Films that Matter

Badii is set out on a journey in a car to find someone to do something. Enough suspense for a film to be interesting, isn't it? ** Spoiler Alert ** No matter how curious the plot makes you, I am sure your own reactions will make you more curious. Undoubtedly, the God of film-making knew the importance of giving space and time to viewers to be judgmental! Badii, while looking for someone, passes through a construction area with laborers around, which makes one think that maybe he is looking for some helping hand for construction. Thoughtfully, no hint is given to you. Then, We see Badii insisting a man who becomes irritated by him giving one a thought that probably he is gay. Beautifully, we see Badii as an outsider like all those people did with whom he had failed endeavors. Like us, they were judgmental about him without even knowing him. It's beautiful to see a man in confusion and trouble, making choices about the person who would bury him. Just like we form groups

Shoehi Imamura amazingly and thoughtfully directed the Eel. It's so beautifully edited and is a minimalist thriller of our time. There are some really creative and beautiful shots with unique and mature directions. However, the film looses it's spark when it tries to be a little funny and descriptive towards the end. **Spoiler Alert** Looking at the film as it proceeds: 1) We cannot make an assumption that he didn't kill his wife at all. It is clear from his surrender and sentence. 2) Letters: A woman's voice was narrating the letters. Why? It can be assumed that he thought of someone who sent (if someone really sent) must be a woman. Also, she mentioned that this is the last time she will warn her. So, why he took actions that day and not before? 3) Sex: The sexual scenes were very passionate/professional. The way it is shown and the expressions of Yamashita suggests that he could never f**k like that (Or maybe he is sterile.) 4) Prison: His behavior (

Compelling, moving and visually stunning; The Return aka  Vozvrashchenie is a haunting psychological thriller that haunts you much after you have finished watching it. ***Spoiler Alert!*** It has been a long time since I last watched this. Though I will try to give a simple interpretation, I make no claims that it is the only or the right interpretation. We see in the opening scene, the fear of the kid, his torment on being an outcast by his friends. The two brothers even don't have a perfect relationship. The only memory of their father that they have is a picture of him. Seeing the mental state of the kid and haziness of the few shots afterwards, one is made to think of the rest of the story as a dream. Like in Lynch's construction of a dream, the elements of pain and longing are replaced by our fantasies of how we want reality to be. It's a vivid dream where the father comes back mysteriously and they go on a trip where he fulfills all the responsibility o

The traces of this film's emotional impact, the psychological torment and the feeling of helplessness is still there. In the Society which we live in, we take a few things for granted... like children don't lie, children should listen to their elders and what not! The question of why is something we refuse to ask. And whenever non-thinking people like us take these assumptions for granted, we are wrong and someone suffers for this. This film opens with a jump by Lucas in the chilling cold water to save his troubled friend. A social, lovable guy who even wipes a kid's buttocks to teach him how to wipe. His kindness and tenderness to children is perfectly made visible without Lucas loosing his own individuality. Klara's role is very beautifully performed by the girl. She is genuinely convincing in believing her own lies and the childishness of it. What was going on inside Klara is hard to tell. While her parents were always involved in disputes, She had only one

"All artists imbibe, consciously or unconsciously, the lessons of past masters. But when a film maker's roots are strong, and when tradition is a living reality, outside influence are bound to dwindle and disappear and indigenous styles evolve." Satyajit Ray quoted for Kurosawa and holds unconditionally true for Kiarostami. Words like fresh, reviving, philosophical, etc would merely be undermining Kiarostami's work. As a director, his approach is purely simplistic, unconventional and 'flowing'. I have seen three of his works - Close Up (1990), A taste of cherry (1997) and The wind will carry us (1999) and through these three films we observe a transition. A transition in directing styles, in what is being said & how is it said and a transition towards artistic perfection. Opening with a conversation inside a car (as most of his film), we see, vaguely, some views of people on ongoing politics, their stereotypical notions, body language of governmen

A very beautiful film with no dialogues at all. Empty spaces and long silence is used for self-reflection, reflecting our own act of perception. A film that needs to be seen with no preconceived notions about it. You could watch the trailer here:  http://bit.ly/17Pk0rw ** Spoiler Alert ** First Time: An old man is shown lost in vague emptiness. He probably lost his way in the society (like a goat!), and resorts to some superstitious beliefs to survive his deteriorating health. No matter how absent minded he might be, he perfectly herds the cattle. It’s like he was doing the same thing for so long that it became a mechanical process. His cautiousness about the cattle (finding the bell in the forest) is very natural. We see him die, maybe, due to already degraded health or the mishap (loosing of the sacred packet) which made him fail to carry-on his belief on which he was living. We are faced with a doubt about which of the two took his life? Second Time:  With one life f

Actions of the characters in Prestige is driven by 'ambition'. The ambition of the two magicians to be better than the other. As Borden proved himself to be a better magician and sent Robert in search of Tesla; coming up with a science or real magic won't satisfy Robert's ego. Angier never got any output from Tesla. 'The evil machine' was just a wild goose chase for Borden like Tesla was for Angier. We want to know the secret but we are not really looking. We want to be fooled. Angier's Ploy:  After losing all hope with Tesla's machine, in his desperation, he turns to his double Gerald Root. He finds him and trains him well. Though the machine couldn't create magic, it could at least be a spectacle for the eyes of audience to get enough distraction. Using Root as his double and spectacle of science, he performs 'The Transported Man'. In the opening scene of the film, it was Root who was inside the water tank. Borden was to b

  A story-teller and the best of his kind in Hollywood would be Christopher Nolan. Like literature, his stories has all the elements and is always told with layers within layer. Though, the fast moving shots and detailed script leaves less space for self-reflection, he presents his philosophies through the actions of his character and gives more importance to the narration/story rather than space and silence. If we would place (which we shouldn't but only for getting an idea) him in the literary world, he is closer to Charles Dickens and farther from Dostoevsky and Hemingway. "The Prestige" is a master piece of story telling; attaining the unattainable. I could write just one piece on it explaining it's perfection which many fail to notice. Because, " They are not really looking. They want to be fooled! " This film, like the magic trick, is presented in three parts: The Pledge : Here, a director shows you something ordinary. But of course...

Mychael Danna, beautifully crafted the music of Life of Pi and comes with probably the most soulful theme of the decade - "Which story do you Prefer". As a filmmaker, Ang lee probably made Danna feel every characters and situations and recreate it with music. We all understand that a film couldn't make us feel the temperature of sun, or the moisture at sea, it is just the music which could be close to these feelings. Likewise, in that track, there is a moment of self reflection, and probably a dilemma - Not to Pi, but to all of us who want to find a meaning out of it. As Pi asks towards the end that why you need to find meaning out of it. Because when you do, you will have to stick to your perception about truth. When you try to find meaning, you always keep trying but never get it. Like no one understood the Pi = 3.14159..... cause it's just life, raw life. You don't have to desperately try to give meaning to it. But we do give meaning to our ongoing l

Yann Martel was quoted saying "So many Richard Parker must mean something". He referred to many fictional and real characters by the name of Richard Parker who were shipwrecked and in most of the cases, resorted to cannibalism. Unlike Poe's, Martel's story instead of being gruesome is rather adventurous; while the context remains the same. Coming to the film, Richard Parker was a hunter whose name interchanged with tiger's due to clerical error. This part of the discussion will tend to represent my perceptions, maybe I am wrong, but please try to feel it with an open mind and consider it. If you think otherwise please let me know. The naming of Pi after a swimming pool is absurd and reflects the absurdity of life. I think, perhaps, Richard Parker was the actual name of Pi. As they were Hindu, it could have been Richard Patel (due to French influence in Pondicherry). In the movie poster also, half faces of both tiger and Pi is shown, probably, to point ou

"If there is no God", said Dostoevsky, "man would go raving mad killing each other. They need a meaning to their life and thus created God." Camus couldn't agree more, however, he doesn't accept Russian novelist's point of faith in an unseen deity. Pi, a reader of both these great novelists, seemingly never judges their perennial philosophies. And even towards the climax, he asks Henry what he prefers; not what he chooses or believes. It was never for Pi to decide whether it was Dostoevsky or Camus he would choose for his reality, and he doesn't. Moreover, there is a difference in choosing and preferring. But, this story shows that we choose what we prefer as better for us. For Ang Lee, it goes like this play by Camus "The Possessed". It bega as a comedy (A very beautiful one), then becomes more dramatic and ends as a tragedy. For many, Life of Pi could be this blissful journey with no tragedy at all, well, we will come to that per

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510... a never ending number with no logic, made some people believe in god. After watching this film for the fifth time, i thought may be it's time to write something about it. It encapsulates so much through symbolism and momentary frames which is not possible to describe.  It is a journey, it is a feeling, Alas! it is a moment! **Spoiler Alert** For those who haven't seen the film. Let's start with the book. I haven't read the book. A film is director's perception of a story and i wanted to feel and understand that' rather than Yann Martel's perception/belief/truth. Though, I decided to read ' Beatrice and Virgil ' to try to feel Yann Martel and believe me, he is a hell of an experimental storyteller. When we think there can be no new way of narrative story telling, he comes up with fantastic unbelievable ways to show you what he wants. However, the basic idea of using animals to

I loved this image and couldn't resist posting it! Absurdity , well that's Camus' word for life, Anderson's form of filming existence and Nirvana's symphonies. So we question in this absurdity does something really matter? Then again, it's a trap of meaning of words ' really ' and ' matter ' . May be life goes like the song Bohemian rhapsody . So, this blog is dedicated to the research of films (not movies) that matters to me... or maybe i made them matter to me... it doesn't matter!