Onaayum Aattukuttiyum - probably the best thriller ever, from India!

Onaayum Aattukuttiyum by Misskin - Tamil 2013

Within an hour or so, I was sure that I was watching arguably the best thriller from Indian cinema. By the end of it, I thought there was no other Indian movie, that could be compared with OA. If any one thinks there is one, let me know please. However, OA is not just a thrilling movie. There are multi layers to it, that elevates the movie to an even higher level than a brilliant thriller.

I didnt know at all that Mysskin was releasing a new movie. My last experience with him, after the brilliant Yudham Sei, was a terrible disappointment. I could not believe somebody like Mysskin would go for a commerical potboiler like Mughamoodi. But the posters of OA sparked my interest right away, the design and the name - Onaayum Aattukuttiyum (The Wolf and the Lamb) was so appealing that I decided to watch it even before I saw the name of Mysskin in small fonts, under the title. There were hardly 20 people in the cinema and with the very first shot - a dark top angle view of an over bridge and an injured man running into the middle- I think the director impressed me. I am sure he had impressed almost every body inside.

Chandru, a medical student, finds an injured man by the road side, late at night. He tries hard to get help for the man, but hey this is India. Hospitals, Police they all have their own ways. Finally he has to use his own surgical knife, with the help of his teacher (over phone). What follows for Chandru is a day and (majorly) a long night of life inspiring/changing incidents. 

There are only a few main characters, and many supporting ones. But even the supporting extra characters impress, each one of them, is not a small feat. The movie proceeds from one dark side of the city to the other to the final Cemetry, and the viewer is more than engaged, inspite of having no idea about the story behind 'Wolf'. The thrilling thread is brilliantly woven to keep the viewer engaged. But the identity of some indivduals joining in different moments, stretching the suspense, can make us wonder -  what the hell is happening!!! In that brilliant Cemetery scene, when a fable is told, finally we get the picture. I thought that was a master stroke by Mysskin. Have we ever witnessed anything like this in Indian cinema, when the great Indian technique of 'flash back' is ignored and a kind of short bed time story is narrated out to explain, the events. Among the many scenes, which will make you want to salute Misskin, this story telling moment is one of the best.

The thrilling scene in front of a temple involving the blind mother, the one after that which involves the two police men, the scene in which a police officer speaks out, the final basement ... there are so many superb scenes. In fact more than 90% of the scenes are superb by themselves. I am wondering, if  Mysskin wrote the script for OA , as if he was scripting Theatre. The scenes shift from one part of the city to the other and the events and the story slowly unfolds in these different venues. I don't think (not sure), if any of the venue comes back in the script. As the venues change, we can also feel that the movie is going up from one level to other, to a level superior in quality and feel to the previous one. Incredible it was. I am afraid, I am not explaining it well enough.

Brilliant performances by every one in the movie, may I say. That is quite abnormal for Indian cinema. Mysskin has managed to make Camera and Background music two characters by itself. Especially the BGM  by Ialaiyaraja will get a lot of reviews. I am not saying OA is a perfect movie. There are few glitches here and there and the one which stood out for me was the performance of Mysskin during the story narration. A bit more subtlety might have made it even brilliant At the same, this is not a polished character, so... But no compliants, Mysskin is definitely the man here. He has scripted, directed and acted in one of the most important roles too. What a make over as an actor, from Nandalala to OA. And an even higher leap to a high quality director.

Mysskin deserves a place among the best directors from India. Friends, we have a man who can make our own movies, in a level even better than what you expect from the ones like Tarantino (I dont like most Tarantino movies).  This movie, if marketed well, can make India proud internationally. Of course, one might think about some of those Korean revenge sagas, but thats it, OA is quite a different kind of Indian saga from Tamil.

Sarah Lund in Forbrydelsen; In love with a character!!!

Forbrydelsen (The Killing), Dannish TV series, a Thriller, created by Soren Sviestrup

It was my research on Viking, that lead me to Forbrydelsen. People from around the world were discussing this detective series from Denmark. So my expectations were quite high and it took some time for me to get into the feel of the story. In Forbrydelsen, the script delves seriously into 3 sides, the detectives, the victims family and the political side. The screen time is almost equally divided between these three, and it is brilliantly realistic. Morevoer, unlike in any other detective story, here a lot of impetus is given on the victims family and how a crime affects the political scenario, that too with lots of details. Naturally, it takes some time to understand a different kind of culture and set up. However, soon we are in, and there after it is a thrilling ride. Almost all the important details happen in front of the camera, lots of matters are not explained, but the viewer has to think to make it out and there is a kind of subtlety to every aspect - acting or settings or cinematography or background score and what not. I am out of words to explain, how brilliant this was. Every thing looks so normal, there is not even an iota of exaggeration on any aspect, and it will keep you hooked for the whole length (20 episodes for season 1 and 10 for 2). I have now watched both the first and second seasons of Forbrydelsen and I will give a 10/10 for season 1 and 9/10 for season 2. I think, that says a lot.

An absolutely 'out of this world' kind of creation, by Soren Sviestrup. The brain of this man should be preserved and studied. What a genius. The kind of details he delves into, for the three aspects of the story, is brilliant. Each and every character gives a normal, subtle, performance. In whole, the treatment is against all conventional ways of making a thriller. Not to ignore that he has managed a thriller, with hardly any action element. I must also say, another high point of the series is its background score, by Frans Bak. Especially, loved the piece that flows into towards the end credits.

Well, the main attraction of this series is its main CID, Sarah Lund. Yes, the main detective is a woman, an ordinary woman. She doesnt have any super heroine looks nor is she superiorly intelligent to others around her. Here is an ordinary woman, absolutely ordinary in all aspects, except that she is very intutive and she gets immersed in what she is doing, with full passion and is quite a hard worker. She doesnt even seem to have changed her clothes for days. (a jumper she wore, is said to have been a big hit across the world that it was being sold like hot cakes, online) Sarah Lund, unlike all other detectives, is not an all in one machine. She ends up making mistakes, leading to real blunders sometimes and is error prone like any normal being. As I said, this series is synonym of Normality on screen and Lund is the hall mark. She rarely even attempts a smile, and almost always have a blunt expression-less face. But whenever the camera is on her, we can see that her mind is working, thinking hard, and we feel for her. It is beyond any explanation, for me, how she managed to pull this character off so effectively.

I have watched couple of other movies, after watching Forbydelsen, but in the last days I have thought about Sarah Lund, as much as I have thought about my dear wife or about my work or about Leo Messi. She is not leaving my thoughts, from my mind. I have to say, for the first time in my life, I am in love with a character. I searched for the actor who have played her, brilliantly portrayed by Sofie Grabol, and I plan to watch more movies of her, but it is Sarah Lund who is wandering around in my thoughts. What a character? I never thought, I would ever get so much attached to a character on screen. I had liked many actors, have adored Maradona and Messi but never did I got into love with a character. I cant believe this, so forgive me for repeating.

I cant help posting a photo of Sarah Lund (This looks like a promotional photo, rather than a still from the series)

I realise that I have got too much into it, that I decided to watch the season 3, later. 

Friends, if you like to watch the best investigative movie (of course, its a TV series, but I cant think about a better movie), watch this. You can find torrents easily and make sure you download the original Dannish one, with English subtitles. Like always, it was immediately remade in America and European critics are slamming it on most points. So please avoid it.

VIKINGS & FORBRYDELSEN

Viking - A Tv serial about the historical Viking Ragnar Lothbrok

Forbrydelsen - A Tv serial about an investigation on the murder of a school girl

The last time I watched a TV serial could be probably Kairalee vilasom lodge, in DD in the 80's. Nowadays TV, for me, is only for football and may be an odd movie, once in a very very long while. Couple of years before I watched the full series of Faulty Towers,(which was from mid 70's), and realised that there are gems on TV, in Europe. I have watched Faulty Towers more than 10 times now.  I always thought I will try to find similar ones, but never really pursued, watched Blackadder, though. So it was just by luck, that I saw the cd of Vikings, at my cd friend, who had mistakenly placed this cd, amongst Hollywood section and if not for its cover, I would have completely ignored it. How lucky I was. The synopsis was very brief and I decided to take it only because of my interest in European history.

Vikings were Scandinavians, sea fearers, who raided across Europe and Asia, between the 8th and 11th centuries. This TV serial is an Irish - Canadian co production for the History channel. It follows the tales of Ragnar Lothbrok, the man who first sailed west, and was feared by European rulers. But this is not just a war story. It is a brilliant picturisation of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, and through him, his wife and children and his brother and the others, the series takes us to a different period in history, quite a different world for us. But the characteristics of these historic people has been wonderfully sketched that we can feel them all. 

I am sorry, I dont have the writing capacity to write about this series. All I can say is, friends, please do not miss this one. There are 9 episodes and it might take some time for you to get into its feel, you will soon, most probably, latest by the middle of the second episode, and then its an incredible journey. I watched the whole cd, in two sittings, in two nights. If you have time, you might even finish it in a day - above 400 minutes, I think.

The only issue (?) was, the end of the Viking Season 1, the 9th episode, is terrifically unique. I was screaming, when I realised that the cd had actually ended and there is nothing more left, for it ended at a very important point in the story. It is indescribable boldness from the side of the director, Michael Hirst, to do so. Sure we will feel yearning for the rest. And that is exactly what has happened the world over. People are desperate for the second season. I cannot wait for another few months to watch the second season.

Right at the end, I started researching on Vikings and it lead me to something else. I already knew that Denmark makes excellent movies. Now I know, they also make the best thrillers/investigation dramas, for their TV.

I have started watching another series, Forbrydelsen  (The Killing) - and couple of episodes after I am stunned by the quality of this one. I read that it has been already remade in many other countries (of course, first by USA. BBC showed the original Dannish series with subtitles), may be it would come to India too. Real classic investigation. Unlike in Indian movies where a detective or lawyer explains everything to the viewer, the whole investigation process happens in front of the camera. (I think it was only in Yudham Sei, the Tamil movie, there was even some kind of attempt at this way of story telling, rather than everything coming out by dialogues). Forbrydelsen looks like a brilliant series and I am so glad I have discovered this one, thanks to Vikings.

If you are looking for torrents, make sure it is the original Dannish one, not the American remake, which is also named as Killing.My sincere thanks to internet, that I can watch all these pieces of art from distant world.

Viceværten - A Caretakers Tale

by Katrine Wiedemann - Dannish - 2011

I am still looking forward to write my comments on some of my favourite movies in the recent past. Amour staying high on the list. No other movie made me cry, like Amour did. Tears rolled down for long periods, while watching Amour. Still, I have been postponing it. I do not want to postpone at all, my comments on this small gem from Denmark, Viceværten - A Caretakers Tale. Quite a movie, with that rare poetic touch.

Per, a caretaker of an apartment building, is tired of his life. His wife left him, his lowlife son is just out of prison and will move out with his mother and so on. And out of some blue, during his work in an empty flat, he sees a smiling girl on the floor, draped in a transparent cloth, yet naked. He soon finds out that she is not a hooker or an illegal immigrant. May be because of his state of mind, he turns out a pure maochist and rapes her. But to his atmost surprise, realise that the girl loved it. It was never a rape for her. In fact, she is simply craving for more and more sex. 

So here is a girl, who seems to have fallen out of the sky, no talking or walking, just smiling out for more sex. Per soon realises that he might be the luckiest man there is. Some long lost enthusiasm is back on his face and he is unable to cover it from his stupid friends. To cheer up one of them, lonely in life and waiting for a knee surgery, he take his friend to the girl who happily accepts him. Well, the friend comes back to him to say the girl is too special, that ever since his meeting with her, he has lost his knee pain and he will not need to go under knife anymore. His friend is too kind to keep this a secret and wants to help the needy people around. And the girl is happy to accept anybody too.

For the sake of anybody wanting to watch this lovely movie, I won't go further into the story. But here is a gem of a story, a lovely piece of fantasy. Except for sex, it has elements which we would find in a kid's bed time story. I would say, even for an adult, this is a perfect bed time story. And it is a gem of a cinema as well. Wonderful performances, an understanding cinematographer and a brilliant director.

The mythical character of this girl, who keeps on smiling for 99% of the time when camera is anywhere around, can only come out of the most fanatically fantasy loving writer. (She doesn't speak nor can she even walk) Interestingly though, the girl seems to love everything she experiences first. Sex, Cola and the food Per offers her. Adding the healing element to her, was a master stroke and takes the movie into a different level, looking at the ever foolish, spirituality craving, society with a pint of sarcasm. We also look at various aspects of human emotions and mindset through Per. Per's enthusiasm and pride to keep hold of a beautiful young girl who would not ask him questions is unparallelled, told subtly though. 


I tend to forget the names of many movies, its stories and all about it, sometimes even of good ones, within  a few days of watching. Only the most extra ordinary ones tend to stay in my mind. Here is one movie that I will never forget. The innocent smile of this angelic girl, will always live in my heart. For me, this would be definitely one of my all time favourite movie, and will haunt me for long time.

If somebody would have told this story to me, I would not have taken a moment to say, ok that is a French movie. For, often, its the French who have out of the box ideas and thoughts and the means to bring it out into bench mark movies. Viceværten - A Caretakers Tale, can be easily mistaken as a French movie. So in someways I am pleasantly shocked. I have been lucky to have seen some Dannish movies of late and was very impressed with many of them. However, this is really a master piece with some poetic charm.

I would love to send a garland of love and appreciation to the whole crew.
And to Madame Katrine Wiedemann, the wonderful director, I will wash your feet maam. Thank you so much for this movie.

Salutes to Tamil Cinema - 'Paradesi' & 'Haridas'

I am not a good or average or even a poor writer. I am terrible in writing. Knowing this, it is even more difficult for me to find time to comment on the movies I watch. I keep on watching lots of movies and there were more than a few movies like Les Apolonides - Souvenirs de la maison close, Amour, La Source de Femmes, Rundskop, Vazhakkau 18/9, Marina, Manjaadikkuru,  Annayum Rasoolum, Aarohanam, Aaranya Kaandam, Kaadhalil Sodhappuvadu Eppadi, Ammavin Kaipesi, Neerparavai, Where do we go now and many others, watching which, I felt, I should I write something about. I even wanted to write about some Barcelona matches, but I couldn't. The next movie came soon and I moved on. However, two Tamil movies in about 12 hours - Paradesi first, followed by Haridas, I cant help screaming out my appreciation for the Tamil cinema industry.

It is incredible that they (Tamil industry) release an excellent parallel movie every month, one after other, and many of them even manage to earn something out of the box office. So salutes not just to the makers of these movies, but also to the general Tamil cinema viewers, who are looked down as stupid viewers across India. Isn't it a paradox that these most looked down cinema viewers also manage to watch the best parallel movies of modern Indian cinema, in the cinema house. It is actually funny that 99% of these Tamil movies are not even attempted to release in Kerala, the state whose viewers pride themselves as the most literate and profound movie goers of India.

Paradesi is from Bala. I think it is time Indian media celebrates this director, instead of celebrating the Tarantinos and the Speilbergs and even our own Mani Ratnam.

The very next day of joining my first job, I was send to escort a tourist group and arrived in Munnar. For few years that followed, I was always connected to Munnar through work. I trekked every where, knew a lot of people - those working in Forests and in Tea Estates, and was proud to tell my Kochi friends how I knew the region like the palm of my hand. But never, never I had thought about the origin of these Tea Estates, even if my job involved explaining about Tea to my clients. Bala just slapped on my face with Paradesi. 

Bala take us back to the pre independence period. It is easy to say that British set up all these. But the whole labour came from the terribly poor Indians. They were bonded labours, in fact, brought from distant lands with promises of a bright future, but caged in like slaves in the Tea estates, with no way out. The end of the movie is like blocking down any ray of hope for escape.

The forefathers and mothers of all the Tamilians working in these Tea regions, may it be Ooty or Munnar or Meghamalai or Nuwara Eliya, they require some monuments in these present day tourist destinations. That is the least to ask. Thank you Bala for this movie, which is nothing less than a master piece. The shot of the rising palm, of a dying man, for the half time is arguably the most touching shot in Indian cinema.

Haridas is from GNR Kumaravelan, whose previous movies were , just that, some movies. But the man will make you stand up and applaud at the end of this one.  This is a movie with a strong message and it is so beautifully told. A policeman, single father, trying to understand and bring up his Autistic boy. 

He has mixed the official and personal life of the man in a brilliant way to give us thrill and emotion. I felt tears rolling down my cheek on more than a couple of occassions. But towards the end, it gives us as much of hope as the tears and that is wonderful. I think Haridas needs to be dubbed into every Indian language, for it has a great message, that a vast majority of our parents need to be aware about. And to propagate such a message, through such a wonderful 2 1/2 hour ride is simply brilliant. If Haridas was released in India as a Hollywood / Bollywood movie, I am sure it would have got lot of space in our media. But believe me, it is even better than many Hollywood feel goods. I can recall how Indian media was raving about Taare Zameen Par, couple of years back. Haridas is 10 times better than Taare Zameen Par.

So that's it, two completely different movies, and I found both of them unique.

If, any unfortunate soul reading this post, is planning to watch Paradesi and Haridas, let me warn you, Paradesi is dark. There is no entertainment at all, there are some songs though, one might even find it too slow, nor does it offer any picturesque views of the present day destinations. Just stark reality of suffering. Haridas, as well, does not offer any entertainment, the scene of the first day in Sneha's(teacher of Haridas) class is incredibly funny though. Probably you will feel some tension and emotion at many parts, but it does give you some hope. Both may not be cinematically perfect for the purist, and could have been better in some aspects (I found the back ground score of both movies not up there, along with some other aspects which I am happy to ignore) but one is definitely a master piece on an era and the other is the best father - son relationship we have seen in Indian cinema.

So that is it, two movies, one takes you to some hopeless people in a different era and the other is just about hope. My hearty and humble salutes to Tamil cinema.

End of an Era at Barcelona: Gracias Pep

A post after a long time, and it isn't about movies, it is about football. I cant help doing this.

Josep Guardiola, known as Pep oversaw his last match yesterday as the Barcelona coach, when Barca comfortably beat Athletic Bilbao 3 nil at the Vincentre Caldron stadium in Madrid. In 2009, when Barca beat Bilbao 4-1, that marked the beginning of the Pep era, the first title win under Pep, and how more ironic it can be that Barca beat the same team to mark the end of Pep's era, winning its 14th title.

Yes, 14 titles out of a possible 19 in an era spanning 4 seasons, August 2008 to May 2012. And all this by playing a brand of football which is considered by most football lovers and pundits as the best brand of the beautiful game. Pep's Barca made football look like an art performance. There were specific patterns written down and his players followed it to hilt and made their game look like a performance, and that too consistently in each and every game they played. Even when they lost, only few games may I say - only 21 loss & 47 draws in 247 matches, they held on to their principals of playing beautiful football. Never had we seen perfection attained in sport.

Brazil of 70's and Holland of 74 is supposed to have played this brand of a football. But in the modern days never did somebody expected any team to play so and win too, playing this kind of football. For, football has evolved much more since 70's and is heavily tactical and very defensive too, that no body in good senses might have imagined it would be possible to play well and win titles, consistently win titles, playing a complete attacking brand of football in the modern times. (One result being that, coaches all over the world started looking football differently and are wondering how to make their team play likewise - Argentine to  Indian football team coach thought aloud about this; even the British pundits admire Barca football now and ponders around the possibility of Pep being the advisor to England FA) Pep's Barca did that and I can only say a BIG BIG THANK YOU, for all these 4 years of beautiful football.

After Maradona's retirement, I had lost bit of my interest in football and then got my own Satellite TV subscription and watched one of the early games of Pep's Barca in Aug/Sep 2008. I really mesmerised by their passing play and immediately got hooked (Just before that, Pep had permitted little Leo Messi to play for Argentina in the Beijing Olympics, against the wishes of FC Barca, and had impressed me really. I wanted to see how he used Messi). I want to thank Pep for all that, for bringing me back to the beautiful game and also for this amazing ride in the past 4 years. I have seen great moments of football on the field, jaw dropping moments, which I thought could be only dreamed, but never to be seen in real.

Dear Pep, it is only because of your team, I now have this habit of watching a football game again and again. I cant recall how many times I have watched some of your team's great games.

Gracias Pep, you will always be in our memory for showing what is beautiful about football, and to show that it is possible to win playing the right away.

Thank you also for being class personified in your conduct as the Barca coach. Showing respect to each and every opposition and being courteous in everything you did and spoke.

You are a legend. I will follow you, whichever team you decide to coach, next.

Wish you all the best in your future too. Mucho Gracias Pep.

Pep's last day

Sur me Levres - Read my lips

2002 by Jacques Audiard - French movie

How many movies come with the tagline as different, but almost all of them are not. Here is one movie, which can really boast as different, and is brilliant too.

A woman, who has to use hearing aids, working as an office secretary needs an assistant. The man who turns up is an ex convict. And a very strange relationship follows that he leads her into a heist.

The story might sound fit for a popular action drama. But this is not a Hollywood style action thriller or romantic comedy. In many ways, it is an excellent study of two characters, completely different from each other.
Some of the moments between these two, brilliantly assisted by some truly brilliant cinematography looks so bloody brilliant. It has to be seen to believe.

There is romance in this movie, but not found in any ways in any other movies. I dont think there is another movie which studies two characters moving into a kind of love, like this one. And there are thrills, supplemented by the man, which makes it like a classic thriller.

Absolutely brilliant movie, with an out of this world script and director. Brilliant performances too by Vincent Cassel and Emmanuelle Devos. Emmanuelle especially, have much much more to emote than Cassel and she is bloody brilliant. One of the best performances in a feminine role, may be.

A real must watch movie for many reasons.  My salutes to the entire team. French people must be so proud.  

Un long dimanche des fiancailles - A very long engagement

2004 by Jean pierre Jeunet - French movie

The director who gave the brilliant Les Fabuleux destine d'Amelie Poulain, joins again with Audrey Tautou. This time it is a period love story though.

A young woman is desperately looking for her fiancee, who was condemned to death during the first world war, in the French - German battle lines.

This is a picture perfect example of a director making a very different movie from his previous one. And for Audrey Tautou, as well, this is quite a different role.

There is love through out in this movie, it is not right on the screen though. But it is omni present. Love is the only reason why Methilde is still searching for her Manech, even if all reports and witness comments were against. The way the movie goes on this search, almost like a detective story, is really nice. There is an excellent mix of emotion with simple comedy with scenes from battle field.

I felt it a bit too long though. The sound recording and mixing of this movie deserves 11/10 marks. Beautiful cinematography too. And once again, yet another strong performance from Audrey Tautou. 

Celda 211 - Cell 211

2009 by Daniel Monzon - Spanish movie

It is not often that I feel like placing myselves in the position of a character that I am watching. I could not help doing that watching Celda 211, and I dont have words to express what I felt. Sure, this is just a movie, but there might be somebody somewhere out there who must have gone through some situations like this, losing everything. What a life it would be.

A new prison officer is trapped within a Prison block when the inmates call out a strike which  is actually a riot. To save himself, he can only pretend as a new inmate.

To be frank, the plot is intentionally driven to a direction to make it look more melodramatic, make it more of a terrific tragedy. But this is still a brilliant cinema. I must still say, even if there is this melodramatic air, some unanswered logical questions here and there, it is still wonderful as they dont try to make a heroic action thriller out of it.

The script, the situations, the direction, the actors, everything about it came out excellent. The tension that is created, which lasts almost until the final moments is incredible and deserves a special mention.

A brilliant movie indeed, must watch should I say.
I am just wondering when will Hollywood remake it though. 

Ondine

2009 by Neil Jordan - English movie from Ireland

Ondine is a water nymph or  a water spirit. There are many myths, from around the world, based on this concept. I dont remember seeing another movie on this, though.

A fisherman finds a woman in his fishing net, who seems to bring him good luck. His daughter believes the woman is an Ondine.

Large part of this movie proceeds like a fairy tale and I liked it a lot. It is just the final parts, which expectedly, turns routine and lacked that nice lovely feeling which the movie managed to create so easily in the first half. I would love to forget the last and just keep in my memory the first half of this movie, which was like a beautiful fantasy movie.

Still I cant help thinking that this was a great opportunity to make an ultimate classic, let gone by the movie makers, towards the final thrid.

Nice performances by Colin Farrell and the actress who played Ondine. Another great plus is the location, which fits perfectly for this fairy tale. 

Jack Falls

2011 by Paul Tanter, Alexander Williams - English movie from UK

I am finding it really difficult to find time to comment on my daily movies, owing to the busy schedules because of work. Luckily my movie timing is late night, after work, are not affected yet.

Normally there is a kind of quality with British movies. They are much better than the English ones from the west of Atlantic in almost all aspects, barr the money spent on production and marketing. However, this one, is rather a poor movie, less than average by normal British standards.

Story of the revenge by an under cover cop.

It does have the plot to make a brilliant movie, but almost everything about the movie fails, I think. There are some moments, which were good, but overall it is disappointing. 

Page Eight

2011 by David Hare - English TV film from UK

In normal cases, I would have never watched it, just because it was made for TV. Add to it the presence of Bill Nighy in it. For some reason, I find it difficult to bear him. However, this turned out to be an experience.

Bill Nighy is an MI5 officer. When his boss dies of heart attack, he feels obliged to find the truth behind a secret document, which exposes his own super boss the Prime Minister.

It is a modern day spy film, devoid of all the typical action and cliches. However, it turns out to be an intelligent thriller in many ways. Except for the final couple of scenes, I felt like watching a real thriller.

I am forced to change my opinion on Bill Nighy with this one though. Normally acting involves the effective use of facial muscles and eyes. I dont know about any other actors, who can act without any kind of movements of his facial muscles. Bill Nighy looked so sterile for me always, but this role looks perfect for him and he impressed me with his own unique style. There is an important scene, when he need to interpret some important information to his minister (just by chance, normally he must not be talking at all) and that was a brilliant moment. One needs to watch it to believe it. It is incredible how he conveys all the feelings with a sterile looking face.

One other aspect which I appreciate, a lot, in this movie is actually really really important. As I always say, we never see a movie about the people suffering from the other side of the mainstream spectrum. Normally it is always the atrocities on Jews, or how terrorists targeted America or its allies or how Russia or China or Korea is doing something against America and such, that makes it into movie script. George Clooney's Syriana made some mentioning about American high hands in some ways. There are moments in this movie which talks about the atrocities committed by Israeli forces and about its occupation of West Bank, which is a first time, for me. It felt like a revolution to me. So that is a good change.

An intelligent, thriller with political overtones, well taken. A very good watch, overall. 

Bangkok Dangerous

1999 by Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang - Thai movie

This movie is from Thailand, but the cd I got was dubbed in French. Whatever, I am glad that I saw it.

A deaf hit-man, who is in the business only because of his friend and partner, falls for a girl. His friend is killed when he tries to revenge the rape of his partner.

The master stroke in this movie, is that the main guy is deaf and dumb. Otherwise the story is not new at all, we have seen similar things many many times. But the way this movie is told, it is quite cinematically charming, and together with the handicapp nature of the main guy, this movie looks really brilliant.

The way the whole story is told, is definitely brilliant. The hit man falling in love with the drug store girl gives a very soft touch to the movie too. Excellent performance by the actors, especially the actor who played the dumb guy.

If not for the script and director, this would have been just another movie. However, this is quite a proof what an intelligent script and director could do, to make an ordinary story look brilliant.

Inspite of all the killings and all, this movie is still not an action movie. That, I hope, will explain how good this movie is.

Warrior

2011 by Gavin O'  Connor - English movie from Hollywood

It will be difficult to say, how many movies have there been about fighters or fighting. There have been so many and the recent one, Fighter, was quite a different movie. My favourite of course is Raging bull, which is of course, more than just a fight movie.

The difference made by Warrior to this whole list of fight movies is a simple one, but quite a compelling one to enhance the plot, to give it a different diamension. The main fighters, who come face to face at the finals, are two brothers, part of a broken family. Both brothers were once trained by their father, an ex boxer, who is now hired by one of the brothers.  And both the brothers have their own reasons to win this fight.

The family side, I must admit, adds a very different effect to this fighters movie. The father and two brothers are all terrible with each other and the reasons for this are only subtly told, without any flashbacks, which is good though. However, it looks like the director still gave all his attention and priorities in getting the fighting scenes brilliant, rather than the family plot. Even if the family side do evoke some emotion towards the end, it is quite obvious that director intended this movie as a fight movie, with a difference (of brothers involved).

The fight scenes are brilliant. I liked how one brother, the Physics teacher, always win using the same techniques. With other fighters there is no such distinguishable styles, I am afraid. However, overall the fight scenes are brilliant and makes this movie a good watch. The movie is not devoid of routine Hollywood cliches and other facts though.

Nick Nolte, as the father, steals the whole show with his absolutely brilliant performance. He managed this, with much less screen space than the two brothers is really excellent.

Les Poupees Russes - Russian dolls

2005 by Cedric Kalpisch - French movie

I wonder how I didnt notice, till recently, that L'Auberge Espagnole had a sequel. L'Auberge, for me, is one of the best movies ever about university students. Sure it was quite different from the American pies or other Hollywood ones which were just famous for other reasons, but L'Auberge.. was a class apart, many levels apart actually.

The sequel is, first of all, different in a big way that it is not called part 2 at all. Kalpisch has completely made a new plot, just using the same old characters, concentrating more on a few of them. Which itself is quite nice and different from all the sequel dramas we are used to from around the world, especially Holl/Bollywoods.

So Xavier is at his 30's, has broken up with Martine, and is working with Wendy. William is getting married to a Russian girl and hence, after few years, the whole Barcelona gang is meeting in St. Petersburg for the marriage.

What is really interesting, and commendable, is that only towards the last 1/3rd or so, are we in St. Petersburg. Till then the movie is still around Xavier, his struggling life and little bits of Martine and also his working with Wendy. And this was brilliant. Most people would call this as a romantic comedy and in some ways it really is. But I would say it is not exactly a romantic comedy until the last minutes. Until then it is a classic comedy about the life of a man, struggling both with his work and with girl friends.

Martine, played super super brilliantly by Audrey Tautou, still have a lot of space in Xavier's life and most of the moments between these two are incredibly funny. The scene when Martine arrives back from Brazil and the ensuing fight is incredibly brilliant. Also put in that scene, when Martine, in a kind of dream sequence, is explaining to her kid about her relationships, were brilliant, out of this world actually. What an actress this woman is. It is such a pity that she does not get the kind of recognition she deserves, outside Europe, unlike the Hollywood divas who are more famous in the third world. Real pity.

And Romain Duris has done an even better performance than part one. He is extraordinary in this one.

The movie tends to be like a popular romantic comedy towards its end, which does takes away some sheen out of its classic stature. But that should be all right for most people watching this.

A brilliant funny film. It is very very different from its original, and should manage its own position in the film world, even if it is not known as a sequel. 

Coco avant Chanel - Coco before Chanel

2009 by Anne Fontaine - French movie

Say Audrey Tautou, and there is a kind of minimum guarantee about the movie. Is there any actress in the modern days who can give that kind of a guarantee, I doubt it. However, this is quite a different type of character from Audrey Tautou, than we are used to seeing.

A biopic on a legendary Fashion designer, Chanel, who too Paris fashion world by storm.

But the movie focuses more on the life of Chanel, before she became a successful designer, when she was a nobody, just Coco.

The sad part is that, by the time Coco grow up as a character and puts her hands on her path to success, ie trying to be a designer, the movie is almost at its end. Till this period, we are actually looking at the hardships of Coco. It is a different kind of hardship though. Coco is basically a strong character, but she is trying to keep her cool, being a mistress to one of the big guy with contacts. What is worse is the way this big guy treats her. It is incredible that a French woman bears it.

We see from the very beginning that Coco is quite a strong character, but the way she was (almost) submissive to her big man (and to his insults), Mr. Balsan, is still shocking. That only proves the resolve of her character in some ways. May be there is a lot to learn from this movie, about French women in the first half of 20th Century.

Whatever, the movie is quite impressive. But I must admit, it does not really touch us deeply or make us yearn for something or anything like that. It is just above average.

What is brilliant, is of course, the performance of Audrey. She is incredible. I only wish, she put on some weight to her skeleton body. She definitely is a born actress, a little bit of flesh on her body could only help her, I guess.

Hong He - Red River

2009 by Zhang Jiarui - Chinese movie

I think I was very lucky to watch this movie. It didnt have much of a media backing and one must be lucky to go by this movie and still to decide to watch it. I feel lucky that I trusted the opinion of a Chinese blog and decided to look for this movie.

The war with America also left lots of mine fields in Vietnam. A Tao, a young Vietnamese girl living by the Chinese border is shocked and become mentally challenged by witnessing her father becoming prey to land mine. Like many other Vietnamese girls, she too has to cross out to China and starts working in a massage parlour run by her dead father's sister, as a cleaner. A Shao, a road side karoake operator finds out that, though retarded A Tao sings beautifully and hence hires her. A Tao is attracted to A Shao. A local mafia goon had liked the innocence of A Tao and is after her too.

I would call this as one of the best love tragedies I have ever seen. The movie does not have any ingredients of a normal entertainer, in fact it progress more like an art house movie. And the first few minutes are quite slow. However, the mine blast comes in as a terrible shock and soon we meet the grown up A Tao, the mentally challenged young lady. Here after, the movie is so engaging and brilliant. The large, innocent and expressive eyes of A Tao will attract us and will make us feel for her. We will laugh, sing and cry with her. What a brilliant character.

As the love plot is formed and as the villain arrives, A Tao alone is required to move us on to the edge of our seat. The second half of the movie is really like a thriller and we wish for this strange couple from the bottom of our hearts. I really felt worried for them. And the end, which takes us to a strange feeling is tragic. I mean, there is some hope somewhere, but it is still very sad. I had a similar tragic feeling many years back, watching a Malayalam movie Bhootha Kannady. I would say, the ending of Hong He was similar. You know that it is a big tragedy, but there is a probable may be....

Absolutely, a brilliant performance by Jingchu Zang as A Tao. I have seen her in some other movies too. But this must be her best, for me at least. For me, this is one of the best performances from a female actor, ever. Everybody were good, but A Tao's eyes are haunting me.

It is such a pity that any movie, even with a slight hint at problems caused by America, is somehow pushed away from the main stream even in the internet world. Even other Chinese movies, which are not half as good as Hong He gets better reviews from West. I, hence, find it difficult to fathom the state of this movie.

A must watch movie, for sure. And anybody has any doubts on Chinese movies, please watch this.

Swapna Sanjaari

2011 by Kamal - Malayalam movie

I wonder when will the veteran directors of Malayalam cinema will get fed up or tired of making the same kind of movies.

Swapna Sanjaari, about a man who became very rich with Gulf money and tries his best to get a name in the village as a kind rich man face seviour failure, is not a bad movie at all. But the problem is there is hardly anything new in this movie. In one way or other almost everything in this movie has occupied scenes, briefly or detailed ways, in many other Malayalam movies since the end of 80's. In fact everybody should be able to guess correctly what exactly is going to happen with all the characters in this movie.

Definitely there is a message behind this movie, but the ingredients of the wine and the bottle and the package are all tested and tried a lot in the last two decades. It is just the credit of the director that he has managed to shoot the scenes allright that the movie will make a pass as a one time watchable average fare.

Just like I mentioned with the directors, it is also incredible that Jayaram is not fed up of playing the same kind of roles again and again and again. 

Vesnicko ma Strediskova - My Sweet little Village

1985 by Jiri Menzel  - Czech movie

There are many movies on a little village. But this one definitely looks special.

As usual, it is a small village where every one knows every one. But this is made more interesting by one character, Pavek, the village idiot who is mentally in a backward state. Pavek is very lovable and everyone in the village has some affection for him, there are ones who make fun of him too.

It is so nice how the movie gets going with Pavek and the ones around him. To add to it, there is an adultery case around, there is a young boy who is after his sister's teacher, the nature loving doctor and his car and his crazy patient and so on. It is simple but irressistable humour that follows.

There are also couple of characters who do not have any dialogue at all, like the doctors nurse, but do impress us with the very few scenes they have. Incredible it is.

Nothing happens in a big way, through out the movie, but the movie manages to get our full attention. I thought it was brilliant, how the director managed this, with simple characters in a simple village. It could easily have been called My simple funny village.

For sure, this is a director's movie. 

Y Tu Mama Tambien - And your mum too

2001 by Alfonso Cuaron - Spanish movie from Mexico

Dont know what to say. Just feel that I would not have seen one of the best Mexican movies, if I had missed this one.

Two young intimate friends, their girl friends have gone to Italy, are really into seeking all pleasures of life and they really look like great friends. They are inspired by the beauty of an older woman and invites her for a beach trip. Soon they set on a trip, which starts of as an ultimate pleasure trip, but a woman in between two boys is enough to create heavy cracks in between the friends.

It is difficult to categorise this movie in anyways.
It could be about young friends
It could be about a woman who decides to pay back to her cheating husband
It could be a triangular love
It could be about desire and passion for sex
It could be about how intimate friendship is actually hollow and could break any moment
It could be a road movie
It could be just about pleasure and sex
Well, there is no need to categorise this movie at all, it can be enjoyed immensely as long as we keep an open mind to all what we see.

Yes, the very first scene starts with sex and there after there are so much explicit scenes and moments which might even shock some aristocratic cinema viewer. Scenes of the friends masturbating together is one such. But let me tell you, this movie is genuine to the hilt. It follows the life of two boys who are hardly teenages anymore in a realistic way. I could easily identify with many of their talks and thoughts. And this made me enjoy this movie really brilliantly. In fact, it turned out to be really really funny. And the ending, not funny, very realistic was classic.

One of the best things for me was that it really takes on more than a few moments which every man would have fantasized at a young age. That is one reason why I found it very sincere. And the performances of the three major players are just the cherry on top, especially Maribel Verdu.

A truly extra ordinary movie, which is bold and beautiful.