh in that scene where he eats with the King, at his mistress' place, by his brilliant expressions.

I feel like talking and talking about this, also because I understood many things about the royalty in those days. Even Lunatics can be King, even brothers would rape sisters or have relations with them that even a mother would not mind just watching the same. Death is everywhere. Anything can happen to anybody if there is a wrong idea in the minds of a supreme royal member. Was really surprised to see this scene when the royal astrologer predicts to the queen,  the future of her sons, by opening and examining the brain of a dead. Royalty means no privacy, nothing like  morality or humanity or common sense and there is a sword above your head that you can be killed anytime.

I have to appreciate the sincerity of the French in being able to look back at one of the darkest periods in their history. They were part of the swathing violence perpetrated in the name of God and they are able to look back at it and bring out movies like this. In India, this is impossible. Either the movie will not be allowed to be made, or it will be badly censored or they will make sure nobody will see such movies, like in the case of the very few brave movies about the Gujarat pogrom. And the case with Hollywood is even funny, they wouldn't make any movies at all opposing the general thoughts and beliefs of their government or majority or the powerful.

La Reine Margot is an excitingly brilliant account of History which is a must watch, if you like movies.

Mynaa

2010 by Prabhu Solomon, watching third time, for wife

Suruli lives with his father and step mother in a remote village in the western ghats of Tamil Nadu. He stopped school, at an early age to work and earn something. He protects Mynaa and her mother and will die for her. They are in deep love but her mother would not like an illiterate Suruli to marry her girl. When her mother tells him about her plans, he cannot beleive it and gets violent with her. She goes to the police station in the nearby town and complains. Suruli is remanded in the town jail for 15 days. It is the 14 th day. The jailor, Bhaskar, is a young officer, who is newly married, and his wife wants to celebrate their first Diwali (first one after marriage) as part of which has planned for a family shopping (with her parents, brothers and their spouses) in the city. Bhaskar has an important function in the jail this day, part of Diwali (Diwali is the next day, when it is a public holiday)celebration, after which he promises to take her to the city. Her parents are already on the way and his wife is not happy that they are late. To make things worse, she doesnt heed his request to go by herself and keeps on waiting for him.
         A boy from the village, a friend of Suruli visits him in the jail and tell him that Mynaa's mother has planned a marriage with a man working in the middle east and the marriage can happen on the morning of Diwali. Suruli cant wait and he escapes. Only when the celebrations are over does Bhaskar and his colleagues realise that Suruli is missing. He telephones his superior about the situation but requests him to not report this for the moment, as it will affect all his staff. In turn, he promises his officer to get back Suruli in 24 hours. Since next day is Diwali, the officer can with held his report without any hassle. Bhaskar with one of his assistants, Ramaih, goes to Suruli's village. They arrive in right time, morning of Diwali day, when Suruli has managed to stop the supposed marriage. Mynaa's mother turns violent and could have even hurt Suruli and Mynaa if not for Bhaskar and Ramaih. The four, Suruli, Mynaa, Bhaskar and Ramaih sets out to the town. Well things dont go as planned and they finally end up in Munnar in Kerala, the boarder state. They take a bus to their Tamil Nadu town. Movie is more of a thriller from here and I dont want to write the rest.

Mynaa is an excellent movie offering lot of romance, thrill, drama and a brilliant but shocking climax. There are certain time wasting scenes and dialogues, here and there which are pardonable. I can only think about 2 other movies in Tamil, Kalloori and Paruthiveeran, which can compete with Mynaa for its heart touching and shocking climax. After my first watch, I found that most people leaving the theatre, were having a heavy face. It was so hard to accept, that you wonder why the story had to end so, but life is mostly like that. Happy endings are quite rare in life so.

A lot of credit for the director for this excellent movie. He could have done better without a few scenes, dialogues and one or two songs. Movie has a good camera work, some good low light works, but I felt generally it could have been much better. Especially if they could have managed some soft lighting for some scenes. Money could have been the constraint, may be. A big applause also for the casting. Suruli, Bhaskar, his wife, and Mynaa will talk and fight in our minds for long time even after the movie. There are certain scenes where even the small characters like Suruli's father and Mynaas mother were more than excellent.

I must repeat, Tamil cinema has gone much ahead of other movie industries from India. They seem to be the only industry in India, who have recognised the importance of casting. If it was shot in Bollywood we would have seen a 'chocolate' boy and girl with more western features for the hero and heroine, and for the other characters too. I also credit Tamil industry for finding stories and themes from their own villages and cultures. The movies turn out very Indian in the end. Thankfully, Tamil people seem to recognise these efforts and most of these kind of movies are successful in the box office.

For those who want to watch real Indian, main stream, movies, watch Mynaa.

Da Bing Xiao Jiang - Little Big Soldier

2010 by Sheng Ding

Before the unification of China by the Qin dynasty, smaller states and warloads engaged in frequent battles. States of Liang and Wei are on war and in the battle ground there are only two alive. A middle aged soldier (Liang), just because he pretended to be dead and a young general (Wei) who is wounded. The soldier, who actually loves nature and farming, is on the field only because its compulsory to serve the military. He is aware about a reward by his king, by which, if he captures a Wei general he can have some land for farming and can evade the military service. He makes the young general his captive and sets out on a journey to his home land. He always sings a song which is all about being back in home and doing some farming. There are some others, another young prince and his warrior teacher assisted by many soldiers, who are also searching for the general. The general is also aware that there was something going on behind his back, leading to his present state. There are also other tribal groups and warlords on the road making their journey difficult. Our poor soldier and general are from two ends of the world but they reluctantly have to form a team. But through the hardships there is a strong, out of the world friendship between these two men, one a farmer who loves everything about nature, and the other a very young soldier, whom we later find out is a Prince, who dreams about a unified China devoid of any battles. The movie take us through their journey, facing many obstacles, until they finally reach Liang.

I am really not sure if I must complete the story. Not because there are lot of surprises but it would be nice to watch this movie without knowing its end (if ever anybody feels like watching after reading this), I found the end really touching and beautiful.

The story is by Jackie Chan himself, who wanted to do this movie long back and he had thought about playing the role of the young general then. 20 years have past and his age now suits the character of the soldier and he have done it so well. In the 80's when video cassettes of Jackie Chan movies were big hit in India, I watched almost all of his movies. Those were not techinically brilliant or aesthetically beautiful or great movies. But they had lot of fun and exciting action, the only action hero who did most of his stunts by himself. Once Jackie Chan went into Hollywood, such movies were not there anymore and it has been quite long, more than a decade may be, since I found our Old Jackie Chan. He is here again at his witty best and also does some of his trademark fast action bits. But he is not a super hero at all. He is a simple farmer, who manages to be alive just because he had some gadgets with him to make him look dead. He loves birds and trees and sings simple songs and is always funny. He does not understand the complicated reasons for states to war among themselves. Jackie Chan is excellent as this Soldier. I cant remember any other movie in which he had to play such a deep and warm character.

The movie is brilliantly shot and edited. It can embarrass any Hollywood flicks in all the technical departments. It is not a war movie, nor is it a comedy or drama. For me it was more like the story of two men on a journey discovering each other.

I know many Indians who consider everything from Hollywood as great. Some consider only the art house movies from East are good and the popular ones are ignorable. I wish they will watch this movie and understand Asia is up there with Hollywood in the techinical aspects. There are so many beautiful frames and scenes in this movie, backed up with some excellent background scores and sound recordings.

Just like ' Internal Affairs' was remade into a world famous movie 'The Departed' (I know so many Hollywood fans who still do not know about this adaptation), I hope once Da Bing Xiao Jiang will be remade in the west. At least then some more people will realise that there are excellent movies from the East too.

I understood, even for Jackie Chan who is like an institution, he had to wait 20 long years to make a movie from his heart. But Jackie Chan must be proud about this movie, a gem. 

Love in the time of Cholera

2007 by Mike Newell based on the novel by Gabrile Garcia Marquez

In 19th century Colombia, young Florentino Ariza easily falls in love with Fermina Daza. Her father is against this love and shifts her to a family home. When she meets him again after a long gap, for some reason she doesnt like him anymore. She later marries Dr. Urbino and have a normal family life. Florentino however is really affected but carries his love for Fermina with him. He does have adventures with other woman, as he finds sex to be a good medicine for his pain, of which he keeps a list on, and he is considered quite brilliant in winning women. After 52 years, when Dr. Urbino dies, Florentino comes back to Fermina and declares his love for Fermina. It takes some time to convince her, but he eventually wins her love and makes love with her, at the very old age though. Before this, he managed to sleep with 622 women.

I am told this was a very touching and successful novel, but as a movie it did not really affect me. May be Spanish characters speaking English sounded weird or the director has failed in making this an eternal love story.

Watch this movie for the excellent performance from the Spanish actor Javier Bardem. I loved him in Vicky Christina Barcelona and here he is excellent again. 

Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud

1995 by Claude Sautet

Nelly leaves with her husband who have decided not to work and is finding it difficult to pay off all their debts. She is introduced to Arnaud, an old business man who is very rich, by a friend, who offers her financial support. She rejects his offer at first, but then decides to leave his husband and moves out to a new studio apartment. She starts working for Arnaud, typing his book. Here she also meets another man, the editor who will publish Arnaud's book, with whom she could think about a serious relationship. Arnaud knows about this relationship and is quite jealous but he behaves in a way which is quite doubtful. Nelly decides against the editor and is more attracted to Arnaud. But then Arnaud's wife is back and they decide to go on a long trip.

A typical French realistic movie, where there is a normal life going on but with some turns here are there in the life of some characters. Knowing something about French way of life is a must to understand this movie. Knowledge of French would be even better. I was sure the subtitles werent really good. May  be is the reason why I wasnt able to laugh out on many dialogues of Arnaud, which are packed with cynicism of a typical rich French man. Movie progresses mostly through the scenes between Nelly and Arnaud and Aranaud's comments with an expression-less face, I thought, is a highlight of this movie. I wasnt sure if I felt pity for Nelly at the end. She left her husband, she decided against a man, ideal for her age, and finally the old man goes with his wife.

I chose this movie for Emmanuelle Beart and Claude Sautet. For Emmanuelle it looks a pretty ordinary role and for Claude Sautet this is not a great movie either.

1492 - Conquest of Paradise

1992 by Ridley Scott

Christopher Colombus thinks differently from the rest and is sure that he can find a new route to Asia. It takes lot of hard work for him to convince his queen to set out on this expedition and finally reach the West Indies and is glad to meet the new tribes and the abundant nature in the islands. He returns back to Spain and goes back to the Indies, but with more men and power. But this time he also has to manage some noble men who follows the powerful men in the Kingdom. These noble men have different ways to deal the native tribals which soon make the new paradise land a chaotic land. Columbus is replaced by another Viceroy and is jailed in Spain. By this time another Italian have already discovered the continent of Americas. Columbus still feels he has only been proved right, even if somebody else reached the continent first.

All the drama behind these expeditions has been nicely shot. So are the friction between the aboriginals and the invaders. The movie will definitely make us feel bad about all the terror which was done by Christianity in the historic days, may it be upon people who thought differently or upon the aboriginals of the invading islands or countries.

This movie, I would say has one of the best cinematography I have seen. Its not about landscapes or panoramic shots. The lighting is brilliant, subdued for a good majority of shots and the camera is brilliantly placed and absorbs the emotions and moods wonderfully. It is a pity that this movie never got its due attention. May be because of its slow pace through out. But I cannot imagine this one in any different way.

An excellent performance from Gerrard Depardieux as Columbus. So does Sigourney Weaver as the Queen of Spain, who only have few scenes, but she is all out there as the queen in those scenes.

I am still wondering why this movie is never mentioned when people discuss about the best historic movies. May be the west do not want to look at nearly realistic portrayals of how badly they have treated indigenous people.

Also it would have been better had this been taken in Spanish language. Mr. Scott wisely cast Depardieux for the role of Columbus as he wanted somebody from Europe, but had the language too been Spanish may be the movie would have been different. 

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se

2010 by Ashutosh Gowariker

A group of youngsters plan an uprising against the mighty British in small  town Chittagong, now in Bangladesh, about an year after 1930. Their plan is to capture the Telegraph office, the Police lines, the European club and the Cantonment all within a short span of time, the same night. A group of teenagers who are angry with the British as they lost their football ground to set up an army camp, joins the revolutionaries. On the planned day, all looks fine, except that the revolutionaries didn't think at all that their chosen day was Good Friday. A major part within the plan was to raid the European Club where the English officers were supposed to be for dinner, so that they could arrest all of them in one raid. Being Good Friday they found the Club empty. From there all went wrong and the British strike back and within a short period they search and arrest some of the revoloutionaries and the rest are killed.

A true story and the movie is inspired by a book. However it is a terrible attempt as a movie. If not for the patriotic factor, I would have stopped watching it within the first 30 minutes.

Performance of leading actors were sub standard. These stars are dressed like in the 30's. But the fact that their body language is from 2010's, is enough to describe how serious they were about their job. Most of these actors are only good for doing their routine song and dance numbers and soulless characters. They are not able to do characters which require intelligent understanding and reactions. In fact, some of the teenagers , I thought, could embarass the superstars in moments of brilliance. Of course, its also about casting and the director. Director doesn't seem to have cared to even change the hair styles of most revolutionaries.

I havent read the book. But the script is a pity. I thought, the whole thing could have been intelligently told within about 90 minutes, but the movie runs over 150 minutes, with two (or three) completely unnecessary songs. And scenes after the uprising, are comparatively better than the uprising itself or its build up.

Cinematography too was terrible. Mr. Gowariker who gave us movies like Lagaan and Swadesh have taken many steps backwards with this movie. His selection of subject was good. But it all went wrong, from scripting and casting onwards.

The best plus, for me, was a track which played during the titles and also for some part during the beginning. It looked very new, genuine and very Indian and to the theme.

Also if not for this movie, I would have remained ignorant about this small chapter from the Indian Independence struggle.

Drive Angry - 3D

2011 by Patrick Lussier

Ridiculous, Horrible, Stupid movie. Nicolas Cage escapes from HELL to save his grand daughter from the bloody killers who had killed his daughter too.

The only plus of this movie is the performance of William Fichtner who is the Accountant from Hell, chasing Cage.
Dont even understand why this had to be shot in 3D.

Magadheera

2009 by  Rajamouli , watching for the third time for my wife

In the 1600's, Udaigarh kingdom is about to be attacked by the invading forces of Sher Khan. Udaigarh is loyally protected by Kaala Bhairava who belongs to a warrior clan in which men are so brave and will not die without killing at least 100 enemy men and mostly they die before 30 years fighting for their homeland. Young princess Mitrananda devi adores Kaala Bhairava, but Ranadeb Billa her cousin is dying to marry her. He forces a competition out for deciding who can marry the princess and inspite of his wickedness it is Kaala Bhairava who emerges winner and Billa has to leave Udaigarh. The King likes Bhairava but is sure that his daughter will be a widow sooner if she marries him and hence request Kaala Bhairava to forget his love, which he sadly accepts. A special prayer is to be offered at an auspicious moment in a sacred Shiva shrine, which itself has a fearsome location, in some part of Udaigarh. Kaala Bhairava escorts princess to the shrine, where she asks him to proclaim his love for her. At this moment Sher Khan's army arrives at the shrine. Billa had turned a traitor and had attacked the palace with Sher Khan, killing the king. Sher Khan had heard a lot about the bravery of Bhairava and challenges him to prove it. Kaala Bhairava single handedly faces about 100 warriors of Sher Khan and kills them all while Sher Khan can only just count the number of dead and towards the end he is in awe of the bravery of Bhairava and proclaims himself a slave to Bhairava as a mark of respect. But Billa interferes, as he was promised help to marry the princess, and fights with Bhairava and is killed, but manages to seriously wound the princess before his death. Mithrananda only wants to know if Bhairava loves him but dies before he speaks out. Bhairava jumps down from the peak after the princess. Four hundred years later Bhairava, princess, Billa and Sher Khan are back in human form as Harsha, Indu, Raghu veer and Solomon. Harsha, when he accidently touches the finger tip of Indu, has a kind of shock which makes him crave for her love. Raghu Veer and Indu are still cousins and Raghu veer desperately needs to marry her. Solomon is a fisherman who is ready to help Harsha in anyways to help him have his love. How Harsha manages to win the love of Indu, how he finally realises their past and how he manages to convey this to Indu and to unite finally, only after the death of Raghu Veer, makes the full movie.

There are many many things that I would like to talk about on this movie, but dont know where to start etc.
A kind of fairy tale story, which we would have loved to hear as a child for all the heroism and thrill it offered, or as a teenager for all the romance. But it has been beautifully penned into a modern day script which effortlessly shuttles us between the 1600's and 2000's. The movie starts in 1600's with the titles, comes back to the life of Harsha and gives us glimpses of his past as he is after Indu and with an accident, takes us back to the 1600's with the whole story and then again completes it in the 2000's. I liked a lot how this has been structured. The movie keeps its excellent pace through out and offers a lot of thrilling moments through out, which has all been beautifully shot. May it be the moment were Harsha recognises his Indu - the scene in which he follows her bus atop a horse, or the scene when Bhairava is saved by his horse , whatever there is a lot of heroism here which I am sure even a staunch feminist would enjoy. All those lighter moments between Harsha and Indu will really make us relax down. And the stunts have been excellent too.

Except for Enthiran, which was a later production and seems to have spend much more money, I havent seen any Indian movie doing this kind of an excellent job with special effects and computer graphics. The difference is we do not worry about the special effects or graphics at all while watching this movie. You are gripped into the story and all what you see are only just part of the story and unless you really care for all such things happening behind and away from camera you will not think about all this special effects at all. There is a particular camera movement, when the camera follows the horse racers entering the kingdom and camera just pans upwards, very fast, by the two towers, I cant describe it, thats simply brilliant. Great great imagination. Technically as well, on all aspects may it be Camera , editing, sound engineering, costumes and sets or whatever this movie is amazing.

Magadheera, for me, is a perfect entertainer. It has every thing we would wish for from an entertainer. A simple and nice story, good thrills, good music, charming actors and wonderful frames. Though it is pretty ordinary for some time in the beginning following Harsh, which I think was important for the box office results, it is wonderfully done. Had the director known that people would accept this movie even without that masala item, I am sure the director would not have compromised for those scenes and couple of other songs. Having said that all those songs are nice to listen to and well shot.

I have to say that Ram charan Teja and Kajal Agarwal has a beautiful charm and they have a movie for their lifetime. So is Rajamouli. This movie could be his hall mark.

Finally, at the end as the credits rolls there is a song which actually introduces all the people behind the camera. Well this is not quite new for Indian cinema now. But in Magadheera this is just very different that the song is picturised with only a few steps and in a very funny way. I cant explain it. I have watched this song alone for more than 20 times. Its really really good.

I was not an admirer of main stream Telugu movies, but Magadheera changed all that. I did watch a few more Telugu movies after my first Magadheera show.

If this movie was made by Hollywood with white actors, I am sure, the movie would have still looked the same but it would have gained universal acclaim. Unfortunately it is from an Indian regional language and its a pity that even many people in South India havent heard about this movie.

One of the best entertainers of all time from India.

Le clan

2004 by Gael Morel

In a small French town quite away from any major city, three brothers are finding it difficult, just after the death of their mother, with a quite weak father. There are not many opportunities for the youth from the poor backgrounds and with out the help of strong parents, it is very easy for them to take the wrong path. Marc is macho figure and involves in some petty drug sales and when he is beaten up and his pet dog is killed wants to take revenge but ends up being paralyzed. The eldest brother Christophe is out of the prison and seems to have learned a lot and is happy to do a menial job in a Pork factory. But he is sincere in his job and soon takes up his boss's place and finds a girl friend too. The youngest Olivier, is in love with a boy of Algerian origin Hischam.

There are many good points in this movie, but still I it was not an easy watch. The movie intends to bring forth the difficulties faced by young men from poor backgrounds in small towns of France. These boys walk a tight rope that they can easily fall down to the dark side from where they might never be able to get back to normal life. At the same time it also shows a lot of hope in the way one of the brother gets back in to normal life after a stint in the prison. There is subtle machoism in this movie and there is extravagant homo sexuality as well. The movie is told through the eyes of Hischam, who actually is connected to all three brothers and is gay, might be the reason why the camera is always panning through the male body. Marc, especially has an excellent physique and great skin which definitely can evoke wow from most woman. There is this shot where the father is looking at the nude entangled brothers, which was shocking for me, but I didnt understand what that was meant for. Like wise there were many excellent frames, which I must say, is so typical of French movies from what I have seen.

Performances by all the actors has been really good and the scene where Marc is attending his physiotherapy was so well done. You could feel the pain. I also loved the Capoeira dance (a slave dance from Brazil) scenes, though short, as performed by Hischam and two brothers.

This movie is not for everybody, if you love heavy abstract stuff and want to think seriously and find out what all is about, this is the movie. I wont be able to watch this again.

There are no female characters at all, until when the girl friend of Christopher arrives for a family meal, and I found it difficult to digest, there are no female in sight at all. Even when the brothers are paying for sex, they are doing it with a trans sexual, not a woman.  Strange. 

True Grit

2010 by Coen brothers

An old fashioned Wild wild west kind of movie, the end product is quite ordinary Hollywood, except for some nice moments between the 14 year old and the old Rooster, disappointed actually.

I simply dont understand why so much hype around this movie, except for the performance by the young Hailee, I didnt find it amusing.

Manon des Sources - part 2 of Jean de Florette

1986 by Claude Berri

About 10 years have passed after the tragic death of Jean the hunchback. Ugolin and his uncle, Cesar are very successful with their carnations farming. Manon the daughter of Jean has grown to a beautiful young girl and is a shepherdess. May be because of all the tragedies and the attitude of the villagers, they live a life in the wilderness keeping away from the villagers. There is a new character, Bernard, who is a teacher and there is some attraction between Bernard and Manon. Ugolin happens to see a dancing nude Manon and he is spell bound by her beauty. He tells Cesar, who has been always pushing him to get married, about her. Cesar hasnt seen her yet, and after watching her, without her knowledge, he tells Ugolin that she reminds him about Florette, a beautiful woman who was in the village and left village later. Ugolin proposes to Manon in a very strange manner and she is not affected at all by the proposal. Manon over hears two hunters talking about the spring and how the Soubeyran's and even the whole village was responsible for the death of Jean. May be this brought back all the bitter memories of her childhood. Because of one of her goats, she accidentally finds the source, responsible for all the water streams in the village. She blocks this source and lack of water affects the whole village. The priest even accuses that somebody amongst them are responsible for this. During a public gathering, Manon accuses the Soubeyrans', ie Ugolin and Cesar, of being responsible for the death of her father. Ugolin nearly agrees with Manon, but breaks out and proposes to Manon in public, offering her all what he have. She spits on him and runs away to Bernard. Cesar accuses the whole village for the death. Here Manon also announces that she is the grand daughter of Florette, which is a shocking news for the village. Ugolin hangs himself and Cesar is really struck by the death of his nephew. Bernard convinces Manon that, if her father knew about the spring he would have gladly shared it for the whole village and convinces her to open out the source. They open out the source and the villagers consider the arrival of water as a miracle. Manon marries Bernard and the whole village attends their wedding. Delphine an old blind woman meets Cesar outside the church and tells him about the grave mistake he did, by not replying to the letter of Florette. Cesar is surprised and says in military they did miss many letters and never received any letter from Florette. Delphine then reminds him about a night he spend with Florette, after which he went for military service. Florette got pregnant and she then wrote to Cesar about marriage and how she would wait for him. At the same time she was being teased by the whole village for being pregnant and since she never heard back from Cesar, she had tried to killed the baby in many ways without any results. That is when Florette left the village and finally married a black smith. Cesar wonders whether that child was alive and Delphine replies in affirmative, just that it was a hunch back. Cesar is heart broken and immediately finds he has lost all his strength and knows he is near death. He prepares a letter for Manon and dies that night.

This is not a typical part 2 of any popular movie, if both the part 1 and 2 were shown as a single movie, I am sure most people would have seen it in one go and still admired it as an epic movie. Manon des sources has some beautifully shot moments which I have to list out:

- the samll scene where Ugolin is spell bound by the beauty of Manon

- the public meeting to discuss the water problem when the Mayor boasts he has managed to find a water expert. Brilliant scene which really reminded me of one Malayalam classic by K G George - Panchavadippaalam.

- the public gathering where Manon accuses the Soubeyran's followed by Ugolin proposing and breaking down and Cesar accusing the village.

- the scene where Cesar is reading the death letter of Ugolin, what a touching letter. He dies not because he is accused of Jean's death or because of the loss in the farming, its because he knows Manon doesnt love him but more than that she loves Bernard, and Ugolin wants her to have all what he have.

- the scene where Delphin explains the Florette story and when Cesar realises that Jean was his own son

- and finally the scene where Cesar makes his letter for Manon, passing out all what he have to Manon.

The movie is beautiful, just that the above scenes stands out for their beauty, for how its directed and for the drama and emotion. The two death letters, of both Ugolin and Cesar, both are so touching that we wish Manon forgives them for all their sins.

The show stopper for me are Daniel Auteuil again and Yves Montand. Brilliant, excellent and brilliant. what can i say. The scene where Daniel shouts in the public meet that 'this is not just a problem but a catastrophe' immediately made me think about actors like Gopi and Nedumudi Venu in the Malayalam classic Panchavadippaalam.

I watch Emmanuelle Beart first in Belle des Noiseuse and that took me to Un Couer en hiver, which I consider as her best performance so far, from what I have seen. Its because of her I came across Manon des sources, in which she must be only 17/18 years old, and I saw Jean de Florette. Emmanuelle is so beautiful as Manon and there are excellent shots of her, accentuating her beauty. But performance wise, she has to give way for Daniel Auteuil and Yves Montand.

And if you ask me, Jean de Florette is better than Manon des Sources as a movie. I simply wish this should have been released as a single movie and have only one major doubt. How can a beautiful girl like Manon be living in the wild without ever being seen by most villagers. 

Nouvo Cinema Paradiso

1988 by Guiseppe Tornatore

Salvatore, called as Toto is a young boy in a Southern Italian village who is so fond of cinema. He spends all his time at the village cinema house which is called Cinema Paradiso. He is like a pest to Alfredo who should be in his 40-50's, who runs the projector. He is so intrigued by cinema and really wants to learn everything about what is happening in the projector room. He takes the film bits home and shares them with his mother, who lost her husband in the world war II, at a young age. The local priest has a big influence and he actually censores the movies which are shown. A preview show is done only for the priest who wrings a bell, meaning Alfredo should cut that scene before its screened for the public. Toto, as he is there always, is so curious to know what happens on screen (in the kissing scenes), but Alfredo doesnt even let him touch the censored bits of film. Alfredo is kind of fond about Toto but is still reluctant to teach him the details. However, when  Alfredo has to take an examintion in the school, he has no option than to take help from Toto, who throws him his copy bit. Thats the beginning of a unique friendship between a boy and an adult. Toto soon learns everything about projection. Unfortunately, there is a fire in the projector room and even if Toto manages to pull out Alfredo, he loses his eye sight. A village man, who has just won a football lotterry, decides to rennovate the cinema house and calls it Nouvo Cinema Paradiso. The only person who can manage the projector is Toto, who is glad to work. Cicco, the new owner is not obliged to the priest and he doesnt mind any kissing scenes either. Alfredo visits Toto often at the cinema and motivates him to not miss his school. Toto, is in the high school, still working in the cinema and he meets Elena, daughter of a rich banker. They like each other but her father doesnt approve the relationship. Alfredo is all advise for Toto in all matters. Toto by now also has a small movie camera with which he makes his own short movies. Elena soon leaves the village with her family and Toto has to go for military service. His attempts to contact Elena is in vain.  Alfredo motivates Toto to leave the village forever to pursue his dreams with movies and never to come back. He gets a strong promise from Toto to not return. Toto is now Salvatore an established film maker and he hasnt gone back to his village in 30 years. His mother informs him about the death of Alfredo and Salvatore comes back to his village for the funeral. Alfredo's wife tells him how much Alfredo loved him. She gives him something, as desired by Alfredo. Salvatore is also sad to see the theatre, which is not used these days, getting demolished to build a parking space. Alfredo goes back to his city and watch the reel of movie, the present from Alfredo. The reel is a short film made of all the censored kissing scenes, which Salvatore so longed to watch as a child.

The movie, though, is told in a flash back as and when Salvatore is informed about Alfredo's death. It is a simple and beautiful film. First of all the child Toto, how charming this boy is. He carries the movie in his shoulders for the whole time he is there. Secondly his friendship with Alfredo is so well told. The movie literally took me back to my own childhood, when we used to visit our village cinema houses, we had two nearby, with thatched palm leaf roofs and simple benches and chairs as seats. We used to collect the bits of films from the theatre compound and make our movie still projections using mirrors, an electric bulb and a cylendrical tube etc. I got really nostalgic about those days. The scenes inside the theatre have been excellent. So many funny moments. The disappointment and the excitement of the audience in watching the kissing scenes looks the same, through out the world. Excellent. So was the examination scene. There are some brilliant frames which can even evoke applause from professional still photographers. Its not just fun, there are many moments when this movie gives you a simple good feeling and a lot of nostalgia. And finally the joy and tears in the eyes of Salvatore when he watches the old kissing scenes,are simply beautiful. I think it is that last scene which takes this simple movie to a few levels above other good movies.

Italy or India, old movie houses all have had the same fate. So is the feeling we have when we go back to our past and meet some objects or people which were part of our life, years back. This movie will really make us think about our childhood.

One of the movie houses in my village is now being converted to a marriage hall. The other one was brought down by fire, intentionally set by the owner himself to, at least, claim the insurance.

The King's Speech

2010 by Tom Hooper

George was not supposed to be the King, in fact he was considered incompetent for the job as he has a serious problem - stammering. He is unfit to address any gathering, let alone the more far reaching addresses over Radio. But circumstances change and he has to be the king. His, and his wife's, efforts to break through out of the stammer issues and how he finds a non conventional speech therapist, work with him, and finally make an all important address to the Nation over radio forms this film.

Last year, it was 'The Young Victoria' and this year it is The King's Speech. If Young Victoria was about all the drama behind her ascension to the throne and the turbulent days during the first few years of her rule, The King's Speech too has the drama behind the ascension to the throne by George VI, and something more. His disinterest for the throne, his pain, anger and embarrassment being a stammer all is so well taken.

A truly brilliant performance by Colin Firth is the highlight of this movie, I believe it is a British movie. I love Queen's English, as its so pleasing to listen to, quite clear to understand as well (even without subtitles), so whenever I am told there is a movie about Royal British life, I am eager to watch. Not sure, if I was so satisfied after watching this one though.  

Jean De Florette

1986 by Claude Berri

Ugolin returns back to his native place, a village around the beautiful Provence region in France, and has a new idea to cultivate some flowers - carnations - in large scale, which can offer him better profits than other corps. He is like a right hand man to his uncle Soubeyran, who is an established farmer and a big land owner. He secretly cultivates the flowers and when it is ready to be harvested, he invite his uncles and reveals the secret. Soubeyran is not impressed but Ugolin takes him to the florist who offer a price, inspite of being off season, which impresses his uncle a lot. They are glad that they have a great idea but needs some new land for large scale cultivation. The problem in the region is lack of perennial water streams. There is a neighborhood farm land which will be ideal (which is known for a perennial water source), but the owner doesnt want to sell it and Soubeyran , though not intended, kills this farmer. He doesnt regret it at all. They find out that Jean, the hunchback, is the legal heir of the land. Soubeyran and Ugolin finds the origin of the water source and covers it with some cement so that nobody else can find this out. So even if the new owner wants to do some farming he will not have any options with water and will finally sell the land. To their surprise, Jean arrives with his wife and child to the village. Ugolin offers lot of help for them to settle but finds out that Jean has lot of plans with farming in the land. Ugolin tries his best to de motivate Jean, who has some solution for everything, some out of the box ideas and lot of optimism. Soubeyran asks Ugolin to be as nice as possible with the Hunchback and family so that they will have good control over him and can also make sure that he will never find the water source. Jean works hard, he has to get water from one mile away, madly in fact, and has good results from the kitchen garden and rabbit farm. However, nature which was initially kind turns very cruel to him and there is an extended summer which means he is losing on all accounts. They even pawn their farm land and home with Soubeyran to have some extra money, hoping to repay it very soon. A few days of rain can change his fortunes and Jean is very optimistic. He is alone and the whole village in fact looks down on him and the family. As a last attempt, he tries to dig a well in his plot. With the last bit of money he has, he buys some explosives and tries to break the large mass of rock. Poor man gets killed in this attempt.  Jean's wife and child has no optiion, but to give the land and home back to Soubeyran and collect a few thousand Francs as balance and leave the village. While they are getting ready to leave, Soubeyran and Ugolin cant resist going up to the water source and open it up. They are so happy and were unable to wait for a few more minutes for Jeans wife and child to leave the village. Jean's child, Manon, was following them and she is shocked to see water gushing out in their land, so close to their home. Soubeyran and Ugolin is still enjoying the moment, unaware of the fact that Manon, the little girl of Jean the hunchback, who strived hard unto death to find water, is aware about the water source.

I dont know what to say. A beautiful story (originally a novel) made into a very beautiful film. The first feeling I had after watching this movie is to go to my village and start farming. Years back, when I saw Maravathoor Kanavu, a Malayalam movie, then too I had this feeling, a little. But this time the feeling is 10000000... times more may be. Because this is simply excellent, excellent and excellent. The beauty of Aix en Provence is so well captured and so are everything about the life around a rustic Provence village. Each and everybody who appear on screen is a real person. More than anything, it looks like, till few decades back village life was same, even if it was Asia or Europe. We saw in 'Lagaan', how much the villagers craved for rain and Ashutosh Gowariker had to use a song there to capture the situation. In Jean de Florette there is the same situation, sans songs, but is simply beautiful. We feel like crying for Jean.

Life was hard and it was a constant struggle between man and nature. It is the struggle of our forefathers, their common sense, their intelligence and inventions which have lead us to our modern life. How much I wish, this movie was dubbed and released in India. For the great Indian middle class and corporate world, who seem to have lost count on the poverty in our country and the importance of Agriculture, this movie is a must watch. May be they will think for at least an hour about our farmers. At least our Hon. Minister, P Chidambaram, who dared to announce that he wish to see 70% of Indians living in cities, this movie is a must watch. I dont think any normal human being can complete watching this movie without sparing a thought for farmers who struggle with nature to feed us.

I always felt Daniel Auteuil is an excellent actor, but he can only portray simple and quite kind of characters. I was wrong. As Ugolin, I cant think about anybody else. Even the minute subtleties for such a character is taken care of, I must say. If not for him may be Ugolin would have just been an ordinary village man who is just a stupid assistant of a crooked land owner.

And Gerard Depardieux, as always, is excellent. First, I didnt understand why Jean had to be a hunch back in this movie. Even if he was a normal man, that would not have changed the story. But this is not modern France. In a rustic village, and even in French cities, hunch backs were basically looked down upon by normal population. They were not supposed to be intelligent and are stupid basically. In French literature, hunch backs lived in a world of their own and were villains. And here the hunch back is supposed to surprise the whole village.

I would always consider this as one of my best cinematic experiences. A movie which gives me this immense feeling to be a farmer, which make me think so much about the struggles of our fore fathers, which make me wonder about the influence of nature on humans, which make me admire some artists and craftsmen, who dont even speak my language, is definitely going to live with me. I will always sing its praises. This is one which can be watched and enjoyed by anybody, irrespective of whether one likes to watch movie as an art product, an intellectual piece or pure entertainment stuff.

Jean De Florette, which also has some excellent music to accompany, has a second part too. Both the parts were simultaneously shot, but released as two movies. I cant wait for the second part.

Rocco e i Suoli Fratelli - Rocco and his brothers

1960 by Luchino Visconti

Italy is witnessing mass migration of poor peasants from the South to its Northern cities. Rosario Parondi, who just lost her husband, come to Milan with her 4 kids (Simone, Rocco, Cirro and Luca) hoping the eldest, Vincenzo who is working in Milan, can do something to end their miserable lives. She is a very possessive mother and immediately dislikes Vincenzo's fiancee and her family. They have to struggle for a better life now. Simone starts training to be a pro Boxer. Vincenzo meets Nadia, a prostitute and introduces her to the whole family. Simone is too much attracted to her and even steals a kind of ornament (I dont know what its called) from the Store manager, where Rocco works, to present to Nadia. Nadia gives the present back through Rocco, telling him she doesnt want to see Simone anymore. Simone could have been a successful boxer, but he has many other interests than boxing and soon fails. He has too many negatives in his stride to emerge a champion. Rocco, who always dreams about going back to his home town, joins the army. He meets Nadia again and they really fall in love. He is the person who can lead Nadia to a normal life. But Simone finds this out and he ends up raping Nadia in front of Rocco. Strangely, Rocco advises Nadia to go back to Simone as he needs her more and is desperate to get her back. Rocco too starts training to be a pro boxer. When the ex manager of Simone goes for a police case to get back a big sum of money which Simone had stolen from him, Rocco enters into a long term contract in Boxing and pays back the money. Rocco thus enters professional boxing for the sake of saving Simone and he starts a successful career. Simone is searching for Nadia who is running away from him, and is back into prostitution. Simone pleads before her but her words, how much she despise him, provokes the criminal inside him and kills her. Rocco would like to save his brother, but the younger brother Cirro, who is working in a company, informs Police and believes the family is better off without Simone. Cirro explains to the youngest brother, how much it was important for the family to get rid of Simone. He explains Rocco as a saint, who lives only for the family not for himself, but doesn't think one should be that much forgiving, for it was Simone who destroyed the family peace.

This is an epic story, told as chapters about each brother. Except for certain things, I couldnt help thinking how much Indian this story was. I cannot be specific, but we might have seen many similar tales in India. I always felt that it was in Italy and Spain I could find some kind of an Indianness in their people. This movie reiterates that feeling.

Story is everything here, we are unable to understand few things though. How can Rocco forgive Simone after  raping his girl friend in front of his eyes, and how can Nadia go back to Simone after being raped, How can Rocco be so generous, he is the protagonist here and is more like a Biblical character. The kind of big brother we often see in Indian movies. Simone is the perfect antagonist, but how can he still want to live with a woman who shouts (and spits on his face) that she hates him. Well, few questions like that, but I would still say its a great story. Though, it is told as different chapters on each brother, its Simone and Rocco who really runs it through. Italy is still famous for its male domination. Well, may be that is quite evident here. And the mother of the five children, I felt, is very much Indian. For me Rosario Parondi is the best character in this movie.

Having said that the movie is too much dramatic at some points. It is excellent in many parts though.

While watching this movie, should I say most Classics in Black and White, I felt bad that I did not learn Black and white film developing and printing when I started taking pictures. If I did, I could have still used my manual cameras to take beautiful b&w shots. Black & White is brilliant.

Sorry to say this. Ever since I saw Le Meglio Gioventu, whenever I watch a long movie I am forced to compare it with L M Gioventu and I feel sorry for Rocco..., I am sure more people might find Rocco as a Classic Italian from a great Italian master, but L M Gioventu, for me, is the best example to make an epic movie without losing its pace at all. 

Der Untergang - Downfall

2004 by Oliver Hirschbiegel

Russian army is only about 12 Kilometers away from Berlin and almost everybody around Hitler is sure that Berlin will be captured. All his loyal men are wondering what to do next, to leave Berlin to save themselves or to fight until death or to convince Hitler to leave Berlin or even just suicide as the last resort. Hitler in the mean time realises that most of his generals were cowards and havent listened to him and have acted against his orders which has paved way to losing the battle. He is full of confidence one moment and is depressed the next. More and more news arrives about the cowardice of his generals and also about some valiant generals and soldiers. Inspite of all the pressure by some of his generals, Hitler is adament he will not leave Berlin, for he does not want people to curse him finally. At the same time he also says that evacuation of Berlin is not possible and people deserves what they are facing now. Eva his girl friend seems to be enjoying these moments and is adament she will not escape, so are some secretaries of his, who finds all these happenings so unreal. Hitler marries Eva and announces that they will commit suicide and orders his body guard to make sure that the enemy do not even find their bodies. His loyal servants burns their bodies afterwards. Once defeat is confirmed many of his loyal generals too commit suicide. Traudl Junge, his young secretary manages to pass through the Russian army and escapes Berlin. The movie is an account of her experiences.

This is a brilliant movie. It is so well taken that inspite of being the story of the most hated monarch, it still has many moments that will touch you. The Cinematography is more than brilliant, it can serve as a lesson on how to capture the mood of a theme, without ever making the viewer think about the camera, inspite of having a lot of action around.

Bruno Ganz lives as Hitler. What a performance. He looks fearful and even attracts our pity in some scenes. The scene where he listens to the song by his ministers children, followed by his discussion with Eva and secretaries how to commit a painless suicide, and his last good bye to his close assists were simply excellent.

Alexandra Maria Lara, my favourite German actress has also done well as Traudl.

Finally may I say, this is purely a directors movie. Excellent movie, a master piece.

Makeup Man

2011 by Shafi.

A typical Malayalam 'masala' romantic comedy.

Rich girl and man elopes. She is lucky to act in a movie and her husband diguises as her make up man. Unfortunately, she is attracted more towards movie life and there are problems between them and finally all ends in good terms.

It has all the typical Malayalam romantic comedy ingredients.
2 songs
a hero who looks 2 decades older than the heroine
all unnecessary characters, played by great actors who dont have any opportunities for good roles these days
All machoisms of normal Malayaalee husband, who seems to get applause even from the Malayaalee women in the theatre
Some police men, media and television news & a court scene which is out of this world as always
and some laughs here and there
plus
almost 3 hours of length which could have been told in 2 hours

In fact, Sunday was a day for an excellent comparison between Tamil and Malayalam movies. 

Nadunissi Naaygal - Midnight Dogs

2011 by Gautham Menon

Samar, as a child, is sexually abused by none other than his father. Because of a vigilant neighbourhood woman Meenakshi, Samar is saved and Meenakshi takes care of Samar thereafter, who calls him Veera. Even as a teenager Veera falls in love with Meenakshi. One night he has this terrible dream about his past and ends up in the bedroom of Meenakshi and he is more of Samar and nearly rapes her. For some wierd reason, which we should make out, Meenakshi continues having Veera in her home and she gets married to one of her old friend. This is too much for the boy and Samar stabs Meenakshi's husband on the very first night on their bed and there is a fire in the room. Meenakshi too is killed, later in the hospital I guess, because of this fire. But for Samar, Meenakshi is alive around him and he moves to Chennai from Mumbai to a home which looks apt for his kind of personality. Here he hunts down other girls and kills them. He cuts the hair, after he abuse/kills his victims, and presents to Meenakshi, for Meenakshi had lost all her hair in the fire  have a liking for the hair of these girls. He sees Sukanya, a school mate and tries to get her to his home. The movie unfolds through the events of the night when he tries to get Sukanya and through his confessions.

But let me tell you, this movie has a brilliant script. Of course, there are loop holes here and there but still, may I say this movie is quite different from the run of the mill ones, and is brilliant in more than a few aspects, unless we want to sit down and only criticize. The truth that Samar has a dual personality problem, that he lives as both Samar and Veera is clear only towards the second half of the movie. His halucination of having Meenakshi, whom he saved from the fire but left alive with a terrible face, who is living with him in the strange house in Chennai is made to look real until his dual personality is presented. But the script and the director - both by Mr. Menon, has done quite enough to keep the surprises in tact and producing a special thriller out of a true story. He has gone quite out of the way for this in few things, the length of the movie is only 90 minutes, there is  no background music or any songs, mind you its a thriller but with no background music, and only few actors.

It is the performances of the lead characters, especially the debutant Veera who plays Samar, who makes this one a very different watch. It is difficult to believe that its only his first movie. The Cinematographer, who has worked mostly under low lights, and the editor, both have done a brilliant job.

When I was told that this movie was about a serial killer and bla bla, I suspected that this would be yet another adaptation of a script/s from elsewhere. But all credits to Gautham Menon, this is purely an Indian thriller. To nit pick, we could find similarities with many such stories, but the way how it is told, Nadunissi Naaygal is a surprising winner.

I still thought, Mr. Menon has scripted it for an audience who are intelligent, even the lay man in the theatre seems to have enjoyed it, so I couldnt understand why he still decided to give a routine explanation by a Psychiatrist at the very end, which was not required at all.

Veera have some deadly dogs, but still the title isnt relevant. 

The Mechanic

2011 by Simon West

Jason Statham is again a pro killer and agrees to train Ben Foster into a hit man, just because he had killed Ben's father. They are a deadly team, until Ben has doubts about his father's death. Typical Hollywood and the end too is typical.

Like Sanctum, another less than average one. Ben Foster was good. Jason Statham needs to think seriously about his choice of movies. Of course he is best fit for action, but he could go for some action movies with a difference I guess.