Frames And Angles

The much awaited Majid Majidi film! Watched this as a part of Chennai Film Festival!

Me too? Nope. This is not the usual kinda ‘race’. This is specifically about the ‘Best foreign language film’. I am totally stressed with the work I do at office, so I voluntarily took up this ‘project’ – watching as many movies as possible – as many what? The Oscar submissions! I would consider this series a success, if i get to watch at least five movies from the 70 odd list.

I don’t think Oscar is THE award, neither am a 70 year old movie analyst who has studied microscopically about all the anomalies and predictabilities of Oscars. So don’t expect an ‘Oscar verdict’ and get disappointed. This is just pure usual reviewing/watching but at the right time.

This is really exciting; I hope you too find it so. I am bored of all these usual presentation; I am switching to this format! Cheers!

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Too vague for a movie title, uh? Not exactly. It is a well thought metaphor for the inner and outer worlds of a man completely physically paralyzed due to locked-in syndrome.

As soon as the titles displayed against X-Rays end, you get to see some vague images. Like, some one trying too hard to open their eyes. Discrete, unclear images. Slowly, you see two people in white uniforms – is it a Hospital? – Ah, yes the Good Samaritan among them looks at the camera and gets excited. “He has opened his eyes” – he shouts. “Call the doctor”. The doctor comes annoyingly close to the camera, talks in a low voice that shows no signs of any excitement and asks “Can you tell me your name”? “Jean-Dominique Bauby” – you hear a voice. The doctor looks blank for a few seconds. Then he goes – “Can you please recollect your name?” “Jean-Dominique Bauby, Doctor!” The Doctor looks dejected – “He is not responding”. “What the ?? Doctor, can’t you hear me??”

Oh, Jean-Dominique Bauby lost his ability to speak. Along with his ability to move. But he is sound mentally, his memories are intact, his imaginations restless, his sarcastic whip waiting to unwind.

Jean-Dominique Bauby is torn between two worlds after a sudden massive stroke. The inner world – he is the just the same here – active and energetic – giving no rest to his creative brain – he was a editor of a most popular magazine after all – his imaginations and memories hovering like a butterfly from one flower to another.

But, for the outer world, he is just a vegetable, showing no signs of life, except a blink of his left eye. Locked-in Syndrome, the one which has devastated him, is like a diving bell pulling him to a deep sea, into a vague mysterious place.

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” (TDBB) is a moving cinema. It is based on a real life story, adapted to screen from the book of same name. Yeah, Jean-Dominique Bauby is a real life character, the editor of the same magazine mentioned in the movie, and did everything and experienced everything shown in this movie. It is depressing, to say the least!

But thankfully, TDBB is not an out and out a sobbing drama, because Bauby is not that kind. He is quick and clever witted, sarcastic, confident and courageous. Unlike other movies based on rare-disease-of-the-year, TDBB is poignant, honest and lovely.

The therapists identify a process that would help Bauby to communicate. Take a list of the most frequently used alphabets, read them to Bauby constantly looking into his left eye. When the desired alphabet is reached, Bauby would blink his eye. This way, alphabets are grouped into words, words into sentences! When this method is tried for the first time, the therapist assures him that he can complain by blinking his eye twice, if she is too fast. She starts – “E………….. A………………. I……….” Bauby thinks, “You stupid cow! That is too slow!!”

It must have been very painful, right? But, wait! This one great man, went on to dictate an entire book named “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”, through such a painful communicating process. Welcome to the world of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a stunning embodiment of courage and confidence!

Bauby’s three kids, mistress, recent muse contribute some warm sequences, but its Bauby’s father who wins hands down. This is one of the best Father-Son portrayals I have ever seen. I bet you would move to tears.

And this is direction at its best! For the first one hour, the entire narrative is strictly from his inner world, you look through his eyes effectively, thanks to the splendid camera work. And when you become so familiar and intimate to Bauby’s inner world, all of a sudden the narrative cuts to the “outer-world” – and to see Bauby from outside – it is horrifying, shocking and sickening. And at that point itself, the movie achieves more than what it intends to.

There is one brilliant sequence when people from Telephone works visit Bauby. It is such a sharp direction that you feel, the depressing gap between his inner world and the outer world, as much as Bauby can. No, am not revealing it. It is reserved for those of you gonna check out this movie.

A special mention for the dialogues – real at times, poetic at times and funny at times. Sample this – “Here we are. Father’s Day. I guess that even a rough sketch, a shadow, a tiny fragment of a dad is still a dad. Father’s Day. My son wiping the saliva that escapes my closed lips”

There is very limited performance in this movie. Half of the movie is through the protagonist’s eyes; the rest is on him, unable to talk. The only thing I have to say about his performance is – “Poor fellow, his jaws should have pained like hell!”

Woww!! – The Oscar Nominated and Cannes winning direction. Dialogues.

Awwww!! – Few ‘fantasy’ sequences which are unfathomable. But it is a minor thing. Don’t mind.

Verdict – Go for it.

Half way through “Ore Kadal” (The sea within), anyone who is unaware that it is an adaptation of novel might think of such a possibility. With an intensity that can be achieved only by a well written novel, “Ore Kadal” is a soul stirring movie experience that you feel lost between the pages helplessly flipping in a strong gush of air. The movie begins with three successive conversations over phone happening in an unnamed city – Dr.Nathan, a rich renowned social scientist, hastily picks up the phone presumably after an intercourse with Bela, a high class call girl, and refuses to visit his bed ridden aunt. Deepti, a lower middle class house wife, tries to reach her husband Jayan in a distant city to inform that their kid’s health has worsened and she is running out of money. Jayan is talking to his friend as a last attempt to get back his job that he lost 18 months before.

Deepti was living on the slopes of a hill, when she was eight. Her father’s sea side tiny house had always been the subject of her conversation with him. She wanted to visit the sea but her father never serviced her request. The sea was unfolding its distant blue horizons in her dreams. It became a symbol of what ever she was deprived in her four-walled life. She felt suffocated; she wanted to go away off somewhere. She had the calmness of a sea that hid turbulent undercurrents of water. But like any lower middle class girl, she accepted her life as it was offered.

Years later, the deep sea inside her roars again; overflowing as the forbidden romance for Dr.Nathan, a womanizer, an alcoholic who is afraid and devoid of any commitments and bonds. His life is full of women – names that he couldn’t remember – relationships that he couldn’t continue or even begin – only the ecstasy of their bodies he could recount. On a windy day, he takes her to bed to celebrate the death of his aunt – the only bond in this world. There is nothing to talk about exploitation here. Deepti in a state of confusion lives through the moments that she would regret all through her life. She breaks the rules once or twice and makes love with him. Slowly, she learns that he cannot offer her the love that would justify the sin she committed. Her small guilty heart breaks when Nathan is even not to able to acknowledge his kid that she carries. She becomes schizophrenic.

Months later, the life of three is caught in a web of love, lust, deceit and guilt. What could possibly end this entire trauma?

“Ore Kadal” is mystical, meditative and endearing. It opens the windows of a haunted house and beckons you inside. It is never judgmental or preachy – it is a warm tale of compassion. You might find it wrong, faulty –but you cannot ignore it.

Shyama Prasad has adapted Sunil Gangopadhyay’s novel Hirak Deepthi, that Satyajit Ray wanted to visualize, to celluloid. You certainly don’t need to know anything about the novel. This poignant movie is a haunting fare on its own. Shyama Prasad’s direction has the touch of a class, the maturity and clarity of an ace director. Austerity is the word – be the direction or art direction. The open ended climax is the best option, because it is a story of no possible end.

The screenplay moves like a kid taking the stairs, skipping a step or two here and there. The complete visual black-out that you often witness elevates the movie watching experience to the task of reading a novel, chapter wise. It is one of the best screenplays I have come across in recent times.

Meera Jasmine, as Deepti, takes you through the dark caves of forbidden love and guilt aided by a sparkling performance. The actor cleverly settles for small subtle expressions. She ably matches the IQ level of a lower middle class house wife. The disturbed mind is evident even in her body language. For instance – in her first schizophrenic outburst she bites Nathan in his chest – very much as Lord Krishna being bitten by his devoted Lady Love Meera – the actor excels! The way she evolves into the poor helpless Deepti is a towering achievement. (Her Deepti lost to Priya Mani’s Muththazhagu in the last round of National Awards)

Mamooty as Nathan is unbelievably harsh and rude, yet lovable. The kind of clarity that he adds to the unusual role speaks volume of his histrionic skills. Ramya Krishna surprises in her brief role – Her Bela is hard hitting, practical and intelligent.

Ouseppachan’s musical contribution is haunting. The five songs blend brilliantly with the narrative, though they mildly resemble with each other. Alagappan’s cinematography is first class.

“Ore Kadal” is like a whirl of a turbulent current of water. Before you realize, you are taken into it. It is so familiar, intimate and intense that, from the word go, you start grieving as though you are continuing from where you left it last time. It is a movie you watch helplessly, caught between the two extremes of virtues and sins; questioning yourself about right and wrong; thinking beyond right and wrong.

Wow!: The mystic charm that gleam in everything – performances, direction, music, cinematography & art direction.

Awwww! : Open ended climax might be unsatisfying. Might be difficult to connect to the basic plot of adultery.

Verdict: Recommended for open minded, serious movie buffs.

I know I am very late on this, thanks to my inability to follow the language. I had to wait patiently to lay my hands on the original DVD, and after watching it I couldn’t stop myself from writing about it.

“Aamir” is a spectacular delicious little film, outstandingly made on a shoe string budget. It is probably one of the brilliant directorial debuts (Raj Kumar Gupta, a one time associate of Anurag Kashyap) of Bollywood in recent times.

The opening scene at the airport gives you a clear picture of the unwanted suspicion clouding around a particular community of people. And that sets the mood right for the ensuing drama. Aamir, a doctor returning from London, becomes a victim of bizarre turn of events. The lives of his family members are at stake and he is literally stranded in the streets of Mumbai, with a mobile which keeps ringing all the time. What Aamir is supposed to do is to follow blindly the orders that he receives via the mobile.

It is a thrilling journey, “enlightening” Aamir about the social status of the people belonging to his own community. The rich-poor divide, the holy “war” and the lower class of Mumbai – everything has been handled with clarity and maturity. This is no amateur’s work. Thankfully, there are no sermons on what is right and what is not. The director avoids any kind of verbal duel, and presents a visually enriching depiction.

The narrative is highly cohesive and focused. If you are one viewer who expects commercial distractions, check out this movie. It proves more than one point by hitting you hard in your face with its engaging narrative.

And the cinematography(Alphonse Roy) is the work of a man, who is a master of its craft and who is passionate about his work. The flavour of Mumbai is radiant and intact through his lens. The art direction deserves a special mention too.

Rajiv Khandelwal, a small screen actor, makes optimum use of his big ticket to bollywood. He plays Aamir with brilliant sensibility & sensitivity. A worthy addition to the art house talent list. The rest of the acting ensemble is natural and believable.

The music, surprisingly, is as appealing as any commercial film album and in fact better than many of them. Long time since we heard a simple theme music which resonates the feel of the movie. The background score is clever and interesting, seldom a bit overdone.

The best thing about “Aamir” is that it is amazingly genuine and stays honest to the intention and motive behind its making. As a result, you empathize pretty much well with the Aamir. You move to tears when he cries, you smile when he smiles and you feel like Aamir himself. That is a great success, given that this is a debut. And it is inspiring indeed, for it has brought out the best from every individual involved in this project.

I don’t want to classify this as a multiplex fare – “Aamir” has everything, and more, that is required for an engaging watch. A must watch.

Wow!: Almost everything – direction, performances, cinematography and music.

Awwwwwww!: Nothing, really.

Verdict: Recommended.

It took some time to convince myself to watch this movie as I was hugely disappointed by the previous year’s Cannes Palme d’Or Winner, “The Taste of Cherry”. But after watching it I assured myself that “4 Months 3 weeks 2 days” deserves that recognition. “4 Months…” is an honest film at the least. Traveling safely on the border line between documentary and drama, it’s a disturbing tale of two friends, in need of an illegal abortion.

Romania, in 1987, under Nicolae Ceauşescu, has a sour look. People are questioned at every place. An ID card must speak at every gate. Black market is flourishing. And, abortion is illegal. Gabita and Ottilia are room mates in the college dorm where they study tech. The movie begins with a long silence, possibly after a heated discussion, between the two. Ottilia says OK, and Gabita thanks her. Ottilia has decided to help Gabita, to arrange for an abortion, an act that can easily take them behind the bars for years.

The rest of the movie follows Ottilia intimately and faithfully like a dog. Unwillingly, she takes control of the situation. Booking a room seems an exhaustive process. Questions, questions and questions after questions. Gabita has reconciled about the place and process of abortion with the doctor. But situations are not in favour of getting a room in the agreed hotel. Problems begin here.

Enter, Mr.Bebe, the merciless doctor, who apparently has an upper hand of the situation. All the three meet at the hotel room, and provide one of the best moments of the film. The discussion between the three is terrific – thanks to the splendid performances. The timid and helpless Gabita, the bold and confident Ottilia, and the nonchalant Mr.Bebe – all of them excel in their roles. Gabita had lied the doctor about the age of the fetus, Fearing that he might refuse to abort a baby any older than 2 months old. It is 4 months 3 weeks and 2 days old. That annoys the doctor, but the favors he expects back from the friends makes you feel that he is not genuinely annoyed. His intentions are something else. The entire sequence with the doctor is fantastic.

How the abortion is accomplished is better seen than said. Chicken hearted, stay away!

There is one particular sequence that is the defining moment of “4 Months..”. Gabita is lying down in the hotel room for the abortion process to be over. Ottilia is at her boy friend’s home, attending his mother’s birthday party as promised. Ottilia’s attention refuses to stick to the lengthy conversation between the guests at the dining table. Every moment is panicking. Ottilia sits quietly as though she does not exist there. Every passing second makes you restless, empathizing completely with Ottilia. If that long shot impresses you, you are gonna love this movie.

Does Ottilia whole heartedly offer this risky help? What drives her? Her explanation to her boy friend is another high point in the film.

At times, “4 months..” definitely tests your patience. The shots are long enough to have a look at your watch. Some shots dump unnecessary information and details on you. You wonder what the director wants you to do with them. But the film establishes its credibility by avoiding all kind of cinematic charm. The cinematography is just adequate. The camera’s movements are a little more than static. There is absolutely no background score. And yet the director delivers a compelling drama.

Wow!: Unbelievably Realistic; Sparkling Performances

Awwwwwww!: Drags.

Verdict: Watchable, with a good amount of patience.