Grizzly Man's The Great Escape from The Trip on Rope aka Mini Reviews

Don't let the title throw you off track. It is little stupid but makes me feel creative(for no apparent reason), So I am sticking with it. Basically, these are mini-reviews of few films that I wanted to write about but could not think of enough material to warrant a full post, maybe because I did not care too much about that movie or because I am not educated or informed enough to write about them. Not that I am doing this for the first time, I did write similar post few months ago on Vertigo(1958), Sunset Blvd(1950), Fanny and Alexander(1982) and Almost Famous(2000)(here, if you are interested). Come to think of it now, I think I can write a whole lot more on any of these films(I like to think of this as the proof of I am getting better at this, evolving and such !!). But, this time I doubt if that would be a fate of any of the movies I will write about today. You will know why.

Grizzly Man(2005): My First encounter with Werner Herzog in any format. I went pretty much blind into it, just because subject looked interesting - Animal lover who devoted his life to protect Grizzly bears who dies being eaten by one and even though I hadn't seen anything, I had heard enough about him to warrant an interest. But, I wasn't impressed much and it wasn't Herzog's fault at all. If at all he did something wrong, that was making a documentary on Timothy Treadwell. Timothy Treadwell was an animal lover, grizzly bear activist who used to go to Alaskan jungles in the summer and stay there to observe them and study them and he recorded every single trip on camera. Something which probably started as a hobby, went on to become an obsession over the years. He studied them, he befriended them - or at least he thought he did, he even named most of them and then he started to think of himself as probably a messiah, sole hope of saving them from poachers and hunters. In one of the incidents, we see his sole encounters with these poachers. He talks a lot about how much he hates them because they are harming these animals and he is going to stop this etc etc. However, when he actually encounters them, interestingly he hides somewhere far away in the bushes, because he does not want to reveal his identity. It becomes kinda difficult to feel for you if your money isn't where your mouth is. From the numerous stunts he pulled on camera over the course of his recordings, it's very clear that Treadwell was messed up. As one of the interviewers says that he wanted to be a bear and you never do that, you do not invade their territory - Treadwell never realized it and he blamed everyone else for for messing up with animals and their life when actually he was doing same thing himself. In my opinion and it goes in hand with the same interviewer saying that he probably harmed them more than helped. As far as Herzog is concerned, it was well shot, well edited and even well paced documentary. Herzog was completely impartial, he did not try and glorify him by telling only one side of the story. He gives Treadwell credit when it is due and blames him squarely for his mistakes and shortcomings. So, problem never was Herzog, it was Treadwell who I thought to be impossible to have a favorable opinion of - to tell you the truth, I pitied him. In the very beginning on documentary, one of the pilots who went on clean-up after his death says on-camera that Treadwell got what he deserved and at that time it seemed to be kind of an extreme opinion. But, after watching whole film, I can't help but agree with him.

Rating(out of 5):

The Great Escape(1963): I recently realized that for some reason, I have seen more 50's movies than 60's in 1001 movies list. For some unexplained reason, that was surprising to me as I do not have anything against them. I always thought that I would have seen more movies as we go up chronologically just because you have more exposure to them. But of course, I was wrong ! So, off I go looking for more 60's stuff. It just happened that The Great Escape has been in my queue for a long time and for this reason at least, I got an opportunity to dig it up and watch it. To tell you the truth, I do not have much to say about it basically for it being a true story - the story of bunch of allied forces' POW's captured by German forces. They are brought into a special camp built specifically for them since this bunch has a notorious reputation of planning and attempting multiple escapes. What we see is an elaborate account of one such attempt. It is a perfectly fine movie with good cast and good story. Albeit little longish, account of all the preparations for their escape are certainly interesting. If I have a complaint against it, I would have liked it to be a little happier at the end but as they say all the aspects of the escape were exactly as they happened, so we do not get a say here. Though one thing I learned from this movie was why Steve McQueen was Steve McQueen ? It isn't his first movie I saw, I have seen The Thomas Crown Affair(1968) before, but he was something else here, something that will totally fit into his ultra-cool, hip image.

Rating(out of 5):

The Trip(2011): Michael Winterbottom is turning out to be kinda interesting sort of director. I have heard a lot of extreme opinions, good and bad but definitely extreme, about his films. I have seen a couple before - 9 songs(2004) which I outright hated and A Mighty Heart(2007) which I thought had a great potential with a fine storyline but failed to impress me at all. And of course, he has had his fair share of controversies with The Killer Inside Me(2010), A Mighty Heart and such. 2 more movies he did, which I intend to see but sometimes wonder if they are any worth are Jude(1996) and Trishna(2011) mostly because from what I have heard about both is people either love them for being daring and tackling things that we usually don't see or they hate them for the exact same reason. My interest in Jude is purely based on Kate Winslet but that part with incestuous relationship has kept me away thus far. Similarly, Trishna has a setting(he certainly has some affiliation to India as well. Quite a few of his movies are either shot in or based on Indian grounds) that interests me but it is either in the lists of one of the best movies of last year or worst movie made ever. About film at hand, I perfectly enjoyed this light-hearted, comic road movie. Their back and forth exchanges, imitations, trying to look down to the other kept me entertained the whole time. I am sure you can sense a but coming here. BUT, it was enjoyable as long as you don't think about it which is like up to 5 minutes after movie ends. However, once you start, there are so many thing that come to mind that are never answered. Most important of which is What exactly was director trying to say or was he trying to say anything at all ? It kind of scratches a surface of lot of questions and just leaves it there, which to tell you the truth did not really bother me but left me unsatisfied in the end like Steve Coogan is an actor then why was he sent on Restaurant Tour ? Also, why did he ask Rob Brydon to come along ? I mean if I have 2 Free Passes to a movie, I will either ask very close friend or someone who is interested in watching that movie. Rob Brydon did not look like either of them. But hey, I told you that none of this bothered me much while watching it and I perfectly enjoyed it. So, if you don't think too much about it, it still is a pretty decent film to pass some of your time when you don't have much else to do.

Rating(out of 5):

Rope(1948): One movie out of this lot, which I can say I liked wholeheartedly without any qualms. It was great from every conceivable aspect and on top of that, it was just 74 minutes - extra points for being short and concise. I will try not to ruin it for you, but excuse me if I get a little too excited. Brandon and Philip, two longtime friends, share an apartment. They plan a perfect murder based on a story one of their teachers told them once. Victim of this murder is David Kentley, their schoolfriend and they choose him because they consider him to be an inferior human being to them. They execute their plan to perfection, they have achieved their target. But, Brandon is not the one to be contend with this. He wants someone to appreciate the fact that he has just pulled a perfect murder and in this excitement he goes a little over board and plans a party in their own house, where David's body is still kept hidden in a chest and moreover guests invited are David's own Parents and his Fiancee. Rupert, their schoolteacher who told them a story of this crime is also among invitees and as one thing leads to another, Rupert starts to smell something is fishy. There are couple of things I love about Rope. First of all, it's only 74 minutes long and it uses every single second of it perfectly. Very first scene you see is Murder happening and last scene of the movie is revelation and Hitchcock masterfully keeps it entertaining and suspenseful. And it is not just suspense of murder, but their conversations are fascinating too like their theory of 'A Crime for most, privilege for some'. Rope was suppose to be an experiment Hitchcock wanted to make to shoot in such a fashion that it will feel like a single long take. Though I wasn't fooled by this, I loved the fact that whole movie takes place in one single room, without leaving it for a single second. I usually love movies that take place in single room like 12 Angry Men(1957) and this one wasn't an exception. One more thing I love about Rope is Jimmy Stewart. Peculiar thing about Jimmy Stewart is, almost every movie I have seen him in, I don't only like Jimmy Stewart playing that character but I usually end up loving his characters as well. Rope may not be recognized as much as his other masterpieces like Vertigo(1958), Rebecca(1940) and Rear Window(1950) but in my books it is no less than any of them.

Rating(out of 5):