Films viewed this month – March

Though half of the month was marred by the semester exams, was lucky enough to catch up with quite good movies in the last week of March. And added to it, I found out lot of books on cinema in my University library, which will keep me occupied in the following months. Will update more on the collection of books in the future weeks. The only regret I had in this month with respect to cinema was waiting for my exams to get completed and watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘The Master’, but was removed from the theaters just a day before my final exam. Cheers!!

1. The Pirate Bay: Away from Keyboard (2013, Simon Klose)
   
2. The Virgin Spring (1960, Ingmar Bergman)
3. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Edward Yang)
4. Once upon a time in Anatolia (2011, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
5. 21, Jump Street (2012, Phil Lord, Chris Miller)
6. Table No: 21 (2013, Aditya Dutt)
7. The Bakery Girl of Monceau (1963, Eric Rohmer)
8. Eyes wide Shut (1999, Stanley Kubrick)
9. Turkish Delight (1973, Paul Verhoeven)
10. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (194, Sergei Parajnov)
11. Stanley Kubrick’s Boxes (2008, Jon Ronson)
12. Peeping Tom (1960, Michael Powell)
13. The Decalogue (rewatch) (1989, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

 

Agraharathil Kazhutai – Balthazar in the midst of Brahmins

Professor’s friend to Professor: “You are a difficult man!!“; Prof: “I am as simple as my chinna“

John Abraham’s Agraharathil Kazhutai (Donkey in the Brahmin street) do has a lot of similarities to Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar, yet so different in its own portrayal of characters, circumstances and of course the protagonist, donkey. Narayana Swamy (M.B.Sreenivasan) is a professor working in a christian college. Once, he encounters a donkey at his doorsteps while returning from work. And he comes to know that its mother has been killed by an angry mob. So he decides to take care of ‘Chinna’ (name by which he calls it). Being a part of an orthodox brahmin community, what are the problems he faces after he brings chinna to his home, forms the story line of this hard-hitting, thought-provoking yesteryear Indian (Regional language: Tamil) cinema.

The director has impressed me with the way he has shown the back-drop of a perfect Brahmin-ghetto (or agraharam). A lot of issues like untouchability, exploitation of the down-trodden, blind-superstitions, commercialization of the religion in the name of god have been taken and I have to say it has been well handled with a subtle touch and a pure master-class.When his mother complains to his father about the donkey in the house, the father calmly replies “He is an educated guy and he knows what he is doing”, which made me think that to show humanity, you need not be a learned or a literate. You just have to be a part of the civilization.

The narration of the complaints put forward by the people about the professor was awesome. Every now and then, you almost feel superstition and circumstances were the culprits in making chinna, a bad omen to the village. Even when the priest notices a corpse of a baby on the temple, he interrogate the woman and in reply she puts the blame on the donkey, and after some convincing arguments (which were not), the group of people come to the conclusion that the donkey could have been responsible for this  activity, which is  a true reflection of the sad state of our society when it comes to religions and superstitions.

Though Hinduism has a lot of castes, sub-sects and all, this film could give a  glimpse of how a class of Hindus (who think they are elite) have their mindset towards some of the untouched subjects (pun-unintended)  in the society to the world audience. I wont deny the fact, even nowadays, in this globalized world, some parts of the Indian society still needs an open-minded approach towards humanity. In that way, this film is relevant even in this modern-age.

Professor is just one of many such exceptions from this Brahmin community to take such bold stance and defend on what he thinks is right instead of getting carried away by the so-called ‘society’.  From the house-maid to the Professor’s relatives, they think that he is eccentric to do such things in the orthodox community and they even question his marital status, education etc linked to his insanity (as perceived by them). Most of the characters in the film tend to get so judgmental towards the donkey, Professor and his family. There lies the big problem and it almost makes you question the very existence of society and its contribution for our well-being. Even in the film, the neighbors, out of sheer hatred against others use donkey as a toy to get their revenge fulfilled.

 

Worse, even nowadays many ignorant people suffer from that phobia of ‘What will the society think of us??’. You are a part of society and no matter whatever the society foul-mouth or talk about you, it all finally comes down to the mindset of the individuals as to how they take it. (Although on the hindsight, this issue of bringing a donkey aint that much blasphemous I guess).

Film starts and ends with the verses of renowned Tamil poet Subramanya Bharati on the significance of fire. Fire, a major part of our lives should burn in the form of courage, wisdom, thinking etc., which reminded me of the theater plays and dramas that instill the  spirits among the audience by their narration. You can see the relevancy of the Professor always bound with the books about great minds with rational thinking throughout the film, which is reflected in his body language and thoughts.  At one point of the film, Professor’s colleague gives him a book named ‘Balthazar’ and the Professor in turn asks him whether he has watched the film. I think this film is so different from Balthazar in many layers.

Still I feel I have missed many layers of the film as its my first viewing and hope I get enlightened and have some more points to ponder about the brilliance of this film by John Abraham. I also noticed the fact that this is one of the many precursors to the Sussendran’s ‘Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai’ mainly on the grounds of superstitions. Cheers!!

(PS: Just noticed, this is my first post about Tamil cinema since the advent of the blog, hope I do more of it in the future)

 

Nagisa Oshima – Another dimension to the art-house cinema

If I could remember correctly, it was in the month of June last year, when I came to know about a Japanese director by name Nagisa Oshima and that too through the archives of Acquarello and it was just a pure co-incidence that after a week I received one of his films from my friend and the name of that film was ‘In the Realm of Senses’. Before giving it to me, my friend adviced, ‘Do watch it alone’. I was thinking ‘Once I started watching world cinema three years back, I always preferred to watch it alone. Not that I am an introvert. But the objects of sexuality shown in the world-cinema are not fully suitable for the ‘so-called’ conservative  Indian audience. That too guys like me, who comes from an orthodox upbringing, anything viewed more than a ‘smooch’ was considered to be blasphemous.

Coming to Oshima’s film, I literally enjoyed every frame of it. The best part in that film was that, once you go deep into the plot, even the profanities diminish from your mind and you start questioning about the magnitude of desires the girl had.

When I suggested the same to others (read like-minded), I did threw a caution that I liked the film thoroughly, though some parts of dragged a bit to exaggerate the sexual-thirst of Sada and the film is notorious for its provocative plot. Few of my friends actually likde it (or they pretended in front of me).

Though not much of his films are accessible in my part of the world back then and given the fact that I had watched only one film of his entire filmography of 23 features (if I am right), I could say honestly that this man was one of the pioneers in changing the face of art-house cinema. As the Tamil proverb goes like-wise ‘Oru panna sothuku oru soru padham’ (Literal Translation: Quality of a pot of rice can be valued from a single grain of it). Still waiting and keeping my hands on YouTube and DVDs sale to grab a glimpse of his filmography. Lets see. 

Japanese Cinema and Culture continues to impress me. Oshima, you will be solely missed by many and I am one of them.

Yours Sincerely,

A Cinephile with less experience and more admiration to your Filmography.

CloseUp – Being Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Social Realism in cinema is one of the few genres that continues to impress me time and again. It make us smile; it make us cry; it gives the true picture (or at least try to) of the different and divided classes of the society; it makes people relate their lives. Hossain Sabzian is one among them smitten by this.

Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Close-Up’, which deals with the legal trial of impersonation by Hossain Sabzian as the Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf and cheating the Ahankhah’s family, first appears to be a feature, then for a moment appears to be a documentary, but finally make us realize the brilliance of this docu-drama irrespective of its genre. Sabzian’s case is just a part of it. Kiarostami, outlines several issues in the Iranian society apart from interviewing the accused and filming the trial.

Just like Sabzian struggling to live with his meager income, the son of Ahankhah is unemployed. There is this taxi-driver, who was a retired pilot, now drives to earn his bread. So, irrespective of the stature of the families in the Iranian society, they continue to struggle in one way or the other. Even when Sabzian gets caught, he doesn’t want to shun away from the fact that he has made a mistake and he confess them throughout the film. But his love for cinema, his look-alike identity of Makhmalbaf, not to forget his living condition, he starts to impersonate and make-believe the Akhanhahs. He justifies by saying, more the family believed him, more it gave him confidence to act and the character (of Makhmalbaf) gone into the skin of Sabzian that he didn’t know how to reveal his true face to the family.  Even after the confession, the family is still not convinced and say he is still continuing his acting. We can’t judge the appearance of Sabzian and conclude that he has realized his mistake. When searching about the after-life of Sabzian (in real), I couldn’t find any. So, the film fails to provide the concreteness of the characters in their real-life before/after the trial.

Everyone acts only when the opportunity comes. The mother gives a lot of details about his son’s interest in film and screen-writing to Sabzian, once she knew he was Makhmalbaf. The son starts rehearsing and also gives a certain sum to Sabzian without questioning. And finally, Sabzian, playing himself the director role once he gets the respect and admiration from the family, which he hasn’t got before.

While coming to the dilemma of whether it’s a enacted event or a real one, Kiarostami, himself comes to the rescue and juggles between the real and the enacted versions. Though, we can’t deny the fact that all the subjects involved in the case are the ones who appear in the enacted version, he reminds us with the display of Clap-boards and boom-mikes to justify that it’s the cinematic account of the case. What I noticed was, as two cameras were filming the trial, space to true emotions in the trial would diminish a bit, due to a lot of facts like dignity, fear etc. The family members should be furious with Sabzian, but remains to be silent in the proceedings which makes me think that, if a hidden camera was fixed in the court, true picture of it would have been obtained.

Though this kind of plot don’t have much space for visual aesthetics, Kiarostami tries to bump some shots of jets and a worth-praising single shot of a bottle rolling down the street. Kiarostami, for his part, also asks some tricky questions to Sabzian like ‘You played as a director but you actually acted, so what is your main interest?’. Sabzian, while confessing explains how he loved Makhmalbaf’s Cyclist and Kiarostami’s ‘Traveler’ (which would have been baffling for Kiarostami as well as the audience).And he further points out that he watched cinema along with Ahankhahs  mainly to show that the film directors are normal humans and reminds every director must have the humility, irrespective of their celebrity status. You can see that from the last shot of the film when  Makhmalbaf rides a bike by himself and is so humble to Sabzian and the family.

To all the future and budding film-makers, you don’t require a complex screen-play to make the audience discuss about your films; make it simple so the audience will try to appreciate the simplicity of it. Reel-life portrays the real-life and it’s not the same for vice-versa. You can relate a film with your life, but it takes a rarity to become one of its subjects and it all comes down to your values as a person in the society, and justifying the circumstances for your activities against the law is sheer escapism. All said and done, there is always a drop of tear, that is shed by me after watching every Iranian film, not because it’s so emotional, but the fact that it restores my faith in cinema and it’s not a source of entertainment but its a part of my (or everyone’s) life, and of course, with the moving images at 24 fps. Cheers!!

The Scent of Green Papaya – Reminiscence of Childhood

Mui du du xanh a.k.a ‘The Scent of Green Papaya’ is a simple, poignant tale of evolution of Mui from her childhood to the parenting stage of her life. Set in the early 50′s in Vietnam, film provides not only the other side of Vietnam, which most of us are not aware of and by that it also give us the deeper distinction between the different classes of society, consequences of losing a parent from the family and so on. You cant find any complications whatsoever with the narrative..It flows just like the milk of sap oozing out from the stem of Green Papaya, every time its being plucked. More than the film, what I really loved was the projection of the images that dealt with the guilty and silly pleasures of childhood which made me a bit nostalgic as well as exciting. Some of the shots reminded me of the instances when kids used to look into minute things with a deeper understanding and concentration, which of those may look silly to the adults and also shrug those things off as ‘kiddish’, but in my opinion, a keen sense of observation from the childhood, is what makes us evolve into a better human being.

But most of all, what I really liked in this film were two things; One, was the transition of Mui from a small child to an adolescent and later evolving into a parent, which was shown brilliantly. Second, was this sequence, when the mischievous kid from the house encounters her when she is doing her chores, and in turn Mui, stealthily turns back at him in a series of frames that were static enough for me to get the screen grabs.

If someone recommends this film to you as ‘not to be missed’ by any cinephile , follow their words and watch it (as I am doing now). But I don’t know whether it’s a masterpiece, but still you can view at is a compilation of brilliant flow of images that takes place in the houses of Vietnam unfolding in front of you and some, will definitely leave an ever-lasting impact in your minds. Cheers!!

 

Amator – Layers of Obsession

Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Camera Buff (Amator) explores the fine line between passion and obsession. Everyone has a hobby to make themselves occupied in their free time. Filip also have one; filming his daughter by his 8mm camera. Filip is a self-satisfied man with a job and a family. Though his upbringing as an orphan was never discussed seriously in the film, we can see his life revolves around his job, family and his new hobby of filming.

But his life gets a paradigm shift when the local communist party boss asks him to film the proceedings of the jubilee celebrations of the plant. Destiny strikes, when his film gets selected for a film festival and he also secure several accolades for them. Now, out of sheer motivation from the people around him, he starts taking the hobby of filming quiet seriously and in that process, he fails to maintain the balance between work, family and his filming life. Against all odds, how he succeeds in making films and how his life changes afterwards makes major part of this beautiful, yet an under-rated film by Kieslowski.

In this film, you can almost see two different films or I should say two different versions of the same one. One is the film, that we audience perceive as the life of Filip and people around him shown by Kieslowski and the other, is the one that is made by Filip (this time on a 16mm camera and starts with the day when his wife got the labor pain) and is narrated to us by him, which is again shot by Kieslowski for the big screen. Did anyone imagined like what I have explained? If you have a different version, do comment it.

 

This film not only deals about passion of Filip, but also the political situation in Poland in the late 70′s, censorship and above all argues Cinema as the supreme art (which I don’t agree, because every art is related to one another and it can’t be fully dependent or fully independent). Filip’s obsession towards film reaches maximum, when he looks his wife walking away from him through his hands that resembles a view-finder.I can see the passion of Kieslowski in his early days to shot the lives of real people as most of his shorts like Talking heads, Railway Station and so on dealt with. In that way, I like Kieslowski’s approach in film-making, and he stresses the same fact here through the filming style of Filip.  And when Filip was asked to come to Lodz to attend the film festival, admirers of Kieslowski will get stuck in their heads of the fact that he got rejected twice while applying to the Lodz film school (We can also see a film-school reject, who speaks ill about the jury in the festival about their selection procedure).

The background music was not used to a greater extent which is unlike Kieslowski, but has some glimpses of brilliance in it. But some of the standard shots like tall apartments, dilapidated buildings and train travel shows his signature style. I also found that he didn’t use that much of filters in this film when compared to his Three color trilogy or Double life of Veronique. So, the film looked so simple, but with respect to the screenplay, its Kieslowskique (you guys know about his style, don’t you?).

I am pretty sure Camera buff provides a great pleasure to the cinephiles not only for the fact that its directed by the legendary Kieslowski but also it involve scenes where people discuss about film theory, working of film clubs, and of course the joy of watching the moving images production in the early days. Don’t miss to purchase a copy of this simple yet powerful film. Even if you can’t afford them, here is the link to watch online

If you consider ‘Three Colors: Red’ as the epilogue of Kieslowski’s film making  achievement , you can’t miss this prologue. Thank You.

(PS: I havent watched Scar, so I assumed this as the starting pages of Kieslowski’s feature film history. So if its way better than Amator, I will re-consider my opinion)

Movies watched this month – September

This month saw a lot of happenings in my life along with movies. Hope I will continue blogging quite frequently from next month onwards and guess what, I will be heading to Germany to pursue my higher studies and at the back of my mind, Berlinale 2013 is definitely an offer which can’t be refused.  Planning to continue my enthusiasm and curiosity to learn and cherish the language of cinema along with my technical ones (aargh!!), planning to meet new and more cinephiles. New life awaits but most of all, will miss India quite badly and also Chennai Roof Top Film Festival (which taught me the pleasure of watching movies throughout the night without even noticing whats happening in the world). I am planning to watch as many films by Luis Bunuel, Agnes Varda, Godard as possible in the coming weeks. What about your preferences in films? Do share with me through twitter, mail or by comments. Cheers!!

1. Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967)

2. Man with the movie camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)

3. Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953)

4. Star Wars – A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977)

5. Aparajito (Satyajit Ray, 1956)

6. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)

7. Gangs of Oss (Andre Van Duren, 2011)

8. Bon Voyage (Margein Rogaar, 2011)

9. Casino (Martin Scorcese,1995)

10. Goodfellas (Martin Scorcese, 1990)

11. Raging Bull (Martin Scorcese, 1980)

12. Crazed Fruit (Ko Nakahira,1956)

13. Color of Pomegranates (Sergei Parajanov,1969)