Monday, December 31, 2012

Wrapping it up: December

Another month worth of movies which brings us to the end of the year 2012. Before all of us, including me, get into the frenzy of the usual stuff that bloggers do around year-end and award buzz that will soon follow it, let us get this out of the way. Movies that I watched in the month of December. Ratings out of 5.

December



12 Angry Men(1957)(Re-watch): It is very rare that when talking about the movies that I use the term "sweeping you off your feet". That term is kept specially for very few movies that literally have done so. Pulp Fiction(1994) was one such movie and so was Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men, one of the reasons why both make into my Top 5. If you want to read me shower some more hyperbolic praise on it, see it here.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy(2001-03)(Re-watch): After watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey(2012) the other night, I had a strong feeling of watching the whole trilogy yet again. After all, I haven't seen this for almost 9 months. I have seen it for almost 25 times by now but still I watch it with the same enthusiasm of the first time and appreciate something else every time. This time because of The Hobbit, I enjoyed all the references to each other in both like Bilbo's story of the trolls, mention of Thorin and Balin in the mines of Moria and fell in love with it all over again.






Amour(2012): Going in for a Haneke film, you are never sure of what to expect. In case of Amour, I had some idea. I knew that it is going to be a hard watch and it is. It maybe even is a little bit too real but to tell you the truth, that's what I loved the most about it. I wouldn't have liked it if it wasn't real. It connected with me as well. As far as I am concerned, this is the best movie I have seen so far in this year. More here.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia(2012): I have seen a lot of movies that are extremely beautiful to look at. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is more special even among them. It makes the things that I never thought of as pretty look so beautiful. Also, looking at the synopsis of the movie and its run-time, I never thought I will like this movie so much. The mere fact that it makes you sit for its entire run-time is astonishing. Me loving this movie as much as I did - Miracle.






Rust and Bone(2012): More than anything, this is the movie that gave me that big, amazing Cotillard performance that I had never seen before this. Last 15-20 minutes of this movie made it a lot better for me as they gave little more gravity to Ali's character as well. More here.

Beasts of the Southern Wild(2012): I had been meaning to check this out for a long time, for Quvenzhane Wallis if nothing else and it turns out that everything anyone said about her is true. It really is one of the best performances I have seen so far this year. I don't know if it is a fiction or reality, I don't know if it is some kind of apocalyptic, futuristic world or set in present day(I don't know who these people are, I don't know where they are from) but to tell you the truth, none of it really mattered because their world kept me engaged since the word go.

Holy Motors(2012): I am sure that anyone who likes this movie completely understands anyone who doesn't. It is a kind of movie that can easily draw very extreme response. After all, it raises more questions than answering them. However to me, there was one very important thing that kept me from hating it - Denis Lavant. He was beyond awesome. There was enough characterization in the brief moments between his appointments, to write him off completely.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower(2012): Around first 20 minutes into the movie, I had a problem with the characters being little too friendly or welcoming but by the end of it, they had won me over completely. So much that I loved every single one of them. Amazing cast, great acting, beautiful story with easily relatable and so many palpable emotions. Yet another movie I saw this month that has a legitimate chance of making into the Top 10 of the year.

To Catch a Thief(1955): It is fairly rare that in a Hitchcock movie, I am more interested in something other than what he has to say but this was one such movie. I was completely focused on Grace Kelly this time. As I watch more movies Grace Kelly did, she is giving Audrey Hepburn a serious run for her money as my favourite actress ever. However, for the first time in this movie I noticed a peculiar accent in her. I ain't complaining, especially since Hitchcock infused so much humour in those verbal spats between her and Cary Grant.

Ai Weiwei. Never Sorry(2012): I think thus far, this is my only documentary of 2012. At least, it was good. Even though I thought that he went a little too far, I really respected his intent and more than anything else, his courage and determination. The fact that he became active again after being in custody made me respect him even more. Regardless of which society we live in, we need such men if we really want to keep getting better.







Life of Pi(2012): I read Yann Martel's novel sometime in Spring of 2011 and was so underwhelmed by it that I never felt a hint of excitement for this movie. For a book tauted as to make you believe in god, an atheist in me had a lot of problems with its spirituality. I eventually checked it out despite my reservations and I will give it to Ang Lee that he made it a visual spectacle. Off course, he can not undo the flaws in original story but at least he didn't make getting through it an exercise.

Corialanus(2011): I swear I wanted to like this more but it just wouldn't let me. And if not for all the performances, I would rated it much lower. They call it modernized version of Shakespeare but it was very lazy adaptation as if they really wanted to modernize it, they could have dome a much better job. Like change that language maybe - God, it was so distracting. And I probably should tell this to Shakespeare but they shouldn't have wasted one whole hour to turn him. There should have been more of his conflict than his decorated arrogance of first half.

Ruby Sparks(2012): I loved its concept of a looser writer creating a female character of his dream and making it a reality. I also loved both the lead characters played by Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan. First half of the movie was really enjoyable, quirky and different and even made me believe that they will probably take a unusual route. But they took the same exact way you would expect it to take and dipped their considerably in my opinion.

Talaash(2012)(Hindi): Despite a lot of good in it like decent acting by all the three leads and story that kept it taut for a long time, it was the ending that let it down. Interesting part is my roommate guessed the end almost 45 minutes earlier in the movie. So, we didn't hate the ending but it still was a letdown. Though I will happily take away both the songs, Muskaane Zhooti Hai and Jiya Lage naa, from this movie and leave everything else.

The Circus(1928): Good Old Chaplin !! He never fails to make me laugh. The Circus actually started off really well, getting quite a few laughs from me even before Tramp actually gets into the circus. But then it kinda slowed down. It was still pretty good, it's Chaplin after all. But maybe not City Lights(1931) or Modern Times(1936) level material for me.

Rango(2011): From the moment I heard about what this is about, and who's doing it with who, I wasn't interested in it. That's why it took me almost two years to see it and only when it was available on Netflix. I didn't go out and seek it. Well, I can say that I am pleasantly surprised. It was silly and exactly like most other Verbinski-Depp movies but it was quite entertaining and funny too.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey(2012): Don't really go by this rating because the first time I watched LOTR movies, I didn't even finish first one and now I have seen them all 27 times. I really liked this movie, especially Martin Freeman as Bilbo was just perfect but my main problem with this is over-indulgence. I think there were many things in it that really had no business being here. Now if Jackson can do something Tolkien didn't to validate them in the next two, my opinion might change. I love middle earth and what Jackson does with it too much to give up so early. 

The Night of the Hunter(1955): I had heard a lot of good things about this movie. In fact, that is why I saw it as the 300th 'New to Me' movie of the year but unfortunately, it didn't turn out that well for me. It works much better on psychological levels - A priest hunting kids down for money. But my main problem was that I did not believe Robert Mitchum's character and his crocodile tears, even for a second and how someone can was pretty unbelievable to me too.

Margot at the Wedding(2007): I have not seen any Noah Baumbach movie before. I am not even sure why I saw this. I only remember hearing something about this vaguely. So, I don't know if it is his thing or not but this was a messed up movie. It was quite good from acting perspective but every single one of the characters in this movie need some kind of mental treatment. The kind of things they do, they talk are so inappropriate, even children. What's wrong with them?

Lincoln(2012): Their are parts of this movie that I loved but there are also many things about it that I didn't care that much about. I loved the last 40 minutes of the movie once they get into the last stages of voting. All the performances were very fine especially Daniel Day-Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones but I didn't find anyone extraordinary. It felt too slow and long, especially in the first one and half hour.

 





Trouble with the Curve(2012): I really wanted to like this movie. It has Amy Adams in it, more often than not I do not need much more than that. About half hour left in the movie, I was wondering to myself why didn't people like this. I knew it wouldn't win any awards, it wouldn't be anyone's favourite movie but still it was pretty decent. But then last 20 minutes happened. Off course, Amy Adams was great in it but there are people who think she was better than The Master(2012) here. Nah !!

Pitch Perfect(2012): Will anyone judge me if I said that I wanted to like this movie too? I swear, it was only for Anna Kendrick and as it turned out, she was the only thing worth about it. It goes exactly like thousands of other typical Rom-coms out there, taking every cliched turn and characters in it and ends exactly where you know it would, a minute into the movie. It wasn't really bad, it wasn't any good either.

Duck Soup(1933): My first encounter with Marx Brothers. Can I be blunt here and say that I Really didn't like any of the Marx Brothers onscreen? I loved their writing but watching them on screen was painful. I liked their humour and I liked the way they were exploiting it out of very regular, normal situation but the way they portrayed it really got on my nerve, especially Harpo Marx.







Fahrenheit 451(1966): Francois Truffaut's First and only English movie. I don't know if it was Truffaut's direction and writing or it is Bradbury's novel but nothing seemed right to me. It seemed very superficial and shoddy. Even acting seemed very unnatural or artificial. 10 minutes into the movie, I had a pretty good idea how it is going to play out and it followed it exactly.

Total Count:26. 22 First Time Watches and 4 Re-watches .

2012 YTD Count
Total Count: 328. 306 First Time Watches and 22 Re-watches.

Next two months should be the most exciting time for all the fellow film buffs, trying to finish up the 2012 and getting ready for 2013 and the award season. I did spend most of this month focussing on finishing out 2012 and even though I have seen quite a few of what I wanted to, I still am not finished and expect to be still in 2012 mode for at least the month of January. Right now, I am aiming for mid-February to wrap up the year with the Top 10 list, even though my favourite 'first time watches' of this year should be out next, followed by the usual shenanigans of Oscar coverage and 'Movies I am looking Forward to in 2013'. From January, I am also looking forward to the Blind Spot series which should be up at around the end, every month.

Let us Welcome 2013 with open hands and hearts and hope it brings even better health, happiness and future for everyone. HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS !!

So, how was your month ? Did you see anything interesting ? What do you think of the movies I saw ? Any favorites ?

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

12 Angry Men or How to make a movie in One Room

Have I told you the story of how Sidney Lumet became one of my two favourite directors? I must have but lets not assume anything, I will go again. It's little embarrassing but it's one of my favourites. So bear with me and don't spoil it for others if you already know it. So basically, I had no idea who Sidney Lumet was until he passed away in April 2011. Right after his passing, I heard so much about him and how great he was and I had no idea what made him so great? So I checked his page on IMDb. Going down his filmography, I saw The Network(1976) - I love this movie. So I am saying "Great! He directed this." to myself. Then I see The Dog Day Afternoon(1975), which is even better because I like it even more. If I wasn't before, I am very curious now. But then almost at the end of his long filmography, I see 12 Angry Men(1957) and I want to kill myself. How On God's Green Earth Did I Not Know That Sidney Lumet Directed 12 Angry Men? To say this movie blew me away back when I saw it first is understatement of my life. You see, 12 Angry Men is not just a great movie, it is one of my 5 favourite movies of all time and I didn't know who directed it. After the embarrassing epiphany of who Sidney Lumet was, I made a conscious effort to see as many movies he did as I can as the one's I had seen by then were all brilliant. I have seen almost 20 by now and now Sidney Lumet is the director with most number of movies in my Top 100 with 5 movies making the cut. However before I get into any details about it, a disclaimer first. Now since this is a post where I will go into every detail about the movie and there will be spoilers. This movie is more than 50 years old and one of the best that is out there. So there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't have watched it. But in case you haven't, go and please do so and then read this post.

Lumet opens with a tracking shot starting from the steps of the courthouse to the actual court room where a 18-year-old Puerto Rican boy is on trial for killing his own father. A kinda bored judge explains all the duties to the jurors and they retire into the juror room where 93 of 96 total minutes of the movie take place. From the initial impressions of the jurors, it looks like an open-and-shut case. After everyone settles down, head of the jury takes a preliminary vote and it comes out to be 11-1 against the culprit. Now, they have to talk and come to the conclusion since the decision has to be unanimous. So, one gentleman that thinks he is not guilty has to change his vote or the unthinkable should happen and 11 others should vote Not Guilty. To make it faster, they decide that each one would speak his own mind and maybe then they will be able to find some way out. Juror 2 is inconvincing, he probably would just go with the group. If everyone else said Not Guilty, he might as well have voted that. Juror 3 makes some argument based on facts and fights till the end but is heavily prejudiced, Juror 4 is another one who has his own ideology - maybe it is a wrong one but he does have one and as it later turns out, he makes the most convincing and reasonable argument, Juror 5 doesn't even have an opinion, Juror 6 is quick to believe anything he hears, Juror 7 doesn't care - He has a ball game to attend tonight and his bigger worry is not to miss it, Juror 8 is the one who votes 'Not Guilty' to start with, Juror 9 is a kind old man with an open mind who is willing to accept that he might be wrong and is also the first one to change his vote. No. 10 is the worst one - he has already decided that the boy is guilty because 'His Kind' always is and anyone saying otherwise is just being over smart. Every one of them have their reasons to believe if the boy is guilty or not.

What happens in the next 70 minutes or so is Juror 8 who votes 'Not Guilty' tries to convince everyone that it is not possible to find the boy guilty 'Beyond the Reasonable Doubt' because that is what they have to do to send that kid to the chair. One by one, he brings various things to the front that the defense lawyer should have if he really wanted to save the boy. He, with the help from some others who start to see some point in his arguments, tries to point out that there were multiple loop holes in the case that were left unattended by either side, multiple questions that were never really answered. If they choose not to ignore them like the defense lawyer ignored them, it is not possible to charge the young fella without a doubt. One by one, juries start to see the point in his argument and change their votes until in the end they decide unanimously that it CANNOT be proven beyond the reasonable doubt and hence set the boy free. However, more interesting part here are the side-stories of the juries. As the discussion ensues, everyone's deeper and personal feelings start to surface revealing their very human nature - something as jurors they should be able to keep aside and think objectively. Juror 3 who constantly keeps blaring at everyone and contradicting himself time and again, blames this kid because his own son, who is about same age, wouldn't even look at him. Juror 10 because the kid is Peurto Rican and according to him, they can be nothing else but criminals. No. 7 never adds anything to the discussion but keeps on taunting everyone. He even changes his vote just so they can get out of there quickly. After all, there is a human life that hangs in balance at the other end and most of them aren't ready to look at it that way until they finally are.  

It is ample clear by now that I love this movie to death. It is after all favourite movie made by my favourite director but that's not it. I love it so much that I strongly believe that this is 'THE Best Debut Movie' by any director ever. Sure, Sidney Lumet did work on multiple TV series before that but it is still his film debut. I never thought that a movie that basically takes place in a single room can be so much exhilarating until I saw 12 Angry Men. To amp it further, it creates all the tension, all the atmosphere with the help of dialogues. There really aren't many shocking moments or big moments that suddenly reveal any secret. Well, there is off course that one moment that always makes me jump in my seat - Henry Fonda producing the knife as that is the one that starts the avalanche thereafter. I have seen this movie multiple times but even now, I always wait anxiously for that moment. When watching for the first time, this was the point where I started taking Henry Fonda's Juror no.8 much more seriously. It just keeps on building until the end and slowly but surely, you realize that the tables are turned. With every turn of event, we see that one of the major pieces of evidence being scrutinized as it should have been in the court and couple of jurors joining the other camp. However, I have always found myself analyzing E.G. Marshall's Juror 4 more than others. What attracts me towards him is the poise with which he defends his own stance but even more importantly, he does not hesitate to admit that he was wrong when he is convinced of it. When HE is convinced of it, not because someone else is. His arguments are always valid, pertinent, non-judgmental and he never tries to force his thinking down the others' throat like 3,6 or 10. In my opinion, he is probably the ideal jury.

What 12 Angry Men does the best is through these jurors, it challenges the perceptions, the prejudices of audience. There is a strong underlying commentary on various social issues such as race, class and most importantly, value of human life. Having a power to decide whether another human being lives or dies is an incredibly big responsibility but does everyone realize that? As a director, Lumet was known for eliciting great performances from his cast. We can easily see that he had mastered his craft right from the start. The way he handles all the 12 jurors never fails to amaze me. Every one of them has a distinct personality and quirks and he manages to do that and much more in a very short run-time of 96 minutes. Though Reginald Rose's writing deserves the major chunk of credit for all the tension in the room, some part of it also belongs to the innovative camerawork as well. With multiple and frequent close-ups from various angles to changing to the lenses of longer focal lengths to make the room look shorter, camera does a lot to add to the overall tension and claustrophobia of the movie. In 2013, I will taking part in the Blind Spot Series. If there is anyone who hasn't seen this movie, I cannot think of a better choice to make your list.

Past Favorites:
Notorious(1946)
Rashomon(1950) 
City of God(2002)

Rating(out of 5):

Saturday, December 22, 2012

2012 Mini Reviews: Foreign Edition


Rust and Bone(2012): I know a whole bunch of people who consider Marion Cotillard as one of their favourite actresses. I am sure each and every one of them has a solid reason for it but I don't share the same sentiment. You'll probably think that I do not like her since I am opening with this but let me explain it to you as this is probably my own fault that I don't think of her when I think of great actresses working today. The reason being I really haven't seen many films she has been part of or should I say, the films where she gave a memorable performance. I haven't seen her big, famous and probably the most important role so far in La Vie en Rose(2007) or Big Fish(2003), another one she is usually lauded for. Yes, I Loved Midnight in Paris(2011) last year and off course Inception(2010) year before that and she was lovely in both but no one really remembers either of them for performances right? Similarly The Dark Knight Rises(2012) this year - no one will go beyond Anne Hathaway and Michael Caine. Now we can talk about Contagion(2011) or Public Enemies(2009) or A Good Year(2006) but none of them will have any case for her as one of the best actresses working today. So, in a nut-shell, what I am trying to get at is, I badly wanted to see one performance of her that will make me think that she deserves that claim(don't ask me why didn't I just see La Vie en Rose? I don't have any reason that will be even mildly satisfactory) but thanks to Rust and Bone(2012), I Finally got that.

So, Ali has recently been put in-charge of his son and he comes to Antibes to live with his sister and her husband. He meets Stephanie, a whale trainer as we later find out, in one of the bars he works as a bouncer. Few days after meeting Ali, Stephanie gets into an accident on her job and looses both her legs. Rust and Bone follows their relationship and knowingly or unknowingly, how they help each other through their emotional problems. The reason I say knowingly or unknowingly is because even though Ali does help her a lot in Stephanie's bad patch, given the kind of person Ali is, I am not sure he even realizes it. Ali is emotionally unavailable to anyone and that also makes him a terrible father, a kind of father who would hit his kid upset for of a loss of dog because his trainer cancelled his boxing match. He probably isn't a bad person who would mean any harm to you but if he does cause it, he wouldn't even realize it. That's why he casually leaves Stephanie in a bar and gets out with some other woman and that's why he ends up hurting his sister who is putting a roof over his head. I hated him until the last 20 minutes or so which at least give him a little more gravity, indicating maybe all the hell he has gone through has has some effect on him towards making him a little better person. But off course, the real star of this movie was Stephanie and Marion Cotillard in that role. In the story, her character is definitely secondary to Matthias Schoenaerts' Ali but she was so much better than him. One of the principle reasons why I wanted to see this movie was her and as I said I was finally happy to have witnessed Cotillard's prowess with such a layered performance. Because of what Stephanie goes through very early in the movie, there are various stages she goes through in the movie and incredible thing about her performance is she owns every single one of them. It only makes me wanna watch La Vie en Rose even more desperately. After landing an SAG nomination, I really do hope she gets nominated for Oscars as well.

Rating(out of 5): 





Holy Motors(2012): Over the last couple of years when I started watching movies much more seriously, I have realized that more often than not I hate the movies that purposely make themselves difficult to understand. Hate probably is the strong word but I definitely don't see myself supporting them. From whatever I had heard about Holy Motors(2012) before going in made it a perfect candidate for such a film. Now, I know that as a good movie-buff, you are not supposed to go with preconceived notions about anything but sometimes you just can't help it. However, somehow all the polarizing talk about this movie made me more intrigued about it rather than turning off and I decided to give it a chance. After all, I don't get many opportunities to see foreign movies on big screen and guess what? I Loved it and I only have two words - Denis Lavant.

So let me make yet another feeble attempt to explain what the hell this movie is about because even a week after watching this movie, I still have no idea. We spend a day with Monsieur Oscar who goes from an appointment to appointment, playing different roles in each one. Sometimes he is a caring family man, sometimes he is a beggar on the street that no one notices, or a an ugly, repulsive, flower eating monster or uncle on a death bed to a lovely girl that really loves him. He spends most of his time in between these appointments in his limousine getting ready for his next appointment and every time he emerges from it, he is transformed completely and unrecognizably into the character he is playing. I can completely understand anyone who says that they really didn't like this movie, where they come from? as even after having seen it, I have more questions about it than answers. I don't know what those appointments were? How do you go on making these appointments? Assuming that he is getting paid for them, who's paying him to be a beggar? What was with that banker he goes after? and it doesn't even looked like they are interested in giving any answers either. But instead of frustrating me, it really intrigued me and only reason was Denis Lavant who is absolutely crazy going from one appointment to another. But there are enough moments between his various appointments that give his character a gravity that you can't just discard him outright. His conversation with the teenage girl completely fooled me, his interaction with the niece as an uncle on the death bed - especially the way it ends - fascinated me. Even though his last appointment and ending did rub me in a wrong way a little, Lavant's towering performance was far more stronger to complain much about it.

Rating(out of 5):




Amour(2012): If you haven't noticed all the three movies here so far are French. All the three movies have been in discussion a lot, for good or bad reasons. What is little interesting to me is, despite all three getting such an international acclaim, their official nomination for Oscar is yet another wonderful film which is one of my favourite movies of the year and is almost certain to get nominated as well. 4 movies with such an international acclaim - even though it is France, I am not sure how often does that happen. What is even more interesting is I not only loved them all, Amour, Holy Motors and The Intouchables are all in my top 10 right now with Amour being the best movie I have seen so far this year.

Having gone through very similar experience myself with my own grandmother few years back, it was very easy for me to connect with this film even though personally I was never in George's role as a primary caretaker - that was my Parents role and we were more in passive role, much like Eva. Also being on the other end of it for over two years now, made it a little easier to look at it candidly and probably is what made it my favourite. There is nothing right or wrong, good or bad when you are in such a position. From the first hand experience I can tell you that all you can do or you usually end up doing in this condition is react to it and more often than not you are lucky even if you get to do that. There is no point in blaming anyone. George doesn't become a bad person because he looses it and hit her once. George knows that she is helpless better than anyone else but sometimes you just can't help it. Haneke captures all of these emotions in few moments very beautifully. Some of them break your heart, some of them put a smile on your face or rekindle small hope in you. If not for the moments like Anne trying out her new wheelchair and Alexander, her student playing Bagatelle for them, it would have been an overbearing emotional experience impossible to sit through. What makes this movie even better is painstakingly real and honest portrayal of their relation with each other, gradual but continuous effects of her illness on them both and on those around her. I loved that there were people to help them, who genuinely cared for them. And knowing that it is Haneke, I was really thankful that nothing shocking happens to either of them. Watching her deteriorate over time was hard enough, I really didn't need any more villains. I don't think I have seen either Riva or Trintignant before but they were both revelatory in their heartbreaking performances. I have heard people complaining about its slow pace of it but to tell you the truth, I was happy it was slow. It gave me time to gather myself up. I would have been a blabbering mess otherwise.

Rating(out of 5):





Once Upon a Time In Anatolia(2012): First of all, many people will probably count this movie as a 2011 movie and they are right as it was released in many parts of the world in 2011. But it was recently pointed out to me that it had it's US release in 2012. So, I can include this in 2012 list. I had heard lot about it since last year and hence I was really happy when I saw it pop up on Netflix Instant few months ago. As far as I remember this is my first Turkish movie. Turkey and Australia have always been two of my favourite destinations, I really wish to visit them sometimes. Now, Turkey we see in this movie is far different from what I had in my mind but it is still equally beautiful and as for the cinema, I hardly could have asked for a better introduction.

Now, the basic story of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is very simple. Somewhere in anatolian parts of Keskin, a local prosecutor, local police chief and a doctor have two suspects who have confessed a murder. With the help of few others and some sergeants, they are trying to find the location of the body. What starts of like an easy enough job to wrap up the case turns out to be quite an ordeal and tastes everyone's patience. To tell you the truth, after reading the synopsis and looking at the running time of over 2 and half hours, I wasn't sure how can they stretch such a simple theme for so long? As it turned out, I could not have been more wrong as what makes it interesting is it's treatment. It literally grabbed me from the very first scene and kept me engaged till the very end - this in itself is a major, major success of the movie in my books. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Why I say this is there is nothing unusual or really shocking that happens throughout the movie and despite it, director somehow managed to keep it interesting. All there is going on for most of the time is usual bickering amongst all the government employees for having to work overtime, blaming each other for it, sub-ordinates blaming their higher officers for not helping them and officers blaming those under them for not being efficient. Pretty usual passing around the blame and ruminating over their woes. And in the mean while, they are going from one place to another to identify the location and find the body. It is long, it is slow but it is damn interesting. There is no conventional Hero-Heroin-Villain here, even the two suspects aren't really treated as villains. Almost everyone in the cast shares the limelight at one point or the another and everyone is so subtle and so natural in their performances. It does drag a little in last 40 minutes or so once they come back home but majority of the part is them looking for the body and it was fascinating. To help it immensely, it is shot wonderfully. I have seen a lot of movies that are really beautiful to look at but this one isn't like anything I have seen before, simply because it makes things that you will never think of as pretty look stunningly gorgeous, almost poetic. I have never seen barren piece of land look so beautiful or an apple falling off the tree and rolling into the nearby stream never really wowed me like it did here.

Rating(out of 5):

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...