End of 2012: 15 Favourite Films

Over the past 4 months, I have been trying to finish the wishlist of 2012 movies as much as possible. To this day, I have seen 75 movies released in the last year. However, with Oscars over, it is time to wrap-up the 2012 once and for all. To start off, I give you the list of 15 Favourite movies of the year. It will be followed by favourite Performances lists, Male and Female, which will leave me free to pursue all the rest of the movies that I have kept aside in last few months. 

2012 was a strong year for movies. I am not saying this only because I saw more movies this year(71) than last year(47). But also because how I rated them. Throughout the year, I kept the list of movies I saw in this calender year on Letterboxd and according to that list, I have 28 movie rated 4 and higher and 52  rated 3 and half or higher. That is really good year !! You can see the whole list here but for now, let us get to this list.

15) The Dark Knight Rises: Part of me still thinks that I decided to do 'Top 15' list so that I could include Rises. I could've done standard Top 10 or Top 20 but I decided to go with 15. I don't know why, all I do know is I can't help being a Christopher Nolan fan-boy. Is it a perfect movie? I am afraid, no. It is not even my favourite of the trilogy but I think this was a very fitting finale of one of the best trilogies. You can talk about all the plot holes in the movie and say it is illogical that Bruce Wayne just kinda walks from his prison suddenly to Gotham city but it DID NOT bother me, at all. So, there you go!!

14) Oslo, August 31: About six months ago, this little Norwegian movie was nowhere on my radar. First I heard about this, I even dismissed this for being just another addiction movie. We have seen enough of them in last few years. Fast forward to now and almost everyone I know who has seen this movie is ready to vouch for it and I am not the one to object. Despite being 'just another addiction movie', it is not exactly that because of the two things - brutal honesty of its script and the excellent execution of it by Anders Danielsen Lie, who will make another appearance in next list, in the leading role.

13) Compliance: Almost everyone who has seen this movie has come out saying its good that what we see in this movie has actually happened because otherwise it is impossible to believe that people can be that stupid. I understand the irony of statement but I have to agree. Almost throughout the movie, I did not believe it for a second that this can actually happen. Imagine my surprise when I realized that not only every word of it is true but it has also happened, over and over.

12) Holy Motors: One of the most controversial, or should I say divisive movies of the year and incidentally not the only one in this list. Reactions for this movie have been all over the place. Denis Lavant and his multiple, outrageous personifications have been the make or break condition for this movie. To me, there was more than enough heart in it to just discard it as a gimmick. I was fascinated by his roles which more than once fooled me, thinking the role he is playing is his real life. Probably my favourite performance of the year.

11) The Perks of being a Wallflower: Perks is one of the movies that I wasn't much excited about until I heard everyone rave about it. They did build up my expectations but now I was running a risk of something being over-hyped. Thirty minutes into the movie, I was sure of it as it really didn't do much for me. I don't remember if there was one point where that changed or it just grew on me minute by minute, but something did happen and it just worked. I was completely taken by the end of it, I was involved in it, I started to care about the characters. I wish I had some better explanation but it just worked.

10) Django Unchained: For the first time, I felt like I know when people talk about Tarantino and his indulgence. But, guess what? I did not give a damn. Its Tarantino. If he does anything, I mean anything, off course, we will all be there, right? So if he won't, who will? And besides, I really enjoyed it a lot. I enjoyed the story which Tarantino seamlessly takes through multiple genres, loved the characters, loved the actors playing them even more. Foxx, DiCaprio and many others in whatever small role they had did a great job. Samuel Jackson kicked some serious ass but Waltz was a real highlight for me and naturally, I was happy to see him get rewarded at Oscars. 

9) Once Upon a Time in Anatolia: One of the most beautiful looking movies I have seen. Before this movie, I never thought that even a barren piece of desert can look so beautiful. Add the subtle humour and social commentary of this movie to it and we have something really different, something that we rarely see. Little over 100 minutes of this movie feature a hunt for a body. As far as that hunt is concerned, this movie progresses at a snail's pace where rarely anything happens but despite that, there were so many interesting things going on with these people involved in it that this became the most fascinating hunt I have seen in long time. It would have been much higher in here if it sustained after they find the body.

8) The Sessions: I never thought I would like this movie as much as I did and for that I have to give credit to John Hawkes' brilliant performance, Helen Hunt's frankness and honesty in her role and most importantly, to Ben Lewis' writing and direction to give the maturity and lightheartedness to the whole movie that is basically about losing virginity and involves so much of nudity. Helen Hunt played major part in doing that but it was John Hawkes' movie from the start and he does wonders under the limitations of his role - Mark O'Brien, a man in an iron lung. I won't complain much but I would have loved to see him getting that nomination he deserved.

7) English Vinglish: 2012 was a great year for Indian cinema as well. At least, at the end of the year I have 5 movies that I can say I genuinely liked, something I had to stretch for in 2011 and 2010. So, the Indian in me is immensely happy that I found a Hindi movie worthy of making into a Top 10. A movie that made it to TIFF is also the one that marks return of Sridevi, one of the most sought after actresses of 80s and early 90s. Director Gauri Shinde's first directorial attempt is pure bliss, a perfect movie even in its imperfect moments such as Shashi's speech at the end. For an Indian living abroad, even though none as humiliating, I have gone through few similar incidents myself and Shinde captures them rather beautifully.

6) Cloud Atlas: If you go back to the excerpt I wrote when I saw it back in November in that month's wrap-up post, I said that one thing I appreciate most about Cloud Atlas is for a movie with such a scope, it had lot of heart. From the moment we all saw its first trailer, I am sure we all knew that this movie had a gigantic scope - Six stories, hordes of characters, story lines spanning multiple centuries, even millenniums and three directors. That was never a surprise, I knew that I will have to watch it multiple times to really get it. All I wanted was for it to engage me enough to warrant those re-watches. What made Cloud Atlas appear in this list is not only that it succeeded in engaging me, it surprised me with its heart.

5) The Master: Just after getting out of the theater after watching The Master, I was trying to gauge what my final reaction to it is. I still haven't finished. There is lot to like - amazing cinematography, beautiful score, some great scenes - their first processing, The Amy Adams scene or Hoffman's explosion both times he is questioned and three performances, powerful and subtle or may be not at all subtle, either way. But I could not stop thinking about it. Every time I thought I am reaching a verdict, I would think of something else and process would start again.but I never stopped thinking and no movie has done that to me in a long time. Result: No. 5 on my end-of-year list.

4) Intouchables: A Quadriplegic man hires a young man from projects to be his caretaker. What would you think this movie can be about? War between two different worlds, two classes, races the men come from? Not really. How we can get help from most unlikely sources and change our lives forever? Most Certainly. But from all this, would you expect such a movie to be humorous? Most memorable thing about Intouchables was the amount of comedy in it without loosing the seriousness of the topic. There were multiple moments in the film where I found it hard to contain my laughter. How this film wasn't nominated this year for Foreign Oscar is absolutely beyond me.

3) Argo: This year's big winner with Best Film and Best original screenplay. It made a lot of headlines over the whole award season with winning almost everywhere and as it started winning, people flipped all over it. Apparently then, it wasn't good enough for many people as soon as it made Awards splash. For me, it always was, since the day I saw it. I am currently reading Sidney Lumet's amazing book - Making Movies, in which he says that a good movie is usually bigger than the sum of all its parts. Argo was one such movie for me. There is no one department that stands out but as a whole, I loved that product. Apparently, the fact that I had no idea about the actual event it is based on helped immensely but then again, it is not as much about the end result as about the arches of all the characters. 

2) The Imposter: Another movie I am glad is a true story since I would've never believed it to be true. It is too nifty for its own good. So slick that from the first minute of it I never believed it is true, even though I knew it is. The way Bourdin looks, his accent and even the way he behaves wasn't helping his cause. When Nick's sister comes in and takes him for her brother, I could not think of why would she? except, maybe as he himself says later, because they Want to believe it. But what elevated The Imposter to this rank in the list is the last half hour of it, after Bourdin's true identity is revealed and story of what really happened to Nicholas starts to unfold. Also, bone-chilling calmness with which Bourdin tells the whole story. There is not a hint of remorse on his face anywhere. He is rather enjoying this sick, psychopathic play and for the life of me, I can't fathom the fact that such a person even has a life.

1) Amour: Second year in a row where Foreign film tops my end of the year list, and another movie that as much as I love, I am in no hurry to go back to. Last year it was Incendies(2011); this year it is Amour, Michael Haneke's Palm d'Or winner. Haneke's depiction of an old couple in the last few days in wife's life has been called slow death, it has also been denied being called even a movie. I completely understand every criticism against it, I also see where that comes from. I imagine myself in that same position, especially given the reaction to Haneke's other movies, had I not been through what I have in my own world. I just think I understood what he was going for and it touched me somewhere deep down. It is extremely well acted, Emmanuelle Riva was my pick of this year's Best Actress nominees and technically perfect. Haneke's movies almost always have been provocative, at least in a way they evoke emotional response from the viewer. However, one thing I liked about Amour is he kinda takes a step back in here from delivering the final fatal blow that Haneke mercilessly does in his other films. I guess, that might have been the ONE thing that did the trick for me.

Next up will be my favourite Male performances of the year. Please let me know what do you think of this list in the comments.

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 ?

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):