February Blind Spot: The French Connection(1971)

When I put up the line-up for this series back in December, almost everyone came out in support of one movie on that list. It didn't really surprise me since I knew it was a popular movie. So the second month of the Blind Spot goes to the movie that got most enthusiastic response when I put up the line-up - The French Connection(1971), Best Picture Winner in that year's Oscar. It also seemed fitting that I should be watching this BP winner in the month of Oscars. 

First and foremost, what makes this a Blind Spot movie? In other words, why is this film essential?
For multiple reasons actually. First and foremost, I think it is one of the most respected BP Winners. I think most everyone agrees that The French Connection deserved to win, something that rarely happens these days and after 40 years of its release, its regarded with equal respect is some kind of a miracle. It is not only considered as a great movie overall but also as one of the best cop movies made ever. I have been meaning to check it off my list for a long time and could not think of a better way to do this.

So, what is the story about?
Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle, played by Gene Hackman in his Oscar winning role, and his partner Salvatore 'Cloudy' Russo, Roy Scheider in his only role I have seen outside of Jaws(1975) and its sequel, are cops working in New York City's narcotics department. One day after they are done with work, they go to the bar for a drink and one of the tables attracts their attention. Popeye feels something fishy about it and working on a hunch, persuades Russo to tail them. Chasing one of the couples on the table through the might, they see them dropping something off in Little Italy and return to their real house and their candy store in working are area of Manhattan. They soon find out that this couple is Sal Boca and his wife Angie. They also find out that they both have previous records and many dubious connections. Because they think there is something big play going on in the background, they go to their boss to ask for some help and let them continue working on this case. Because of Popeye's background, he initially complains but eventually agrees to see if this can go anywhere.

One of the reasons Popeye and Russo get the permission they want is because they connect Boca to a guy named Joel Weinstock whom police have been keeping an eye on for long time. After many days of nothing, their efforts finally materialize when they hear Boca talking with Alain Charnier, French drug kingpin responsible for sizable percentage of drugs that comes into NYC from Europe. He is also accompanied by Pierre Nicoli, a killer for hire and Charnier's right hand-man. With the two big fish involved in the case, this case now becomes much more important and what follows is the game of Cat and Mouse to the bitter end for all the parties involved.  

What did I think of it? What did I like the most about it and what didn't I like?
There is so much to like in this movie - Friedkin's direction, Gene Hackman's amazing Oscar winning leading performance, earnestness of the characters, the way it is shot, it's use of silence, the way everything in this movie feels so tangible, so real. I love that these characters are flawed because it makes them so much real, so much more relatable. I loved the fact that at one point there is an almost 15 minute long stretch where there is not a single dialogue and it did not bother me at all. Hell, I almost didn't even realize it. Friedkin takes very good care of whatever happening on the screen is taking the story forward, with dialogue or without it. So there is always something going on the screen which is so thoroughly engaging that you don't really miss the dialogue so much.

But if you asked me what I liked the most?, my answer might surprise you. Because it is Chases. More specifically, the professional manner in which they are shot. There have been numerous occasions when I see someone following someone else, like 10 feet behind them or driving bumper to bumper with their car and every time I am help myself but throw my arms and be amazed. I have never followed anyone in my life but if you are following someone, I think you wouldn't want them to know. Otherwise there is not point in it. And I never understood why filmmakers don't take care of it because I don't think it costs them anything more just to keep some safe distance. So I loved that Friedkin paid attention to this small but important detail, especially when half of the movie is nothing but chases. At one point, Gene Hackman even crosses the road just because person he is tailing did and he wants to keep that safe distance. Unfortunately, it doesn't work out for our Popeye since the guy already knows he is being followed but it sure worked for me.

After having seen it, do I agree with it's 'essential' status? and why?
I sure do. 70s was one of the best decades for American Cinema, probably even the best. Even though my own experiences are little limited, I think I have seen quite a few movies from that time and I think I can agree to this being one of the best movies of the decade. You have to realize that this automatically puts it into the contention for best ever. It certainly is amongst the best cop movies I have seen and I have seen fair share of them too. If this isn't enough for you, we have film's legacy to turn to. The French Connection carved the way for many more thrillers to follow. Film's hero isn't the most ideal leading man. He is often wrong, he often falls on the wrong side of the line, he is violent, even racist and he is borderline obsessive about his job and about doing things his way. Popeye following the elevated train at a very high speed, through heavy traffic is a single sequence that can associate him with every attribute noted. For the record, it is a damn fine car chase. Definitely one of the best I have seen, once again setting up the stage for many, many more to follow. I should also note that it was shot with no permits, no stalling the traffic and Hackman doing most of his own driving. And in the end, overall grim, realistic feel of the movie and the downbeat ending were also a step ahead to the police dramas of the period. I am convinced.

Does it open few new doors for me? Does this inspire to watch any other movies?
Rather than opening new avenues, this one actually caps few off. I have now seen every single Best Picture winner from '70s, widely considered as most influential, if not the Best, decade of American cinema. I have already checked off '90s and 2000s and hope to clear off '80s this month itself so as to set the bar as far back as 1969 - Midnight Cowboy(1969) should be the earliest BP winner I haven't seen at the end of this month, whatever may be the outcome this weekend.

When I first started writing this blog around one and half years back, one of the things that I promised myself was even though I am making this a film blog, I will try not to write full-fledged reviews as much as possible. In all reality major reason for this back then, was I never thought I will have enough to say about a movie that can constitute a review - I still don't think I do - and even if I did, I wouldn't know how to put it in words in a way that someone else would want to read, which has always been my problem with everything. Fortunately since the inception of this blog, being not so prolific blogger, I have been able to keep it afloat with minimal amount of them. But after all, this IS a film blog and I don't think I can have that with no reviews. So occasionally I allow myself to fall back and go for a review. Today is one such day that I am allowing myself this indulgence. If we discount the occasional mini-reviews post which is usually my escape route from not being able to write enough but coming across something that deserves to be mentioned and monthly wrap-up posts, this is my first review in almost two months and one before that was almost another two months back.

After Amour(2012) and A Royal Affair(2012), today's movie in focus - No(2012), is third movie that I have seen of this year's Foreign film line-up. It is worth mentioning that A Royal Affair was the last review I wrote. I guess I am more drawn to the foreign movies though in reality I see very few of them. So, No. Chile's submission to this year's Oscars and now, a nominee. This film is set in 1988. General Pinochet has been in power for 15 years after overthrowing President Allende in 1973. Bowing to the international pressures to legitimize his dictatorial rule, General Pinochet announces a public referendum to be held after couple of months. In this referendum, people of Chile are suppose to vote either Yes or No to grant Pinochet another term for 8 more years. And to give it more democratic look and giving fair chance to both the sides, another idea of giving 15 minutes of air-time to both the sides, Yes and No, for 27 days before the election was implemented. This movie follows the 'No' campaign or more specifically it follows Rene Saavedra, the man behind this campaign. Rene is young, dynamic and upcoming ad executive who has made quite a name for himself and for that very reason, No campaign wants them to work with them. After initial reluctance, he however agrees and they start working on 27 days worth of media battle.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't exactly sure why Rene agrees to work for No. At one point very early in the movie before actual campaign starts, his boss implies his inclination towards Yes campaign. After that there is one incident involving his political activist ex-wife which didn't feel like reason enough to me but soon after that, he joins No. Before the two sides start their fight against each other, Rene also has to fight within the campaign. Most of the people in the campaign think that this referendum is rigged and they don't have much chance of winning. So they want to use this one chance they have to make as much of political splash as possible. They want to expose what an oppressor Pinochet has been over the years. They want to bring forth all his scams, his crimes, his two-faced behaviour and hope that sometime in the future, people will rally against him. Rene wants to present them as a viable alternative to Pinochet. He prefers putting out a good face to attract people rather than going all out against Pinochet. Once 27 days start, there is a very interesting dynamics that develops between the two camps. The way these two groups act and react, punches and counter punches they throw at each other is what makes this movie fascinating. My main interest in this movie being political, I certainly would have loved to see a little more political side of it though. If they win, Pinochet's opponents will have to run the country and I would have loved to see how they were planning on doing it. But I guess, Rene will not be a part of these circles which puts it outside the scope of this movie.

Directed by Pablo Larrain, this film is third installment after Tony Manero(2008) and Post Mortem(2010), of loose trilogy of movies set in Pinochet's reign. Political setting and tone of this movie is what intrigued me the most besides all the buzz it is getting thanks to its nomination. It is a very small but very important period in the history of the country and Larrain manages to set the whole table very nicely, even for those of us unaware of any background. After watching the movie, I was looking for some more information regarding this campaign and I found few videos that were actually aired in 1988 and I was stunned to see how similar they looked to what we see in a movie. It is unbelievable when you think about how much time and energy must have into making them exactly same. He covers lots of facets of both the campaigns and keeps it thouroughly engaging for whole run-time. Initial reluctance of Yes campaign to take No seriously and threats, intimidation that swiftly follows once No starts getting support, how two campaigns change each other for better or for worse is all very interesting. No also looks at Rene's personal life a little with the help of his political activist ex-wife and their son. His ex-wife's plot is probably the most under-developed plot which film touches only gingerly. They should have either took it somewhere or left it all alone.

Young and dynamic Rene Saavedra, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, is the heart and soul of this movie and as we have seen him many times before, he turns up another stunning performance.  He has some kind of unattached, 'Just another day at the office' expression but he also makes sure it isn't aloof or unaffected. His ability to work tirelessly for the cause but at the same time keep this distance from his work is probably what makes him sought after. The way Bernal catches all the undertones of this character is amazing. His boss who is interestingly running the Yes campaign is also a very interesting character. However, most striking aspect of this movie has to be the look and feel of this movie and the fact that it was a conscious stylistic choice makes it even more intriguing. After watching the movie I learned that Larrain shot the whole movie with U-matic video cameras which were used by the TV crews in the times movie is set in. It has its problems like for one thing, now-a-days that we are used to more and more better quality picture, it looks very odd. It's grainy, has very low resolution and on multiple occasions, Sun or the reflection off the nearby surface blocks half of the screen. But it gave one distinct advantage - it allowed him to use some of the actual footage that was aired in 1988. And he uses it so perfectly that you will never know which shot is real archival footage and which is not.

As far as the Oscars go, I think Amour pretty much has it in the bag. However despite not winning, I believe No serves as a great showcase for the film industry in Chile, which frankly is what I feel the foreign category in Oscars should be about. Off course, it is great if you can win but if not at least it should be seen as a platform to get people interested. Something Indian authorities should take note of, as looking at the movies that are sent in recent years, I don't think is high up in their priorities.

Rating(out of 5):

Bollywood Essentials: A Wednesday

This week, there is a Hindi movie coming out called Special 26(2013), written and directed by Neeraj Pandey. Pandey's resume contains only one movie that he has directed previously. However I consider his debut film A Wednesday(2008), to be one of the best Indian cinema has to offer and easily my favourite Indian movie of all time. I have always tried to keep everything on this blog film related and I will try to continue to do so in this post as well. But this movie and the topic it is based on being a little too close to the heart of most every Indian, some cracks are bound to appear. Hence before we go any forward, I will like to make it VERY clear that everything I will say in this post is completely my personal take on the whole situation and not to be generalized in any way. I have always refrained from saying much about this movie in public because of the subject matter being too controversial, too straight forward and also for the fear of being little too political and personally my own views on the matter being too radical. However, couple of things that have transpired in last few weeks have kept this movie constantly in my thoughts. First, there was a controversy about Tamil movie called Vishwaroopam(2013) which originated from frankly the worst by-product of having a immature secular, democratic society. And then I saw Zero Dark Thirty(2012) couple of weeks ago which I will tie-in to A Wednesday in just a bit. Considering all this, I thought this will be good time to write about my favourite Indian movie here as one of the Bollywood Essentials.

Police Commissioner Prakash Rathod is retiring from his post tomorrow and has been asked on numerous occasions in past few days as which was the most difficult case of his career? Rathod could not answer the question because the case in answer does not exist, it isn't registered anywhere and the reason is Rathod himself made sure to wipe off everything to the last detail. He recalls that it was a Wednesday, which started off as any other day but by the time sun set over the horizon, one just another common man who had the audacity to go challenge the whole system, made that day unforgettable. It starts off with an anonymous caller calling him to tell that he has planted 5 bombs in Mumbai at 5 different locations and they will go off in the evening. If he wants to avoid this, he demands the release of four captured terrorists. Being commissioner of Mumbai, where such calls are dime-a-dozen, Rathod's first suspicion is prank call. But the caller soon establishes his authenticity by giving them a location of one of his five bombs - police station right across the road from their headquarters. Once they find that bomb, Rathod and Mumbai police have no other choice but to take the caller seriously and think about what their response will be to his demands. They also realize that the caller has very well thought out every step of his plan. First three calls he makes trace back to three different numbers, each registered to someone who's not even alive anymore. Caller also brings media into the equation to be his eyes, by calling one of the reporters himself and sending her to the location of the first blast. As the things start to heat up and all their efforts to trap the caller seem to fail, Police are left with no choice but to assert his demands. They bring the four terrorists together and transport them to Juhu Aviation Base Strip as told, under supervision of two of Rathode's best men, Arif Khan and Jaipratap Singh. However, the events that transpire on this base take the wind out of everyone and culminate with probably the best, easily most poignant monologue I have seen delivered.

I am sure there are many of us wondering, what is so great about this plot? There are enough movies out there about anonymous callers holding the city hostage, even though I will also confess that for a Hindi movie, even this storyline is wholly original. But the key lies here in execution and in the reason when it's revealed about who is doing it and why? The way Pandey develops the whole plot of this movie is near perfect. Character of this caller is designed with great care and detail, giving us only what we need to know - never more, nor less. He has double checked for any loophole in his plan and worked meticulously on every last detail which keeps him two steps ahead of Police, every step of the way. Cops aren't portrayed as exactly incompetent but they are trapped playing a chasing game where they have no option but to let this caller run the show. But the greatest success of the movie lies in the fact that it fearlessly blames anyone there is to blame - Red Tape, Government, Politicians, or the system as a whole for it's incompetence or sheer inability to act, to stay strong where for someone responsible for running the nation, it is required the most. It probably is the movie that resonates the most with the common man sentimentality of an average Indian after the grossly inadequate responses of Indian government to the terror wars sent across the border, over the years. Government has been especially ineffective in this new century even after being victimized of multiple attacks like gruesome attacks of 26/11 or 2006 in Mumbai and on Indian Parliament in 2001. This movie presses all the right button of a common man to provide an outlet to vent this anger. Funny thing is despite my love for this movie, I usually hesitate calling this movie an essential. Or let me put it this way - if someone asks me to give them a list of 10-12 movies which they should see as an Introduction to Hindi Cinema(For the record, this isn't a hypothetical situation), I will Not include A Wednesday in it. 

There is almost nothing wrong with this movie. I will first count its flaws - there aren't many and in no way neutralize the quality of its content. It has some problems in its dubbing where some of the minor characters sound too artificial. In few cases, it has a look of a low-budget film. Most important scene of the movie is kinda lame cinematographically. But in counter, it has a great script, also written by Neeraj Pandey, which gets right into the story, immediately takes a grip of the viewer and never lets it go for the entire run and more importantly, keeps knocking you out time and again. Even though this is Neeraj Pandey's debut, direction of this movie is of the highest quality. With movies like this, there is a very real chance that they can get little too serious and become preachy or completely loose the track and seriousness of the subject. Pandey does a great job of finding that silver middle which works to perfection. In acting department, some minor characters stick out a little, however most excel in playing their part with Jimmy Shergil playing Hot-head ATS officer Arif Khan and Amir Bashir, in-charge of transportation of the 4 terrorists from their cells to the requested airport taking the cake. And off course, the crown jewel of this whole endeavour - its two leads, anonymous caller played by Naseeruddin Shah and Police Commissioner Prakash Rathod played by Anupam Kher. People who aren't well versed with Hindi film industry might remember Naseeruddin Shah as Captain Nemo from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen(2003) and Anupam Kher as Dr. Patel in Silver Linings Playbook(2012). Those who know a little about Hindi cinema will not need any introduction as these two character actors are two of the finest actors in the industry. Both have had long and illustrious careers with jaw-dropping range of roles but I will not hesitate for a second to call either of the roles as the Best of their respective careers.

And despite all this hyperbolic praise I have showered thus far, I try not to recommend this movie to everyone, which brings me back to Zero Dark Thirty(2012). I saw Kathryn Bigelow's latest, a couple of weeks ago. I thought of it as a well-acted, little slower but good enough paced movie. However, one of the principal criticism of this movie, which incidentally comes from most of us - non-Americans and to the most part I agree with is, it is too American. And I strongly feel that, despite being an exemplary piece of art with all its faults and triumphs, A Wednesday might be... too Indian for anyone non-Indian. With the risk of sounding presumptuous, I feel like people may not get this movie as it is not what you see on screen that makes it my favourite but what goes in my head, in my heart, in my gut when watching this movie. For us Indians, it works on multiple levels - as a movie, as a message, as a policy. For everyone else, it might be a mere movie; which to me is a very small part of the whole picture. (If anyone is willing to give it a try, A Wednesday is available on Netflix Instant.)

Rating(out of 5):

Previous Essentials:
Satya(1998)
Sholay(1975)

Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron(1983)

Best Supporting Actress for LAMB Devours the Oscars

Note: This Post was originally published on LAMB site on 29th January as a part of 32-Post series 'LAMB Devours the Oscar' where 32 different LAMB members wrote about 32 different posts covering different categories of Oscars. I am posting it again here after some edits. You can have a look at all the other entries that have been published so far in the series, here.

With multitude of awards going in every which possible way, this award season has successfully kept us guessing till today. There are very few categories this year that have even clear frontrunners, let alone locks. With the recent surge of Argo(2012) winning a whole bunch of awards and Affleck being not nominated for Directors Category in Oscars, there is still a room for speculation about will Argo be able to pull it off at Oscars? And if it does, what about Director? Even Best actress race, even though down to Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain with Lawrence little ahead with her SAG win, is still interesting. Remember right around this time last year, almost all the nominations were more or less down to 2 horse races. We may agree or disagree with the decisions but at least it has kept most of us interested in the races. However, probably along with the Best Actor category, today’s category in question – Best Actress in Supporting Role, is the only category that does have a clear frontrunner, and dare I say even a lock. Let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?

Nominations for the Best Actress in Supporting Role in 2013 Oscars are

Amy Adams, The Master

Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Sally Field, Lincoln

Let me go through all the nominations one by one and we will discuss their role, their Oscar history and most importantly, their chances of winning come Sunday, 24th February.

First in line is Amy Adams playing the role of Peggy Dowd, Master’s wife in The Master(2012). This is her 4th Nomination though she has never won one yet. The Master has had fair share of its fervent supporters as well as distractors. I for one, happen to fall on the good side of it. There are also fair share of people who believe Amy Adams wasn’t there enough or wasn’t good enough to deserve this nomination.  I also happen to fall on the other side of this argument. I agree that she had very few moments to show her worth but she grabbed every single one of them with both hands and even when she was just in the background, not really doing much, she made her presence felt. However, if we look at the chances of her winning this year, I am pretty sure she will have to wait yet another year to get her hands on that statuette. It really pains me to say that as I am a BIG Adams fan – I woke up on the day of nominations at 5:30 in the morning and only thing I really hoped for was they don’t snub Amy Adams. I would have gone berserk if they did – but her chances of winning remain slim to none.

Next in the line-up is Anne Hathaway for playing the role of Fantine in Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic Les Miserable(2012). It is her second nomination following the Best Actress nom for Rachel Getting Married in 2009. She hasn’t won an Oscar yet either but this year might as well be her chance. Talking about not being in the movie enough, Hathaway is in this movie for like 15 minutes but as she has said in the every interview she has given for last few months, she does get the most powerful song of the movie and I will be honest, with her voice, with her body language, with everything she’s got, she Kills that song. And her role. She started off this year with a scene stealer role of Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises(2012) and capped it off with this heartfelt and devastating performance which leaves us wishing she should have been there longer. At this moment, carrying the momentum from multiple wins including Critics Choice and Globes, I would call her the frontrunner.

Next is Helen Hunt for The Sessions(2012) in which she is in the role of Cheryl, a professional Sex surrogate who helps Mark O’Brian who is on iron lung loose his virginity. She is also a second time nominee and a past winner of Best Actress Oscar for As Good As It Gets(1997). First of all, this is a remarkable story. Very touching, sentimental but not unnecessarily melodramatic, lovely and since it is about sex, even a little embarrassing but never icky or uncomfortable. Helen Hunt and John Hawkes playing Mark get majority of the credit to carry the emotional weight of this movie on their shoulders. Helen Hunt handles her role with a great honesty and maturity. Now if we look at her chances in this Oscar race, there is a lot of similarity between her and Amy Adams. Both were considered viable candidates long before their movies were released. After they did and they both promptly delivered as per the expectations, everyone started calling them virtual locks for the nomination. But after landing that nom unfortunately, for both of them, buck stops here.

Fourth actress to get nominated is Jacki Weaver in the role of Bradley Cooper’s mother Dolores in Silver Linings Playbook(2012). This is her second nomination following the 2010 nomination for Animal Kingdom(2009). This movie is a success story of this year’s nominations getting nominated in every single category it can in Top 8(Acting, Directing, Writing and Film). However, out of all the seven nominations film got, Jacki Weaver’s nomination is probably the least anticipated. She does a great job of playing this kind of lynchpin of a character trying to do what she thinks is best for holding all the relations together. I loved her in that role and I am really happy that she got nominated but I really do not see her anywhere within miles of winning this Oscar. Even though this is a supporting category where these characters are not supposed to steal the thunder, almost all the nominees have at least one shining moment in their film. Jacki Weaver doesn’t even have her moment of glory which makes it a through and through supporting character. If she did, I would have made a much stronger case for her.

Last nominee in this field is Sally Field playing the role of Mary Todd Lincoln, President Abraham Lincoln’s wife in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln(2012). This is third nomination for Sally Field and she has won both the time she was nominated before. Though overall I had a lukewarm response to the movie, I did think that it had some great performances. However, Sally Field wasn’t one of them. Personally, I did not feel like there was an enough conviction in her role to reinforce the emotions her character goes through in the movie. But that’s just non-American me who doesn’t really know anything about Lincoln’s personal life and besides I don’t get to vote to decide who wins this award. So considering those who do *obligatory joke on Oscar Voter’s demographic* I am still not ready to discount off Sally Field completely. Even though over the last few years this has been the category where Academy tries to show it has a broader range, because of the role she is playing, I still believe Sally Field is a viable candidate to take home that coveted third Oscar.

So to wrap it up, I think Anne Hathaway pretty much has both her hands around this Oscar. Sally Field is the dark horse of this race and if they announce her as the winner on the Oscar Sunday, it will not surprise me but personally, it will definitely disappoint me. You can do better than that Academy!! At least, I hope you can. Everyone else should enjoy the Red Carpet and work on their poker face.