Till a few years back, Pune was a city with the old world charm. It was a city of pensioners, students and factory workers. And the city would go to sleep as early as eight o'clock. And the nighshifts were for the factory workers.
Now, the city of the pensioners has graduated to the city of the BPOs, where the line between day and night has just dissolved.
And as the city matures, so is its night life. No, we are not talk-ing about the BPO employees going to work at 12 midnight. There are a host of other people for whom their day starts at night - Be it the anda-bhurji vendor at Shivajinagar station or the autorikshaw driver at Pune station, or the massage-walla at Appa Balwant Chowk or the ice-cream vendor in Fergusson College road, there are business opportunities at the dead of the night as well. And what about the revellers?
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Asian Film Festival
When the Fifth Asian Film Festival ends on November 8, 2007 it will be the first time that an international film festival will have showcased a Marathi film as its closing film.
Umesh Kulkarni’s directorial debut ‘Valu’, starring Atul Kulkarni, is the chosen one. The film tells a simple, hilarious tale of the misadventures of a bull in a remote Maharashtrian village. The cast and crew of the film will be present on the occasion.
The festival, presented by the Aashay Film Club and the Indira School of Communication, in association with the Asian Film Foundation, Mumbai, begins on November 1.
The festival will be inaugurated by director Madhur Bhandarkar at 5 pm on the first day. Chairman of the Asian Film Foundation, Mumbai, Kiran V. Shantaram will be the chief guest.
“The festival has always worked towards giving a platform to up-coming filmmakers. Therefore, we have invited Bhandarkar, who has already carved a niche for himself in the Hindi film industry,” said festival director Virendra Chitrav, at a news conference at City Pride Multiplex, Kothrud on Friday. The festival will be held at the multiplex and the National Film Archive of India. The opening ceremony will be held at City Pride, Kothrud.
This year’s ‘Zenith Asia Award’ will be conferred on veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra. Other recipients of the award include Aparna Sen and Iranian director Majid Majidi.
On the occasion, Chopra’s first film, ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ (1958) and one of his later films, ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai’ (1997), will be screened to give the audience an idea of how Chopra’s craft developed over the years.
The festival will open with Iranian film ‘Poet of the Wastes’, directed by Mohammad Ahmadi. The film tells the story of a street cleaner who discovers the secrets of the neighbourhood while collecting garbage and, in the process, gets involves in romantic and social adventures.
The highlight of this year’s festival is the section called, ‘Introducing Chinese Cinema' where eight Chinese films made in the last seven years will be screened.
Other categories include, ‘Spectrum Asia’, comprising 25 films from 13 Asian countries including Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc; ‘Indian Vista’ with regional language films including those in Kannada, Malayalam, Assamese and Bengali; ‘Tribute to the Master’ comprising three film by Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa; ‘Best of Asia’; FTII’s new film, ‘Jab Din Chale Na Rat Chale’ directed by Tripurari Sharan and a retrospective of Nagesh Kuknoor’s films.
There will be a whole section dedicated to Marathi films. “Post ‘Shwaas’, it has been a good time for Marathi films,” Chitrav said, adding that four films, ‘Maibaap’, ‘Tingya’, ‘Kalchakra’ and ‘Evadhese Abhal’ would be shown in this year’s Indian panorama. Other Marathi films include ‘Kadachit’ and ‘Jinki Re Jinki’.
Passes for the festival are available at City Pride, Kothrud and Satara road and at NFAI.
MUST-SEE FILMS
Poet of the Wastes (Dir. Mohammad Ahmad, Iran, 2005)
Bliss (Dir. Abdullah Oguz, Turkey, 2006)
Samar (Dir. Shyam Benegal, India, 1998)
King and the Clown (Dir. Lee Jun-ik, Korea, 2005)
The Struggler (Dir Mahesh Manjerkar, Hindi, 2007)
Tingya (Dir Mangesh Hadawale, India, 2007)
Valu (Dir. Umesh Kulkarni, India, 2007)
Umesh Kulkarni’s directorial debut ‘Valu’, starring Atul Kulkarni, is the chosen one. The film tells a simple, hilarious tale of the misadventures of a bull in a remote Maharashtrian village. The cast and crew of the film will be present on the occasion.
The festival, presented by the Aashay Film Club and the Indira School of Communication, in association with the Asian Film Foundation, Mumbai, begins on November 1.
The festival will be inaugurated by director Madhur Bhandarkar at 5 pm on the first day. Chairman of the Asian Film Foundation, Mumbai, Kiran V. Shantaram will be the chief guest.
“The festival has always worked towards giving a platform to up-coming filmmakers. Therefore, we have invited Bhandarkar, who has already carved a niche for himself in the Hindi film industry,” said festival director Virendra Chitrav, at a news conference at City Pride Multiplex, Kothrud on Friday. The festival will be held at the multiplex and the National Film Archive of India. The opening ceremony will be held at City Pride, Kothrud.
This year’s ‘Zenith Asia Award’ will be conferred on veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra. Other recipients of the award include Aparna Sen and Iranian director Majid Majidi.
On the occasion, Chopra’s first film, ‘Dhool Ka Phool’ (1958) and one of his later films, ‘Dil Toh Pagal Hai’ (1997), will be screened to give the audience an idea of how Chopra’s craft developed over the years.
The festival will open with Iranian film ‘Poet of the Wastes’, directed by Mohammad Ahmadi. The film tells the story of a street cleaner who discovers the secrets of the neighbourhood while collecting garbage and, in the process, gets involves in romantic and social adventures.
The highlight of this year’s festival is the section called, ‘Introducing Chinese Cinema' where eight Chinese films made in the last seven years will be screened.
Other categories include, ‘Spectrum Asia’, comprising 25 films from 13 Asian countries including Malaysia, Philippines, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Thailand etc; ‘Indian Vista’ with regional language films including those in Kannada, Malayalam, Assamese and Bengali; ‘Tribute to the Master’ comprising three film by Japanese maestro Akira Kurosawa; ‘Best of Asia’; FTII’s new film, ‘Jab Din Chale Na Rat Chale’ directed by Tripurari Sharan and a retrospective of Nagesh Kuknoor’s films.
There will be a whole section dedicated to Marathi films. “Post ‘Shwaas’, it has been a good time for Marathi films,” Chitrav said, adding that four films, ‘Maibaap’, ‘Tingya’, ‘Kalchakra’ and ‘Evadhese Abhal’ would be shown in this year’s Indian panorama. Other Marathi films include ‘Kadachit’ and ‘Jinki Re Jinki’.
Passes for the festival are available at City Pride, Kothrud and Satara road and at NFAI.
MUST-SEE FILMS
Poet of the Wastes (Dir. Mohammad Ahmad, Iran, 2005)
Bliss (Dir. Abdullah Oguz, Turkey, 2006)
Samar (Dir. Shyam Benegal, India, 1998)
King and the Clown (Dir. Lee Jun-ik, Korea, 2005)
The Struggler (Dir Mahesh Manjerkar, Hindi, 2007)
Tingya (Dir Mangesh Hadawale, India, 2007)
Valu (Dir. Umesh Kulkarni, India, 2007)
Nightwatch in a dead city
What makes a city a city? Of course, its nightlife (no, we are not talking about the BPOs and the killer cabs they travel on)! We are talking about place we can hang around even at the dead of night, for this is the only time we are free.
In this context, our good ol' Pune is not a city at all. Let's explain.
The other day, we were out of office at the stroke of midnight. Our destination was a place where we can get some booze. And believe or not, we scanned the length and breath of the city, and did not find a place where they would help us get drunk.
Someone suggested the pubs. But our girlfriends were already asleep in their respective houses and the nighclubs would 'scream' at us ‘stags’.
Another friend suggested a star hotel in Camp. Once we reached there, the person in charge politely told us they can’t even give us food, let alone booze.
But our gang was adamant. One of them, a motormouth, went to the reception, and said, in a sad note that we have been taken for a ride. It seems we were misinformed by Firoze.
Firoze who? Firoze Daruwalla, of course.
But who's he anyway? We did not have a clue. But the reception seemed to have recognised that name. One of them politely led us to a smoky room.
The person in charge there ushered us in grumpily, closed the door behind us, and said, please order very fast, we are already closed.
We gauged the situation and placed orders for three rounds together. The man in black suit came again. No sir, we don't have the time to entertain you for three pegs. At the most, we can give you a parcel.
That was okay. But what pissed us off was that we were not even allowed to finish one round in peace.
Finally, when they got rid of us, it was 2 in the morning and the city was already dead, with some stray dogs keeping vigil.
A sad scene for a thriving city.
In this context, our good ol' Pune is not a city at all. Let's explain.
The other day, we were out of office at the stroke of midnight. Our destination was a place where we can get some booze. And believe or not, we scanned the length and breath of the city, and did not find a place where they would help us get drunk.
Someone suggested the pubs. But our girlfriends were already asleep in their respective houses and the nighclubs would 'scream' at us ‘stags’.
Another friend suggested a star hotel in Camp. Once we reached there, the person in charge politely told us they can’t even give us food, let alone booze.
But our gang was adamant. One of them, a motormouth, went to the reception, and said, in a sad note that we have been taken for a ride. It seems we were misinformed by Firoze.
Firoze who? Firoze Daruwalla, of course.
But who's he anyway? We did not have a clue. But the reception seemed to have recognised that name. One of them politely led us to a smoky room.
The person in charge there ushered us in grumpily, closed the door behind us, and said, please order very fast, we are already closed.
We gauged the situation and placed orders for three rounds together. The man in black suit came again. No sir, we don't have the time to entertain you for three pegs. At the most, we can give you a parcel.
That was okay. But what pissed us off was that we were not even allowed to finish one round in peace.
Finally, when they got rid of us, it was 2 in the morning and the city was already dead, with some stray dogs keeping vigil.
A sad scene for a thriving city.
Best of the Westerns
Directed by: Sergio Leone
Starring: Henry Fonda (Frank), Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain) Jason Robards (Cheyenne) Charles Bronson (Harmonica) Gabriele Ferzetti (Morton (railroad baron))
The ultimate spaghetti western, the best movie made by Sergio Leone, the best example of the genre, barring probably, The Good, The Best and The Ugly that made Clint Eastwood a star - yet you'll need loads of patience to see the film in 2007. One it's too long, two it's too slow and three too unexplainable.
But take heart. Spend a patient half an hour and you are hooked - not because of the story, not because of the ruthless vista where the story is set, but because of the characters, distinctly larger-than-life, in clothes, appearance, movement, and deliciously ambivalent - you neither can take their side not can leave them alone.
A woman with a past, Jill comes to the arid landscape to meet her husband and his family. As she reaches there, the family is killed. Evidence points out that it's the work of Cheyenne's gang. People suspect that Jill's husband must have a lot of money, hence the enmity.
Soon the main characters are introduced: Cheyenne (Jason Robards), the charming bandit who has just run away from the jail, and who claims that he does not have anything to do with the killing of Jill's husband, a nameless harmonica player (Charles Bronson) with an unknown purpose, and Frank (Henry Fonda) who actually killed the man in question because he and his employee wanted the land. They did not actually envisioned the appearance of a woman claim the dead man's property.
Here begins the drama, criss-crossing the lives of three man and one woman.
The bandit becomes protective about the woman, so does harmonica, for a reason of his own - he wants revenge.
Watch out for the final face off between harmonica and Frank, the flirting between Jill and Cheyenne, and the haunting, moody music...
And the languid photography, as if each scene of was masterpiece painting...
The see the film all over again...
Starring: Henry Fonda (Frank), Claudia Cardinale (Jill McBain) Jason Robards (Cheyenne) Charles Bronson (Harmonica) Gabriele Ferzetti (Morton (railroad baron))
The ultimate spaghetti western, the best movie made by Sergio Leone, the best example of the genre, barring probably, The Good, The Best and The Ugly that made Clint Eastwood a star - yet you'll need loads of patience to see the film in 2007. One it's too long, two it's too slow and three too unexplainable.
But take heart. Spend a patient half an hour and you are hooked - not because of the story, not because of the ruthless vista where the story is set, but because of the characters, distinctly larger-than-life, in clothes, appearance, movement, and deliciously ambivalent - you neither can take their side not can leave them alone.
A woman with a past, Jill comes to the arid landscape to meet her husband and his family. As she reaches there, the family is killed. Evidence points out that it's the work of Cheyenne's gang. People suspect that Jill's husband must have a lot of money, hence the enmity.
Soon the main characters are introduced: Cheyenne (Jason Robards), the charming bandit who has just run away from the jail, and who claims that he does not have anything to do with the killing of Jill's husband, a nameless harmonica player (Charles Bronson) with an unknown purpose, and Frank (Henry Fonda) who actually killed the man in question because he and his employee wanted the land. They did not actually envisioned the appearance of a woman claim the dead man's property.
Here begins the drama, criss-crossing the lives of three man and one woman.
The bandit becomes protective about the woman, so does harmonica, for a reason of his own - he wants revenge.
Watch out for the final face off between harmonica and Frank, the flirting between Jill and Cheyenne, and the haunting, moody music...
And the languid photography, as if each scene of was masterpiece painting...
The see the film all over again...
Funny Business of Love
Hitch
Directed by: Andy Tennant
Starring: Will Smith (Alex 'Hitch' Hitchens), Eva Mendes (Sara) Kevin James (Albert) Amber Valletta (Allegra Cole)
Love happens. But to make it happen, love too needs help. And to achieve that you need the help of Hitch, the Date Doctor. No, we're not talking about Salman Khan starrer Hindi film 'Partner', which is no doubt a copy of the original Hollywood film, 'Hitch'. The Will Smith starrer is a cute, charming and situationaly funny. Even Eva Mendes does look good and acts well. And Will Smith as the Smart Alec Date Doctor works.
He teaches nervous, tongue-tied men to turn into a Casanova. She is a journalist, who does not want to have anything to do with men. Their path crosses and he charms her sufficiently. But she is after the so-called Date Doctor and all set to expose him even if at the expense of her love. Then, there's is sub-plot where an obese, clumsy man falls for his sophisticated socielite boss and solicits Hitch's help.
All these tangles, like a traditional rom-com, until it's all well that ends well - white gown, churches and 'I Do', but not before a lot of tears, misunderstanding, running around and so on. And don't miss the pop-psychology.
It's not those greatest of love stories of all time, simply because the film ends in marriage, not in heartbreak. But, it's an ideal film for those times when you have nothing better to do and want to have a good time.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Teen Mysteries
The Hole
Directed by :Nick Hamm
Starring: Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington, Daniel Brockle-bank, Laurence Fox, Keira Knightley, Embeth Davidtz
You may remember the film as the early Keira Knightly film before she shot to fame with 'Bend It Like Beckham', and you may remember it for her adolescent boobs that she displays for a flee-ing second.
But 'The Hole' is a disturbing film, a psycho-drama of teen-age angst. The film is narrated in the format of horror films and it works not only for the chilling tale the protagonist tells, but how she manipulates everything in a macabre fashion.
Few teen-ager students go missing from school. After a few days, one girls returns, barely alive. She narrates what happened to her and how the things come about. As the story progresses in flashback, and in the present, the victim girl's story actually turns into something else, a revenge plot.
Apparently, the students finds a underground tunnel built dur-ing the WWII. They go inside to have a good time away from their school campus. But the single door of the 'hole' gets locked and they are struck.
But was it an accident, or was it a ploy?
If nothing else, it is a moving portrayal of unrequited love of a teen-age girl and how she stoops just to gain her love and destroy it.
Holiday of a movie
Roman Holiday (1953)
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Gregory Peck (Joe Bradley), Audrey Hepburn (Princess Ann), Eddie Albert (Irving Radovich)
Screen sweetheart Audrey Hepburn was born. And how! She's the archetype princess, beautiful, innocent, and not at all happy with her lot. She meets her Prince Charming. But from the very start, it's a match made the very class-conscious world. They could never live happily ever after. However, what ensued in the interim period is the fodder for a classic love story. Add to that the breathtaking beauty of Rome, you have a perfect holiday of a movie.
Tired of her royal duties Princess Ann, on her visit to Rome, runs away from her hotel room. Who should find her but a down-and-out American journalist (Gregory Peck). Without realising who she was, he shelters her, to much of his annoyance, of course, the situation was as such. When he finds out the truth, from his editor the next morning, he knows that he has hit a jackpot, only if he can get an exclusive of the princess about her private life.
Soon he gets into work, together with his photographer friend (who provides much of the comic relief), first stalks her and be-friends her to act as her guide to show the city of Rome.
As the princess and the journalist fall in love (he would never write that exclusive!), you get a rare chance to see the city of Rome, in the 1930s (the film claims that it is entirely shot in Rome, and you know, its true). But reality bites. The princess has to return to her castle and a journalist would remain a journalist.
The last slow, elegiac scene of the film sees the princess meet-ing a team of delegates including our heartbroken hero, and when their eyes meet for a fraction of a second, there's love writ all over.
And the newspaperman's life would never be the same again.
Perhaps same goes to the princess.
Hepburn got her Oscar for her first starring role and deserv-edly so. See the film and you will become an Audrey Hepburn fan for life.
Directed by: William Wyler
Starring: Gregory Peck (Joe Bradley), Audrey Hepburn (Princess Ann), Eddie Albert (Irving Radovich)
Screen sweetheart Audrey Hepburn was born. And how! She's the archetype princess, beautiful, innocent, and not at all happy with her lot. She meets her Prince Charming. But from the very start, it's a match made the very class-conscious world. They could never live happily ever after. However, what ensued in the interim period is the fodder for a classic love story. Add to that the breathtaking beauty of Rome, you have a perfect holiday of a movie.
Tired of her royal duties Princess Ann, on her visit to Rome, runs away from her hotel room. Who should find her but a down-and-out American journalist (Gregory Peck). Without realising who she was, he shelters her, to much of his annoyance, of course, the situation was as such. When he finds out the truth, from his editor the next morning, he knows that he has hit a jackpot, only if he can get an exclusive of the princess about her private life.
Soon he gets into work, together with his photographer friend (who provides much of the comic relief), first stalks her and be-friends her to act as her guide to show the city of Rome.
As the princess and the journalist fall in love (he would never write that exclusive!), you get a rare chance to see the city of Rome, in the 1930s (the film claims that it is entirely shot in Rome, and you know, its true). But reality bites. The princess has to return to her castle and a journalist would remain a journalist.
The last slow, elegiac scene of the film sees the princess meet-ing a team of delegates including our heartbroken hero, and when their eyes meet for a fraction of a second, there's love writ all over.
And the newspaperman's life would never be the same again.
Perhaps same goes to the princess.
Hepburn got her Oscar for her first starring role and deserv-edly so. See the film and you will become an Audrey Hepburn fan for life.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Survival of the fittest
Shawshank Redemption
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown
There are some films that matures over time. It's not talked about. It never got recognition. Yet whoever sees the film swears by it. Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman starrer Shawshank Redemption is one such film. Based on a short story by Stephen King, the film is your typical jail drama, and a story of the indomitable spirit of human survival. There are numerous jail dramas on the same theme. But this one scores for its off-beat charm and its unpredictability.
Told from the third person perspective of another convict, Freeman, the film tells the story of Robbins who gets the life sentence for allegedly killing his wife. Not the one to display emotion easily, Robbins survives the rules of the jail, the fanatic jailer, who beats and forces the convicts to read the Bible, and a group of sexual predators through his firm will, his resilience, and a sense of sophistication that soon makes him an object of admiration among the convicts and the jail employees.
After that how he plans to escape from the jail and how he succeeds forms the crux of the movie. It's a survival drama at its best. There is no fate that can change your lot. You change it by your sheer gut.
Both Robbins and Morgan are top-class.
And finally, this is a kind of film that you can watch over and over again.
Directed by: Frank Darabont
Starring: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown
There are some films that matures over time. It's not talked about. It never got recognition. Yet whoever sees the film swears by it. Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman starrer Shawshank Redemption is one such film. Based on a short story by Stephen King, the film is your typical jail drama, and a story of the indomitable spirit of human survival. There are numerous jail dramas on the same theme. But this one scores for its off-beat charm and its unpredictability.
Told from the third person perspective of another convict, Freeman, the film tells the story of Robbins who gets the life sentence for allegedly killing his wife. Not the one to display emotion easily, Robbins survives the rules of the jail, the fanatic jailer, who beats and forces the convicts to read the Bible, and a group of sexual predators through his firm will, his resilience, and a sense of sophistication that soon makes him an object of admiration among the convicts and the jail employees.
After that how he plans to escape from the jail and how he succeeds forms the crux of the movie. It's a survival drama at its best. There is no fate that can change your lot. You change it by your sheer gut.
Both Robbins and Morgan are top-class.
And finally, this is a kind of film that you can watch over and over again.
Understanding Women
The World According to Garp
Written by: John Irving
Published in 1978
Literature demands that you create an imaginary world which is based on the immediate reality and at the same time unique in its own ways. The story of Garp creates this semblance in a perfect execution of creating a reality which is real to the hilt yet it is an imaginary story.
It's a novel about a novelist whose stories are based on his own experiences of life. Furthermore, it's a story of different facets of women empowerment seen through a sympathetic male gaze. Again, it is a story of a family life about parental worries about their children. It's also a story of sexual escapades of different kinds of lust.
There are women of different categories: smart career women, single mother without the wedlock, rape victim, women who cut their tongue as a form of protest, Ellen Jamesians, man tuned into a woman through sexual reassignment, a macho sportsman turning into a docile woman, all these seen from the point of view of a man who's a homemaker.
Finally, this is a book with a deep understanding of life: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."
Written by: John Irving
Published in 1978
Literature demands that you create an imaginary world which is based on the immediate reality and at the same time unique in its own ways. The story of Garp creates this semblance in a perfect execution of creating a reality which is real to the hilt yet it is an imaginary story.
It's a novel about a novelist whose stories are based on his own experiences of life. Furthermore, it's a story of different facets of women empowerment seen through a sympathetic male gaze. Again, it is a story of a family life about parental worries about their children. It's also a story of sexual escapades of different kinds of lust.
There are women of different categories: smart career women, single mother without the wedlock, rape victim, women who cut their tongue as a form of protest, Ellen Jamesians, man tuned into a woman through sexual reassignment, a macho sportsman turning into a docile woman, all these seen from the point of view of a man who's a homemaker.
Finally, this is a book with a deep understanding of life: "In the world according to Garp, we are all terminal cases."
Not Fantastic Enough
I, Robot
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Starring: Will Smith (Del Spooner), Bridget Moynahan (Susan Calvin), Alan Tudyk (Sonny) James Cromwell (Dr. Alfred Lanning)
Though the film claims to be based on Issac Asimov stories about robots, you will find it hard to believe. Yes, Dr Alfred Lenning makes an appearence. So thus the three laws of robotics made popular by Asimov. But what happens in the film, how robots takes over the human world is Hollywood at its worse. The depth of Asimov is utterly missing.
Del Spooner (Will smith) is a detective with a robotic hand. And he distrusts machines who can think. But in 2050's Los Angeles, where robots have become an integral part of day-to-day lives, he's minority. And robots are perfectly safe, because they are governed by the irrefutable three laws, deviced by the chief scientist of USR, United States Robotics, Dr Alfred Lenning himself.
But when Lenning commits suicide and the case is offered to Spooner, there are more mysteries than meets the eyes. Is Lenning trying to say something to Smith? Why are the robots killing their earlier versions? Who is controling them, and most importantly, why Lenning created Sonny without the three laws?
Till Spooner finds the answer, its already too late. The robots have already organised against the humans.
The first problem against the film is the script. Its shallow to say the least. It fails to invite the audience to the fantasy world of 2050. The background of the film looks like a set which it really is. A muscled-up Smith does not help the cause either. The director probably told him to act serious and the poor man just over-did it.
The special effects, and the robots are however state-of-the-art, the only saving grace of the film.
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Starring: Will Smith (Del Spooner), Bridget Moynahan (Susan Calvin), Alan Tudyk (Sonny) James Cromwell (Dr. Alfred Lanning)
Though the film claims to be based on Issac Asimov stories about robots, you will find it hard to believe. Yes, Dr Alfred Lenning makes an appearence. So thus the three laws of robotics made popular by Asimov. But what happens in the film, how robots takes over the human world is Hollywood at its worse. The depth of Asimov is utterly missing.
Del Spooner (Will smith) is a detective with a robotic hand. And he distrusts machines who can think. But in 2050's Los Angeles, where robots have become an integral part of day-to-day lives, he's minority. And robots are perfectly safe, because they are governed by the irrefutable three laws, deviced by the chief scientist of USR, United States Robotics, Dr Alfred Lenning himself.
But when Lenning commits suicide and the case is offered to Spooner, there are more mysteries than meets the eyes. Is Lenning trying to say something to Smith? Why are the robots killing their earlier versions? Who is controling them, and most importantly, why Lenning created Sonny without the three laws?
Till Spooner finds the answer, its already too late. The robots have already organised against the humans.
The first problem against the film is the script. Its shallow to say the least. It fails to invite the audience to the fantasy world of 2050. The background of the film looks like a set which it really is. A muscled-up Smith does not help the cause either. The director probably told him to act serious and the poor man just over-did it.
The special effects, and the robots are however state-of-the-art, the only saving grace of the film.
Done to Perfection
Cidade de Deus
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles & Katia Lund
Written by: Paulo Lins (novel) & Braulio Mantovani (screenplay)
Time magazine has included the film in the list of its 100 Films of All Time. Time says: "The Rio de Janeiro slum known as Cidade de Deus might be a Martian landscape, so remote in spirit is it from the smooth beaches where the rich work on their tans and lines of seduction. In the inner city the activity is life-and-death, mostly death, and the ruthless men who run the place are boys, some not yet adolescents. Boys their age elsewhere play with plastic guns; these kids shoot real bullets, kill people, for the love or the hell of it. Bang, you're dead. Ha ha. Luis Bunuel's Los Olvidados portrayed similar young toughs in Mexico City a half-century earlier, using a mixture of realism and surrealism. Meirelles and Lund used a pinwheeling, hypertrophic style; no static camera could keep up with the hurtling pace at which these kids rushed to their doom. As sociology, it's tragic; as cinema, a stupendous, joyous jolt."
Do we need to say more?
What works for the film is its documentary style of storytelling with the narrator offering the background information, its breathless photography and the young actors who brings out the rawness of the situation.
Everything done to perfection.
One critic truely said: One of the best films you'd ever see!!!
Directed by: Fernando Meirelles & Katia Lund
Written by: Paulo Lins (novel) & Braulio Mantovani (screenplay)
Time magazine has included the film in the list of its 100 Films of All Time. Time says: "The Rio de Janeiro slum known as Cidade de Deus might be a Martian landscape, so remote in spirit is it from the smooth beaches where the rich work on their tans and lines of seduction. In the inner city the activity is life-and-death, mostly death, and the ruthless men who run the place are boys, some not yet adolescents. Boys their age elsewhere play with plastic guns; these kids shoot real bullets, kill people, for the love or the hell of it. Bang, you're dead. Ha ha. Luis Bunuel's Los Olvidados portrayed similar young toughs in Mexico City a half-century earlier, using a mixture of realism and surrealism. Meirelles and Lund used a pinwheeling, hypertrophic style; no static camera could keep up with the hurtling pace at which these kids rushed to their doom. As sociology, it's tragic; as cinema, a stupendous, joyous jolt."
Do we need to say more?
What works for the film is its documentary style of storytelling with the narrator offering the background information, its breathless photography and the young actors who brings out the rawness of the situation.
Everything done to perfection.
One critic truely said: One of the best films you'd ever see!!!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Novel Success
The English Patient
Directed by: Anthony Minghella
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas, Naveen Andrews, Colin Firth
It's a tricky business to adapt a novel into a motion picture. It's a all the more difficult when the novel in question is itself com-plex, where the story is set against the backdrop of the World War II, where there are several stories and incidents, several cultures intermingling with each other...
Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient is a beautifully writren novel, a masterpiece. But it is not an ideal choice for a movie. Therefore, what Anthony Minghella achieves is just extraordi-nary.
The film attempts to retain the complexities of the novel, yet it simplifies the narrative by concentrating on the story of Almásy and his ill-fated love affair with Katherine Cliffton.
In the novel, Hannah, Caravaggio and Kip are equally strong characters. Here, however, we see them only in flashes, just as a mediator leading to the central story. Nevertheless, they leave their mark to underscore the main theme of the film - love lost and futulities of the war. Probably there's nothing new in the sto-ryline as such - love in the time of war - adultry, unbriddled pas-sion, betrayal and redemption, except probably introducing an Indian character in what is essentially an European drama.
Yet the screen is filled with so much energy and so much sense of waste that it overwhlems the audience. Fiennes is brilliant as Almasay. But it's Binoche as Hannah who steals the scenes.
Monday, October 01, 2007
From the newsdesk I
Every person seems to have their own ideas about what makes a news. It is especially true if you are not a newspaper man.
This is the latest example. At around midnight a man calls up the newspaper office and demands to talk to a journalist. They had all gone home, so you are left in the office to pretend that you are one of them.
You pick up the phoen and ask, hello. The man questions back, can I speak in Marathi. You say that he may. Then he proceeds to tell you a story without as much as introducing himself.
Here's the story: A few yougsters in Koregaon Park was enjoying themselves on the weekend puffing away on the middle of the road. Then appeared a certain woman, who took upon herself the task of teaching the youngsters a lesson. She went up to the boys and told them not to smoke on the road. But boys will be boys. They promptly ignored her.
Next character to enter into the drama was a policeman, who inevitably came forward rescue the woman. (The caller did not say if the lady and the policeman knew each other, or from where he appeared.)
So what happened next was quick. The policeman start his action and beat the young chaps to his heart content and them took him to the police station, all for smoking on the street (or was it not listening to a woman.)
The caller said that he happened to be around when the incident took place. Being a sensible man he was, he follows the party to the police station and asked them that they release the boys.
But where have you found a policeman listening to a civilian?
So he called up the newspaper officer, if we could do something.
But the point is, is it worth the news?
This is the latest example. At around midnight a man calls up the newspaper office and demands to talk to a journalist. They had all gone home, so you are left in the office to pretend that you are one of them.
You pick up the phoen and ask, hello. The man questions back, can I speak in Marathi. You say that he may. Then he proceeds to tell you a story without as much as introducing himself.
Here's the story: A few yougsters in Koregaon Park was enjoying themselves on the weekend puffing away on the middle of the road. Then appeared a certain woman, who took upon herself the task of teaching the youngsters a lesson. She went up to the boys and told them not to smoke on the road. But boys will be boys. They promptly ignored her.
Next character to enter into the drama was a policeman, who inevitably came forward rescue the woman. (The caller did not say if the lady and the policeman knew each other, or from where he appeared.)
So what happened next was quick. The policeman start his action and beat the young chaps to his heart content and them took him to the police station, all for smoking on the street (or was it not listening to a woman.)
The caller said that he happened to be around when the incident took place. Being a sensible man he was, he follows the party to the police station and asked them that they release the boys.
But where have you found a policeman listening to a civilian?
So he called up the newspaper officer, if we could do something.
But the point is, is it worth the news?
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