Babbling Nomad

Few words here and there, on this and that by a digital nomad

Archive for the category “Cinematic babble”

13 Feb 2013

The Secret in their Eyes

ImageThe Secret in their Eyes (Spanish: El secreto de sus ojos) This film was downloaded after an article in The Hindu (beware the article has the spoiler, read it after you watch the film) recommended it here. I hadn’t heard of it, and after googling it found out it won the Academy in 2009. Director Juan Jose Campanella does a brilliant job in bringing out different perspectives of the same circumstance.

I was expecting to see a piece of Argentinian film making, I was left with emotions I hadn’t felt in a long time. There was a strong feeling of shock, disbelief and pure agony. The film deals with the word ‘revenge’ on a different and deeper level. In fact, it’s not revenge, it’s what the one of the character suggests is appropriate. Ricardo’s wife Liliana is brutally raped and murdered. The story revolves around the criminal, the investigators who are caught up in a muck of corruption & politics and the husband of the victim. How he comes to terms with the crime and his interpretations of punishment.

The Secret in their Eyes is primarily a crime drama that revolves around the lives of people who were affected directly by the crime. The family of the victim, the investigators and a reflection of Argentinian state of affairs in the 1970s with reference to corruption, crime and punishment.

The film has strong ideas that are conveyed through amazing dialogues, and delivered by outstanding actors Ricardo Darin who plays the investigator Esposito, and Pablo Rago, who reflects the emotions of Ricardo Morales, husband of the victim.

The cinematography compliments the powerful screenplay. There are numerous long takes which create a sense of intensive drama and action. Frame compositions is a pure work of art, especially in some places where Esposito’s colleague Pablo Sandoval and him are having conversations about understanding the nature of the crime.

I was left speechless for a while after the film ended, the kind of story that plays in your head and refuses to leave even after much distraction. What’s impeccably achieved is the flow of the screenplay by Juan Jose Campanella and Edwardo Sancheri. It sticks to the crime drama genre, but keeps churning out surprises at every turn, without being random or absurd. It’s a book adaptation of La pregunta de sus ojos (The Question in their Eyes) by Edwardo Sancheri.

A must watch for all film buffs. Find it wherever you can, it’s worth the effort.

 

 

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08 Nov 2012

48 hours of PURE CREATIVITY

From Friday 7:30 pm to Sunday 7:30 pm we will be in the heaven of madness.

Ask why? I’m too excited I’ll tell you anyway!

We (6 individuals) are participating in the 48 hour filmmaking contest Mumbai episode under DAL BADLU PRODUCTIONS. We will get a topic, write a script, shoot, edit and submit all in JUST in 48 hours!

Our film cannot be shorter than 4 mins and longer than 7 mins.

We don’t know what we are going to shoot yet, where we are going to shoot, there cannot be any production planning.

It’s real, it’s raw and it’s about to begin.

For 48 hours we will not check email, facebook (though I do not trust a lot of crew members on this!), but we will definitely not sleep, not think of anything else besides the film we are about to create.Whatever the result this is going to be epic.

But we WILL – create, be on our toes, argue, negotiate , create some more and LIVE these 48 hours to its fullest. Because as of Friday 7:30 pm that’s what matters.

Everything else can pause.

 

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28 Jan 2012

‘A Separation’ Academy nominee review

Film: Jodaiye Nader az Simin

Director & writer: Asghar Farhadi

Rating: 4.5/5

Iran has churned out bold and compelling cinema in the past few decades. Iranian cinema is the perfect opportunity to explore the supposed authoritarian facade that Iran erects. From films like ‘Colour of Paradise’, ‘A moment of innocence’ and to ‘A Separation’, filmmakers have constantly excelled at portraying every single element that comprises everyday Iranian life.

‘Jodaeiye Nader az Simin’ aka ‘A Separation’ is a tale of two families hailing from different socio-economic classes in modern Tehran. Nader (Peyman Moadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) represent an average middle class Iranian couple. They have a teenage daughter- Termeh and Nader’s ailing father staying with them. From the beginning of the film, the audience are exposed to the troubled  relationship that Nader and Simin are in.

Enters the other protagonist – Razieh, a god fearing woman, who is a house keeper, and barely manages to get by. She has a young daughter, and an aggressive husband – Hodjat, who is responsible for most of Razieh’s troubles.

What follows is an intricately woven story of two families that crash into each other, and in the process highlighting the political, social, economical aspects of Iranian society. Nader and Simin who are already going through domestic hell, end up in a brawl with Razieh and Hodjat, which could potentially put Nader behind bars.

‘A Separation’ does not directly approach suppression of freedom of speech and expression that most of the world expects to see, but instead narrates an incident that skilfully points out human emotions caught up in a difficult situation. The cultural context of the story is significant and characterises its uniqueness.

While Nader (Moadi) has deep family values, his ego often gets the better of him. Moadi delivers a powerful performance. His face off with Razieh, in particular is an evidence of his involvement in Nader’s character. Simin on the other hand is strong headed, and wants to leave Iran. She expects Nader and Termeh to accompany her, but Nader refuses, creating further blows in their fragile marriage. Leila Hatami playing Simin puts in her hundred percent to portray the plight of almost single mother, who is repeatedly forced to be patient and calm in order to get her family out of tough circumstance.

Razieh and her husband Hodjat are coping with economic crisis. Hodjat is in deep debt, and cannot walk in public without being confronted by debt collectors.

Director and writer Asghar Farhadi flawlessly creates though provoking, engaging and moving cinema. His story telling crosses cultural frontiers and manages to connect with audiences world wide.

I cannot give further details about the plot, as it may spoil your enthusiasm and curiosity to watch this wonderful piece of cinema. It is a must watch, and I hope it can win the Academy for the Best Foreign Film.

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21 Nov 2011

Film + Development – from ‘The First Grader’ to ‘Wasteland’

After days of waiting for its Australian release, I finally saw ‘The First  Grader’ directed by Justin Chadwick (director of ‘The Other Boleyn girl’), if you’ve seen his previous films, you’d not expect ‘The First Grader’. The film is a biography of a Kenyan man named Kimani N’gan’ga Maruge, who suffered endlessly under the British colonial rule, and now wants to learn to read at the age of 84, following the Kenyan government’s announcement of free education for all.

The film has a few profound messages – everybody has a right to learn and learning makes us better. Indeed, the film conveys them successfully, with remarkable performances by Oliver Lintondo and Naomi Harris. It touches on many issues faced by the dynamic African country. Some of the prominent ones being corruption, education, discrimination based on tribes and development. Good effort by Chadwick, however, it tends to be predictable owing to the biographical nature of the script. The characters of Jane and Maruge have been laid out at the beginning of the film, and follow the audience’s expectation. As a foreign viewer, I can only comment on cinematic quality of the film, but I am sure Kenyans might see it differently, would like to get some wider perspective.

Prior to the screening, the theatre ran a few trailers (which I thoroughly enjoy, honest). ‘Wasteland‘ was one of the trailers that caught my attention. It’s a story about Vik Muniz, a contemporary artist who decided to create garbage in to art, literally and attempts to help a group of scavengers living in Jardim Gramacho, the biggest landfill located in the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The film won awards at Seattle, Berlin and Sao Paulo Film Festivals. The film is made by directors Lucy Walker.

What never ceases to amaze me is the powerful stories film makers like Lucy Walker, Chadwick and many more choose to narrate through their scripts. Cinema and development have never shared a closer relationship. Ground breaking documentaries find their way into the commercial space, all thanks to affordable and efficient technology. Another masterpiece that I have been waiting for – An African Election. The film is an account of the 2008 Ghanian elections, something that I fortunately witnessed, and a cinematic experience would only help me relive it!

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10 Nov 2011
5 Comments

Are you ‘HOME’ yet? Documentary review

Last night a bunch of couchsurfers (if you don’t know what that is, check it out here, coolest network I say!) The event was movie night, where we all watch a film unanimously decided by the members. This time we watched ‘Home‘, a documentary with an environmental commentary.

Home poses some of basic questions pertaining to climate change. It showcases spectacular visuals from our home – planet Earth. The film very clearly lays out its tone and structure from the beginning, highlighting the link between human beings and elements of the planet. The narration compliments the visuals extraordinarily. Film maker Yann Arthus-Bertrand has cleverly used aerial images of diverse landscapes and interlinked them through a brilliant narration.

Images that are etched in my head after the first viewing – massive flock of migratory flamingos gathered on a small island, aerial shots of rainforest in Borneo, elephant running through the forest in Botswana and many more. A symbolic one was – Reindeers in the Arctic scrambling and running on the ice sheets, desperately looking for stable land. The animals are running on ice sheets as they melt, leaving them to drown in the frozen water. It reminds me constantly of situation humans have put themselves into. Soon, if environmental damage is not controlled, the reindeers will be replaced by us, and the consequences are unimaginable.

The film successfully captures the essence of human greed. It uses a singular object shot, followed by widening the camera’s view, and multiplying the number of objects to reinforce the message. For example, a shot of single shipping container – followed by a zoomed out view of hundreds of shipping containers. Using such plural image dimensions, the film amplifies the visual impact of its subjects. The process is repeated with sky scrapers, factories, machines etc.

The film conveyed the message it was suppose to, although having a constant narration in the background keeps the viewer too busy with the information, and hence a second viewing may be recommended to enjoy the visuals. I couldn’t help but be reminded of Baraka. The big difference is that Baraka  has no narration, and is purely based on the screenplay of visuals. The interesting thing about Baraka is that it leaves the viewer to ponder, the message is open to interpretation. Baraka narrates a story on human culture, religion, technology, environment purely based on visuals and spell binding background score.

Environmental documentaries traditionally take on the moral side, and propagate it in the rest of the film. However, there is a film which I watched at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) that took me by surprise through its style. Into Eternity by Michael Madson is an insight into the fate of nuclear waste storage. ‘Onkalo’ is an undergound facility in Finland designed to store nuclear waste generated from nuclear power plants in Finland. The film through its Q & A style of narration asks some of the philosophical questions associated with a facility like ‘Onkalo’. Once the facility is completed, it will be shut down, never to be opened again. The fundamental question is that Onkalo is found by future generations, a few thousand years later (assuming humans are still around) how will they perceive Onkalo? Will they want to open up a radioactive mine, will they know what’s stored there? And if signs prohibiting entry are put up, will they stop curious humans from exploring it? Highly recommended if you are even a teeny-weeny bit into environmental sustainability.

Home. Baraka. Into Eternity – fresh perspectives on stagnant issues.

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23 Oct 2011
3 Comments

Morning in Sydney followed by Midnight in Paris

How do I begin reviewing this film? Woody Allen has yet again done something different or some people may like to call it weird. For moi, it was brilliant, simply because it displayed something that we all indulge into – romanticising our favorite cities.

Now I have haven’t been to Paris, but comprehended Allen’s obsession with the city of love. The film is essentially an intelligent script entailing characters from present and past rendez-vous ing with highflier Hollywood script writer Gayle (Owen Wilson), who is bothered by the drudgery of his Hollywood scriptwriting. He is visiting Paris with his fiance’s family, now Woody Allen again sticks to his stereotypes about Americans, (remember Vicky’s boredom with his American fiance and couple in Vicky Christina Barcelona), in fact, in Midnight in Paris, he takes it a step further by showcasing pretentious Americans trying to display knowledge on French art and culture. But he immediately contradicts it by unfolding multiple layers of Gayle’s character, a young writer who wants to create something special but cannot find the courage to do it.

The film alternates between Gayle’s two lives and experiences, leading him into something completely unexpected. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the script, any more revelation would act as a spoiler.

We have all experienced over romanticisation of our countries, cities and even suburbs at some point in our lives. Midnight in Paris takes it deeper into Gayle’s context, but makes the viewer think of similar obsessions. I left the cinema thinking and talking to a friend about how Bombay is such an amazing city, and how the trains, rains and drains make it that special place. That over anything else it succeeds in inspiring its inhabitants. I think of Melbourne, as a city of art and culture, petit cafes tucked away in lanes and alley ways, where the weather is schizophrenic and unreliable.

The film expresses how each city you lived and loved has affected your  life in more than one way. Can geo-socio nature of a city affect art and artists to such an extent? That’s what Midnight in Paris is about. Watch it, you’ll be surprised what Woody Allen can create, yet again.

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