In the process of watching a movie, we ever so often become the protagonist, finding a tinge of a similarity here or a common foe there and so on.
In this sense, movies act like manna from not-so-imaginary Gods amongst our midst. We nourish our own egos and gather strength from a guy, who we assume, is telling our story so that the "others" may gain their strength from it. I believe this is the reason theater is even more appealing. It removes a barrier between reality and, well, reality of another kind.
Each person imagines himself as Batman of his own city Gotham. (Is a Batman a metaphorical Black Swan, fighting manifestations of his own demons? Hmm. There must be a reason he never kills them.)
Maybe this whole hero-business gets too taxing. It's probably when we don those masks (some people prefer kissing butterflies, while some adore pseudo-intelligent birds and those that are hopelessly lost add gas mask and helmet combinations to their already waning taste in good clothes :) )
Black Swan definitely meets the standards required of an art cinema, in terms of total screen-time that the user is led to believe the lady is without clothes.
However, its merit lies in its entwining of art with the artist. The artist whom the mind resents to mirror. In this sense, there are strong similarities with Oscar Wilde's 'Picture of Dorian Gray'.
There are several elements to the movie that could have been changed. One major obection is to the portrayal of sex, in a way that's not-flattering to the characters involved.
On the plus side, the director+writers seem to respect the viewer's intellect and they don't rush to offer explanations nor justifications to what these characters do. It's this casual non-personal storytelling, probably, that wins you over and reconciles the viewer with the Black Swan.
Links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picture_of_dorian_gray
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Inception: Movie
Watching a movie at a late hour has always been a special experience. For me it has been a feeling associated with freedom. A time when the crowd doesn't regulate the way you move. Add to this a feeling that borders on fear and the small pulses of courage that we comfort ourselves with.
The first “midnight movie” I watched was a Kannada tearjerker called 'Maduve'. The horribleness of it all, causing the viewer to be crushed by so much self-pity that he couldn't even feel for the heroine being tortured by a psychotic husband.
After college, having a job meant that one needn't worry about the money nor the excuses at home to watch a movie at midnight (paapa, IT/BT-nalli eshtu kelsa madistare!!).
Of all my bailout contributions to the movie industry, probably the only one that I certainly won't regret was Anurag Kashyap's 'Gulaal'. I can still recall how the tone of the movie (dark) and the songs (haunting) affected our (Me, Prasanna & Praveen, as usual) walk through the perceivedly shady alleys of Tavarekere.
Oh did I just digress? Perhaps I did. Perhaps, it's because an Idea is such a potent parasite. The most memorable midnight movie shall ever be Christopher Nolan's Inception. What a movie!
As TR would put it: Inception is an exception to routine film-making which is a deception of audiences aiding the conception of even more stupid films leading to corrrruption of the society. Oh! and he would put in "blaaaady bawsterd" and "Tamizh values" somewhere.
Much has already been said and much more will be said about the movie's writing, screenplay, editing and the performances. I'll just congratulate the genius that is Christopher Nolan and talk about what I liked about the movie and what I didn't. Ever since I came to know that Nolan is the writer for the movie, he’s all that I’ve wanted to talk about.
The glimpses:
The trailers released for the movie (sometime in December) just emphasized the tagline that the mind is the scene of the crime. Even, IMDB’s plot synopsis was off the mark about what the movie truly is. NYT tells me that it was upon Nolan’s insistence that only a few details about the movie were revealed.
Ahhh! Saaar \m/
The Idea:
As I watched the movie, I kept thinking that the idea for the movie is truly original. Yet, it can be appreciated that this concept has been toyed with before. The idea that mind is a ball of clay waiting to be moulded is not entirely new. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind dealt with how the mind would react if a person’s memories were to be modified. The concept of dreams interfering with reality, taking forms and coming alive was key to the Japanese movie Paprika (Wiki).
Yet, Nolan’s Inception stands out on its own for the simple fact that it takes the whole concept of weaving a dream to new levels ( multiple and in fact, 5). This is what I liked most about the movie. The portrayal that the mind is an environment that processes inputs subject to certain constraints (possibly guided by the needs of evolution). It is a subtle metaphor for the Strong vs. Weak AI debate.
If Paprika were to be contrasted with Inception, it could be said that: while Paprika spans out (horizontally, so to say) the space between reality and dreams and melds one person’s dream with another’s reality, meanwhile Inception ascends vertically as a dream within a dream which potentially affects the person’s base reality.
Hat-tip to Mr. Nolan.
Mal’s character:
What transforms a good writer-director going “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” to an extremely good one (doing a Nolan) is the alternate plotline for Mr. Cobb. In one fell move it shows us the scary side of extraction and Inception, all the while gently tapping the fourth wall.
A woman who believes that reality is yet another dream. Not a rarity, perhaps :P
Take a bow, Saaar.
Doubts:
I shall resort to calling the scapes the folks are in by level numbers e.g. Reality/Plane –> 0, Kidnapping/Fall from bridge –> 1 etc.
1. It is said that, what happens in one level transcends to a higher level i.e free fall in level 1 => floating bodies in level 2. Doesn’t this mean that in subsequent levels they should still be floating?
2. Escape from levels: The movie tells us that to escape from a higher level to a lower one you need to get a jolt. While, the movie convinced me that they could escape from a few levels there were a few levels from which escape seemed impossible/difficult.
a. From level 5: Saito is in level 5 and in limbo. How does Cobb reach him and why hasn’t he aged? Still the user can make an assumption that Cobb himself is the totem for Saito and that he can make an arrangement with his goons for both of them. Or Cobb kills Saito, thereby ending his limbo, and is jolted by Saito’s henchmen.
b. Cobb’s escape from level 1: Perhaps the most baffling thing (surely for me) was Cobb’s escape from the level 1. As Cobb himself explains, the fall into water was the last “kick” they were supposed to receive. So how does he get out of this one?
Yet, considering that not once had a movie got me thinking this much, I must say:
SashtanganamaskaragaLu.
Ending:
That moment when everyone is expecting the spinning totem to fall and the screen mercilessly blacks out. Memorable. The entire theater went “Awwww!”.
Chatussagaraparyantam … Nagaravinda sharman ahambho abhivadaye.
Additional Links:
http://screencrave.com/2010-07-13/christopher-nolans-obsession-with-obsession/
Kis ne bana di movie???
Warning: This movie is not for a teacher who asked us to make micro-controllers instead of using them, PK and Akshaye Kumar. The same applies to YOU, the reader, (pssst!!! don't turn around and look back!!!) and read further only if you really need an explanation.
The actual storyline of the movie is actually very simple. Ask a good looking girl to choose between a guy she thinks is hot n cutesie (?? well, perspective; my perspective of her perspective) and an absolute crasshole(creep+asshole) who gives Count Dracula the shivers of coldness; the good-looking-girl, let's call her PIT (pretty indian thing), will always choose the creep but she shall do so just before the end of the movie. Now add to it some, well let me put it this way, seasoned storyline and a sidekick who acts slightly better than the hero and you have "Rab ne bana di jodi".
Apart from that, the movie is full of so much trivia that a lesser soul than yours humbly wouldn't have understood, contemplated and written this blog..
1. Action sequences: In one of the crescendo-breaking moments of the movie Shaaa....-ruk does what no actor ever dared to before on Indian Cinema. *Akshaye Kumar please don't read this part* He not only poses to be riding a bike in one of the earlier scenes but also pillions the PIT in a path-breaking action chase.
While everybody was busy looking at the PIT's pit as she swerves the bike around, i was not only able to hear the background music, a la Thomas cheta, but was also able to decode this easter-egg correctly.. It is obviously a dekko to Dhoom-3 rumored to star Shaaa...-ruk !!
*Akshaye Kumar you can read from this part on*
2. While everybody is under the impression that Shaaa...ruk has acted the role of Surinder Sahni to planck-length perfection and described it as the only saving grace of the film, it is not true. The actual funda is that the make-up artists tried really hard to stick the moustache on Shaaaa...'s face (even used Gorilla glue) but the bloody thing wouldn't stay. So they had to use a grey-colored plastic mannequin with a moustache attached to shoot teh scenes with Surinder Sahni.
I wouldn't have noticed it if not for the gaffe in the scene where Shaaaa... is seen talking to Surinder in Bobby's saloon...
Makes perfect sense!!! Reasons: a. Shaaaa can never have a moustache, b. SS talks in barely audible whispers that are easily synthed digitally and c. Shaaaaa can never even have a fake moustache.
3. Shiamak Davar is Govinda's pseudonym, proof . Check out the dresses and the pelvic grooves. Also, Raj calling Taani "Partner" was an obvious giveaway.
4. The movie is a competitor to Aamir's Ghajini releasing on the same date and borrows heavily from the movie. Also, this movie, like TZP, is based on the learning problems of people. It portrays the circs of Taani who is autistic. This savant cannot differentiate between a moustached mannequin and Raj; but she can recollect and correctly connect the similarities of the way they ate a paani-puri from paranthe-waali gali and home-made biriyani. I think she would have made a great quizzer.
Be that as it may all be, the movie did still leave a few open-ended, unanswered questions:
1. Who is the guy seen bathing beneath the tap in SS's house? (this occurs twice in the movie)
2. Who is the drummer in the movie "KHKN"?
3. Which is the Qn. that Udupa's shaaa can't answer? and why?
I think the last 3 qns would make a nice Supertheme...
Rory's First Kiss
"It" happens in the case of every writer who suspects he's going to create a multi-billion dollar franchise (which happens to be almost every author, except yours humbly; whose jottings are read by a humongous readership of about three and a half people - half being the accounting number for his grandmother who can't read or write English but still grudgingly stares at the computer screen for exactly three and a half seconds).
"It" being - the author adds a few discordant linestrokes to the magnificent glory of the protagonist's otherwise airbrushed greatness. A Rama standing in front the "Jade and Crystal" fountain thinking about sending Sita to "vanvaas" in her chiffon sari, the Krishna thinking about his relatives, who've been belittling him and marking him the asassin of Prasena, and hence conditions being so should he attend the next Saturday's Costume Ball wearing his favourite green shirt with the non-hindu Swastika emblazoned on the armplates?. And that should give us a picture.
For a Batman movie, I must say - "The Dark Knight" does stand out and differ from all the others - 'coz here "the Batsuit doesn't have nipples on them" (George Clooney, anyone?). If you didn't get the stratospheric implications of this historic fact then this movie isn't for you, dude. (Read the rest of the review, though :) )
For probably the first time in a Batman movie the dark knight has had to share his screen-time with so many other characters. That combined with Christopher Nolan's magic gives such an ample exposure to the lot of supporting roles which is what makes the movie truly different. Even two whole shiploads of people are turned Super-heroes in the final few moments. Forget the timeless cliches : a lone honest officer (Gordon) in a "force" otherwise trenched in deep-dark turpitude, spineless mafioso bosses and a few logical uncertainties and you have a neat, glued-to-the-edge-of your-seat entertainer.
This isn't probably the first ever attempt at portraying the protagonists' bravado as a mask to hide their insecurities and weaknesses. And yet I must say the action sequences are pretty awesome!! (to borrow the quote from Ileana's T). Especially the one in which Wayne rides his Batpod to topple the Joker's "Slaughter" truck to choreographed perfection.
This isn't probably the first ever attempt at portraying the protagonists' bravado as a mask to hide their insecurities and weaknesses. And yet I must say the action sequences are pretty awesome!! (to borrow the quote from Ileana's T). Especially the one in which Wayne rides his Batpod to topple the Joker's "Slaughter" truck to choreographed perfection.
Quizfrats and brats can finally frame a Connect question that goes: MYB 3047, Nefertiti , a decrepit water tank, Rs. 2,36,45,00,000 vs $544 Mn, Danny Denzongpa = Hugh Jackman, Ghajini (the movie), and The Phantom of the Opera.
A little imagination and you'll recognise Harvey Dent/ Two-face. Again a well etched character who might just return from the dead in yet another sequel. To paraphrase, flipping a coin is totally symbolic of Harvey's character. The coin too gets defaced on one side as what happens to Harvey. The irony being that the coin almost always lands on the good face but Two-face flips his mind too and acts any which way that suits his evil side. Other symbolic references include his ambiguity over everything, Rachel's ambiguity in choosing between him and Bruce Wayne and lastly Wayne's own inner demons. Thinking about it, I feel The Joker is probably the only guy devoid of any ambiguous thoughts and choices. Another interesting motif the coin presents is "duality" that ocurs as a theme throughout. Harvey Dent being Gotham's white knight to Batman's Dark Knight, Batman as a savior contrasted with Batman the hunted (towards the end), and the Joker's vibrant interludes even as the city is engulfed in an aura of darkness and fear.
And yet, the movie does leave one desiring a bit of rationality.
- Cops of a Metropolis are awestruck/scared by a man firing a bazooka that they forget they have guns. Chrissake!! Isn't it America?Or is India responsible in some contorted way even for this?
- People of Gotham city dumbly board escape boats which are laden (no pun) with bombs at the Joker's threats. Update: Ever since I wrote this I had a chance to listen to a sampling of Customer Queries at a Call-center and I'm of changed opinion.
- The Police somehow miraculously don't evacuate Harvey Dent from the hospital making way for the Joker's rendezvous with him.
- The Bank Manager wields a gun the size of Bruce Wayne's ego, gives his two-bit about American honor and takes a bullet before you can even say Shreevenkatamadhavan.
As I said earlier, the movie is a bit racy. Add to it, Nolan's direction (Remember Memento? - the one-way ride to confusion street). The viewer does feel at times lost and also losing out on some of the finer emotions that the plot could've evoked, buried in the din.
Another interesing addition could've been a face-off between Michael Caine (Alfred) or Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) with the Joker. Maybe in a sequel.
The Joker:
The Joker is one character who deserves much much more than can be captured in my writing here. The portrayal of a cold-blooded menace is so absolute that it alone makes the movie a worthwhile watch. He also justifies the plotline where Batman stakes all combating him. Complimenting his persona is the music score which shifts to a monotonic note of ever-increasing pitch that also sets a great backdrop for the macabre settings. Here's an attempt to collect some of his aphorisms:
- I thought my jokes were bad. (and I thought mine were...)
- Y'see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push.
- If you're good at something, never do it for free.
- This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object (Harsha Bhogle moment!!).
- You truly are incorruptible aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you, because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
In case I've come across as irreverent of the movie and you particularly liked it, consider this my tribute to "the Joker". Most of what he said is anyway true...
Total Trivia:
I confess that this tidbit of a trivia was "inspired" from imdb's trivia page.
I confess that I really regretted not having learnt Guitar basics so that I could even think of it by myself that I smacked my alter-ego with the day's TOI. Luckily, it was a weekday and low on ads; I'm alive and writing this piece.
The music score when The Joker makes a screen appearance is based only on the two notes D & C. DC comics publish the Comics and have also produced the movie.
- Cops of a Metropolis are awestruck/scared by a man firing a bazooka that they forget they have guns. Chrissake!! Isn't it America?Or is India responsible in some contorted way even for this?
- People of Gotham city dumbly board escape boats which are laden (no pun) with bombs at the Joker's threats. Update: Ever since I wrote this I had a chance to listen to a sampling of Customer Queries at a Call-center and I'm of changed opinion.
- The Police somehow miraculously don't evacuate Harvey Dent from the hospital making way for the Joker's rendezvous with him.
- The Bank Manager wields a gun the size of Bruce Wayne's ego, gives his two-bit about American honor and takes a bullet before you can even say Shreevenkatamadhavan.
As I said earlier, the movie is a bit racy. Add to it, Nolan's direction (Remember Memento? - the one-way ride to confusion street). The viewer does feel at times lost and also losing out on some of the finer emotions that the plot could've evoked, buried in the din.
Another interesing addition could've been a face-off between Michael Caine (Alfred) or Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) with the Joker. Maybe in a sequel.
The Joker:
The Joker is one character who deserves much much more than can be captured in my writing here. The portrayal of a cold-blooded menace is so absolute that it alone makes the movie a worthwhile watch. He also justifies the plotline where Batman stakes all combating him. Complimenting his persona is the music score which shifts to a monotonic note of ever-increasing pitch that also sets a great backdrop for the macabre settings. Here's an attempt to collect some of his aphorisms:
- I thought my jokes were bad. (and I thought mine were...)
- Y'see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little...push.
- If you're good at something, never do it for free.
- This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object (Harsha Bhogle moment!!).
- You truly are incorruptible aren't you? You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you, because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever.
In case I've come across as irreverent of the movie and you particularly liked it, consider this my tribute to "the Joker". Most of what he said is anyway true...
Total Trivia:
I confess that this tidbit of a trivia was "inspired" from imdb's trivia page.
I confess that I really regretted not having learnt Guitar basics so that I could even think of it by myself that I smacked my alter-ego with the day's TOI. Luckily, it was a weekday and low on ads; I'm alive and writing this piece.
The music score when The Joker makes a screen appearance is based only on the two notes D & C. DC comics publish the Comics and have also produced the movie.
What's this?
(Ans: Paean to love, bollywood and Airports!!)
The wait for Aamir's latest presentation "Jaane tu ya jaane na" is over. Rehman's peppy scores had so tantalised listeners that it's a relief that the movie lives upto the hype. :)
It's a thorough entertainer, that is so trenched in all of bollywod's oldest and arcane motifs (hero never realising the use of a cellphone can reduce the risk of losing his love forever, climax at the airport!! etc.) while at the same time catering to an urban, hipper audience with adapted sensibilities.
Jaane tu ya jaane na... traces the story of a group of collegers, their search for love, insecurities and the haunting theme of people not knowing what they've got. This occurs in many parts of the movie- Rotlu and Bombs falling in love, Savitri (Jai's mother) hoping to find her son a mellow anti-ego of his father, Aditi (and her parents) about her brother, Aditi and Jai themselves and finally Naseruddin Shah's cameo as the person waiting for a Mr. Godot (Read the last section, Total Trivia).
Abbas Tyrewalla who's scripted and directed the movie truly deserves appreciation for bringing a new sense into film-making. All his character's are strongly backed. Not only do they have their own space but the director makes sure their emotions and insecurities are voiced as well (when was the last time you saw the hero's sidekick falling for the heroine in a bolly movie?).
It's also good to see some situational humor in Indian films of late - as in AB Sr. searching his pockets for hundred rupees and borrowing it from Chandru in Sarkaar Raj , JTYJN certainly has loads of such scenes (the Inspector at the airport embarassedly singing the Jane tu ya jaane na.. song etc).
The events are narrated to Jiggy's air-hostess girlfriend. Though the technique itself is not so innovative the way the story is narrated adds life to the movie and takes a sub-plot of its own. (Hofstadter or his tortoise will kill me for such loose sentences).
Some of the themes in the movie are really impressive such as Savitri (Ratna Pathak Shah) talking to her husband Ajey Singh Rathore's portrait, Jai's dreams of the rider mounted on a black horse, the tonga in the background (which i think symbolises the characters moving either closer or farther from each other) etc.
Genelia has done her role a fair bit (I felt she was more exceptional in Bommarillu, though she played the role of a gauche there too). Manjiri Phadnis dazles as Meghna, yet another nicely contrasted character in the writer's scheme of things. Imran Khan will have a tough time shedding the "chocolate" tag off his name.
Total Trivia: In the final scene of the movie when all the friends are leaving the airport, the person with a billboard for a Mr. Godot is seen. I was told this was Naseruddin Shah in a cameo.
The reference to Mr. Godot is interesting though. The reference here is to the play "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett. The play was voted the best english language play of twentieth century. In the play the protagonists Estragen and Vladimir are waiting for a Mr. Godot. They ramble, amble and rant throughout the play waiting for Mr. Godot who never arrives. The funniest part is neither has any idea what Godot looks like and they admit that they may not recognise him if he were to appear before them. So, the allusion is probably to people waiting for a special somebody or someone or something, never sure of what they are on a quest for.
The wait for Aamir's latest presentation "Jaane tu ya jaane na" is over. Rehman's peppy scores had so tantalised listeners that it's a relief that the movie lives upto the hype. :)
It's a thorough entertainer, that is so trenched in all of bollywod's oldest and arcane motifs (hero never realising the use of a cellphone can reduce the risk of losing his love forever, climax at the airport!! etc.) while at the same time catering to an urban, hipper audience with adapted sensibilities.
Jaane tu ya jaane na... traces the story of a group of collegers, their search for love, insecurities and the haunting theme of people not knowing what they've got. This occurs in many parts of the movie- Rotlu and Bombs falling in love, Savitri (Jai's mother) hoping to find her son a mellow anti-ego of his father, Aditi (and her parents) about her brother, Aditi and Jai themselves and finally Naseruddin Shah's cameo as the person waiting for a Mr. Godot (Read the last section, Total Trivia).
Abbas Tyrewalla who's scripted and directed the movie truly deserves appreciation for bringing a new sense into film-making. All his character's are strongly backed. Not only do they have their own space but the director makes sure their emotions and insecurities are voiced as well (when was the last time you saw the hero's sidekick falling for the heroine in a bolly movie?).
It's also good to see some situational humor in Indian films of late - as in AB Sr. searching his pockets for hundred rupees and borrowing it from Chandru in Sarkaar Raj , JTYJN certainly has loads of such scenes (the Inspector at the airport embarassedly singing the Jane tu ya jaane na.. song etc).
The events are narrated to Jiggy's air-hostess girlfriend. Though the technique itself is not so innovative the way the story is narrated adds life to the movie and takes a sub-plot of its own. (Hofstadter or his tortoise will kill me for such loose sentences).
Some of the themes in the movie are really impressive such as Savitri (Ratna Pathak Shah) talking to her husband Ajey Singh Rathore's portrait, Jai's dreams of the rider mounted on a black horse, the tonga in the background (which i think symbolises the characters moving either closer or farther from each other) etc.
Genelia has done her role a fair bit (I felt she was more exceptional in Bommarillu, though she played the role of a gauche there too). Manjiri Phadnis dazles as Meghna, yet another nicely contrasted character in the writer's scheme of things. Imran Khan will have a tough time shedding the "chocolate" tag off his name.
Total Trivia: In the final scene of the movie when all the friends are leaving the airport, the person with a billboard for a Mr. Godot is seen. I was told this was Naseruddin Shah in a cameo.
The reference to Mr. Godot is interesting though. The reference here is to the play "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett. The play was voted the best english language play of twentieth century. In the play the protagonists Estragen and Vladimir are waiting for a Mr. Godot. They ramble, amble and rant throughout the play waiting for Mr. Godot who never arrives. The funniest part is neither has any idea what Godot looks like and they admit that they may not recognise him if he were to appear before them. So, the allusion is probably to people waiting for a special somebody or someone or something, never sure of what they are on a quest for.
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