1998 by Christopher Nolan
An unemployed youth, aspiring to be a writer, start following strangers on the street. He has set forth his own rules for following, which he starts breaking too. He is confronted by a man, who understood he was being followed, who introduces as Cobb. Cobb is a different kind of burglar, who just breaks into others apartments or flats, not really to steal anything valuable, but just to intrude into the private life's of the house owner. He would drink their wine, misplace objects and may be take with him private objects, invaluable for others or even the owner, even womens under clothes etc. He wants to make the owner realise what they had, when they lose it. Our aspiring writer is some what thrilled by this and he is nearly like an apprentice for Cobb. He even attempts his own Cobb style house breaking. He meets a woman in a bar, who seems to be obliged to be the girl friend of a local gangster. He realises that they have broken to her apartment earlier. Cobb gives him a credit card with the name Daniel Loyd for his use. The woman wants him to steal some photographs from the Gangster, as she is being black mailed, which he promptly does. But he ends up attacking a man who arrives, just when he is ready to leave the place. He also finds that the photographs he has stolen are nothing special to be worried about. When he confronts her, he realises that she and Cobb have set him up. Cobb had to kill somebody during one of his burglar attempts and wanted to share the doubts upon him with somebody else. When our writer recognises that he has been cheated by the woman and Cobb he goes to the police and confesses everything. Cobb kills the woman, as she was a witness to one murder committed by the gangster. After the confession to the police, the young man is perplexed by the truth that the whole thing was a drama , scripted by Cobb, as he is now responsible also for the death of the woman, another murder by Cobb.
This is a brilliant movie. Simply brilliant. I actually wanted to watch the 3rd El Classico - the semi final of Champions league - between Barcelona and Real Madrid and wanted to see the pre match discussions as always. So had thought, ok no movie today, but just played the file to check if it was allright and from the very first shots - in black and white - I got hooked. Luckily for me, the movie is only a little more than one hour, it finished a few minutes before the kick off. But I have to confess, I got involved so much that I completely forgot about my match, this is a big credit for this movie.
The movie is told through the confession of the young man to the police and its brilliant. Only towards the end do we realise this but then the final surprise is still not completed. The surprise, that Cobb had set him up to be responsible for the murders, comes out through the final talks between the young man and the police officer, talks which are very brief and precise, is an intelligent master stroke. It is so brilliant that it is a revelation not just for the young man but for the viewers too. There might be some viewers, who might have guessed this, but not me. I was so involved with the writer that I forgot to think about anything else. It is very seldom that you feel yourselves in the shoes of the character. I felt admiring Cobb, I felt falling for the woman and wanted to emulate Cobb and so and so, and the last revelation was stunning. Brilliant.
A brilliant script supported by a brilliant director. Kudos also to the camera work, which is classic in black and white. We never think about the camera actually. But this is not a simple work, I would say.
I dont know if anybody considers this movie as a master piece of Mr. Nolan. But I surely will.
I remember seeing Nolan's Memento some time back. I want to see it once again. Just like that.
An unemployed youth, aspiring to be a writer, start following strangers on the street. He has set forth his own rules for following, which he starts breaking too. He is confronted by a man, who understood he was being followed, who introduces as Cobb. Cobb is a different kind of burglar, who just breaks into others apartments or flats, not really to steal anything valuable, but just to intrude into the private life's of the house owner. He would drink their wine, misplace objects and may be take with him private objects, invaluable for others or even the owner, even womens under clothes etc. He wants to make the owner realise what they had, when they lose it. Our aspiring writer is some what thrilled by this and he is nearly like an apprentice for Cobb. He even attempts his own Cobb style house breaking. He meets a woman in a bar, who seems to be obliged to be the girl friend of a local gangster. He realises that they have broken to her apartment earlier. Cobb gives him a credit card with the name Daniel Loyd for his use. The woman wants him to steal some photographs from the Gangster, as she is being black mailed, which he promptly does. But he ends up attacking a man who arrives, just when he is ready to leave the place. He also finds that the photographs he has stolen are nothing special to be worried about. When he confronts her, he realises that she and Cobb have set him up. Cobb had to kill somebody during one of his burglar attempts and wanted to share the doubts upon him with somebody else. When our writer recognises that he has been cheated by the woman and Cobb he goes to the police and confesses everything. Cobb kills the woman, as she was a witness to one murder committed by the gangster. After the confession to the police, the young man is perplexed by the truth that the whole thing was a drama , scripted by Cobb, as he is now responsible also for the death of the woman, another murder by Cobb.
This is a brilliant movie. Simply brilliant. I actually wanted to watch the 3rd El Classico - the semi final of Champions league - between Barcelona and Real Madrid and wanted to see the pre match discussions as always. So had thought, ok no movie today, but just played the file to check if it was allright and from the very first shots - in black and white - I got hooked. Luckily for me, the movie is only a little more than one hour, it finished a few minutes before the kick off. But I have to confess, I got involved so much that I completely forgot about my match, this is a big credit for this movie.
The movie is told through the confession of the young man to the police and its brilliant. Only towards the end do we realise this but then the final surprise is still not completed. The surprise, that Cobb had set him up to be responsible for the murders, comes out through the final talks between the young man and the police officer, talks which are very brief and precise, is an intelligent master stroke. It is so brilliant that it is a revelation not just for the young man but for the viewers too. There might be some viewers, who might have guessed this, but not me. I was so involved with the writer that I forgot to think about anything else. It is very seldom that you feel yourselves in the shoes of the character. I felt admiring Cobb, I felt falling for the woman and wanted to emulate Cobb and so and so, and the last revelation was stunning. Brilliant.
A brilliant script supported by a brilliant director. Kudos also to the camera work, which is classic in black and white. We never think about the camera actually. But this is not a simple work, I would say.
I dont know if anybody considers this movie as a master piece of Mr. Nolan. But I surely will.
I remember seeing Nolan's Memento some time back. I want to see it once again. Just like that.
