'Brokeback Mountain'

If I make a list of ten of my favorite films this will be in that list. Why?

It's the movie that made us (Revathi & me) cry. We wept, man. We couldn't control.There are scenes in the film, towards the end, I shall not forget.

Consider the scene when Ennis Del Mar (I shall remember the names of the two lovers as long as I live) meets Jack Twist's parents. This scene is terrific. Why? Look at the mom and pop. They never speak their feelings but we know exactly what's on their mind. His mom sends him to Jack's room upstairs and he discovers his shirt. This is so heartwarming, man. A shirt preserved for over twenty years can't be just for a 'few high-altitude fucks', man. They were in love. I honestly believe so.

Did they neglect their families? I can't believe anyone would be saying that, da. When Ennis' grown-up daughter is getting married he is prepared to lose his job to make it to her wedding. In that scene you feel the love Ennis and his daughter have for each other. His daughter respects him and we see that with the way she speaks to him. Jack didn't neglect his family. Didn't he take good care of his son? Jack even died in 'the line of duty', of course exaggerated but you know what I mean. He kept telling Ennis that they can 'settle down' together but they never actually do it. Jack was visiting Ennis twice a year for nearly ten years but he didn't neglect anyone. Jack & his wife just stopped having sex and the reason for it, Jack tells us, is that she got too involved with the business. Am I justifying their marriage? No I am not. The protagonists have flawed characters and we all know that. A good film is not about 'heroes' & 'villains', it's about people.

Last of all it is the final scene that's unforgettable. Ennis opens the cupboard and there is a photo of Jack, Ennis is shown with tears in his eyes and the final shot is a road which Ennis has to travel alone. Jack is no more and there shall never be another lover. We cried as the credits started to roll. We couldn't get Ennis out of our heads for a few minutes after film. Even today Revathi and I speak of Ennis and Jack. This is not a film about sodomy. It's one of the best told lovestories on the big screen.

I have a confession to make. No! No! Revathi and I are not homosexuals! I want to make a film like this. It may not be on homosexuality. Look at this film and other films on homosexuality. All other films dwell on homosexuality as the society sees it. It tries to preach that homosexuality is not wrong. No film has portrayed homosexuality as true love, at least I can't think of one right now maybe you can. 'Brokeback Mountain' takes us into the souls of the two lovers. It made us realize that there is love in homosexuality just as there is love between Revathi and me. Immediately after watching this film I read Roger Ebert's review and there is one sentence that rings in my mind whenever I think of this film. He said (something like this) that some films are so specific in their story-telling that by the end of the film the viewers start to feel that the message in the film is general. Do you see what I am talking about here?

RATING: 5/5

'Mumbai Meri Jaan'

Honestly, I didn't want to watch another film on terrorism. Yes, everyone was gushing over this film, the same people who were gushing over 'A Wednesday'. my review will reveal I didn't like that film all that very much. But now I am gushing over 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'. I love this film.

Firstly, can I compare the two films? Someone told me I shouldn't. But I will. One takes the route of a thriller while the other takes us into the minds of people. 'A Wednesday' pretends to take us in the minds of a top cop and a 'stupid common man' but it doesn't really. Prakash Rathod just tells us in the beginning that 'the bastard' changed lives and we have to accept his words. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is more complex, it dwells into people's prejudices (Suresh), regrets one has at old age (Patil), an upright & patriotic individual who falls prey to fear (Nikhil Agarwal), a lady who discovers how her job can hurt the ones already in pain (Rupali), a south-Indian 'chai-wallah' who realizes that threats can sometimes cause as much as action (Thomas) and other people around these people.

Of all the characters I loved the journey that Patil makes with Kadam in the final week of his service as a policeman. At start Patil is shown as a man who did his duty very casually. Patil even convinces Kadam it is the way to be in a scene. However, later we realize there is regret in Patil for the thirty-six years he has spent with the law enforcement. He is old and wise and has a calm about him. There is no sense of urgency or excitement. Patil has seen it all in the time he has spent as a cop. The speech he makes in the end of the film is moving to say the least. Kadam seems to like Patil even after seeing all of Patil's flaws. Kadam believes Patil when is told that his hands are tied in this job. Kadam is shown impulse and hot-headed, that's youth. This pairing is perfect contrast. My heart went out to Kadam when he is close to suspension for doing his duty.

The story of a prejudiced man, Suresh, is my next favorite. Every Muslim is a terrorist in his eyes. He conducts his own 'investigations'. I like the way his prejudices are nullified. It is not a single step procedure. He hears Patil, hears a customer, interacts with Yusuf. It's lovely.

Then here's Thomas. Most unaffected by the blasts of all the characters. However he is the only one to use it to pacify his anger. Irrfan does not speak here in his portrayal of Thomas the Tamilian. This is a performance which has to be read from Irrfan's expressions. Thomas is a good man at heart. He is so upset with the grievance he has caused an old man. Thomas tries to make up for it with a simple gesture, helping the patient hire a taxi and buying a rose which he believes is over-priced (again this has to be read from his face). How easy it would have been for Nishikant Kamat to have gone for a more elaborate and exaggerated route of redemption for Thomas. But Kamat is very controlled.

Will Rupali ever work with the television media again? Nice tale about a girl who discovers how her job can hurt the already hurting. This is another one of those characters who don't speak much. The performance is largely understood through the pain expressed in the eyes of Rupali.

Nikhil, Nikhil. There is Nikhil in all of us. All of us armed with education know what's wrong and what's right. Nikhil is the embodiment of that part of us. He knows all that we know but Nikhil is more. His actions mirror his thoughts. Doesn't believe in wastage, doesn't want to buy a car to save time and reduce pollution. Nikhil is every software engineer in Bangalore who can have anything and everything he wants. However, his conscience is in the way. He has turned opportunities for a better life on numerous occasions. But the blasts have put fear into him. He finds it hard to step into a train. He considers moving abroad for the safety of his family. The two-minute silence clears all his doubts.

'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is a special film:

1. The central characters are of two types. Ones who speak a lot (Patil & Suresh) others who don't (Rupali, Nikhil & Thomas). It is the ones who don't talk much excite me about Nishikant Kamat's ability. Very few directors in Hindi movies have characters who don't speak their mind. Kamat wants us to look into his characters eyes. He wants us to hear what their hearts tell them. These are the signs of great directors, like Ang Lee or Mike Leigh.
2. The dialogues in this film are the best I have heard in a long time. Patil's 'do shabd' are the most touching I have heard in a Hindi movie in a long long time. Patil's lines are so well written that they will make you laugh and cry at the same time. They suit what a senior man would say, advice in every line but mixed with just the right amounts of humour. 'Do shabd' from Patil had me in tears. A guest, from USA, visits Nikhil towards the end of the movie and his little speech rings true. Honestly, I feel the future is what he says. The children of the twenty-first century will have 'terrorism' and 'fear' as a part of their lives. Kids will not be able to live without fear, they will know not a life without fear. The images of 9/11, Madrid, London moistened my eyes before Patil's 'do shabd' had me weeping.
3. Kamat does not rush it. He wanted me to weep and I wept. By the time Patil was finished tears were in my eyes, like I already said. The silence that the city observes was it. The tears rolled down my cheeks. I cry easily for I am moved with cinema very easily. But these tears were special as they were not only for the characters in the film but also for a city that has suffered as much as it has seen success. When the silence is broken with a Mohd. Rafi (not Kishore Kumar, mind you!) classic I was forced to listen. For the first time in a long long long time I watched the entire credits roll, absorbing all the images from the six blasts that ripped through Mumbai while I was safe in Powai.
   

Nishikant Kamat is a great director, I tell you. If there is one new director to watch out for it is Nishikant Kamat, not Farah Khan, not Sajid Khan, not anyone else. Kamat is controlled, he is calculated, he is a genius. Pandey's film is a thriller, Kamat's effort has depth and heart.

If 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is available for nomination this year, i.e. if it was not in contention with 'Taare Zameen Par', it should be the film sent to the Oscars. The west will identify with it in the wake of the 'seige' in Mumbai. 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' is a great film.

RATING: 5/5

Almodovar's 'Hable Con Ella'

Benigno and Marco share a special relationship when the women they love are in coma. Not an unusual idea, if I may say so, but unusual treatment from Pedro Almodovar makes this film great.

Consider Benigno. Is he normal? Is he a psychopath? I believe he is the latter. He calls his mother beautiful, gets educated in the art of make-up or looks-for-women or something like that to keep her beautiful, does not go out much, claims he is a virgin, has the chance to see a babe naked but chooses to steal a hair-clip, is not jealous when another man looks at the same girl naked, tells a man he thinks of him at night, talks to the girl in coma, starts watching silent movies and ballets to brief the girl in coma and maybe a lot more. For me, he is a psychopath. However, he is not your average 'filmi' psychopath.

Consider Marco. I think he is a man who can easily empathize with anyone. In a crowd his emotions stand out. Watch him in the opening scene and watch him when listening to a singer in a group. He understands Benigno. He is the only one who understands him. Marco took ten years to get Angela out of his system who knows how long he will take to get Benigno and Alicia out.

One way to make a film is to show the audience characters and situations they can relate to. That way the audience can feel the joy and pain of the characters. Pedro Almodovar has not taken this route in all the movies of his I have seen. He puts characters in situations everyday people won't find themselves in. This is why I like Pedro Almodovar. Every single movie of his that I have seen is special.

My understanding of the characters maybe incorrect. Perhaps I interpreted the film incorrectly. Who cares I enjoyed the experience.

RATING: 5/5

'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'

Last week I felt like watching a horror film. Now most serious movie watchers will agree with me that horror films today are not the one that will go down in history as great. I didn't just want to watch any horror movie, I wanted a conventional horror film. A damsel in distress type, fear for life and some sexual energy as well. Just checked around and settled for "Halloween" (1978). Roger Ebert said he was prepared to compare it with "Psycho". It's on my Netflix queue as I write this. Netflix movies take a while to come so I brought 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' from the university library.

When I started watching a week after I'd brought it home I forgot it was a movie made in 1920. Hence, I was not prepared for a movie with "inter-titles". The picture too was not sharp in the earlier shots. Basically we were not prepared for it in the first few minutes. Once we accepted the fact it is "old" film we settled down.

The very first shot shows two people. My first thoughts were that they look like ghosts themselves. As soon as I thought this they started speaking about ghosts themselves! As if this was not enough a girl floated through the shot and I told myself that this was the ghost for sure. No! One of the men said that was his finacee! I knew something was wrong. But then one of the two men starts his story. That's when I forgot these points I was keeping track of.

Now the shots in the story had me thinking all the time. Dr. Caligari visits a clerk and that place does not look an office of any sort. The buildings look crooked, the patterns are odd, man, everything seems unreal. In fact the designs I shall remember for a while, the steps that seem to lead up to the two cops, the cell in which the suspect is detained, the vacant room in the 'insane asylum' with three sets of stairs leading up, the corridor outside the director's office, the door leading to the director's office, the house that Dr. Caligari stays in, two men battling before stabs the other shown through shadows. The entire film is in a yellow tone. In fact, when the stairs are shown leading to the cops I can't say for sure if the yellow is light or the stairs are painted that way, the two lines on the steps that probably shouldn't be there. Beautiful!

Then there is the music. For a film like this to work without dialogues takes something, In fact it takes two 'somethings', the visuals and the music. The best example is when we discover the director is Dr. Caligari. Wait, wait, now we all know the director is going to be Dr. Caligari for sure but the music does the trick of scaring you anyway. The hairs at he back of my head were standing! Exaggeration? No, it happened. Maybe I did this to myself because by then I was in love with the film anyway. Possible. Further, there are many other places where the music is good, only I can't remember it in the detail as I remember the visuals.

Let's get back to the story. What-a-story! I was not prepared for this 'twist-end'. In fact, my wife perhaps was not enjoying the film as I was and missed the end completely. We discussed our individual interpretations for a few minutes after the film ended and checked the internet for the right one. We had worked out the right end. The twist-end is of course one way of enjoying the film. But for me this film will remain about the visuals that the flashback provides. The fact that a mad-man is telling the story makes it convenient for all the odd but fantastic designs I mentioned two paragraphs before. These visuals will stay with me from this film and the way the story permits these visuals to fit into the film.

'Halloween' has now slipped lower in my Neflix queue. Dr. Caligari may not have been scary in visuals but the story is scary enough. It takes you in the mind of a mad-man who sees the world in a different way. In some way we tend to believe his almost all the way which frightens me because it creates the doubt. Am I mad? If not why did I believe the story of a mad-man?

RATING: 5/5

'A Wednesday'

Many critics put this film in their list of the best films of 2008. It came strongly recommended from all friends. When I finally watched it last night I was not totally disappointed. For a first time film-maker it is a reasonable effort. It helps Neeraj Pandey when Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah act in his first full-length feature film. On the whole the film works. However, there are moments which don't fit in.

The film does a good job of creating tension for about ten minutes and then blows it away with a joke. Examples include Jimmy Shergill's 'pehla kaan saaf karoonga' act, the man who lived through 'haazaron volts ki bijli', 'yeh hain hamare hero' & the hacker receiving a call from 'babes', all of which throw the tension out of the frame. All these 'smart lines' successfully diverted my mind away from the seriousness of the situation. The thrill-factor slips a few notches & the atmosphere of suspense created in the last few minutes is completely destroyed. Why have such moments in a thriller? The 'hero' is not even integral to the plot and there is a flashback to tell his tale of woe!

Keeping these minor flaws aside 'A Wednesday' is a good film. Personally, I knew the four terrorists would be killed as soon as Shah's character asks for them to be freed but the 'the stupid common man' act was not something I'd guessed. It is definitely a fresh take on the incompetence on oft-repeated 'the whole system is flawed' philosophy. For this idea alone the film deserves praise.

It's March, 2009 and I am twenty-five years old, almost twenty-six, and I know what to expect from Kher and Shah. Kher's body language, his walk and his talk have an air of a man in control of the situation. Shah plays his part. All the while I was watching this film I kept thinking of something like this happening in 'Heat' where De Niro and Pacino act together but don't share too much screen time. If I were to pick an acting performance in this film it would be Jimmy Shergill. I'd not have cast him for this role if I were Neeraj. Hardly anyone would believe he could have done it. Man, does he do justice to his role. It's a stereotypical character, nothing special there but Jimmy brings the character alive with an intensity. He is the scene stealer in 'A Wednesday'. I am not sure if this performance will change the way industry views him but it will change my perception of him.

CONCLUSION: The film works to some extent. There are genuine moments of thrill. I like the film. Do I love it? No. Will I remember it for a long time? No. Is it one of the best takes on terrorism? No. However, the fresh view of 'the stupid common man' & Jimmy Shergill make it worth my while.

RATING: 3/5