Kolya

1996 by Jan Sverak - Czech movie

There are so many movies about a single man or woman who is forced to take care of a child and finally bonds with the child. This is yet another movie on the same theme, but I am not sure if this movie was like a predecessor to all other movies on this subject, or not.

The interesting aspect here is the 50 something single man, who is so much against marriage and is so much after women. He can easily seduce women much younger than him and is having a care free single life as a musician when he comes across the child.

There after, the movie is funny in a very different way. It isnt like there are hilarious moments or so. But we will want to smile for most of the scenes involving the man and the child. Add to it the charm of that young 5 year old boy.

A simple nice movie. 

Mediterraneo

1991 by Gabriele Salvatores - Italian movie

There has been so many movies on World war. But this one is quite different from all in that, it does not show any war, any blood bath or any seviour suffering or torturing or anything like that.

An Italian ship leaves some soldiers in a remote Greek island. Soon they lose their radio and even if only a few miles away from Italy, they are like hundreds of years away from any mainland life.

This is may be the most feel good movie on World War, I have ever seen. In fact, I cant remember seeing any other feel good movie on war yet. There might be, but I haven't seen any.

There are so many funny moments in this movie, especially in the first half, which are very lovely. All the soldiers are quite different and the way they try to manage their life in this war less island, is excellent. The subtle treatment given even to some hilarious situations is really brilliant. And all the more there is a clear anti war message of friendship which is easily getting through.

The best feel good movie on War. That's it. And what a simple movie it is.

And in many ways it is nice that this movie was conceived and made in Europe. Had this been a Hollywood movie, this would have been definitely quite different. 

The Dirty Picture

2011 by Milan Luthria - Hindi movie from Bollywood

One major change that happened in Indian entertainment industry, after globalisation , was that Bollywood literally started aping Hollywood by all means, from language to dresses and even the conservative 'fortunate' viewers started to change their view point on how our female actresses should dress. Modern Indian heroines, may it be Aishwarya Rai or whoever, appearing in skirts even shorter than mini skirts or bikinis or making ultra vulgour expressions, gestures and body movements during song sequences are all part of regular 'family' cinema and the actresses who do that are BOLD. Only a couple of decades ago, there were some actresses in each Indian language movies, who were supposed to make some sexy dances, then called 'cabaret' which are now rechristened as item numbers, and once in a while vamp roles. These actresses across India were looked down by the whole society. In fact, if these dances appeared on TV, while watching movies at home in VCR, parents would fast forward the dance. The blunt truth is that those dances or cabarets of 80's exposed much much less than today's normal song sequences, forget the item numbers. And those unfortunate actresses should have lead a terrible life.

One of those leading ladies of 80's was Silk Smitha. I would still consider her as having one of the most beautiful and expressive eyes ever witnessed in Indian cinema. I still remember her very well from Moonram Pira and her dance numbers in various other movies. But women hated her then. And there was a void for some time after which she came back strongly with Layanam, a kind of soft porn movie. Even in that movie, she didnt show anything more than what today's super actresses do. But still, poor lady, she was looked at like an out cast and the lonely life was too much for her I guess, she ended her life.

When I knew that Bollywood was making a movie on Silk Smitha, I was sure they just wanted to make some money out of skin show. And that is exactly what Dirty Picture is about. They have just used the name of Smitha, picked up her beginning and end, and decided to do a movie from hear say it seems. I wonder if they did even talk to any body close to Smitha about her character. Such a pity.

From all what I read from the film magazines of 80's and 90's, I always felt sorry for Smitha. There were few actresses and others who spoke nicely about her, about her dancing talents, eyes and all. And there were also some rare write ups about how Smitha was always used by directors and producers but ignored after the use. Smitha was really a lonely woman. But she was not a bitch, not from what appeared in the magazines. Watching Dirty Picture, if anybody feels that Smitha just wanted to ruin family life of super stars, you cant blame them. This is almost like a caricaturised presentation of an actress who did not care for others at all, who looks almost like a vamp even in real life. I really believe this is wrong and unfair.

So are the few male characters in this movie, all looking like caricatures. The contempt Bollywood have for South Indian movies is well known. But I thought the way the super hero is picturised, played by Nasirudeen Shah, they are definitely taking a peak at a South Indian hero, who to my knowledge, didnt had anything to do with Smitha. Whatever, they are just trying to make money.

But even otherways, presenting Shakeela as another sexy heroine who was like a competitor to Smitha is absolutely idiotic. Shakeela rose to fame with the soft porn movie, Kinnaarathumbikal, which released sometime around the beginning of 2000. Smitha died in mid 90's. So this is quite absurd. And there are many such things in this movie which I found in poor light and hence for me this is just a poor average movie, which might only give some more bad name for a dead actress. If only there was a sincere writer and director, Smitha's life is worth a classic movie. Smitha deserved much more than This Dirty Picture, I think.

The plus point to some extent is Divya Balan. Ever since I saw Lage Raho Munnbhai, I like her a lot. Here is an Indian actress, who looks quite Indian and doesnt care at all about looking the western designer way, skinny (I call this skeleton). She has the gorgeous looks, with beautiful curves, which India adored before Bollywood started imitating Hollywood, and she can act too. And she would appear in Sari in public,  to which Bollywood media reacted by awarding her the term-  the worst dressed actor. Is anything more required to show the hypocrisy of Bollywood. Anyways, Vidya have tried her best to do justice to what was offered to her. But not anything great. Not her fault, because the script does not offer anything great. The script only offers more and more scenes for cleavage show actually. Vidya already had a gorgeous figure and it is told she managed extra pounds to have some similarity with Smitha. All North Indian reviewers are gleaming about her 'bold'ness in revealing her fleshy abdomen. I only felt, as far as the beauty of abdomen is concerned Vidya Balan still have miles to go to reach the beauty of Smitha. Just like her eyes, Smitha had a gorgeous abdomen, except for the very last part of her career. Those days we used to discuss about the beauty of Smitha, her eyes, her curves and her abdomen and navels.

The use of Naaku Mukka song, and the Oolaala Oolaala song in the backgrounds was very entertaining. There are also some good dialogues here and there, plus excellent cinematography. If Bollywood have reached the level of Hollywood in anything, it is in their lighting and related technical factors. It looks like they have taken time and good effort to use soft lighting and the frames have a really good feel. They also seems to have spend good money on DI.

If Smitha had started her career now, I wonder what would have happened to many item number artistes of today. Definitely she would not have been looked down at. What was vulgour then is just the norm for an ordinary Indian heroine now. So definitely, she would not have been lonely now.

And may I repeat, Smitha deserved a much better movie than this. 

Poraali

2011 by Samuthirakani- Tamil movie

I heard couple of opinions, read few reviews before going for this movie and all were not that positive. Nobody said it was a bad movie, but they all seemed to say this is not what we expected from Samuthirakani who made a brilliant movie in Nadodigal. Only one reviewer mentioned that it is actually nice, but it looks a bit more like a typical entertainer, with a funny first half and an action packed second half, which is quite routine stuff for entertainers.

So may be I didnt expect that much as I walked into the movie hall. And it is true, the first half is quite typical of ordinary entertainers with super star heroes, inspite of its wonderful opening scene. A very good hero who is an ideal man and bla bla. And there is a bus station song too to cherry it up. But except for that song and some comic scenes, I thought there was still a lot of excellence in the first half, for the way it was shot. Not exactly routine entertainment stuff. And all the characters we are introduced in here, are really wonderful.

But what was shocking was the second half, which was a brilliant action packed thriller. Except for the very final scene, the anti climax, this was a true master class of a thriller (I would have liked a different climax too). Most of this second half is 'flash back' of the main characters which involves some really brilliant scenes. So nicely planned, executed, shot and edited with brilliant support from the acting crew. I was really on the edge of the seat for most of these scenes. Thrilling action it was. Brilliant performance by Sasikumar and his friends. And the show stealer was a female character, the village girl Maari who is brave like a warrior princess, brilliantly played by Vasundhara. What a great show by this young actress. Just only a couple of scenes, but she will stay in the minds of every body walking out of the theatre.

If only the movie was told in a very straight forward fashion, then it would have looked quite different (as against the complainers that the first half is fun and second half is for action). But then, this would have been very different. I liked it as it is, even if both the halves are so much different. If only the first half was more short, without that first song and some comic scenes, and the climax was a little bit more planned and different, this would have been a brilliant classic entertainer. That is true, for all its thrilling second half, the climax lacks some real punch.

Samuthirakani is really an excellent director. He manages without any hero-heroine duets or item numbers, but it is perplexing why he went for the initial bus stand song. And he deserves a salute to shoot all those action scenes so nicely and to get such a brilliant performance from almost all his actors. He also manage to get couple of messages across through this entertainer, which has a routine theme, but told in a very different way. 

Beautiful

2011 by V K Prakash - Malayalam movie

Yes this is a norm in Malayalam cinema now, our movies should have English names to be successful. How sad. Waiting to get inside the theatre, I heard more than a few people saying that this too is remade from some English movie. And there was a heated debate going on within a group of youngsters whether this is ok or not. Couple of guys were saying that except for Traffic, all the noted Malayalam films of 2011 have been copies/inspirations or what not. And his friend was arguing that since most Malayalees havent seen this foreign films, it is ok. Anyways. I was a bit disappointed to hear that. Anoop Menon had made an excellent copy with his previous writing creation. So he can probably do it again. And VK Prakash too, inspite of making a very good movie in Mullavalliyum Thenmaavum, had tried to copy with his Gulumal. So there is a probability of this being a copy too. And since I knew that Jayasuriya is playing a paraplegic, like in Mar Adentro, the Spanish movie in which Javier Bardem played a similar character, I was thinking , ok, may be this is that one. But it is definitely not Mar Adentro, and nor did it look like any movie which I have seen. But the character has shades of few characters which we have seen in few other movies. I guess Anoop Menon created a very good character from many others. Whatever..

For V K Prakash, this is definitely a very good step. Though the plot, of relatives trying to get the assets of a weak man, has been told many times, the way it is told in this movie is very interesting. There is a touch of freshness in it for which all credit should be given to  V K Prakash. He has made a very different entertainer, which looks absolutely nice, compared to the horrible stuff we are dumped with these days in Malayalam cinema.

Jayasuriya as the paraplegic has done a good job. Just wish the camera, which is also excellent compared to typical Malayalam standards, had chosen to concentrate on his straight face on few occasions when the character was supposed to give some really challenging emotions. But in all such moments, the camera instead opted for a profile frame, which was surprising. Jayasuriya might regret it I am afraid. Because with a camera on his straight face, those moments could have got him real recognition. He still has come out with a really nice and endearing performance.  Anoop Menon, was all right just like his character. Here is yet another routine sympathy seeking Malayalam hero character and he did exactly what it was meant for. If only there was something different with this character, Mr. Menon too could have had a top notch performance. I really thought, the way he sang some of those songs were quite poor.

My favourite part of this movie involved three female characters. One is a doctor who makes a talk on extra martial affairs, with our hero. The other is the maid played by Tesni Khan. And the last is the leading lady, Anjali, played by Meghna Raj. The first one is a cameo role, but it is nice to see a Malayalam female character talk frankly. The second one again speaks out, without the typical Keralan hypocritic moral senses, and possibly is making a break with female characters in Malayalam mainstream cinema. The third one for its feminity. It has been really long that a female character looked so beautiful, feminine and unintentionally seductive. For me, these three characters require a brilliant rating. However, the climax does raise certain questions on the nature of Anjali and on the whole plot. Anyways, this is only meant to be an entertainer. So let it be. The movie is still very enjoyable. And Meghna Raj has bloody beautiful eyes.

People seem to love this movie and there was a real applause at the end of it, which happens very rarely. However, I still heard someone saying that this is an English movie, as the crowd was rushing out of the theatre. I would really like to know which one it is, if at all this indeed is inspired or copied from a single movie.

Ma Femme est une actrice - My wife is an actress

2001 by Yvan Attal - French movie

How would a husband feel, when his actress wife is looking nude on the screen or when she is doing a sensitive love making scene? This is a very brilliant plot for a movie. And Yvan makes a movie on this topic, with his own wife Charlotte Gainsubourg playing the lead role as his wife Charlotte in the movie. This is Mr. Attal's first full fledged feature film as a director. So here is a man with experience on the topic, writing, directing and acting. That ought to be brilliant right? To make it more interesting the husband is just an ordinary guy, a sports writer, but definitely not a celebrity like his wife.

Most husbands naturally would be annoyed by this and even if they try to be normal they will be easily annoyed if some stupid man wants to discuss with him on this topic. Our husband hardly seem to care about what his wife did in the movies. He was more worried about the lack of peace in their personal life as he had to manage with autograph hunters and photographers all the time. How he starts having problems, after being confronted by a stupid man, with weird questions only the French wont mind asking, is really nicely captured. And his wife has to go to London to act with an old and hot hero.

To a good extent, this movie is really brilliant. We have seen little bits of life behind celebrities in movies like Notting Hill, America's sweethearts. But all those movies did not go really into this topic and was on the periphery mostly. But here Attal does go seriously into many issues that can arise between a husband and wife, when the husband is not a celebrity and the wife is. Add to it the moments when wife has to act in intimate scenes. But I wonder if that was the first time, Charlotte had to act that kind of a scene in her acting life, other than for the kissing scenes about which she explains to him that it was not easy. Because often the husband has to bear people talking about how hot Charlotte is etc, which might not happen if this London movie was the first instance for such a scene. Something was missing clearly in the script, I felt.

For a good 3/4th of this movie, I thought it handled the theme very well. But then, towards the end it just took the path what we would expect of ordinary romantic comedies and it looked pretty ordinary for me. When I say this, I really do not have any idea, what other options Attal had, since he wanted this to have a happy ending. But we know that celebrity marriages always are short lived and he could have lead the movie differently. But may be, he is taking moments from his own life and he must be a happy husband with a celebrity wife. So. But still, some thing was lost in transition in the script.

However, I have to say a good part of the movie is really nice and entertaining too. It can even provoke many questions on the ordinary viewer about what would happen if they were in these kind of situations. And there are some real funny scenes too.

Good performances and Attal deserves a lot of credit for making this movie. If only the end was better.

Antonia

1995 by Marleen Gorris - Dutch movie

Many movies use the technique of narration when they have an epic kind of story or when there is a complex plot. Many a times, poor narration alone can defigure a movie. There are some movies which handled an epic story without any narration and there are many which used narration in a beautiful way. Antonia or Antonia's Line is a beautiful movie in which the narration is wonderful. But it is not just about the narration. It is such a lovely movie.

After the war, a woman arrives back in her village with her young daughter. The village is quite a male dominated one, but Antonia sets on a life which will make her a strong matriarch and would see through four generations.

The above plot line is quite insufficient to describe this movie. It is simply the story of a strong woman who lead her life as she wanted, not being controlled by any one, but saw through her daughter, her grand daughter and her great grand daughter and made friends around with her kindness and courage.

At least for the first half of the movie, it is also about the village which have many strange and wonderful characters. In the second half the movie goes through the generation lines of Antonia, quite fast though. The first half is so beautiful, simple and lovely with some really nice fun in between, the second half is more about the life, raising so many questions about life, through the characters, but of course reaching the viewer.

It is definitely a female oriented movie, but it is not anti male, never. It just concentrates on women who find happiness without worriying about the societal and moral roles and rules. I found it really nice. It was so beautiful how the movie looked at love, love between people of different capabilities, ages and what not. One of the most amazing factors was how the actress who played Antonia aged in the movie. It was brilliant. The main character, and the villagers who are as old as her, how they aged together with the village, was really brilliant.

And a truly brilliant piece of Cinematography and music too.

A maochist man or even a conservative religious woman might not find Antonia very lovely, because of all what is happening in this movie or because of all the questions it raises. But for me, it was simply a wonderful movie. If not for its hurried pace in the second half it would have ended as a really brilliant master piece. Actually, if it had taken a more detailed look at all the generations, even if the movie got longer like it happened with Le Meglio Gioventu, it might have been even better. But may be for the director, Antonia was more interesting than her daughter or grand daughter.

A must watch movie, I would say. A movie on life, how everybody should live it, peacefully, following ones own heart and ignoring what the society would think. 

Los Colores de la Montana - The colours of the mountain

2010 by Carolos Cesar Arbelaez - Spanish movie from Colombia

A large majority of the best movies from around the world have come out of regions or plots which was facing seviour struggles or pains. Just like the saying that good literature happens only when the writer has gone through serious pain, I think it is true with cinema too. India is a struggle ridden land. There are problems through out the country, except for a minority region like Kerala. Inspite of a vast majority of people, between 70 - 80% actually, living under constant struggles of livelihood, a huge majority of Indian movies are about the lives of the rich or the middle class. It is quite a topic that why it is so in India. It is seldom that our movie makers think about and make movies about those people who are always at the receiving end or who has to suffer.

Somewhere in remote Colombia, villagers are locked in the war between the guerrillas and the Government forces. Families have started fleeing the village for life. Manuel, a young boy is crazy about football. He is also passionate about painting. His father presents him a new football and his friend has kicked the ball to a field which has mines. Manuel is desperate to get his ball back. 

It is impossible to believe that this movie is made by a debutant director. It is such a brilliant movie.

A good length of the movie is told from the eyes of the child and we can even take it for a movie concentrating on children. However, towards the end, it is almost like a thriller. I felt like I was on the edge of the seat wishing for peace with Manuel, his family, his friends and his teacher. I think that says my thoughts on this beautiful movie.

A superbly brilliant performance by the child actor who played Manuel. He will make us fall in love with him. In fact the script is so good that the moments with the children seems to be penned by some adult with a child's mind. Wonderful it was. Except for a couple of hiccups here and there, which are actually small details which the director could have taken care of, this is brilliantly written and executed movie.

A couple of times it did remind me of Santosh Sivan's Tahaan. But it is quite a different movie, which uses the old trick of looking at serious issues from children's point of view. But the director has managed to give quite a fresh look to it. I think the beautiful setting of the hilly Colombian country side and of course, Football, has played a big part. It is simple, serious, shocking and thought provoking.

I was pondering seriously about my thoughts, after the movie. Why is it that Indian movie makers never talking about people who suffer in our country. Why is it that only once in a blue moon we get movies like this. And once in a blue moon, when there is a movie like Parzania or Slumdog millionaire,(not Indian of course) they are accused of minority appeasement or poverty porn.

El Secreto de sus Ojos - The secret in their eyes

2009 by Juan Jose Campanella - Spanish movie from Argentina

I am not sure is it just about Argentine movies or about Mr. Campanella or about Ricardo Darin. I have only seen few Argentine movies and both these were behind most of them. So may be I am just seeing the best of Argentina, which is played out of the country or what not, I am so bloody impressed by Argentine movies. May be the Italian connection has something do with why they are excellent in movie making. I say this with full respects to the native Argentinian people. Whatever, cinema from Argentina, just like their football, is special, to my knowledge.

Basically this is a revenge story. A husband who takes revenge on the man who raped and killed his beautiful wife. 

However, it is presented in a very different way. Esposito, a retired officer wants to write a novel and picks the case of Liliana Colato. This takes him back to his young days, when he was also in a kind of blind love with his superior. He goes back to his office, meets her superior who is now happily married and takes her help in completing his novel.

I thought the movie had two stories, one about the love of a man, Morales, who want to revenge the murder of his wife, who is assisted by the legal officer Esposito. The second is about Esposito himself who is amazed by the love of Morales and is agonisingly attracted towards his boss, the beautiful Irene. The way all this is told is incredibly brilliant. The script has a brilliant structure going forth and back between the past and present, but not in a conventional way, but in a unique way which keeps us engaged, believing and still guessing. Such a master work on a cinematic script, I would say.

There is so much in this movie, which could make it feel like a thriller. But actually it is Romance that holds the whole movie behind the guise of investigation and revenge. I loved it. And my hearty salute to Campanella. What a director. The same to Ricardo Darin too, who played Esposito brilliantly. I have only seen 5 or 6 movies with him. I would say he deserves a place among the world's best. Soledad Villamil, who played Irene, is so charming. Her charm is something that can be compared to Catherine zeta jones.

A Brilliant cinema, an absolute stunner, from Argentina. It is not often we get a crime based movie in which love plays such a prominent and classy role. A real classic and must watch. 

He liu - The River

1997 by Ming Liang Tsai - Chinese movie from Taiwan

This is a much acclaimed movie, one which came out during the golden age of Taiwanese art cinema. However, let me be honest and speak out that, it is painfully slow and is on the verge of making one bohred. In fact, I watched it first time, day before yesterday night and I felt asleep. Tried to watch the last 20 minutes yesterday, before my office hours, and I was quite impressed by some of that imagery. So I tried to watch it once again.

A young man, his father and mother, who are all quite lonely in their lives. The young man hurts his neck during a bike accident.

The plot is quite simple and so is the movie. But if one can manage to keep yourself engaged with the very slow pace and eventless procedures of the movie, it is impossible to not feel the pain of the young man. You will start feeling the pain of this young man, which is inevitable. Frankly, it took a second watch for me to appreciate it, though.

But towards the end of the second watch, I couldn't help salute this director to make such a blunt and realistic cinema. It is really a painful movie to watch. There are things for which life does not have any solutions and the young man in this movie just has to suffer.

Absolutely a master piece work in cinematography. There is a scene of homo sexuality towards the end which is stunning. What a brilliant shot it is, even if it is quite shocking.

A real brilliant movie, but I am afraid most people might not watch this completely because of its pure art house style and the dragging slow pace. Better to watch it during day time. 

Naayika

2011 by Jayaraj - Malayalam movie

A director who debuted with a very simple movie like Vidyarambham and later gave some excellent movies like Kaliyaattom and Makalkku, and one who has more than 2 decades of history behind him, when such a director decides to make a movie dedicated to the heroines of yester years, it is normal to have hope. But watching this movie, I doubt, what this movie was meant for.

More than a couple of South Indian heroines had committed suicide in the past and there are many stories related to these deaths. However there were a couple of movies in the 80's which dealt on these theme, most notably Lekhayude Maranam oru Flashback by K G George. So it is natural for me to think that if Jayaraj wanted to make a movie on the cause of deaths of yester year heroine's he should have planned one which would have bettered or at least matched Lekhayude... However, watching this movie the death of an actress does not look an issue for a good majority of the film. It rather looks at the relationship between an yester year heroine and a girl who is making a documentary on her. At the same time it is also like a great struggle to get into the past of a heroine.

Whatever it may be Naayika is a poor cinema. It rather looks a very amateurish movie, which is sad considering the fact that it was made by an established director. There is no intensity on the scene and it will be a surprise if any viewer would be able to find any kind of intense feelings anywhere in this movie. I wonder the whole unit were lackadaisical in their attitude during the making of this. From the basic story to the script to the director to the technical aspects and even in simple make up, the movie is so amateurish.

And I strongly deplore the fact that the story is designed by creating couple of characters using extracts from the lives of many heroines and heroes of yester years, which was quite pathetic. After mentioning about the legendary Prem Nazir many times here and there, to make a hero, with a different name, to mimic the style and persona of Prem Nazir was a childish act. I simply do not understand this.

Compare this movie with the subtle scenes of Mayakkam Enna and I am reassured, Malayalam cinema is really in a terrible state. 

Mayakkam Enna

2011 by Selvaraghavan - Tamil movie

Selvaraghavan, with his story for Thulluvatho Ilamai, can boast about being one of the fore runners in leading Tamil movies to its new wave films of today. It was in this movie that his brother Dhanush was introduced as a teenage hero. Later he directed Dhanush in the path breaking cult movie Kaadhal Kondein. After few years he is now teaming up with Dhanush again and I am sure their parents will be very proud of them. As a movie, this is not as great as Aadukalam. But Dhanush's performance in Mayakkam Enna, I believe, is even better than in Aadukalam. M E, is still a very different entertainer from a Tamil pop movie team, which has the subtleties that we would expect only from art films and can be rightly called a parallel movie.

A budding photographer, who owes his life to his rich friends and parents, has great aspirations for his future. He finds that there is some kind of a feeling between him and his friends girlfriend. 

With just the above plot line, ME would hold good as an ordinary romantic comedy. But it is not. Romance makes only half of the movie and there is more to it, I mean the life after marriage which is affected because of the heroes dreams, makes the other half of the movie. I will not call it a romantic comedy. It is about the life of a young man and more surprisingly about his wife too. Very seldom does this happen in India. The heroine in ME is anything than what we would expect from a typical Indian heroine. Especially in the second half, that is when the movie looks at the tough side of life, the heroine is even more important than the hero. The last time something like this occured, if my memory serves right, was in another Tamil movie, Mirugam, which had brilliant performances by Padmapriya.

The hero in ME, is anything but a hero. He is just an ordinary man with some talent in Photography. He behaves quite ordinarily throughout the movie. He does not have any fights to do, nor does he even slap any one. In fact it is the heroine who slaps the hero, more than once, with no reaction from the hero. How often we see something like that in an Indian movie. Even when there is an occassion for the hero to react macho, our hero just behaves like an ordinary guy who is unable to get angry or harm any one. But the heroine for all that matter is really strong. She even have only few scenes wherein we find her smiling. Especially in the second half, there are hardly any smiles from the heroine and she is just a powerful woman who takes care of her husband. I am surprised that Tamil cinema managed to give yet another strong heroine, immediately after the role of Anjaly in Engeyum Eppothum.

The movie is shot realistically. Almost 90% of the scenes have a subtle feel about it, which is commendable. Add to it the factor that the director treats the subject with a preconception that his audience is intelligent. This is not a movie meant for multiplex audiences. A Dhanush movie can never be one. The makers needs to be praised to do it this way hoping the audience will understand what they meant, even if it is subtle and intelligently told. It has come out good and it will only do good for the future of Tamil cinema. How this act saves the movie is by avoiding lot of unwanted explanations and dialogues. In fact they have understood and treated it as a clear visual medium and many important facts are just conveyed through visuals alone. Brilliant it was.

Few other brilliant factors, were the performance of Dhanush and the new heroine, Richa, brilliant cinematography, background scores and the settings. Some moments, like the one in which Dhanush begs to a great photographer to be an assistant, when he is struck by the beauty of nature and forgets to take his shot, when he realises that his best comes out when he works with available light with people and nature and not in studios and all were really brilliant.

However, the movie is not fault free. For all the brilliance, the climax of the story was not that great. I do not mean the final schot, wich was excellent, but the final turn of events. It was only at this point that movie went for routine. The director could have sticked with his subtle treatment through out, instead of losing it in some points. And no excuses at all for using the video and photographs of African Elephants, when the locations meant were Indian. And above all, the way the senior photographer treats the hero is quite stupid. Of course a senior photographer can use the photographs of a budding photographer and take the name, but in my experience I have never seen a senior still photographer behaving rudly with anyone approaching them. This is one good thing I found about Still Photography. Any photographer is normally glad to look at the efforts of budding photographers and to discuss with  them about the subject. Even if they are not glad, they never behave rude. I have met many senior photographers and even when they were terribly busy they were nice and attentive. And even if I never became a big photographer, I was also receptive to anybody who came to me to talk about photography, later when I was seriously into it. So this character of the senior photographer was a bit over done. Anyways, what do I know, may be there is somebody like that.

I was really glad to watch this movie and will be glad to watch it again, even if I did not like the way it ended. I could easily connect with the hero too as I had gone through few moments like his character in my own photographic days. I was not comfortable with flash and indoor systems and always opted for available light. I also felt hurt when my photographs were used by few, may be its many not few, without any knowledge of mine and without any acknowledgements. Anyways.

Finally about the crowd in the theatre. It was embarassing the way the Malayaalee youth behaved inside the theatre. Sure, they might have expected a typical Tamil entertainer, but it was not. That does not mean they should behave in a way, which make watching movies a tedious procedure for anybody in the theatre. What a pity? I felt like killing those people, who were abusing and shouting inside the theatre.

En la cama - In Bed

2005 by Matias Bize - Spanish movie from Chile

The very first sound of this movie, even before any clear frame, is that of a woman who is approaching orgasm. So, unless you know what the movie is about, one could wonder if its a porn movie. But after the sex, the two persons start talking, they are asking the names of each other, that moment I realised I am going to witness a very different movie. And it was. What an unique and brilliant movie.

Two strangers meet for just sex in a motel room. After their sex they start talking casually and in between they make love.

This movie is completely shot inside a motel room. The camera does not have to go outside the walls of this room, I mean there is  not a single frame which has sun light actually. And there are only these two characters, the man and the woman who met for casual sex and get to know each other only after the sex. When I say this was simply brilliant, I am sure most people would doubt it. But, this is a classic example of exploring a unique theme and making a different movie.

After sex, the man and woman start talking about everything under sun, from war to movies to orgasm and what not and slowly they realise there is something between them, though it is too late. But their relationship is portrayed so brilliantly. Some of those moments, especially when each does not dare to look straight into the eyes of the other, but feels something, is so captivating.

Wonderful performances by both actors. And more than anything this is a directors movie, with excellent support by the cinematographer. As mentioned above, there is not a single frame with sunlight. There is not more than 2 faces, but still the camera work is one of the best features of this movie.

I would say this is a must watch for anybody who is seriously interested in cinema. For any student of cinema, may it be an aspiring script writer or director or cinematographer this movie is an inevitable lesson.

For clear reasons, this movie might not be shown even in any film festivals in India. What a pity.

The Adjustment Bureau

2011 by George Nolfi - English movie from Hollywood

Sometimes Hollywood presents some unique ideas through their movies. Doesnt mean the movie turns out as a brilliant one. But the novelty of the idea and the brains behind is definitely special, even if the movie turns out as just another one..

A young politician who is a probable future Senator meets a Ballet dancer and feels like he has met the love of his life. But then he finds out that officers of an adjustment bureau wants to make sure that nothing happens between him and the lady. 

I have never seen a movie, which has given this kind of a visual and physical presence to the idea of fate.  And that basic idea I would say is brilliant. Fate is presented here as a group of officers who works to make sure that everybody has a penned out story to follow and the same has to be ensured. So little things like missing a bus is just part of the procedures by the Bureau to ensure that a persons life follows the path of the fate.

I liked this presentation, even if I am not a believer. But this is a unique idea for a movie. So the movie has a good beginning. The moments between the hero and heroine, even if they are quite few, is really warm and can compete with the best of romantic comedy moments from Hollywood. But when the hero is explained about the fate, by one officer himself, and he decides to fight to change his fate, the movie turns out to be a typical Hollywood movie, full of routine cliches which will help a character. From here, the movie turned out as quite ordinary and stupid.

Those moments between the man and the woman, played by two charming actors, Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, was the only worth moments in this movie.

Once

2006 by John Carney - English movie from Ireland

I am not very fond of Hollywood musicals. There are ones I liked and ones I found bohring. It is funny, I say this as an Indian, where almost all our movies are musical, strange musicals though. For us, music is just a way to make a movie more entertaining and popular, some ways to explain a situation in an extravagant way when the writer or director do not have other ways to show the intimacy or emotionality of a moment. And mostly just for pure fun. Western musicals, in that ways, is very different from ours. Anyways... this is quite a very different musical and it is simply brilliant.

A man meets a girl. Both are into music and they work together to record the man's own songs. 

The plot is as simple as that and unlike most musicals, there are not even so many characters. In fact in Once, there are only these two people, an unnamed man and woman who simply love music. Of course, when such people interact, love is on the edge and movie just look at it in the realistic way. But still for some parts, this movie felt as much as a romantic movie as much as it is a musical.

Now the most interesting and brilliant part of this music - unlike almost all musical movies I have seen, the man and the woman in this movie are real musicians. Yes, they are musicians first who just acted for this movie. And almost all the music in this movie are their own creations. Yet, they have achieved what a seasoned actor would struggle to achieve. They have acted brilliantly. And add to it the touch of professionalism during the performing scenes, they are cent percent genuine. Of course, that is inevitable I think. Two persons who can create their own music act the part as two persons who are into music, how can it not be sincere and genuine.

And since almost everything happens only between these two characters, all the music are genuine music moments, unlike in many musicals where characters interact through songs. In Once, music occurs only when the characters are performing or practising or creating music. So it is bloody realistic too. And what a beautiful musical score! I have already made up mind to find the sound track of this movie.

I loved both our actors. They were so realistic. And the lady especially, what a charming girl she is. Brilliant.

I cannot stop this without giving a big salute to the director. He is a maestro to make such a beautiful, simple and subtle movie. There were a couple of moments when I almost felt goose bumps. That final shot, when the camera slowly pans out of the window of our heroine, was brilliant. What an end!!!

The Visitor

2007 by Thomas McCarthy - English movie from Hollywood

An extremely different movie from Hollywood.

A college professor from Connecticut travels to New York for work and finds that a couple (from Africa) is living in his apartment. He feels sorry for their state, as illegal immigrants, and lets them stay and slowly gets involved in their life. 

The movie begins nicely and proceeds in a simple and nice way. The way the professor gets friendly with Tarek and his girl friend is nice. I especially liked their drumming lesson and their time at the park. And even after Tarek gets arrested it is really good. But once Tarek's mother arrives, I am afraid the movie is a bit different. It takes a path which is often used by typical romantic comedies actually. It does not use it completely, but it is nearly like walking on the edge.

Finally, as the movie ends, it is still a good movie, but I felt somewhere on the way the movie lost its heart. Some more thoughts and efforts would have made this an absolute classic, but it ends up as a lost opportunity.

However, it is heartening to see an American movie thinking from the side of the illegal's whom America do not like at all. The message towards this is quite clear and the movie succeeds in conveying it, but otherwise as a movie, it ends up as one which could have been much much better.

Good performance by Richard Jenkins as the professor. I liked Haaz Sleiman, as Tarek, even better though. What a charming actor. 

Drive

2011 by Nicolas Winding Refn - English from Hollywood

Sometimes, Hollywood too try to make a really different parallel (I am sure they dont have anything called parallel movies) movie and like in India, they are almost successful. I mean its just like breaking the pot, right when you reach the door step. What a pity.

A movie stunt guy, ends up in trouble, just trying to help out the husband of a young and beautiful neighbour. 

For more than half of this movie, it is nearly like a subtle art movie. And I was sure I am watching a very different movie from Hollywood and was glad about it. But then towards the last half, it just turns out like just another Hollywood flick, devoid of all the extravaganzia, but still with the same gory violence.

I am not against violence actually. I think the lives of most unfortunate people witness more violence than any movie have ever picturised. But with Drive, a movie which gave lots of hope with the way it treated the central character, when it ends up almost typical of most action films, it is a bit disappointing.

However, the way the central character is conceived, is really brilliant. And Ryan Gosling as the unnamed driver was so good and charming. Sure, we have seen Hollywood heroes before, men of few words, but there is some difference between the driver and the heroes of the past. It is difficult for me to explain that with my limited writing skills.

I would really reccommend this movie to anyone, inspite of my above comments though. It starts very well and is a very different watch. And sure, one will be charmed by the hero.

It just could have been much better. 

Xin Shao lin Si - Shaolin

2011 by Benny Chan

I am becoming more and more like a fan of East Asian movies. Some of the Chinese, Korean and Japanese movies I saw in the recent past were more than a revelation. They can match and compete with the best from around the world. Watching Shaolin, I desperately wished for an Indian release for movies from China, Korea and Japan.

There are many feuding war lords in China. One such war lord faces a surprise defeat, he takes refuge in Budhism and its non violence. 

In many ways, this block buster from China is preaching non violence through violence.

It is an excellent action film actually and many of the action sequences can match or beat many Hollywood flicks. But why this movie is special is due to the underlying message, which is propagated through its main character. General Hou turns a monk at Shaolin and he still has to face some duels and hence there is lots of action even after the major character turns Budhist. But it is still compelling as a movie on non violence. The movie is an epic drama with brilliant action sequences. But couple of the scenes were stunning and stood out really. I am not saying these were the only brilliant scenes. But they were special.

- there is a shot which looked like many wooden statues of men practising kungfu - standing/balancing on one leg, with the other raised towards the shoulders, on wooden poles. I thought oh thats an amazing peice of art. And then the camera goes into details and I was shocked. That isnt any statue, but real men, the characters we know as Kungu practising monks from Shaolin, who are balancing themselves on the wooden poles. I will give a 10/10 for that single initial shot. Moments when you really feel like falling at the legs of a Photographer, to make such sur-realistic imagery in this modern day of digital photography, when photography is no more an art, is truly brilliant.

- The villain has a body guard who is like an absolute warrior. Nobody seem to match him in any duel. In a final fight with a Shaolin monk, monk goes in for a very special sacrifice (he is already fatally injured) in a momentary brilliant action, which was truly brilliant.

A very important point in this action drama is that the villain lives, not even hurt actually. But his defeat is ensured by his understanding of the devastating results of his decision making. That final scene was really excellent.

And finally I saw Jackie Chan once again in a completely different role from what we expect of him. He is a cook who does not know any Kung fu and I must say, Jackie Chan is a real good actor.

This is a really good action drama, with an excellent message. It does have some faults here and there, but I wont mind ignoring them at all. 

Ladies in Lavender

2004 by Charles Dance

Ageing is a real issue. I wonder how I would behave, for specific situations, once I am old and lonely. At the end of this movie, I spend quite a few minutes wondering about my future. This movie is not a classic to make me ponder about the future. But it does look at ageing, in a simple and funny way.

Two old sisters, living in a coastal village, have to welcome a very young Polish man to their villa. There is a subtle war between the sisters, trying to gather the affection of the young man. 

The movie is very simple and there is nothing in this movie, which cannot be easily predicted, including the climax. But what makes it a very special watch is the performances by the two leading ladies, Judie Dench and Maggie Smith. The former especially, for me, was brilliant. For, it is her character who really falls in for the young man, that she reaches a very special state, which is difficult to explain.

And what a brilliant performance. This movie is worth watching again, just to look at these two brilliant veteran actresses. It is like a text book of under playing emotions. More than anything, they perform it in such a way that we wonder the young man has arrived into the house of two young sisters.

Add to the performances, the brilliant music, which falls in through for almost the whole length of the movie, and Ladies in Lavender is an excellent watch. 

Partir - Leaving

2009 by Catherine Corsini - French movie

There has been umpteen number of movies on infidelity, especially in French. But for many reasons, Partir is not just ordinary.

A mother of two adolescents is attracted to a man who came to work at her home and gets too passionate about their relationship that she is ready to leave everything for him. 

From that plot line, it does not look anything special, for sure. But this movie is made different by a few factors.

- The performance of Kristin Scott Thomas, which is simply brilliant. In many moments, especially when she seems to be awaiting her lover, the passionate expectations, she is incredible.

- The way the female character proceeds, forgetting everything and ready to do anything for the passion. The script does not try to reason with her much, but her passions leads. I found it very interesting

The movie, for sure, is cliche ridden in the beginning. But then, it gets different with the blunt ways of its heroine, who would not mind doing anything, even stealing, for her love life.

But still, I would find it difficult to concur with her deeds, especially because of her climax act, on the effects it will have on her children. But looking at it just as a movie, it is quite a different one.