Engrenages is a French TV serial. I just watched the first season (2006), which had 8 episodes.
Obviously, it was my interest in Nordic Noir, which led me to Engrenages. It had got excellent reviews from European critics.
Frankly, Engrenages did not look very interesting in the beginning. I really started thinking, ok the French are masters of cinema, but may be not for TV thrillers. Now, that I have got this bad habit of comparing every crime story to the Danish or Scandinavian standards, I argued with Corinne that Engrenages is not really top class. She too agreed.
But then, slowly, by the 4th episode, I realised something. Even with the Danish crime stories, the whole investigation is just after that major crime. If something else happens, they are all some how connected to the initial crime. The excellent Rejseholdet too, which is based on true crime stories, this was the pattern.
Would it be like that in a real life Police department? This is what makes Engrenages different and incredible.
There is the original crime, which is being investigated. But this doesn't mean other crimes dont happen, right?, so, the same officers also have to take care of other matters around them. There is a murder, which is giving head ache to the investigating team, but they are also stressed out by other crimes, another murder by young drug traffickers, a mother under suspicion for killing her baby, a father accused of raping his daughters and so on.
Sure did it take some time for my tube light to get into the same wave length. But therein, everything looked absolutely different.
When you think about it, Engrenages should be the closest to reality of how the justice system work. It is brilliant, to be frank. Crime CID's, Judges, Forensic doctors, Public prosecutors, Perpetrators, victims and witnesses and media (interestingly, media presence is very limited), a whole web of people around crime. None of these characters are black or white. All are normal people with lots of grey matter. Like the Nordic stories, it too goes into the private lives of some of them.
At one point, I even thought, the serial might end stating that the whole system is corrupt. But no, it is not about that. It does say, there is grey every where. But it also tell us how law is helpless sometimes. How the insistence on solid proof prevents the law keepers from ensuring justice. Law may not be absolute.
Engrenages should change our view of how crime stories are told.
If you try to watch, allow some time, please. Inspite of bits of knowledge about the French, it was slow for me. Also, please keep in mind that the French justice system is quite different from ours or the US. So we might find certain aspects strange.
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
Thursday, 1 October 2015
Best movies from Sep '15
Ich Seh Ich Seh - Goodnight Mommy by Severin Fiola, Veronica Franz - 2014- German from Austria
A mother comes back home, after a cosmetic surgery to her face, to her waiting young twins in a beautiful countryside villa. Her face is all bandaged and she also behaves strange that the boys doubt if she is their mother at all.
An excellent example for the beauty of the art of cinema. The movie starts slowly but gets tense and tenser. Am sure towards the last 10 or 20 minutes my mouth was bit open, kind of awe struck. The cinematography is absolutely sensational, with most of the scenes happening inside the villa.
Kis Uykusu - The Winter Sleep by Nuri Blige Ceylan - 2014 - Turkish
A not so successful theatre artist of the past, now enjoying some local fame as a writer, lives with his young wife and divorced sister, in a quite popular homestead. One or two friends, a kind of assistant and his tenants in the village makes up the rest of the characters.
The movie, proceeds through some scenes with long discussions between the couple or some of these characters. These discussions, sometimes, brings out the deep discontent within some of these characters but other times are about 'kind' of philosophical topics. It is very long, a bit more than 3 hours, yet, this is very engaging, speaks volumes about how well it has been made. Often the camera has little to do, but still I found it was a brilliant work. It was incredible that, many a times, I felt, the director was letting us watch some of the hypocrisies of the rich.
A brilliant cinema which make one feel like reading an epic novel.
Gui Lai - Coming home by Yimou Chang - 2014 - Mandarin/China
A couple who got separated because of Cultural revolution. By the time the husband is back from prison, wife has memory issues and do not recognise him. She keeps on waiting for her husband and the husband tries his best to get back to her memory.
Well that story gives the feeling that it could be another cliched Hollywood epic. But not with Yimou Chang. He has made a kind of epic poem out of this story without making it overtly emotional or too much sentimental or not even going into too much of politics, which is omnipresent around. In fact the movie is quite slow, very engaging, with beautiful cinematography. Many of the scenes are very detailed and still have a kind of subtlety to it. However, most of those scenes will touch our heart. The ending is another class act.
Li Gong, what an actress. What a pity that most people, who know about Meryl Streep, do not know about this wonderful actor.
5 to 7 by Victor Levin - 2014 - English/Hollywood
This cinema, in some ways, might look typical of many Hollywood romantic comedies. But there are two remarkable points about the movie.
- that someone is telling how conservative or closed Americans are in private life, when compared to the French or Europeans, barr the British.
- I dont know another Hollywood movie which even mentions the French 'system' of 5 to 7, a technical term for 'legitimate' extra marital affairs. This is the thread behind the movie.
Above all, I would say watch it simply for the stunning, beautiful French actress Berenice Marlohe. She has lovely curves and posture, but her smile takes it all to another level. Her smile lives on, even few seconds after the camera has moved on from her!
I am, again, gotten back into watching 'Nordic Noir' serials.
Den Som Draeber (Those who Kill)
Ornen: En Krime Odysse (Eagle : A Crime Odyssey)
Rejseholdet (Unit One)
All were good. But none felt like Forbrydelsen though. Its funny to know that all the above serials have been remade in America!
Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Best movies from August '15
There were so many Barca matches in August. It almost felt like April or May when, usually, Barca has a game every 3rd day. So unusual for the beginning of football season. Watching and re watching those games, I saw fewer movies in August. There were a few gems though.
1. LA FAMILLE BELIER - The Belier Family by Eric Lartigau - 2014 - French
Charming, Cute, Funny, Heartwarming.. I could use many more words to describe this adorable movie.
The Belier's are quite an unique family. Both the father and mother, typical French farmers who sell their cheese in the weekly market, and their young son, all three are dumb and deaf. Only their daughter Paula can speak and is literally the PR person of the family. In school, she realises that she has a talent for singing. Her teacher wants her to apply for the big music school in Paris. But then, what about her family.
This is so stunningly shot on screen, with heart touching performances. Nearly every next scene will touch your heart, make you smile and will let you part with some tears. It goes into certain details, which other movies on dumb and deaf have never tried - for eg. the parents make all the noise, while making love, without realising it. It is though, quite normal for the daughter, the healthy member of the family, to accept it and deal with it.. It is also so nice to listen to all the songs. How beautiful it is, when the characters sing their songs on the screen.
Louane Emera, who plays Paula, was definitely cast for her singing skills, however, at one point I did ask my wife if she was singing for herself, I mean, she was living Paula on the screen. Towards the climax, when she uses sign language, while singing, so that her parents can understand, is so beautiful and really really heart touching. For me, that was one of the most heart warming moments ever in cinema. We should be grateful that such cinema exists.
Also the song, My dear parents, am not running, am flying, is a song from the 70's. At the end of the movie, we wonder if this song was written specifically for this movie. Was the movie built around this song, or they researched around and found this song?
2. Mommy by Xavier Dolan - French from Canada - 2014
Story of a widowed mother, struggling to manage life, and son, who is hyperactive/unpredictable/violent and a woman from the neighborhood who wants to help them. This movie is about parental love, of course. But it can be described simply as violent or unpleasant or heart breaking or what not. Most scenes, even if you disagree with the content, are so intense, really really intense. The son's character and even the movie, especially during its first half, brought back memories of Starred Up. In some ways these two movies are cousins.
3. Ba Wang Bie Ji - Farewell my Concubine by Kaige Chen Mandarin - 1993
Story about 2 friends who meet during their (grueling) training in the Peking Opera. Their friendship continued for 52 years with lots of drama in between.
An absolute period classic from China. I find it hard to believe that every Chinese period movie I have watched, nearly all were excellent. They seem to really have that 'thing' to make wonderful period dramas. This movie is wonderful in its grandeur, but as an epic drama, it does not touch your soul as much as, say, Aftershock. Still a classic.
4. Sunshine on Leith by Dexter Fletcher - British - 2013
A movie about a close knit family told in a musical way. Every time I have watched a western musical, I have had moments when I found myself getting bored, when characters went about singing. But in Sunshine on Leith, every time they sung, it was pleasant and brought a smile on. It was such a pleasing experience.
5. La Fille Du 14 Juillet - The Rendezvous of Deja Vu by Antonin Paretjatko - French - 2014
The English title is quite weird.
This is one more example to prove that the French are masters of exploiting Cinema in the most unexpected or different ways. This movie is old at times and modern at other times. It is incredibly funny, inspite of being weird, is more than sarcastic and still created some feeling for couple of characters, in between. It could even be a meeting of Goddard, Fellini and Kusturica, and this coming from a debutant director, its brilliant.
6. Wild Bill by Dextor Fletcher - Irish - 2012
A father is out from prison on parole and find that his two sons are struggling to live by themselves. Their mother had left them. Being a good father was not his priority at all, but he seem to slowly realise what he was missing. At the same time, his old criminal friends are around too. The story as such may not look that attractive, but for how it is told, this is wonderful cinema with a superb performance by Charley Creed-Miles as the father.
I should also mention about the Hindi movie, Manjhi. A beautiful true story with a wonderful performance from Nawazuddin Ziddiqui, however it all ended up as a lost opportunity. We, Indians, are not really good at making biopics, me thinks.
Thani Oruvan, the new Tamil movie also didnt disappoint as a neatly taken entertainer. The director manage to make Aravind Swami look like a decent actor. Even Mani Ratnam didnt manage that! It is not always that in Indian cinema, there is an intelligent villain, who grows in stature as the cinema progress. It is also rare for us to see a main stream entertainer starting out as a perfect thriller, getting slower and slower as it progress, but keeps on getting more and more engaging. Simply wish if the hero was played by Surya or Vijay though.
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Best movies from July 2015
Some of the best I got to watch in July. Hopefully I will manage to do this every month.
1. GRAZELI NATELI DGEEBI - In Bloom - 2013 by Nana Ekvtimishvili & Simon Gross- Georgian
Other than loving movies, why I look so much for watching movies from all around the world, is for the chance to peek into a different culture. Most nations make indigenous movies and when told well, they are such a good documentation of their culture. Many countries may not be able to match the sheer number of movies made by Hollywood and India. But they do make it up with the sheer quality of their cinema, very genuine. They wont have characters imitating Hollywood, or those who want to behave as if they are modernised western version of the local country, they simply stick to their own culture.
In Bloom, is one such gem from Georgia. Its the 90's. 2 teenage girls, friends, have lots of problems in their families and their neighborhood. And it is so nice to watch, when movies depict life so realistically, without artistic pretensions, but still keep it more than engaging.
The toughest job, I think, for a film maker should be to shoot natural life, realistically, in a family or in the neighbourhood and to make it engaging for the viewer, (something which Mike Leigh specialise).
2. A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT by Ana Lily Amirpour - 2008 - Persian from USA
For me, this is a masterpiece of a cinema. It takes advantage of all aspects of the medium and is presented by an intelligent director. If you want to watch a typical Iranian movie, you will be in for a shock as this movie about a young vampire in the Iranian bad city, is comic, horror, romantic and suspense all in one, very original, very cinematic movie!
3. BLIND by Eskil Vogt - 2014 - Norwegian
A wife who have just lost her eyesight is killing her time and what else can she do than imagining. And her imagination goes quite wild. It is stunning that even the imagined characters are as powerful as the real. What a creation this movie was? The lines between reality and fiction is sooo blurred, but so cleverly done.
4. KRAFTIDIOTEN - In order of disappearance by Hans Petter Moland - Norwegian - 2014
One more reason for me to substantiate my thinking point, that the Nordic and the French are way ahead of others, in cinema. This is a simple story of a father revenging the murder of his son. But how it is told make it such a wonderful cinematic experience.
5. SILS MARIA - Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas - 2014 - French film in English, French & German
What a movie this is. A famous actress had rose to fame at 18, playing a younger character in a cult play (about a complicated relationship between a young employee and her 40 something boss). Now at her 40's she is asked to reverse the role for a new adaptation of the same play. She now has an young assistant, and she starts rehearsing the play with her. At times it become impossible to distinguish between the real cinema and the rehearsal. There is friction because of the characters in the rehearsal, there is friction between the actress and her assistant too, a generation gap evident.
Assayas was the director who gave Juliette Binochet a big break in the mid 80's, and now he is making this movie with her when she is 51. So many things we cant ignore.
Another interesting matter is the levels to which European cinema can elevate a Hollywood actress. I would never dare say Kirsten Stewart as just another Hollywood star, hereafter. She goes toe to toe with Juliette Binochet.
There is a scene during which Juliette Binochet and Kirsten Stewart enjoy a swim in a lake. The uninhibited French she is, Binochet gets nude and jumps into water whereas the cautious Stewart keeps her underwear. That scene, for me, is quite symbolic of some of the differences between Europe and America.
6. SAMBA by Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano - 2014 - French
Another movie about the European attitude to immigrants, but told in a Romantic comedy style. Samba is told with lots of fun, so its quite entertainment, but it is touching too, will feel like laughing and crying with Samba. What an excellent actor Omay Sy is. And Gainsbourg, I think, its the first time I see a movie in which she has good and funny moments.
7. EN GANSKE SNILL MANN - A somewhat Gentleman by Hans Moland - 2010 - Norwegian
A man who is out of jail after a long time, doesnt have any aspirations with his life. He doesn't mind doing anything, in exchange for some food and shelter.
I have never seen Stellan Starsgard doing funny things. He really comes out of his typical mould. What an actor. The movie also have couple of the funniest sex scenes in cinema, for me.
Finally, there is a distant similarity with the recent Malayalam movie, Munnariyippu.
8. MANDARIINES - Tangerines by Saza Urushadze -2013 - Georgian
Set in the 90's when Georgia is under war. Georgians, Estonians and the separatists feature as the characters in a border village. An Estonian farmer saves two soldiers from opposite sides. Its an excellent watch, once again looking at how war is pointless over humanity.
It is impossible to not think about No Man's land, watching this one, though.
9. PRIDE by Mathew Warchus - 2014 - English/British
Based on true events. The Coal mine workers are on strike. A small group of Lesbian and Gay friends start the LGSM group (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) to support their strike, unwelcome though. Later, when the LGBT community goes on for a huge protest in London, the miners revert back their support.
So simple, but so well told, with so much to laugh together with the amazing characters. Beautifully performed by each and every one, this is one of the most simplest feel good movies, for me. Just that, as a cinema, it falls short of reaching the level of Ken Loach movies
The only strange fact would be not to mention at all about the communist background of Mark Ashton, the leader of the LG group. This was, possibly, done to avoid any controversy or negative reactions with the American viewership.
10. NARAYAMA BUSHIKO - Ballard of Narayama - by Shohei Imamura - 1983 - Japaneese
There are few movies about this famous ballad from Japan, about old people being carried to the top of a mountain, as its difficult for the families to feed them, where the old wait for death. Beautiful story and cinema. It would be impossible to not cry at the end of this one.
1. GRAZELI NATELI DGEEBI - In Bloom - 2013 by Nana Ekvtimishvili & Simon Gross- Georgian
Other than loving movies, why I look so much for watching movies from all around the world, is for the chance to peek into a different culture. Most nations make indigenous movies and when told well, they are such a good documentation of their culture. Many countries may not be able to match the sheer number of movies made by Hollywood and India. But they do make it up with the sheer quality of their cinema, very genuine. They wont have characters imitating Hollywood, or those who want to behave as if they are modernised western version of the local country, they simply stick to their own culture.
In Bloom, is one such gem from Georgia. Its the 90's. 2 teenage girls, friends, have lots of problems in their families and their neighborhood. And it is so nice to watch, when movies depict life so realistically, without artistic pretensions, but still keep it more than engaging.
The toughest job, I think, for a film maker should be to shoot natural life, realistically, in a family or in the neighbourhood and to make it engaging for the viewer, (something which Mike Leigh specialise).
2. A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT by Ana Lily Amirpour - 2008 - Persian from USA
For me, this is a masterpiece of a cinema. It takes advantage of all aspects of the medium and is presented by an intelligent director. If you want to watch a typical Iranian movie, you will be in for a shock as this movie about a young vampire in the Iranian bad city, is comic, horror, romantic and suspense all in one, very original, very cinematic movie!
3. BLIND by Eskil Vogt - 2014 - Norwegian
A wife who have just lost her eyesight is killing her time and what else can she do than imagining. And her imagination goes quite wild. It is stunning that even the imagined characters are as powerful as the real. What a creation this movie was? The lines between reality and fiction is sooo blurred, but so cleverly done.
4. KRAFTIDIOTEN - In order of disappearance by Hans Petter Moland - Norwegian - 2014
One more reason for me to substantiate my thinking point, that the Nordic and the French are way ahead of others, in cinema. This is a simple story of a father revenging the murder of his son. But how it is told make it such a wonderful cinematic experience.
5. SILS MARIA - Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas - 2014 - French film in English, French & German
What a movie this is. A famous actress had rose to fame at 18, playing a younger character in a cult play (about a complicated relationship between a young employee and her 40 something boss). Now at her 40's she is asked to reverse the role for a new adaptation of the same play. She now has an young assistant, and she starts rehearsing the play with her. At times it become impossible to distinguish between the real cinema and the rehearsal. There is friction because of the characters in the rehearsal, there is friction between the actress and her assistant too, a generation gap evident.
Assayas was the director who gave Juliette Binochet a big break in the mid 80's, and now he is making this movie with her when she is 51. So many things we cant ignore.
Another interesting matter is the levels to which European cinema can elevate a Hollywood actress. I would never dare say Kirsten Stewart as just another Hollywood star, hereafter. She goes toe to toe with Juliette Binochet.
There is a scene during which Juliette Binochet and Kirsten Stewart enjoy a swim in a lake. The uninhibited French she is, Binochet gets nude and jumps into water whereas the cautious Stewart keeps her underwear. That scene, for me, is quite symbolic of some of the differences between Europe and America.
6. SAMBA by Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano - 2014 - French
Another movie about the European attitude to immigrants, but told in a Romantic comedy style. Samba is told with lots of fun, so its quite entertainment, but it is touching too, will feel like laughing and crying with Samba. What an excellent actor Omay Sy is. And Gainsbourg, I think, its the first time I see a movie in which she has good and funny moments.
7. EN GANSKE SNILL MANN - A somewhat Gentleman by Hans Moland - 2010 - Norwegian
A man who is out of jail after a long time, doesnt have any aspirations with his life. He doesn't mind doing anything, in exchange for some food and shelter.
I have never seen Stellan Starsgard doing funny things. He really comes out of his typical mould. What an actor. The movie also have couple of the funniest sex scenes in cinema, for me.
Finally, there is a distant similarity with the recent Malayalam movie, Munnariyippu.
8. MANDARIINES - Tangerines by Saza Urushadze -2013 - Georgian
Set in the 90's when Georgia is under war. Georgians, Estonians and the separatists feature as the characters in a border village. An Estonian farmer saves two soldiers from opposite sides. Its an excellent watch, once again looking at how war is pointless over humanity.
It is impossible to not think about No Man's land, watching this one, though.
9. PRIDE by Mathew Warchus - 2014 - English/British
Based on true events. The Coal mine workers are on strike. A small group of Lesbian and Gay friends start the LGSM group (Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners) to support their strike, unwelcome though. Later, when the LGBT community goes on for a huge protest in London, the miners revert back their support.
So simple, but so well told, with so much to laugh together with the amazing characters. Beautifully performed by each and every one, this is one of the most simplest feel good movies, for me. Just that, as a cinema, it falls short of reaching the level of Ken Loach movies
The only strange fact would be not to mention at all about the communist background of Mark Ashton, the leader of the LG group. This was, possibly, done to avoid any controversy or negative reactions with the American viewership.
10. NARAYAMA BUSHIKO - Ballard of Narayama - by Shohei Imamura - 1983 - Japaneese
There are few movies about this famous ballad from Japan, about old people being carried to the top of a mountain, as its difficult for the families to feed them, where the old wait for death. Beautiful story and cinema. It would be impossible to not cry at the end of this one.
Monday, 29 June 2015
A brief list of some must watch Cinema's
It has been very long since I posted something and this post is only because of the pressure from a friend who saw two of the movies in this list and called me back right away.
Each and every one of the following movies deserve very very detailed write ups. But I cant. Watch them, you will not regret it, I bet.
1. Starred Up by David Mckenzie - British - 2014
Simply, this is a prison movie, with a couple of stunning characters. Tension is there through out and that too without any support of background score. It is unbelievable that this kind of a prison thriller, with arguably the greatest prison characters of all time, made me finish it with a tear in my eyes. It is stunningly brilliant, I watched it thrice in a week.
2. Relatos Salvajos - Wild Tales - by Damian Szifron, A Spanish movie from Argentina - 2015
Few short stories, each more crazy and wild than the other, this is absolutely brilliant. Please tell me which story made you more crazy.
3. Hunger by Steve Mcqueen - British - 2008
Until I saw this movie, I always felt the body transformation by Mathew Mcconaughy for Dallas Buyers Club, was out of this world. Well, Michael Fassbender has made the best transformation and performance too. Hunger is a superbly taken cinema. In fact there are only few scenes with any dialogue - believe me its not bohring art house - and one scene with a very long dialogue between two characters, with the camera not even moving a bit - but this is a wonderful cinema
4. Kajaki by Paul Katis - British - 2014
This is a true story , a war movie, like American Sniper. But it will put American Sniper to shame. You will never feel like you are watching a movie. I felt as if I was part of a camera crew following some soldiers in a mine field. Stunning.
5. Timbuktu by Abderrahmane Sissako - from French Mauritania - French/Arabic - 2014
For me, its the first movie which looks inside terrorists or extremists. Beautiful cinema.
6. Respire - Breathe by Melanie Laurent - French - 2014
A brilliant cinema about teenage relationship. An intense drama about two girls getting into a dangerous friendship (no no, its not a lesbian relation), wonderfully acted and told.
7. Gemma Bovery by Anne Fontaine - 2014 - British/French
This is not an exceptional movie, but watch this simply for the wonderful acting of Fabrice Luchini, the amazing French actor. For me, he is among the very best actors in the world. The movie is may be even average, but it has very funny moments, with Luchini at the heart.
8. And from India, please watch the Tamil Kakka Muttai - Brilliant cinema of international quality. For me, it is the best international quality movie, after Pisashu.
There are many more, but am lazy.
Each and every one of the following movies deserve very very detailed write ups. But I cant. Watch them, you will not regret it, I bet.
1. Starred Up by David Mckenzie - British - 2014
Simply, this is a prison movie, with a couple of stunning characters. Tension is there through out and that too without any support of background score. It is unbelievable that this kind of a prison thriller, with arguably the greatest prison characters of all time, made me finish it with a tear in my eyes. It is stunningly brilliant, I watched it thrice in a week.
2. Relatos Salvajos - Wild Tales - by Damian Szifron, A Spanish movie from Argentina - 2015
Few short stories, each more crazy and wild than the other, this is absolutely brilliant. Please tell me which story made you more crazy.
3. Hunger by Steve Mcqueen - British - 2008
Until I saw this movie, I always felt the body transformation by Mathew Mcconaughy for Dallas Buyers Club, was out of this world. Well, Michael Fassbender has made the best transformation and performance too. Hunger is a superbly taken cinema. In fact there are only few scenes with any dialogue - believe me its not bohring art house - and one scene with a very long dialogue between two characters, with the camera not even moving a bit - but this is a wonderful cinema
4. Kajaki by Paul Katis - British - 2014
This is a true story , a war movie, like American Sniper. But it will put American Sniper to shame. You will never feel like you are watching a movie. I felt as if I was part of a camera crew following some soldiers in a mine field. Stunning.
5. Timbuktu by Abderrahmane Sissako - from French Mauritania - French/Arabic - 2014
For me, its the first movie which looks inside terrorists or extremists. Beautiful cinema.
6. Respire - Breathe by Melanie Laurent - French - 2014
A brilliant cinema about teenage relationship. An intense drama about two girls getting into a dangerous friendship (no no, its not a lesbian relation), wonderfully acted and told.
7. Gemma Bovery by Anne Fontaine - 2014 - British/French
This is not an exceptional movie, but watch this simply for the wonderful acting of Fabrice Luchini, the amazing French actor. For me, he is among the very best actors in the world. The movie is may be even average, but it has very funny moments, with Luchini at the heart.
8. And from India, please watch the Tamil Kakka Muttai - Brilliant cinema of international quality. For me, it is the best international quality movie, after Pisashu.
There are many more, but am lazy.
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
05 best films of 2013
Every where around, they are talking about Gravity, Captain Philips, The wolf of Wall Street and 12 years a slave.. Why are we so obsessed with the Oscars. For me, none of them are even among the top 10 of 2013, let alone top 05.
05 best films of 2013 - what I saw, from around the world.
La Grande Bellezza - The Great Beauty by Paolo Sorrentino - Italian
This Italian movie is a real master piece of cinema. It is like revisiting the grand golden age of Italian cinema. An age old story, but for the way it is
told, it is so brilliant and soothingly beautiful.
Absolutely, cinema at its best.
Absolutely, cinema at its best.
La Via de'Adele by Abdellatif Kechiche - French
Blue is the warmest colour, the English name has no connection to the French title, though
The (same old) love story of Adele and Emma will make you wonder if cinema could be any more honest. 3 hours will pass like as if we are on a break. Beautiful cinema with unbelievable performances and a warm cinematography
It is a pity that because of all the sexuality a movie like this is out of reach for many Indians.
Yi Dai Zong Shi - The Grand Master by Wong Kar Wai - Chinese
Yet another classic from this acclaimed director, however there is a possibility that one can either love or hate this film. It is an epic action movie, exploring all the avenues of cinema. May it be the choreography or cinematography or editing, the attention to details is simply brilliant. Beautiful cinema.
Blue is the warmest colour, the English name has no connection to the French title, though
The (same old) love story of Adele and Emma will make you wonder if cinema could be any more honest. 3 hours will pass like as if we are on a break. Beautiful cinema with unbelievable performances and a warm cinematography
It is a pity that because of all the sexuality a movie like this is out of reach for many Indians.
Yi Dai Zong Shi - The Grand Master by Wong Kar Wai - Chinese
Yet another classic from this acclaimed director, however there is a possibility that one can either love or hate this film. It is an epic action movie, exploring all the avenues of cinema. May it be the choreography or cinematography or editing, the attention to details is simply brilliant. Beautiful cinema.
Paradies: Hoffnung - Paradise:Hope by Ulrich Seidl - Austrian
This third movie from the Paradise triology, is an example of cinematic brilliance and beauty.
A teenage girl has to spend her summer vacation in a diet camp, for over weights. This movie is funny and serious at the same time.
The Stories We Tell by Sarah Polley - English from Canada
I was drawn to this movie through another brilliant work by this director - Away from Her, a heart touching story of an old couple. If anybody wants to know about how much a director can improve, the answer is there between these two films. Stories we tell is in some ways the biggest experiment a director can attempt. A kind of documentary investigation into a family truth, it turns out that truth can have many faces based on the story teller. Intelligent and trend setting cinema.
In the coming years, we will definitely see many cinemas following the path created by Ms. Polley
And, the following ones definitely require a special mention.
Dirty Wars by Jeremy Scahill - A Documentary from America - Shocking (may be not!) and Brilliant
Valentinas Vienas by Simonas Askelavicius and 3 friends - Lithuanian
An incredibly funny movie about some people on the eve of Valentines day. A brilliant romantic comedy. I am sure soon, we will see this as a Hollywood movie.
Paradesi by Bala - Tamil
Onaayum Aattukuttiyum by Misskin - Tamil
Annayum Rasoolum by Rajeev Ravi - Malayalam
Soodhu Kaavum by Nalan Kumarasamy - Tamil
The following cinemas were special for its brilliant performances.
Artist by Shyama Prasad - Malayalam - for Fahad Fazil and Anne Augustine
Dallas Buyers Club by Jean-Marc Vallee - English - for Matthew McConaughey
Paan Singh Tomar by Tigmanshu Dhulia- Hindi - for Irrfan Khan
Monday, 30 September 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, 18 July 2013
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.
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.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
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.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
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.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
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.
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.
Saturday, 26 May 2012
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
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
Friday, 13 January 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, 12 January 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, 7 January 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
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.
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.
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