July Blind Spot: Andrei Rublev

First and foremost, what makes this a Blind Spot movie? In other words, why is this film essential?

Because of one man at the helm – Andrey Tarkovskiy. About a year ago, I saw a Russian film, The Return(2003), by director Andrey Zvyaginstev. I liked it and I even wrote a post about it but about half way through the movie I realised that it was my first Russian film ever.  When I looked around for some more movie names, one that kept popping up in the discussion was Tarkovskiy. So while doing the list, I decided to cater to this particularly large blind spot by putting Andrei Rublev(1966) on the list and if Hulu didn’t have Solaris(1972) available for free, this was to be my initiation to this great director.

So, what is the story about?

Let me first come very clean and say that I had no prior knowledge of Andrei Rublev either as a person or as a painter. According to Wikipedia, he is considered as the greatest Russian medieval painter of orthodox icons and frescos. Andrei Rublev is a story of his life but since there is very little that is known about him and even littler that can be actually ascertained, it is said to be only loosely based on it. According to IMDb, there are multiple versions of it with varying lengths ranging from 145 minutes to whooping 205. One I saw was smack in the middle, with 175 minutes of runtime. Film is divided into two distinct parts and each of the part is further divided into total 7 chapters, epilogue and prologue which have absolutely nothing to do with the movie itself.

First part contains four chapters which mainly introduce us to Rublev and various facets of his personality such as his faith, his philosophy of life and his perception of Russian people or even humanity in general. These four chapters are almost like four short films with few common characters. I am sure they can even work well as stand-alone shorts or rather they will work well as stand-alone shorts because when seen together they lack some cohesiveness or a sense of progression of story. Take the third chapter called The Feast, 1408 for example. It covers an encounter Andrei and his fellow monks have with a nudist, pagan group. The story makes perfect sense for 20-odd minutes it lasts for but has absolutely no connection to anything before or after.

As we enter the second half, the remaining three chapters have much more to glue them together plus in a typical mainstream way, there is a lot of action that goes on as well. Tatars invade, Rublev is forced to fight, be violent and it affects him deeply. After a gap of many years, he returns to the monastery but stops painting; he even stops talking for many years, until in the final chapter he witnesses a casting of a huge bell and turns his life back around to produce many of his great works that he is known for even now.

What did I think of it? What did I like the most about it and what didn't I like?

I believe I have seen my fair share of art-house films. I know they are not necessarily spelled out for you. Andrei Rublev doesn’t go easy on you either. There are many philosophical discussions about the way of life and religion and their beliefs. But with no background whatsoever of either Tarkovskiy or Rublev, I found it hard to connect with them. First part especially isn’t really much accessible. Second half has some link between the chapters, is more dramatic and hence comparatively, much more accessible. However while judging the film overall, even I don’t know if I will be able to say I liked it or not right now. Since I am following this general pattern for all the Blind Spot entries this year, I'll stick to it but everything I’ll say below is more like my observations. Only thing I know for certain is despite the predominantly negative tone of these notes, it kept me interested for all the three hours of it and I sure liked it much more than Solaris(1972), my first exposure to Tarkovskiy films. I think the more I’ll know about Tarkovskiy and this film, the more I will be able to comprehend it and form some opinion of it. Right now, my impression is too malleable.

- I am not sure if it is the editing or the way they are shot, but lot of scenes segue into one other. Like in one scene you have Forma and Rublev talking about Forma and in the next, Theophanes the Greek and Rublev talking about talking their faith on Russian people and in humanity in general, or lack of it. Two conversations have no matching point but the later starts almost like a natural progression of previous scene.

- Another think that strikes me is completely non-heroic introduction of Andrei Rublev. Whatever may be the type of the film; we are usually told upfront, maybe by the way frame is set or by the background music or even by his own actions, that he is the protagonist when we first see the character. We’ll be mainly following him for the next three hours. There is almost 10 minutes of film between the first time we see Rublev and first time we are told he is Andrei Rublev.

- It has no sense of location to it and I guess it doesn’t even matter. At the start of each chapter, it gives you the year we are in and that is all we get to give us sense of timing as well. With no background of the subject and lack of either time or location, Andrei Rublev works rather as a series of disjointed vignettes of various events, jumping off one to the next in chronological order, in one man’s life. Whether this is a sensible thing or a folly is up to the individual.

Trinity - One of Rublev's Masterpieces

After having seen it, do I agree with its 'essential' status? And why?

To tell you the truth, I don’t think I am in the least bit qualified to answer this question. I am finding myself very inadequate to comment on such a revered masterpiece by one of the most respected directors of World Cinema, especially in Art-House cinema, for the same reason you won’t find me commenting on another giant that often, Ingmar Bergman, even though I have seen about dozen of his films – I don’t think I have understood them enough to add something to the discussion. Is it essential? Well, for anyone remotely interested in art-house cinema, Tarkovskiy certainly is and being one of his most well-known masterpieces, that should in turn qualify Rublev as essential as well. So, basically yes, it is an essential film in every sense of the word given that you know what you are signing up for.

Does it open few new doors for me? Does this inspire to watch any other movies?

Putting this film onto the list was all about opening new doors, getting more exposure in Russian cinema as well as in Tarkoskiy’s filmography. If we discount couple of Eisenstein’s silent films, two films I talked about in the introduction are only Russian films I had seen prior to this. Given the fact that I hated Solaris, even though it isn’t one of the most accessible films I have seen, Andrei Rublev reassures enough me to look for more of his work. It will also encourage me to look for some more Russian notable directors like Aleksandr Sokurov to dig into their filmographies as well. Hopefully, I will get a chance to dig deeper into them soon.

Happy Birthday U, Me and Films !!

About 13 months ago from today, I saw an article in now extinct IMDb Hitlist on Hitchcock and his movies that took me to a blog Riku Writes (now Streams of Unconsciousness). At that time, I was completely oblivious to the concept of a movie blog even though by then, I was already turned into a film buff for quite some time. My friends were referring me as a 'movie guy', they had stopped asking me 'Hey dude, what are you doing ?', it turned into 'So, what are you watching now ?', they were asking me for movie recommendations and my opinion on whether should they watch certain movie or not. But, personally this particular habit of mine was kinda stagnant, going nowhere. So, I was looking for something different to do with it. On personal front, I was done with all the course work for my masters with 3 months of summer just around the corner. Even when the semester would start in the Fall, only thing I had to worry about was my Master's Project which meant that I can pretty much have my own time-table for the whole week except one weekly meeting on Friday. 

With all this in mind, me stumbling onto this blog was quite serendipitous. Wheels started to turn inside my head, contemplating the idea of starting my own blog. I spent some time going through contents of that blog. In the matter of few days, I discovered that there is a whole world of movie bloggers out there which was encouraging. However, not only that I did not have any prior experience of writing anything, much less of writing it in English, I didn't have any formal film education neither to help me. For those who do not know, English is not my second but third language. Up until I was 10 years old, only thing I knew about English was A-Z. My 4 year old niece knows more nursery rhymes than me as no one read them to me when I was kid. So, I took my time not only to decide whether to go ahead or not but also to try and see if I can really write something worth putting out there. I spent a little over a month deliberating, practicing before I finally published my first article exactly year ago from today on 13 June 2011. And that is how U, Me and Films came into existence !!

Journey in this year has been fulfilling to say the least. I would like to believe that my writing has evolved over this year, but to tell you the truth I have no way of judging this. What I do know is my movie tastes have evolved a lot, what I do know is my knowledge, my horizons have widened for certain. I still don't get a lot of pop culture references but even then I at least know what people are talking about. I know that I have written only around 60 posts, but with me being a master procrastinator and with an extremely limited vocabulary that I have, it still takes quite some time for me to write it. I also took it little slow till I graduated at the end of January. I have doubled my speed since then but even then it comes to around 6-7 posts/month. I am still doing my best. However, the most fulfilling experience has been how welcoming and friendly this whole blogging community has been and that has been true especially since I joined LAMB in March. Anywhere you go, first blogging advice you will receive is always blog for yourself, not for anyone else and even though I agree with it completely, it is always great to know few people around you that you can look up to, that can inspire you, that can set example for you. Over this one year, I have been lucky enough to get acquainted with quite a few bloggers through different channels. So, let me take this chance to raise my glass to some of these phenomenal film bloggers that I have come across in last year who have done exactly this to me...

Richard Hourula@Stream of Unconsciousness: Unfortunately, I haven't had any communication with him over the year. But, as I previously stated, his blog has played an instrumental part in conception of this blog and he deserves due credit for it.

Alex@And So It Begins: For being an inspiration to almost half of the posts on this blog with his encyclopedic knowledge of movies, and more than that for being such a great patron with a lot of encouragement. We are eagerly waiting for your film, Earrings !!

Ruth@...Let's be Splendid about This...:  For our mutual Ghibli love and for all the lovely comments over the time and 7x7 Link award which ungratefully I didn't reply to. So, maybe she will forgive me for that.

Scott@Front Room Cinema: For his persistence of commenting on almost every single post. He is being missed in this part of blogosphere but since he is enjoying a rare family time(or that's what he told me), I can't really complain.

Stevee@Cinematic Paradox: For giving U, Me and Films it's 1st ever Blogging award and for maintaining an awesome blog and for her rating system and for her running features. I am sure she will win quite a few Lammies this time around.

Tyler@Southern Vision: For being a great point of reference as far as foreign or art house movies are considered - I have always been in awe of his passion for it and For being go-to guy to find movies on YouTube :D

Nikhat@Being Norma Jeane: A fellow Indian movie blogger, who also writes about English movies in English(unfortunately, I haven't found many of us) and who also has a colorful and beautiful blog.

Sati@Cinematic Corner: For...Have you seen her blog ? You wouldn't ask why if you have. She has Best Design Lammy in her pocket and then she writes something stunning like this as well.

Chris@moviesandsongs365: Even though he hasn't done them in last couple of months due to the health reasons, I loved his eclectic reviews with much more information than just a normal review and his song suggestions are always awesome.

Mette@Lime Reviews and Strawberry Confessions: For being passionate about Indian movies more than lot of us, Indians are. If you look at her site, you will notice she has a lot more Bollywood stuff than me.

Never Too Early for Movie Predictions: He was one of those people who were extremely supportive and welcoming immediately after I joined LAMB and off course, all of us are in awe of his round the year Oscar predictions. You can count on my vote for this !! 

CS@Big Thoughts from a Small Mind: For all the blogging love shared.

Murtaza@A Potpurri of Vestiges: Another fellow Indian movie-blogger who writes a great blog with very detailed reviews.

Some of my favorite pod-casters Reel Insight, Matineecast, French Toast Sunday and off course LAMBCast and they all have phenomenal blogs that I am in constant awe of.

LAMB: Last but probably the most important, for giving the platform to come and talk with fellow movie geeks without feeling like the only person on the earth who cares about something like this.

And in the end, let me raise it to anyone and everyone, who has ever visited this blog or commented on it or who has ever tweeted with me sharing their opinions about movies, please come and join me on this festive occasion. There is a lot of room for you all !! I really do not know how long will I keep blogging. But with such an encouragement, I can only hope I will go on and on !!

HERE IS TO FIRST COMPLETE YEAR AND HOPEFULLY MORE TO COME !!

A Separation

I take my IMDb user account quite seriously. I have a habit of rating the movie on IMDb right after watching it. I also make lot of lists there, update them regularly and follow IMDb's lists as well. One such list is my watch-list for the IMDb Top 250 movies which is a list of movies I haven't seen from Top 250. For the longest time, Rear Window(1950) was my highest rated movie on that list, after that was Dr. Strangelove(1965) and now it is City Lights(1931). One fine day, about 6-7 months ago when I had not seen Rear Window yet, I realized that it wasn't first movie in my list anymore. Completely out of nowhere, a movie I had never heard of then took its place at the top of my list. That movie was A Separation(2011). This probably was the first time I heard of it and kept hearing about it since then as it collected awards after awards, praise after praise. That was until last week when I finally saw it and became one of them to be bowled over by the brilliance of this film.

This probably will not be like a normal reviews since I usually tend to discuss plot details in most of my reviews. But I have seen many reviews for A Separation after watching it and I agree with most of them when they say that it is impossible to discuss plot without giving any important spoilers away. For anyone who hasn't seen it yet, it will be criminal and if you have seen it, well, you anyway know everything. It might also make it a little shorter, but I can leave with it. All I will say is it is a story of a young couple going through difficult times in their marriage. Let me just introduce you to the characters - concerned couple is Simin and Nader. They have a 11 year old daughter Termeh. They also have Nader's old father leaving with them who has Alzheimer's and there is Razieh, a woman Nader has hired to look after his father. It takes hold of you from very first scene which probably is one of the best scenes you will ever see - a quick exchange of dialogues setting up the tone for next two hours as well as put us into perspective of what are we in for. There is no background music, there are no cuts. It relies on the acting skills of its two leads and their dialogue delivery and Boy, do they deliver! And so does the end. They could easily have cut it a minute earlier as Simin and Nader both come out of room but it lingers for a minute, giving you a full grasp of what Nader and Simin and going through, building the tension as if you are waiting for the decision as much as they are and then credit start to roll. I don't know about everyone but I was staring at the screen till the credits ended hoping maybe something will happen.

There are a lot of very subtle twists and turns in the plot which will make you question your loyalty to any side if at all you have already chosen a side. But as we go further in the movie we realize that there is no right side of it even though we can empathize with them. Everyone is doing what they are doing for one simple reason - to save their own skin. Asghar Farhadi, who directed as well as wrote this shows a great control by steering it in great direction at every turn. He not only made it interesting to watch on screen but harrowingly realistic in its cinematography and utterly thought-provoking. I saw it sometime last week and it had such a profound effect on me that I had to take some time to gather my thoughts enough to put this review together(So, excuse me, if it is not Coherent enough !!). His cast also deserves an equal credit since there is not a single character, small or big, which looses it's bearing at any point. Two leads Peyman Moadi and Leila Hatami along with Sareh Bayat as Raziah carry this film on their able shoulders. But, one I would really like to mention here is Sarina Farhadi who plays the role of daughter Termeh who if you haven't realized is daughter of the director Asghar Farhadi. Whole movie revolves around her and she does a great job of carrying that burden with maturity that is beyond her age.

It is not the first Iranian movie I saw. I have seen few before as Majid Majidi is one of the directors I have seen quite a bit of and I have immense respect for. But, I have a kind of Interesting pattern of watching Foreign Films e.g. I have seen at least a dozen Swedish films but they are either Bergman or few recent one's like The Girl with Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Similarly, all the Japanese movies are either Ghibli or Kurosawa. I know I am looking at the vast picture through a very small window and that does not make me a connoisseur but one thing that I have noted in all the Iranian movie I have seen is characters in these films are always very Iranian and at the same time they manage to be very Universal. Any character in these films can very well be the person sitting next to you, wherever in the world you might be. Main reason Farhadi's script or A Separation in general works for me is this universal appeal but by keeping them as close to their own soil, to their own culture. It uses no background music, it is completely shot with the handheld camera which gives it much more personal touch like you are watching these characters in person. Script is very well written to help us understand the characters, understand their lives, their perspective. I loved the small touches like Simin never lashes out on Nader's father even though he is the reason behind all her problems, she is always polite, always respectful. Touches like this make it impossible to hate any character even though you might think they are otherwise wrong - it makes them Human and for that alone, it deserves its Oscar and every other award it has got.

I refuse to look at it as the failure of Iranian Judicial System because I do not think that the questions this film asks us have any simple solution to it and that any judicial system would have helped it. And also without bringing politics in, because it has uncanny ability to make purest water murkier, I can only hope that this Oscar and all the attention it brings along, will help bring the Iranian Film Industry to a little normal state.

Rating(out of 5):

Profile of a Director

Mr. Reliable: Christopher Nolan
I studied English Literature. I wasn't a very good student, but one thing I did get from it, while I was making films at the same time with the college film society, was that I started thinking about the narrative freedoms that authors had enjoyed for centuries and it seemed to me that filmmakers should enjoy those freedoms as well. - Christopher Nolan

I have seen kind of polarized opinions about the director in question here - Christopher Nolan. I know a lot of people who consider him Greatest Director Ever and on the other hand I have seen or read many people calling him most over-rated director of all time as well. Even though I can see why haters hate him, hypothetically if ever a war breaks out between his devotees and his opposition, I will side up with his devotees as I still consider him as one of my favorite directors. Out of 10 movies he directed, 2 are shorts and 1 is still in production. So, out of remaining seven, his lowest rated movie is at 7.2, he has 5 movies in first half of IMDb 250, 1 in top 10, 2 in top 20, 3 in top 50 and 4 in top 100 - numbers don't lie. Do they? He is probably the only director I have seen whole work body of and one of the directors I have learned to trust blindly even though I still have my reservations going as far as naming him the Greatest director ever.

When it comes to English movie world, I have been a kind of late bloomer. English being my Third Language, I started learning English at the age of 10. Till I was 16, it was just a subject in school I had to get through. After I was introduced to Harry Potter, I started reading English books at the age of 16. Conversational English came a little later at around 20 and was soon followed by the movies. So to tell you the truth, I have been a serious movie enthusiast for just about 5 years now. So, it probably will come as a surprise, but first time I heard of anyone called Christopher Nolan was when The Dark Knight(2008) released in 2008 and it swept me off my feet. Watching The Dark Knight was an experience like I never had. Two and half hours of continuous high-octane action was too much for me. Walking out of the theater, after watching it for the first time, I could not remember half of the things I saw but I knew I just saw something great, something I will not be able to describe in words. For a novice like me who didn't know much about Batman, It took me around 2 more viewings to get around to know Batman's world completely. Till today, I still haven't seen any other version of Batman, but to tell you the truth, I never felt like it as well. I have been content with Nolan and his version.

 

As the years passed by, I became more and more avid movie-goer and Nolan became a household name for me. I got around to all the other movies on his resume as well. Probably The Prestige(2006) was the first one to go down. Again, I found it hard to follow all the twists and turns in the end. Similar experience like The Dark Knight. It demanded multiple viewings but has never failed to amaze me even when I knew what to expect next. And so did Memento(1999). Just an idea of starting the movie at the end and then coming towards the start is simply phenomenal and then to do it when you are virtually unknown will need insurmountable courage and confidence. But, Boy! did it pay off? He again kept me busy throughout the movie, putting all the pieces together. Then there is first installment of Batman Trilogy, Batman Begins(2004). Here, Nolan shows us how a great franchise should start. It might be a little slower in comparison to some of his other films, but by no means it is any inferior to any of them. And then thanks to Netflix, I also got around to Insomnia(2003) and his debut feature Following(1997). However, for me highlight of his career or rather my whole film-watching experience has been Inception(2010). For the better part of 2010, I was following every news, every picture, every trailer. So by the time it released I had sky loads of expectations and it is always great to see something you love go beyond your expectations.

 

With his usual crew of cinematographer Wally Pfister, Composer Hans Zimmer, Editor Lee Smith, Wife-Producer Emma Thomas and writer-brother Jonathan Nolan along with the cast of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Cilian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Nolan has created movies which are not just entertaining or commercially successful but are real masterpieces. Strong characters, catchy dialogues, amazing action scenes, great pace and to add it to all extremely well thought musical scores have always been some of the highlights of his movies. But, like any notable director, he never loses the sight of what his movie needs to accomplish and like a master craftsman when he reaches their, we can only stand and adore what lies before us. All the factors above make a movie stand out from the crowd but they are mere embellishments. At its core, any movie worth remembering needs to have a Story and in my opinion, that is where Nolan's actual achievement lies. Standout factors in his movies all his career so far have been his Screenplays and the way he brings them forward for all us viewers in his direction. Academy can snub him as much as they want but this will be what Nolan will be remembered and respected for by all his fans. 

But still, I am uncomfortable comparing him with the likes of Hitchcock and Scorsese and Spielberg and Wilder. Why? Because he is just 41 yet. Because he has made only 10 films. He sure is one of the most exciting, young directors to watch for and I am sure he still has many more tricks up his sleeve to dazzle us. He still has a lot of years left in him to take his career whichever way he wants. So, let us not pass any judgement yet. Just wait and enjoy the show while we can. He is a kind of director I will watch anything of just because him name is associated with it. I am even taking Zack Snyder's Man of Steel(2013) seriously because Nolan is given the credit of it's story. All the buzz behind The Dark Knight Rises(2012) should bare testimony for it as well. Even though I am being cautious comparing him with the likes of Scorsese and Spielberg,  I firmly believe that he does the have a potential to be up there. He has proven it time and again and these coming years will also be witness to that.    

Previous Profiles:
Sidney Lumet
Martin Scorsese

Woody Allen

In the Mood for Love AKA movie that saved my weekend

Friday, 27th Januray 2012. I am done with my masters, big burden off my shoulders. I am already planning my weekend ahead. I have seen only 2 movies in the whole 2 weeks before that, so I already have few DVDs checked out from my library. I come home, relieved and high in anticipation to make up for my last 2 weeks. First up is Witness for the Prosecution(1957), something which I wanted to see for a long time but let me just say it wasn't up to the Billy Wilder standards. I am starting to think that Agatha Christie books are damn good books but somehow they don't transfer into great screenplays. Next up is highly anticipated Akira(2001). It turns out to be Scarface(1983) of Anime, if that makes any sense to you. Does everything had to be that over the top ? Little disappointed but still hopeful because next one is Michael Heneke's Code Unknown(2000). It will be way to premature to say anything about it because I am almost sure that I haven't understood it. So, it remains more like 'Work in Progress'. So, by Sunday afternoon, I am pretty desperate, almost begging on my knees: 'Please let me like the next movie I watch'. So, I keep Dr.Strangelove(1965) aside because I am not a Kubrick fan traditionally, dig into my Netflix queue, go up and down few times and decide to go with In the Mood for Love(2000) and Thank God for that !! It made my weekend.

Set in Shanghaiese enclave of Hong Kong in 1962, In the Mood for Love(2000) tells us the story centered on two couples or rather two halves of young couples leaving as tenants, across the hall from each other. We have Mrs. Chan, who works as a secretary in the export company and her husband works for a multinational company which keeps on sending him on frequent trips to Japan and Mr. Chow, who is a newspaper editor and his wife also does a job which keeps on sending her out a lot. After they move in as neighbors on the same day, they get introduced to each other as anyone of us would to our neighbors - occasional hi-hello, a casual smile and eventually warm up to each other with more interaction and their common liking of martial arts stories. Mr. Chow is having a little problem in his marriage since he found out that his wife lied to him about something. One of his colleagues plants a seed of doubt in his mind when he tells him that he saw his wife with another man. Initially, he discards the seemingly outrageous thought but then he notices that Mrs. Chan has exact same handbag as his wife. He decides to talk to her and see if he can make any sense out of it. When they meet over dinner, they realize that both their spouses are cheating on them with each other and they both suspected it all along.

Now that they know the truth, they are drawn together being passengers on the same train. They wonder how did their spouse's affair start ? Help each other confronting their spouses by role playing and if nothing else helps, be there for each other when they both are lonely. Even though their intentions are admirable to start with, as they keep on spending more time together, borders start to faze out. Director Kar Wai Wong takes a simple story, the restraint and growing passion between these two people and then go on playing endless blue notes to get us hooked. Without actually showing anything on screen, he uses rain and eye gestures to do the work of creating the right mood to the great effect. One more thing he uses really well is their role playing game , which starts as to help each other understand what exactly happened. However, when they both are not sure of how many borders they are ready to cross, unsuspectingly they cross the borders of their roles and what we get is an extremely vivid collage of their feelings. One more fun fact, apparently Wong never uses any script. Most of his work is improvisation, deciding which direction to head next on the spur, crafting the story and mood as he went along.

It bagged Actor's Award and technical prize which includes editing, cinematography and production design. If you have seen few Chinese movies, you might recognize Tony Leung who did Leo DiCaprio's role from The Departed(2006) in original Infernal Affairs(2002) or General Zhou Yu in Red Cliff (2008-09) double and amazing Maggie Cheung. She looks so stunning in it that I am sure her husband was blind to cheat on her. There is no way, a man can cheat on her with his eyes open, there just isn't. Apparently, lot of effort was put in to make her look pretty. According to IMDb, she has worn 46 different cheung-won dresses in the movie, different one for each scene and it used to take 5 hours to do her hair and make-up. Apart from being visually brilliant with exceptional use of slow motion to set mood for viewers, one more very striking thing about it is, this Soundtrack called "Yumeji's Theme" is probably one of the best I have heard ever. It is not only sensual but is used to the ultimate effect to set the tone throughout the movie. If all this doesn't put you in mood, probably nothing will.

Rating(out of 5):