Touching the Void

This is one of the nicest documentaries that I have seen. In fact, this can very well qualify to be one of the awesome'st films that I have seen. Truly weird that this story is a depiction of a real-life incidant.



Joe and Simon are two hot-headed mountaineers who want to win over Siula Grande, an unscaled mountain in Peru. In the process, Joe breaks his leg. Simon faces the difficult choice of a life-time. And miracles happen as Joe survives, battles with his sanity and then descends the slopes.



The tagline of the movie is - The closer you are to death. The more you realize you are alive. Need I say more ? Kevin MacDonald is the director and the real Joe Simpson is the writer. Kudos.

Smultronstället

I finally got to see the movies of Ingmar Bergman. There was a film festival of sorts in the local movie club and they screened 8 of his movies. I got to watch 5.

Of these, I have decided to blog about Wild Strawberries because it is the first one that I have seen. And also, it is a little different from the rest.

I have always thought of the medium of film as a medium of story-telling (I am a huge fan of George Lucas) But to Ingmar Bergman, a movie is a totally different medium. His movies are like photographs, actually photographs of loneliness. People and objects move, true, but the movie ultimately conveys one single emotion; and usually, that emotion is the loneliness and the misery of people.

I always like movies which show change. Which show how the character gets morphed into a different personality through the course of time.

But Ingmar Bergman refuses to use the dimension of time that this medium offers for showing change. Instead he concentrates on creating brutally honest and violently haunting pictures of people. Bergman actually is a supernatural geinus for making pictures like these. I have become so depressed after seeing a couple of movies that have decided to skip watching some of them.

For example, take the case of Persona - a movie with only 2 characters, a nurse and a patient who was an actress. Of these 2, the second character does not even speak in the movie. How could anyone make a movie with only one character talking. But there - Bergman does a brilliant job of this.



Wild Strawberries is a little different from the rest of the movies. It is a little bit more jovial and has a multitude of scenes that happen. The first thing that has to be mentioned in this movie is the absolutely brilliant acting. But brilliant acting is such a commonplace thing in Bergman movies that it doesn't have to be mentioned at all.

An aging medical professor is going to get an honorary degree. On his journey, he is tormented by several dreams and memories of his past life. In the movie, not even a single frame is wasted without raising questions about death, loneliness, human-ness etc.. I am a mere mortal and I cannot talk about the supernatural ability in which these issues have been handled. You cannot appreciate them without watching the movie, (actually without watching the movie several times; I have seen it only once).



A special mention goes to Ingrid Thulin. I should mention this one particular scene in which the camera shows a close-up of her face, as she watches in horror over a rigid, lonely, old woman. I was shocked to see the screen. I was thinking "Who is this !!! Why is she staring at me !! Is she acting or did she just walk out of the screen into the world !!" Without a doubt, this actress, is the most brilliant actress that I have yet seen. She appears in several of Bergman' s movies and I have seen perform in a more outrageous manner in Winter Light

Cidade de Deus

Drugs, guns and poverty - a very deadly combination. But sadly there are millions of people in the world today who live sorrounded by such a climate. The City of God is a movie about those people. But this is not a documentary - but a work of art and a brilliant piece of story-telling.




Cidade de deus is a slum (favelas) in the city of Rio de Genero. This movie traces the stories of a few children who grow up in this violent and drug-ridden neighbourhood. The protagonist of the story finally becomes a photographer and successfully escapes the inevitable destiny of becoming a mafia hoodlum. But all the other characters succumb to this eventuality - get dragged deep inside this vicious cycle of killings, arson, drugs, moral depravation and death.




Fernando Meirelles, the director, won rave accolades for the movie. (He deserves each single iota of them). The movie is a harsh picture of reality, but the director manages to give an artistic feel to all the frames. The credit also goes to the cinematography, the music and not the least, the superb acting by all the actors. I watched this movie today, and was later browsing about Brazil. I found out several interesting things - that Sao Paoulo, the economical capital of Brazil, has the highest number of helicopters per capita than any other city (the rich people use helicopters to shuttle between the offices and their residences, thereby avoiding the crime-ridden slums) - that the favelas exist right in the middle of the city (economically and racially seggregating the poor.. sounds a little like Mumbai) - and that Sep 7, i.e today, was the independance day of Brazil !!

Blade Runner

I heard a lot about this movie and finally could get to watch it. Was very eager to gather a few philosophical motivations. But this movie took me by surprise. This movie is not exactly futuristic or clever with regards to the machine intelligence question.



But this movie is ...lovely. It is like looking at a painting or reading a poem. It guides you into a mystical wonderland where you understand what it is for a machine to feel emotion. Then you sympathise with it, feel sorry for it and eventually fall in love with it.



You do not wish to take sides with either the humans or the replicants. You understand the limitations of logic when it comes to framing opinions like this. Finally, you deeply question the human-ness that is you.



Ofcourse the biggest gift for the movie is the background score by vangelis. I completely forgot myself when I was watching this lovely bit where the replicant tries to be a human and loosens her hair and eventually gets kissed.

The cinematography is also pure magic. Ridley Scott successfully creates an ambience that is so rich and tantalizing that this movie can be nothing short of a genuine classic.

Trois Coleurs - Rouge

Krzysztof Kieslowski has concluded his career with this movie. It is part of a trilogy (blue, white and red) which are inspired from the 3 colors of the French flag and their ideals (liberty, equality and fraternity).



I have not seen Bleu but I have seen Blanc (white). The brilliance of the screenplay and that of the direction is evident all over the film but the story is very winding and not completely to my taste.

In contrast, Rouge is a brilliant masterpiece in every department. But it is the awesome cinematography which takes the cake. Some shots in the movie will haunt you for a pretty long time.



The story is about a disgruntled solitary retired judge who taps into the telephones and spies on his neighbours' conversations discreetly. A young model stumbles upon him and knows his secret. The immense dislike and hatred that she feels for him gradually soften into warmth, friendship and love.

The story is very open ended and the director refuses to give us any conclusions from the film. It is one of those films, whose only message seems to be "Life is complicated" :) But the myriad facets of life and all its emotions are portrayed in a delicious manner.

Malena

Walk bravely in the world. It takes courage to walk in this world, to speak with people, to dream dreams.

I watched this movie yesterday and I am still in the state of shock and awe - over the way this masterpiece is crafted. Each frame speaks for the genius and the pain that went behind. Salutes to Giuseppe Tornatore and Luciano Vincenzoni.

Young Renato is played by a very promising and amazing actor. Strangely sharing the same first name of the director.

Monica Bellucci deserves a standing ovation. It is so hard to believe that somebody who looks so stunning could act so divine.

imdb on Malena