Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

It’s surprising how this new adaptation of John Le Carre’s spy novel turns up to be so good. The book was made into a celebrated BBC TV movie with Alec Guinness playing George Smiley. It was a task to trim this sprawling saga of Cold War espionage twists and turns into a two-hour film. It was a task to fill the shoes of the inimitable Guinness. The film achieves both, and in Gary Oldman, the film finds a gravitas which keeps the momentum surging ahead, despite the fact that there’s very little action in the film, even by arthouse movie standards.

And by Hollywood spy movie standards, the film is without any substantial action, there’s no chase, no elaborate action sequences, no femme fatale in skimpy clothes, no shooting. In all, just one bullet is fired in the entire film. If you are looking for a spy like James Bond or Jason Bourne here, you are clearly in a wrong place. Here, most spies are middle-age men who are untrustworthy and weary of their existence.

In short there’s no adrenaline rush. All they do is talk, that too in a cryptic language, codes, which you’ll have to be very careful to decipher. The British secret service is called circus, the head is called Control, his Russian counterpart is called Karla. They run a secret project called Witchcraft. Even the Tinker Tailor in the title are codes. (Okay, there’s is brief love story between a foot soldier of the British agency, played by Tom Hardy and a Russian woman who has a secret to trade, but it all is played out for less than 15 minutes and she’s shot; Okay, there are several other “love stories”, between George and his wife Anne, who sleeps with one of his colleagues, played by Colin Firth, who may or may not have a relationship with another agent, Jim, played by ever wonderful Mark Strong, and there’s an one-minute scene of another agent breaking up with his boyfriend because his life may be in danger.)

On paper, the script, co-scripted by the author himself, may have look unfilmable. There is no linear structure, there’s no exposition, there’s no attempt to explain things for the audience, just one shot after another; there are some outdoor shoots, but most of it happens indoors, and moves between past and present, where the characters talk and talk some more.

Yet, what director Tomas Alfredson, who made the Norwegian vampire film ‘Let the Right One In’ (later remade in English as ‘Let Me In’), achieves in editing, and invoking a time since lost, the unpredictable political dynamics of the Cold War era (the spy, after he is exposed, says: “I had to pick a side, George. It was an aesthetic, as it was a moral choice. The West has become so ugly...”), in cold, steely photography, and in powerhouse performance from several A-list British actors, led by Gary Oldman — Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds and Benedict Cumberbatch, is nothing sort of a miracle.

The film is like a jigsaw puzzle. Alfredson scatters the pieces along the way, and when the film ends, it’s the job of the viewers to complete the puzzle. That’s another great thing about the film. Unlike a typical Hollywood film, ‘Tinker Tailor..’ does not take its audience for granted, even though Alfredson takes his job as a storyteller very seriously.

The premise is simple. There is a Russian mole at the top of the British intelligence services in the 70s. Five men are suspects, and one of them is the spy. But, which one? So, George Smiley, an agent with impeccable records, who was forced to retire from the circus not so long ago, is asked to investigate after Control (John Hurt) is dead. But, Smiley is old and weary, and he really does not care about the mole. He’s more upset about his wife Anne, who has left him for another agent.

Oldman has been nomination for an Oscar for his performance and he deserves the nod. There is scene right at the middle of the film, when Smiley narrates the story of his meeting with his Russian counterpart, Karla, in Delhi. There’s no flashback sequence. There are just dialogues, Smiley speaking, and how Oldman handles the scene is the hallmark of his performance.

Theo Angelopoulos

Theo Angelopoulos, 1935-2012

The great Greek director Theo Angelopoulos died two weeks back and I had no idea. There may be people who have never heard of him, or seen his films, but he was a great filmmaker, a maestro in the league of Bergman, Fellini, Tarkovsky or Ray, who, in his films, exploited the potential of the cinematic medium to its utmost potential.

Angelopoulos was a master of grand visuals. Cinema is a visual art, above everything else, and very few directors have explored this to such artistic perfection as Angelopoulos. And, he was an overtly political filmmaker. It’s not easy to sit though an Angelopoulos film, for not only they are long, they are slow; but, if you sit though it, it’s rewarding unlike anything else. A case in point, the floating barge in ‘The Weeping Meadow’; you have never seen something like this elsewhere.

As someone wrote, it is ironic that Angelopoulos should die in a road mishap; he was hit by a motorcycle while filming in Athens. For, it was a quick death, something that he never allowed his characters.

He was a political filmmaker unlike anyone else. As someone said, the tumult of modern Greek history, if everything else is lost, can be recreated from Angelopoulos films. And this is not an exaggeration. Perhaps, this explains why his films never contained the traditional ‘The End’ at the end; his films never end, from the screen they slip into the real life.

According to popular consensus, his best film is ‘Ulysses’s Gaze’ (1997), starring Harvey Keital as a filmmaker A who returns to his native Greece looking for some missing films. Some say, it’s ‘Landscape in the Mist’ (1988), about two sibling along on a journey looking for their father.

I have seen both the films, and also ‘Eternity and a Day’ (1998), and ‘Dust of Time’ (2009), starring Willem Dafoe. But the film I admire most is ‘The Suspended Step of the Stork’ (1991),’ which starred Marcello Mastroianni as a disappeared politician and Jeanne Moreau as his ex-wife.

I find this film utterly fascinating, perhaps because this is the only Angelopoulos film I have seen several times, and every time it affects me unlike any film has ever done. I like everything about it, right from the title. Only last month, I had shown my students at the culture study class I conducted, a scene from the film, the wedding scene, and was again struck by the depth of socio-political allegory of our time.

The film tells the story of a nation in war, a nation divided into two, and about a politician who has gone missing. While reporting from the divided country, a young journalist notices a man who looks like the politician who had gone missing at the height of his career. He decides to investigate the matter and in the process, understands the condition of the refugees.

The country has been divided in the middle of the river. On the river is a bridge. On the middle of the bridge there is a line. On the other side of the line is the enemy state. There stands the alert guards. Should you cross the line, they are ordered to shoot at you. The journalist walks to the middle of the bridge and stand in front of the line. He lifts his right leg as the alert guards on the other side watch. He would be dead if he puts his leg on the other side. The leg remains suspended, like a stork waiting for its prey — the most powerful visual I have ever seen in films.

There is a wedding. The couple was engaged before the border was drawn. Now, the bride is on one side of the river and the groom on the other. The marriage ceremony is performed nonetheless. The bride’s side assemble on one side and the groom’s side on the other. The priest arrives in a cycle. The bride’s father stands proxy at the place where the groom should have been, as the groom looks on from the other side. It was perhaps the most poetic and most mournful wedding ever depicted on screen. And, the power of the scene gets you, everytime.

The only regret I have is I have never seen an Angelopoulos film on the big screen. It would be an experience.

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Theo Angelopoulos: His best films (From The Guardian)

Theo Angelopoulos' first feature, ‘The Reconstruction’ (1970), draws on the real-life murder of a Greek worker (Yannis Totsikas, left) in Germany by his wife (Toula Stathopoulou) and her lover (Michalis Fotopoulos). The murder story, and its 'reconstruction', becomes a parable for the disruption of a community and a nation – Greece was under military rule at the time.

Angelopoulos' second film, ‘Days of 36’, was set during Greece's tumultuous interwar period, when unstable governments alternated with military coups with alarming regularity. ‘Days of 36’ focuses on a politically sensitive hostage situation, which Angelopoulos uses to lay bare the state's fragmentation as Metaxa's fascist dictatorship loomed.

Angelopoulos' international breakthrough, ‘The Travelling Players’, is an epic tableau of 20th-century Greek history, told through the experiences of a touring group of actors – whose own stories are modelled on the Agamemnon myth. Among other awards, it won the BFI's Sutherland trophy.

Angelopoulos took on the Stalinist cult of personality in his 1980 movie ‘Alexander the Great’, with Omero Antonutti as the 19th-century bandit of the title. This Alexander, whose name references the mythic Greek figure of antiquity, wordlessly tyrannises an agrarian commune – the liberator turned oppressor.

‘Voyage to Cythera’ (1984), co-scripted by Tonino Guerra, is another parable of Greece's political history. Manos Kakrakis, an aging Odysseus, and his wife Dora Volanaki are adrift on a raft with no home or destination: the failure of the communist dream.

International icon Marcello Mastroianni took on the lead role in Angelopoulos' 1986 chronicle of stasis and despair, ‘The Beekeeper’. Mastroianni's Spyros travels the traditional beekeeping routes, utterly unable to connect with the changing world around him.

Angelopoulos's ‘Landscape in the Mist’ is another parable of search without discovery. Two children sneak on board a train they hope will take them to Germany – but only baffling disappointment awaits.

In ‘Ulysses' Gaze’ Angelopoulos secured Harvey Keitel to play a Greek-American filmmaker obsessed with finding lost documentary footage of 'ordinary' people. The film was awarded the grand prix runner-up prize at Cannes; Angelopoulos was dismayed.

Angelopoulos finally secured the Palme d'Or with his 1998 film ‘Eternity and a Day’, in which a dying writer (Bruno Ganz) helps a young Albanian boy (Archileas Skevis) as a kind of distraction from his own impending dissolution.

The first in a projected trilogy, ‘The Weeping Meadow’ documents the turbulent first half of the 20th century, following a single family from the Russian revolution to the postwar civil conflict in Greece.

Angelopoulos' last completed feature was 2009's ‘The Dust of Time’, starring Michel Piccoli, Willem Dafoe and Irene Jacob. Dafoe takes on the Keitel role of a Greek-American film-maker; Jacob is his mother Eleni, a woman who manages to reunite with her husband Spyros (Piccoli) after deportation to a Soviet labour camp.

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Theodoros Angelopoulos (27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012), popularly known as Theo Angelopoulos, was a renowned Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. More Here.

The Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos, who has died aged 76 in a road accident, was an epic poet of the cinema, creating allegories of 20th-century Greek history and politics. He redefined the slow pan, the long take and tracking shots, of which he was a master. His stately, magisterial style and languidly unfolding narratives require some (ultimately rewarding) effort on the part of the spectator. "The sequence shot offers, as far as I'm concerned, much more freedom," Angelopoulos explained. "By refusing to cut in the middle, I invite the spectator to better analyse the image I show him, and to focus, time and again, on the elements that he feels are the most significant in it." The complete Theo Angelopoulos obituary in The Guardian.

Theo Angelopoulos, 1935-2012 at Mubi Notebook.

Theo Angelopoulos: his best films – in pictures in The Guardian.

The Suspended Step of the Stork in Strictly film school.

Valley Of Saints

This is surprising. While we make a big deal with any Hollywood connection with India, one American-Indian film has won not one but two distinguished awards at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and the newspapers are somehow immune to it.

The film is Musa Syeed’s ‘Valley of Saints’, a tale of Kashmir, the Dal Lake, furtive romance and environmental issues, all rolled into one “lyrical, tender film”.

The film has won the ‘World Cinema Audience Award: Dramatic.”

It also received the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize. The Alfred P. Sloan jury presented the Sundance award to the film for its “brave, poetic and visually arresting evocation of a beautiful but troubled region, and for its moving, nuanced and accurate depiction of the relationship between a local boatman and a young woman scientist whose research challenges the status quo and offers hope for a restored ecosystem.”

Sundance Film Festival describes the film: “Gulzar plans to run away from the war and poverty surrounding his village in Kashmir with his best friend, but a beautiful young woman researching the dying lake leads him to contemplate a different future.”

Writes Justin Lowe in The Hollywood Reporter:

By most Western standards, Valley of Saints would barely be considered a romance – Gulzar and Asifa never actually go on a date, barely touch and never kiss. But in a culture that frowns upon unsupervised interaction between unmarried young men and women, the time that they spend alone together is an unanticipated opportunity.

Nonprofessional actors Bhat and Sofi have an easy rapport as the two young men and playing off Kashmiri actress Neelofar Hamid they create a convincing romantic triangle. The naturalistic performances complement the setting, with the majority of scenes shot on or along the lake.

Syeed, whose parents are from Kashmir, has directed several documentaries and his nonfiction experience proves apropos while working on and around the lake, shooting in cramped indoor quarters or aboard boats, mostly with available light. Setting his characters in their cultural setting and against the spectacular landscape, he favors minimal camera movement and fluid editing, picking up the pace when Afzal and Gulzar go into town or steal building supplies. The film’s bucolic mood is constantly threatened by the prevailing reality of violence and injustice in the region, a creeping tension that Syeed carefully calibrates to emphasize the tenuousness of his characters’ relationships.

The Complete Review Here.
The film is now playing at Rotterdam. Here is the Facebook page.

Demian Bichir

Tonight, they are presenting the Filmfare award, and someone will take home the “black lady”. Who cares? I don’t know; things are changing. Personally, there was a time when I would be excited about awards, especially film awards. Any awards. Now, awards mean nothing to me. The other day, I was watching the recordings of the Golden Globe awards. I did not find the proceedings interesting to the least.

One of my friends, a Maryl Streep junkie, wants her to win the Oscar this year for the work in ‘The Iron Lady’. It’s unfair on her, he argues, she has been nominated for the prestigious award for 17 times, and has won just twice. Very unfair. I can understand the ruse. But an actor of Streep’s calibre does not need awards anymore. And also, the film itself is not up to the mark, despite Streep’s uncanny mimicry of the former British prime minister.

Talking about Oscars, however, I am happy with three nominations, and especially one in particular. I’m happy that ‘The Tree of Life’ has been recognised and got both Best Film and Best Director nods. It’s an important film of our time, despite it being pretentious, personal, audacious and whatnot. You may say whatever you like, the film remains what it is, a masterpiece. I’d like to see Terrence Malick win the best director Oscar. This is unlikely. He faces stiff competition from French Michel Hazanavicius, who has made a black & white silent film for our time, and to put it simply, ‘The Artist’ is extraordinary. The film has swept the awards this season, and is expected to shine at the Oscars too, including Best Film, Best Director and Best actor categories. The great Martin Scorsese and his ‘Hugo’ will have to be content with just the nominations. That’s okay. A brilliant crowd-pleasure like ‘Hugo’ does not need awards. At least, the film was not snubbed at the Oscars like ‘Shutter Island’ last year. And, poor Leonardo DiCaprio! Like ‘Shutter Island’ last year, his film ‘J Edgar’ was not nominated at all this year. This is a surprise, considering the academy’s love for Clint Eastwood.

Then you can nominate only this number of names!

Hence, I am very happy to see Wim Wenders’ ‘Pina’ in the documentary category. It’s not your typical documentary. But, what a wonderful experience it is. The best visual representation of dance ever!

Most of all, I am happy to see Mexican actor Demian Bichir nominated for ‘A Better Life’, a wonderful movie that needs to be seen, not only in American but elsewhere too. It’s the story of an undocumented gardener in LA, and how he struggles to build a life for himself and his son, who happens to be an American, however, because he was born there. So, the son becomes an American, veering towards the gang culture in LA, whereas the father remains a Mexican, still holding onto that ‘American Dream’ which is all but shattered. He wants to make it big, and there’s a constant fear; if authorities find him, he’d be deported. But, Carlos Galindo takes the risk anyway, borrows money and buys a truck. Now, the truck is stolen. This is ‘The Bicycle Thief’ in LA. Soon, authorities find him and he’s deported. But, how do you kill hope? With his son left behind, Galindo must return, somehow, and he would. Issues of immigrant labourer and their troubles in films is not new. Recently, I saw the German film ‘The Albanian’ at the Piff. Another film is Stephen Frears’ ‘Pretty, Dirty Things’. In this case, the Chris Weitz film is more of a human drama than an issue-based film. The issue is wide in the open, but the film focuses on Galindo and his persistent hopes for his son, and how Bichir plays the character makes all the different. As someone said, Bichir makes the film play like a Greek tragedy!

He is a well known name in Mexico, but outside he was relatively unknown till Steven Soderbergh cast him to play Fidel Castro in ‘Che’. And now, ‘A Better Life’ puts him in the top league. If nothing else, it should make more people see the film.

For that matter, this is also the first time Gary Oldman has been nominated for an Oscar for best actor for ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’. This is surprising indeed, for he’s been in mainstream Hollywood for years, and has played everything from Count Dracula to Lee Oswald to Sid Vicius. He is one of the greatest actors of our time.

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More on The Devil and Demian Bichir at The NY Times.
More on A Better Life here.
More on Bichir Here.
The Roger Ebert Review Here.
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UPDATE///

About the Filmfare awards, I am happy to see my choices being recognised by popular tastes. The ‘Darling’ song from ‘7 Khoon Maaf’ got Rekha Bharadwaj and Usha Uthup an award and the ‘Jo bho mein kehna chahoon’ song from ‘Rockstar’ got Mohit Chauhan the black lady. Both are my favourite songs of the year.

Jo bhi mein kehna chahoon
barbad kare alfaaz meri...

Whatever I want to say
Betray my words...

Jaipur Literature Festival

Hooray! I’m back from the Jaipur Literature Festival, which was held at The Diggi Palace Hotel in Jaipur, Rajasthan from January 20-24, 2012, and I’m still dazed. I’m sure everyone in India knows about the event by now, thanks to a certain person called Salman Rushdie. I’ll not even mention the controversy... It was my first time at JLF, and in short, I was like a kid in a candy shop; only thing was, I was a timid kid. I remained an observer than a participant. Now, I regret the missed opportunities. There were so many people, authors, celebrities, and others, and I really did not network with anyone — no autographs, no photographs, no asking for visiting cards, no stopping a celebrity on the way and tell him/her that I’m a big fan, and so on. I just stood there, sipping cups and cups of tea in earthen tumblers (Rs 10 for one cup), and Whiskey, at the three parties I attended. In short, I was star-struck...

The following are the highlights of what I saw:

The audience. Everyone who visited the festival earlier said this year, the rush has been unprecedented. Thanks to Mr Rushdie? Anyway, the venue was choc-a-block on all days; all the four, sometimes five, platforms where sessions were held were full to capacity, and the crowd was overflowing. You cannot take five steps without stepping onto someone, and if you are lucky, that someone may be a famous personality, which usually was the case. Look, there’s Ila Arun. Look, that’s Shekhar Kapur. That’s Shekhar Kapur all right, on the corner of the stage, attending the session on literary adaptations. On the stage was Tom Stoppard, Girish Karnad and Vishal Bharadwaj, among others.

The authors: Michael Ondaatje chairs a session on the art of short stories. On stage are Annie Proulx and Jamaica Kincaid, in a pair of yellow sneakers and a hat, talking about New Yorker and “the island,” (I am sorry to report I missed the name of other two authors...) In an event filled with literary stars, Ondaatje was one of the biggest, but certainly not the most popular. Mohammed Hanif was, and Amy Chua, and wait for it, Gulzar. We are coming to that. You could gaze the popularity by the line at the “author signing” area. The longer the line the popular you are. And despite everything else, Chetan Bhagat too got a long, long line.

The Celebrity: Is Prakash Jha a celebrity? We can argue on that. But, the cameras won’t stop flashing at him when he entered the venue one fine morning. As far as I can see he was alone, and was very gracious. He stopped for the gathering crowd who had gone berserk clicking his pictures and also posed with fans. In between, he also got time to gawk inside the Durbar Hall where a session was in progress. Admirable. But then, it was the fate of all celebrities, and I must say, almost all of them were in jolly mood, entertaining their fans.

Hoshang Merchant: He had the afternoon session on the first day and he had forgotten his copy of his recently published autobiography, ‘The Man Who Would Be Queen’ at the hotel room. So, I went to the bookshop and bought a copy for him to read at the session, which he later signed and gave back to me. Later, I tagged along with him to the party hosted to Penguin to celebrate their 25 years in India. For the occassion, they had placed an old car in front of the hotel where the party was, painted in bright orange and white. It was awesome. Hoshang is fun to be with when he’s in a good mood. And when you are in a good mood.

Arshia Sattar: I clicked the picture as she prepared to go inside for one of her sessions. She couldn’t smoke on the dais after all. She was one of the few people I knew at the venue. She is also one of the few people I really, really admire, since the days she was in Open Space in Pune. After all, she got me my first book launch, the launch of my book of poems way back in 2004.

Camera: Oh, that Girish Karnad. And, I am bad photographer. I was sitting at the lawn, bitching with Hoshang, and I looked up and see Karnad writing something on the table there. I thought, it would make a good picture. But, by the time I got the camera and fixed my gaze, he had already turned. Talking about pictures, there’s one picture I saw somewhere. As part of their 25th year, Penguin has lauched various merchandise, among them are bags that immitate names of best-selling books, like ‘A Suitable Bag’ and ‘Bag of Small Things’ and so on. So, there was Gurcharan Das sitting there, carrying a bag that screamed: ‘The Difficulty of Being A Bag’. Neat.

The Moment: Just a moment. It was just a moment, I was face to face with one of my favourite poets. While I was happy to watch most of these big and famous names from afar, this time, I said, why not, when everyone else has done so. He was posing with a bunch of kids when I went to him. As he turned, I said, sir, big fan, one picture. This is not that picture. That picture I am not showing anyone. Did I ever think that one day I would stand so close to Gulzar, ever? Never. That was a moment!

Choices: Attending a session at JLF was like answering a multiple choice question. At any given point you’ll have to choose between four options. There’s Front Lawn, the biggest venue perhaps. Then you come to the main struture of the palace-turned-hotel and come to Durban Hall, which is, as the name suggests a real hall from the days of the kings and princes, with portraits adorning the walls, and a huge mirror. If you stand in front of Durban Hall, on your right is the Baithak, with cane chairs and colourful cushions, my favourite of the four venues, very information and charming. On your left, little further on the backyard is the Mughal Tent, another bigger venue. Opposite to it is the book signing area where the authors gathered after the sessions, and fans surrounded them. That was the constant: People. Half of them young or youngish, in beautiful clothes and books and/or camera in hand... And did I mention the makeshift food joints, the tea stalls, a Ritu Kumar stall, I think I also spotted a ethnic jewellery store.

Day 1. Afternoon. Baithak. Session: ‘Whistling in the Dark: Writing Gender’. I am not sure if the organisers were not comfortable using the ‘S’ word, or whatever, but the title was misleading. Featuring R Raj Rao and Hoshang Merchant, with Minal Hajratwala moderating, the topic was sexuality, queer sexuality to be precise, not gender. Anyway, the authors said whatever they wanted to say, and the audience asked more questions about activism than literature per say. And, Vikram Seth was picked on for obvious reasons. At the end, Minal announced about the queer anthology she is editing for Queer Ink, titled ‘Open’ which should be out soon. Can’t wait for it: the book contains a story by yours truly.

The Literary Star: There were many an A-list authors at the festival, but for me, aside from Gulzar, the star was Nigerian writer Ben Okri. That he looks like a Hollywood star (with his cap), helped the matter. He had a great fan following. He is after all a “syllabus” author in most Indian universities. Everyone has read ‘The Famished Road’ (1991). It was on the fourth day. He had already appeared for a session or two, and it was a great success. He met fans, signed books, and talked to reporters. He was on the papers the next day. On the fourth day, he joined Teju Cole, the hot, new author of ‘Open City’, and Taiye Selasi, to talk about “Afropolitan”, a concept argued by Selasi, which refers to internationally mobile, young people of African descent, making their mark on the world. In her mind, we are not citizens, but rather “Africans of the world.” It was stimulating session, one of the best at the festival. Okri enters the stage, and addresses the crowd: “Times of India, we all love you, but no one calls Africa the “dark continent” anymore.” Shame on you, reporters. More on Afropolitan here.

The audience: I must confess. I hardly attended any session at the festival. All the did was to float around, from one spot to another and look at people, celebrities, commoners alike. There was so much to see, look, gawk, observe. The people in their designer wear, oh, those jackets, and those boots, and those cameras, and those T-shirts, and those dresses, and those faces, and those colours. It was like attending a friend’s wedding. You know a few people at the venue, but most of them are strangers to you and you have nothing to do other than just sit there and watch, and watch. It was surreal, to say the least. But, intellectually stimulating? I have my doubts.

Time Stopped: And here’s the great Tom Stoppard of ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ fame, attending a session of literary adaptations, with Lionel Shriver (author of ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin, made into a film by Lynn Ramsay), Vishal Bhardwaj and Richard Flanagan, chaired by Girish Karnad. The subject was interesting, but the session was ultimately frustrating, because there was no time to say anything substantial. Five people and just one hour. It’s unfair. How much can you do in an hour? Especially when the chair took most of the time, voicing his opinions. I don’t have any problems with Karnad speaking. He made sense. But it limited the scope for others to speak. I wish I could hear Stoppard speak more. He said ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a novel that is unfilmable, and I agree.

Seediq Bale

A FILM that depicts Taiwan’s half-century of Japanese colonial rule from the point of view of a fierce tribe of indigenous headhunters is generating a surge of national pride on the island. “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” was surrounded by buzz at this year’s Venice Film Festival. But that was nothing compared with its reception in Taiwan since opening on September 9th.

Made by an acclaimed Taiwanese director, Wei Te-sheng, with John Woo, a Hollywood force, as producer, the film has already broken records. At a cost of $25m, it is the most expensive Taiwanese film ever made. The opening-day takings of NT$23m ($790,000), for the first of what will be two instalments, were the highest ever for a Taiwanese film. More box-office records are bound to follow.

Quite probably “Warriors of the Rainbow” also has the highest number of graphic beheadings of any film anywhere. But they are faithful historical depictions. In 1930 hundreds of Taiwan’s Seediq people living in the central uplands, oppressed and exploited by the Japanese and believing their culture was being destroyed, revolted against their overlords with scant hope of success. They first attacked a school athletics gathering, slaughtering over 100 Japanese, and then raided police outposts. The uprising, known as the Wushe incident, triggered a brutal Japanese response, including poison gas dropped from aircraft. The rebellion’s leader, Mouna Rudao, is still seen as a folk hero by many Taiwanese.

The Complete Economist Story Here.

My Book

Okay. I was more than invisible at the Jaipur Literature Festival this year. I was there for four days, and had a gala time spotting great and famous writers and also celebrities.

Among all the glitter, it was nice to see my book being sold at the bookshop at the venue. The bookshop only had books by the writers who were scheduled to appear in the sessions, and who were invited for the festival. I wasn’t invited. But my co-edit was indeed.

And I basked on reflected glory.

My time will come. Sure.

Claire Denis

It’s little surprising. French filmmaker Claire Denis is such a talent, and yet, nobody in India seems to know her. I’m talking about those who claim to be cinema aficionado. Therefore, it was sheer surprise to see, not one but two Claire Denis films at this year’s Pune International Film Festival.

I discovered Claire Denis in the internet, I think in the website ‘Reverse Shot’. Since then I have seen four of her films, including the English language body-horror-blood fest ‘Trouble Every Day’.

The problem with Denis is that she is a filmmaker who is almost impossible to contain in a definitive category. Her body of work is so eclectic that it may unnerve an uninitiated viewer. The more problematic is her politics. Being a white woman she deals with colonialism, race and gender, and more importantly, the politics of power. These broad themes are visible in all her works, despite the fact that she never comments on these issues. She shows.

Claire Denis shows, and her vision is piercing. Yet, she refuses to tell a story. She is more interested in the people in a particular moment then their definitive growth. She loves her characters, but refuses to give them the closure that movies usually do. Yet, this love is infectious. That’s where the power of a Claire Denis film lies; her characters draw you in. As a viewer, you live with them, you dance with them.
‘Beau Travail’ (1999) ends with such a dance. Denis Lavant, the Captain Ahab prototype (the film is ostensibly a retelling of Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’) goes to an empty dance floor, with mirrors lining the walls. He smokes a cigarette. Throughout the film we have seen as an uptight man; his veins move, he doesn’t. Now, on the dance floor, his body begins to move, first slowly, and then passionately, as he dances with himself, opening up to himself. The scene has such extraordinary power you can actually sense what the Lavant character must be thinking at that very moment.

This year’s Piff is showing Denis’ recent two films — ‘35 Shots of Rum’ (2008) and ‘White Material’ (2009), and both are different as chalk and cheese, but made with the same Denis touch.

'35 rhums' also involves a dance, and revelations, and that one scene, in a Jamaican bar in a Paris suburb in a rainy evening, elevates the film into an extraordinary work of art. The film tells the story of a not-so-typical father-daughter relationship, who finally realise that it’s time they must break away. They don’t discuss the issues, they understand. Both the father and daughter get new rice cookers one evening. So the daughter packs the one she had brought and uses the one her father purchases. It’s a simple, almost banal scene and how Denis employs it, it tells you volumes that no dialogues would ever be able to.

‘White Material’ is more complicated. At the centre of it is a white woman, played with fragile strength by very talented Isabel Huppert, in an unnamed African country in the middle of civil war. She manages a coffee plantation and this has been her life. Now, the war has thrown lives out of gear. As her employees flee, she stands her ground to a series of consequences she would have no control over.

The film is not a study of colonialism or neo-colonialism. It is also not a commentary of the state of modern African. It’s both, and none. Above all, it’s a story of the resilience of human nature.

Claire Denis filmography//

Chocolat / Chocolate (1988)
S'en fout la mort / No Fear, No Die (1990)
J'ai pas sommeil / I Can't Sleep (1994)
Nénette et Boni / Nenette and Boni (1996)
Beau travail / Good Work (1999)
Trouble Every Day (2001)
Vendredi soir / Friday Night (2002)
L'intrus / The Intruder (2004)
35 rhums / 35 Shots of Rum (2008)
White Material (2009)

More about Claire Denis Here.

Alexander Gundorov & His Sparrow

Cinema is perhaps the financially expensive of all art forms, and no one is more burdened with this than the producer of the film. Yet, he remains the most unsung aspect of the film itself. Russian film producer Alexander Gundorov, in attendance at the 10th Pune International Film Festival with his first feature film ‘Vorobey’ (Sparrow), does not mind this as long as the film as he wanted it to be is made. That itself is a concern. “It’s money,” he gestures.

Despite the presence of two translators, the Russian gentleman insists on speaking in broken, halting English as he talks about his film ‘Sparrow’, money, and the condition of films in Russia in general. “The situation is neither good not bad,” he says. “However, things are on the tumble as result of recession since 2008.” And, Hollywood is encroaching. “Earlier, there used to be at least 150 feature films in Russian every year. Post-2008, it has come down around 70 films per year. Of all the films released in Russia, only 25% of them are local productions. Of 75%, a major chuck is from Hollywood, most of which are dubbed to Russian.” And Indian films? “There may be one percent market for Indian movies.” Curiously, the dialogues of the Indian films are dubbed, while the song and dance sequences are kept as it is.

Not the market, but money that’s the main concern. There are around 8 production houses. “The ministry of culture sometimes funds portions of the film, but it’s not enough. So, it mostly depends upon sponsors. There is no guarantee of getting the money back, as piracy has almost killed the DVD homevideo market.”

But, passion remains. It is this passion that made Gundorov, an established producer of documentary films, finance his first foray into feature films. “I grew up in villages. But this village life is slowly dying, as cities are becoming more and more globalised. That is why we wanted to make this film on a village.”

The film tells the story of a remote Siberian village which treasures beautiful horses, and they are protected at any cost. Now, the chairman of the village council has lost public funds on an unsuccessful business venture and has decided to make up on the losses by selling the herd to a slaughterhouse. While the villagers are nonchalant about this new development, a 10-year-old son of a local shepherd stands up against the plot. His name is Sparrow.

Gundorov is not sure if the film is a ‘typical’ arthhouse film, but he agrees that it’s not a commercial venture as such.

Interestingly, ‘Sparrow’ also happens to be the directorial feature of Yuri Schiller, an experienced and well known documentary filmmaker. Both Gundorov and Schiller embarked on this project, despite financial constraint and all, because it was a subject close to their hearts.

Gundorov has produced more than 60 documentaries in Russian in varied subjects ranging from army to science and technology to history to modern Russia. And, how is modern Russian? “Modern Russian is full of possibilities,” says Gundorov.

Talk veers to well know Russian films, like Timur Bekmambetov’s ‘Nigth Watch’ (2004), which opened a new market for Russian films before the recession, and big budget films like Sergey Bodrov’s ‘Mongol’ (2007).

Gundorov would also like to make a big budget costume drama like ‘Mongol’ on a 14th Century Russian heroic figure. But, this will take years, blame it on the money. “I’m hoping to get a good amount of money from the ministry of culture, if not the entire amount.” We wish him luck.

More on Sparrow here.

Deool

Though his FTII student film ‘Girni’ garnered accolades at film festivals and such, director Umesh Kulkarni really burst into the Marathi film world with ‘Valu’ (The Bull), a satire in garb of a comedy and also a social commentary on rural Maharashtra. After an arty turn with his sophomore effort ‘Vihir’ (The Well) (which was produced by Amitabh Bachchan’s company, and which made all the right noises, but somehow really failed the find the ground. It played in theatres in Pune for few weeks and then disappeared. Not even a DVD on sight. According to critics, if nothing else, the film looks really, really good.), Kulkarni returns to the familiar terrain, the village life, the assortment of characters to represent the cross-section of society, and a biting social satire wrapped in comedy. ‘Deool’ works well, because, to begin with, the writing is impeccable. The film understands its characters and let them be. The title ‘Deool’ translates into Temple, a proposed temple in the film which soon becomes a site of political maneuverings.

“The film also about faith,” said Kulkarni at the press conference after the film was screened at the 10th Pune International Film Festival. “Real faith does not need any paraphernalia.”

The film is also about loss of innocence. Keshav dreams of the God and decides that he must build a temple to honour Him. As the film progresses and as everyone try to take advantage of the situation to push their personal agendas, Keshav loses his way, ultimately realising that it was not what he wanted when he first started out to build the temple. “It’s the process that corrupts you,” says Kulkarni.

Did he worry about how the film will do? Kurkarni said, “While making the film we don’t think how the film will do. It’s not a good idea. It puts pressure on you.”

And how about the controversy that one of the songs from the film generated. “We talked to the people who complained about the song and asked them if they have seen the film. They said they did not, but they did not like the song. This is something we cannot do anything about. Whatever we do, somebody or other is likely to complaint about it. Even if I lift my hand, it may hurt someone sentiment.”

Point taken.

(Picture courtesy: Pune International Film Festival 2012)
Deool in Wikipedia.

Johannes Naber & The Albanian

He is a handsome man, beyond doubt (and he doesn’t look German at all; not that I really know what Germans look like!). Johannes Naber is at the 10th Pune International Film Festival with his debut feature ‘The Albanian’, which addresses the issues of illegal migrants in Germany.

At the press conference on Saturday after the film premiered on Friday, director of the festival, Jabbar Patel, takes the mike and tells the audience, look at him, isn’t he handsome, he should be in a film as an actor, not as a director. Naber says perhaps the reason he isn’t an actor is he was really bad at acting. Patel then mentions how in India, there are people who direct a film and then cast themselves in the lead role, acting or no acting.

Naber, however, is passionate about his first film. “I believe films can change the world,” he says and this is one of the motivations why he made the film, despite the fact that it really took him a long time. “There is a stigma attracted to Albanians. I wanted to address this issue.”

Albania is perhaps the poorest of all European nations, and that’s the reason there are a host of migrant workers from Albania in Germany, who works in the fringes, without any recognition from the society they work for. And the issue is never discussed in mainstream German society. Naber wanted to do something about it. First, he wanted to do a documentary, which later turned into a feature film. First, he thought he’d work with non-professional actors, then decided against it as his characters were far more complex and needed professional interpretations. That’s when he found Albanian actor Nik Xhelilaj, a well know name in Albania, but not really know outside. With this film, he arrives at the international filmdom.

But, isn’t Naber an outsider to talk about the issue itself? Naber says he knew this and wanted participation of Albanian counterparts. He traveled to Albania and sought help of the Albanian film industry. Thus, all Albanian characters in the film are played by Albanian actors.

Though he received grants from government agencies to fund the film, money was an issue. Hence, he decided to shoot the film with a Super 16 camera. “But, I’m happy with the results. It looks exactly the way I wanted it to look.”

Therefore, it’s not surprising that the film was so well received in Albania. In Germany, the film however was a commercial failure, despite the fact that it was lauded at various film festivals.

Talking about illegal immigrants and the issues surrounding it, there has been a number of films on the subject, which covertly and overtly address the issues, the recent one being Chris Weitz’s ‘A Better Life’ with Mexican actor Damien Bichir in a breakout role. The film dissects the dynamics of Mexican workforce in the United States, though the story of a single father. He is an illegal immigrant, who does not have any papers, and he’d be deported if the authorities find him, however, his son is an American as he was born there. The film saddles this contradiction and much more.

There are other films on the issue, and off the cuff, I can mention German filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s ‘Ali: Fear Eats the Soul’, German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin’s ‘The Edge of Heaven’ and ‘Soul Kitchen’, Dardenne brothers’s ‘The Silence of Lorna’ and to a certain extent all Alejandro González Iñárritu films, particularly ‘Babel’ and ‘Buitiful.’

(Picture courtesy: Pune International Film Festival)

The Albanian (German: Der Albaner, Albanian: Shqiptari) is a 2010 German and Albanian drama film directed by Johannes Naber and starring the Albanian award-winning Nik Xhelilaj.

For the sake of love and the situations imposed by the life in his country, Arben emigrates to Germany. An illegal emigration, in search of money, a subtle condition to protect his love; an adventure that unintentionally confronts him with the unmerciful world of crime.

More here.

>>>>>

Writes Alissa Simon in Variety.

An illegal immigrant in Berlin tries to earn the dowry demanded by the family of his pregnant beloved back home in social-issue drama "The Albanian." German helmer-writer Johannes Naber's involving feature debut highlights the difficulties facing undocumented workers in highly regulated Deutschland, as well as the honor codes of Albanian clans. Specialized Euro exposure and further fest travel are in the cards.

The Full Review Here.


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This past weekend I saw a recent German/Albanian narrative film entitled simply The Albanian. Rarely have I seen a movie that confronts the fullest picture of the worldwide controversy regarding undocumented workers and illegal immigration. While its sympathies are clearly with immigrants, it does not resort to cheap sentimentality or agitprop. We recognize how the issue involves all the complications and tragedies of human lives. Suffice it to say that the entire matter is much more complicated than we ever usually contemplate, even for those of us who support immigration reform and human rights.

Full Review Here.

Piff: Sujay Dahake & His School

I have seen the next Poster Boy of Marathi cinema and his name is Sujay Dahake.

If the statement sounds grandiose and prophetic, then it is. Out of nowhere comes a youngster, with a film which looks mature beyond the years of its maker. During the press meet on Saturday, after the film premiered at the Pune International Film Festival on Friday, director of the festival Jabbar Patel, who was moderating the event, had to ask twice to this unassuming young man in a low-key leather jacket if he really was the director of the film ‘Shala’ (School). He said he was indeed. He was confident. He knew what he was doing.

And, he is young, incredibly young. Just 25. And is ready with a film, and the film looks spectacular, at least on youtube.

How was it like seeing his first film being screened at the film festival. “Since I’m from this city, I have been attending Piff for the last 10 years, and I always wished one day my film will be screen here. So, it was a dream come true,” he takes a pause, and adds: “Yesterday’s screening was overwhelming. The hall was packed, with people sitting on the aisles. There were more people outside who couldn’t enter the hall. Even I, myself, did not get to see the film yesterday.”

Even before the premier, the film has generated a lot of interest among the public. Producer Nilesh Navalakha lets out the secret. “We have had a great campaign though social media. Our Facebook page has received more than 9,000 likes (which is wonderful for a Marathi film), and even the youtube videos of the film has received considerable number of hits.”

But, what’s ‘Shala’ is all about? The Facebook page says it’s a love story from real India. “It’s an adolescent love story set against the backdrop of Emergency,” says Dahake. It’s one of the darkest hours of India’s history, and, it all happened more than 10 years before Dahake was born.

And, then, that very moment, during the press conference at Hotel Rendezvous, something wonderful happened. I don’t know how many people actually noticed it, but it struck to me after Jabbar Patel mentioned his film ‘Sinhasan’ (which was made during Emergency). There they were, two generations of filmmakers, one veteran, one brand-new, both of whom have made films against the backdrop of the same time, a rather sordid history of our time, and they are here sharing a platform, talking about marketing local films. (Patel said how he decided to release ‘Singhasan’ as soon as possible without much ado, as he feared that once Mrs Gandhi came back to power, she may have a problem with the film. It was another story that film was well-received, and now considered to be a masterpiece of sorts.)

While ‘Shala’ has become popular via internet among the urban/multiplex audiences, what marketing strategies are there for the audiences in other parts of the state, say Nashik, or Nandurbar, asks Patel. And, this is where the market for Marathi audience lies.

Basked on a novel by Milind Bokil, ‘Shala’ tells the story of a group of school boys in 1975 as they experience love and political turmoil at the same time.

And oh, his confidence. Dahake said he edited the film himself, as he did not want others to butchers his shots. “I’m perhaps little selfish that way,” he says politely. Perhaps. But, it also shows quiet confidence.

Dahake did his masscom from Pune, then studied film semiotics in Mumbai before going to Philippines to study further. Here’s another interesting thing. Here is one fresh new voice who is not a passout of FTII.

Jury is still out on how good the film really is, literally, as the film is in the competition as well at the Piff. But, one thing is certain, we have a brand new vision to watch out for.

(Picture courtesy Pune International Film Festival 2012.)
The Facebook Page.

Once Upon A Time In Anatolia

Writes Andrew O'Hehir in Salon: What a handful of patient moviegoers may find in “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” however, is a subtle, gorgeous and mysterious allegory that may be Ceylan’s masterwork to date. (His only previous films distributed in the United States were “Climates” in 2006 and “Three Monkeys” in 2008, both of them award-winners at Cannes, as was this film.) It’s like an episode of “CSI,” scripted by Anton Chekhov, stretched to two and a half hours, and photographed against the bleak, impressive scenery of Turkey’s central steppes. (The amazing cinematography is by Gökhan Tiryaki, Ceylan’s usual collaborator.) This is a road movie that reaches no clear destination, and a story of an investigation that reaches clumsy and inconclusive results. To enjoy it, you have to travel at Ceylan’s pace, and accept his moments of elusive unexpected revelation as they come. There’s no point pretending that kind of movie is to most people’s taste.

A handsome, mustachioed country doctor named Cemal (Muhammat Uzuner), whose manner suggests an urbane, educated background, goes out into the night with a police commissar (Yilmaz Erdogan) and the local prosecutor (Taner Birsel). While it’s fair to say that Ceylan is always concerned with the conflict within Turkish society between the secular, Europeanized elite and the traditional, Islamic interior, that issue is addressed here only in symbolic, oblique fashion. They’re dragging along a stringy-haired miscreant named Kenan (Firat Tanis), who has already confessed to killing someone in a stupid dispute and promised to lead authorities to the body. But the scraggly wilderness proves baffling, it’s not clear how well Kenan remembers the crime, and the expedition wanders back and forth on remote roadways, devolving into territorial bickering and attempts by the cop and prosecutor to impress Cemal or enlist him as an ally.

The Complete Review Here.

Sacrifice

In Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky’s last film ‘The Sacrifice’ (1986), the protagonist, Alexander, who is vacationing in an island somewhere in Denmark, with his family, suddenly realises that the world is going to end in a nuclear explosion, soon. To save the world from this ultimate doom, Alexander decides to make the ultimate sacrifice, himself and his family in exchange for the world. “I’ll give Thee all I have, I’ll give up my family, whom I love, I’ll destroy my home and give up Little Man (his young son),” Alexander prays to God, in exchange for the safety of the world.

Whether Alexander’s prayers are answered or not is a climax of the film, and if you know your cinema, you may have seen this indelible image of the house burning, one of the iconic scenes ever committed to cinema.

Here is an incredible remark on gift and sacrifice...

One day, the local postmaster, Otto, brings home a large frame of a map of undivided Europe. It’s an original, says the postmaster, and a gift.

“How beautiful it is! We must take it inside. Come, now!” says Alexander’s wife.

“But it's far too dear a gift. I don't know if I...” says Alexander.

“Oh, God, don't say that!” says Otto.

“But it's far too much! Too much, Otto! I know it's no sacrifice, but...”

“And why shouldn't it be? Of course it's a sacrifice!” says Otto. “Every gift involves a sacrifice. If not, what kind of gift would it be?”

Every gift involves a sacrifice. If not, what kind of gift would it be?

Piff: Around the World in 8 Days

Ten-year isn’t a long time in the life of public event like a film festival. However, in less than a decade, the Pune International Film Festival (Piff) has acquired a cultural significance which is rare even in a city like ours, the culture capital of Maharashtra. That the festival was honoured as the state film festival, only adds to its significance.

The city is no stranger to film culture, what with two major film-related institutes — FTII and NFAI, gracing the landscape. But then, FTII is academic while NFAI caters mostly to serious movie-buffs. The annual film festival on the other hand, democratises the access to films, talking along both the aforementioned institutes.

As the 10th edition of the festival opened on Thursday, the delegate passed have already sold out, and the organisers expect a full house at all its venues spreading across the city. What is this allure of Piff?

“Piff is not just a film festival, says Sikha Singh, a self-confessed film aficionado. “I call it a whirlwind world tour, around the world in eight days, to be precise. Piff is a celebration of cinema and what cinema can offer us. Piff gives you a chance to see the world via celluloid. The festival gives us a chance to view and understand the changing scenarios of the world, in a span of eight days, within a single platform. It offers you a chance to travel to other parts of the world, something you cannot do personally. The festival is unparalleled for this very reason, if nothing else.”

“I wait for Piff every year, just to see the Marathi films,” says Omid Verzandeh, a PhD students from Iran at the University of Pune. “It’s the only time I get to see a local film with subtitles, which is amazing.”

The rise of Marathi cinema in the last few years also owes a portion of its success to Piff, since most of these award winning films, from ‘Valu’ to ‘Garbicha Paus’ premiered at the festival.

This year’s logo of the festival is itself telling. The silhouette of a boy and a girl running reminds us of the iconic scene from Satyajit Ray’s ‘Pather Pachali’ where Apu and Durga runs across the fields to see a trains. For them, the train is a object of wonder. For the delegates, Piff offers a world of wonder.

While there are people who likens Jabbar Patel, director of the festival with American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, for their love for cinema as a medium of artistic expression and how they have encouraged others in the process, and how Patel has steered the festival from strength to strength over the years, Piff has its fair share of distractors. One of the recurrent complaint is the lack of planning and that the festival is not equipped to handle the pressure of such a large number of delegates. The complaint is not unjustified. There were times when the catalogues and schedules were not ready till the last moments. However, as Patel said these lapses are not uncommon for a festival which is fairy young, and Piff is learning via trial and error. So it seems. Thus, this year, the list of films to be screened at the festival has been uploaded to the festival website well in advance, whereas the complete schedule remains elusive.

Here’s what in offer at Piff this year, an itinerary from all over the world.

The World Competition sections have films from Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Germany, Iran, Poland, Spain and Russia. Among them, the Iranian film ‘A Separation’ (2011), which is tipped to win this year’s Oscar for best foreign film, is a must see. So are German film ‘The Albanian’ (2010), and if you are a fan of French actress Isabelle Huppert, ‘My Little Princess’ (2011).

This year, the country focus is Germany and you have almost all the documentaries by inimitable Warner Herzog. It’d be impossible to catch all of them, but, his trip to the Antarctic in ‘Encounter at the End of the World’ (2007), and the film on the Sahara tribe Wodaabe, “Herdsmen of the Sun’ (1989) are not to be missed. Also must see is compatriot Wim Wenders’ ‘Pina’, a tribute to dancer itself. Also showing is his tale of an angel in Berlin who yearns to be a human, ‘Wings of Desire’ (1987).

In Global Cinema section, France is represented by two auteur, not very well known perhaps, but extraordinary talents. Claire Denis looks at Africa from the point of view of a white woman in ‘White Material’ (2010), while Bruno Dumont’s ‘Hadewijch’ (2009) untangles the link between religion and terrorism. Another notable entries include, Bangladeshi film ‘Guerrilla’ (2011), Colombian film ‘The Colors of the Mountain’ (2010), Estonian film ‘Letters to Angel’ (2010), Hungary’s ‘The Lover of the Soil’, Korea’s ‘Mother’ (2009), Canadian 'Night #1' and Roberto Rosellini’s much-talked-about ‘India: Matri Bhumi’ (1959).

Last year, Japan was the country focus and aficionados complained about lack of Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu. This year we have a retrospective of Ozu, with films such as ‘Floating Weeds’ (1959), ‘End of Summer (1961), and classic ‘Tokyo Story’ (1953). Another master in retrospective is Taiwan’s Hsiao-Hsien Hou. Aficionados may miss the recent classics like ‘Flight of the Red Balloon’ and ‘Three Times,’ must watch are ‘Cafe Lumiere’ (2003) and ‘Good Man Good Woman’ (1995). Other two luminaries in the retrospective section are Ashok Kumar and Iranian Rasul Aadr Ameli.

In the Indian cinema section, we have Kerala’s ‘Abu Son of Adam’ (2011), India’s official entry to the Oscars. Another notable film is Santosh Sivan’s historic actioner ‘Urumi’ (2011).

While Marathi cinema in competition include Umesh Kulkarni’s ‘Deool’ Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar’s ‘Ha Bharat Maza’ and Ravi Jadhav’s ‘Balgandharva’, among others, the The Marathi Cinema Today section include films such as ‘Khel Mandala’ and ‘Yada, Yada Hi Dharmasya’.

Dance

Salman Rushdie is back in news. First, the news was he’s coming to Jaipur Literature Festival 2012. He’d be attending a session titled, very tiresomely, ‘Midnight’s Child’ (Rushide and this midnight business has already gone too far; wait for the Deepa Mehta film now!). Now, the news is there are people who do not want him in India. One group has urged the government to cancel his visa, because his actions have hurt the sentiments of the people. (Oh, I forgot, Rushdie has joined tweeter; Rushdie has proposed to his news girlfriend; Rushdie in a verbal duel with Taslima Nasreen; Rushdie at war with Facebook. Rushdie. Exhausting!)

The colleagues were talking about Rushdie. Then the talk veered towards his ex-flame, Padma Lakshmi. Next stop, Padma Lakshmi’s career as food host. Next stop, food reality shows. Next stop, the bad behaviour of Gordon Ramsay, and then, next stop, the oh-so-wonderful MasterChef Australia, the best food reality show in the world.

And I was thinking.

Who watches those food shows? I cannot watch a food show without getting hungry, and feeling really bad because I am never going to taste that delicious dish. Who watches these food shows? And I argue that those people who cannot cook to save their lives enjoy those shows. It gives them a kick to watch other people doing something they cannot do, and doing it well, and in style.

This is a pattern.

That is why you will see that the most ardent follower of cricket, the one who will plan to kill Sachin Tendulkar after he was out without scoring and would want to wash his feet after he had scored a century, is the one who has never touched the bat, or be in the field.

I should know.

For the last few days, I have been watching the American sitcom ‘Glee’ like mad. Why do I like ‘Glee’, and for that matter the musicals, and Fred Astaire? That because I cannot dance. I have the proverbial two left feet. And watching the best in the business perform their best moves give me that satisfaction, however imaginary that may be. I dance in my dream.

That is why I’m in love with the new Win Wenders documentary ‘Pina.’

Run Joey Run

Here’s another song featured in American sitcom ‘Glee’ Season 1, in the episode called ‘Bad Raputation.’ It’s one of those narrative ballads, which tells the story of doomed love, Romeo-Juliet style. Nothing extraordinary, but charming. The song is ‘Run Joey Run’ by David Geddes.

David Cole Idema (born July 1, 1950), best known by the stage name David Geddes, is a soft rock singer who had a US Top 5 hit with "Run Joey Run" in 1975, which peaked at #4 in October 1975. More Here.


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Run Joey Run

Julie
Daddy please don't it wasn't his fault
He means so much to me
Daddy please don't, we're gonna get married
Just you wait and see

Joey
Every night the same old dream I hate to close my eyes
I can't erase the memory the sound of Julie's cry
She called me up late that night she said :
Joe, don't come over
My Dad and I just had a fight
And he stormed out the door

I've never seen him act this way,
My God, he's goin' crazy
He said he's gonna make you pay
For what we done, he's got a gun!

So run, Joey run, Joey run

Julie
Daddy please don't, it wasn't his fault
He means so much to me
Daddy please don't, we're gonna get married
Just you wait and see

Joey
Got in my car and I drove like mad
Til I reached Julie's place
She ran to me, with tear-filled eyes and bruises on her face
All at once I saw him there sneaking up behind me (watch-out!)
Then Julie yelled, "He's got a gun!"
And she stepped in front of me

Suddenly, a shot rang out and I saw Julie falling
I ran to her, I held her close
When I looked down, my hands were red
And here's the last words Julie said

Julie
Daddy please don't, it wasn't his fault
He means so much to me
Daddy please don't, we're gonna get married

aaaaaaah aaaaaaaaaah

Run, Joey run, Joey run, Joey run, Joey run
Joey run, Joey run.....!

>>>>
View the original song in youtube.

Hindi Films of 2011 Part II

Hindi Films of 2011: A Short Guide: Part II

Love, Breakup, Zindagi: Two minor stars who aren’t shinning anymore, Zayed Khan and Diya Mirza, come together to rescue each other’s careers, set up a production company and make a movie, casting themselves in the leads, of course. What was missing from the beginning was the spark. The stars are still dim. Zindagi (life) isn’t always fair.

Mausam: The name still reminds you of Bhupinder Singh’s haunting ‘dil dhoonta hai’, and Sharmila Tagore’s brazen prostitute act in Gulzar’s classic. This current “season” of acclaimed actor Pankaj Kapur’s directorial debut wasn’t all that pleasant. I cannot say it was a bad film. It was beautifully photographed, and son Shahid worked hard, and the tale tried to tell about the country’s recent history than just an inane love story. But, the cocktail wasn't potent enough. Perhaps, the problem was with our expectations. We wanted greater things from this seasoned talent.

Memories in March: Another film which polarised audiences. A friend of mine adored the soundtrack. I hated it, not the music per se, but how the music was used to exploit emotions. It’s a "gay" melodrama we are not ready for, yet. Rituporno Ghosh’s lover act doesn’t help the case either. A brave attempt. I am sure scholars will write papers on this in years to come, and discuss representation of homosexuality on silver screen.

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan: If 2011 was the year of female stars, Katrina Kaif proved that she is a real thing, and she’s here to stay, her accent, and poor acting skills notwithstanding. A formula film from the Yash Raj factory becomes a showcase for Kaif’s star charisma. That itself is commendable.

Mod: From 'Dor' to 'Mod', Nagesh Kukunoor returns after his debacle in Bangkok with this love story. You’d especially appreciate it if you are a fan of Ayesha Takia.

Murder 2: Murder (1) was 'Unfaithful'. With Murder 2, the Bhatts come closer home, and decides to rip the Korean thriller ‘The Chaser.’ Full marks for the choice of inspiration. It's a well-made film and one of my favourites. The execution? Now, that’s a million dollar question. However, you got to give it to Emraan Hashmi, this guy can survive anything. Look at him. He survives this second murder, and, with ‘The Dirty Picture’ finally proves himself to be a reliable actor.

No One Killed Jessica: Not just Hollywood, now, even we can make movies on current affairs and make them entertaining too (and not preachy, childish like a lot of other films, e.g. ‘Khap’). Rani Mukherji’s bad girl persona helped.

Patiala House: After a series of flops, Akshay Kumar is back in business. Fine. But, it was Anushka Sharma who took another step to stardom with this film.

Pyar Ka Panchnama: The film was like an sms joke, nobody talks about it, but everyone likes reading one, and then perhaps forwarding it. Boys will be boys, political correctness be damned.

Ra.One: Another ‘Ravan’, another debacle. But King Khan cannot sink. You only wish our heroes would find their stories. They seem to forget that they cannot survive and flourish without the story. But, the film gave the middle class Indian family a chance to enjoy a blockbuster in 3D, if you consider this an achievement.

Ready: Salman Khan. Dhiga chika, dhiga chika...

Rockstar: Ranbir Kapoor arrives. From a star in making, he’s finally a star. What you care more about, however, is the return of A R Rahman to his former glory, and the virtuosity of Mohit Chauhan. It’s a long journey from Silk Route to Rockstar, but a glorious one.

Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster: In India, we don’t have the concept of indie (independent) cinema. If it were, this would be the best indie film produced in India in 2011. It's surprising why Tigmanshu Dhulia (‘Haasil’, ‘Charas’) hasn’t entered the big league yet. Though the title alludes to the Guru Dutt classic, the film is a study of power and corruption, accentuated by the performance of all the three leads, Jimmy Shergill, Mahie Gill, and Randeep Hooda, who, for a change, plays a criminal than a policeman.

Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande: Do you remember a 1980s movie called ‘Kala Dhanda Gorey Log’? Anyway, this one is a failed actor’s last shot at glory, produced by his out-of-work actress wife. You really don’t expect great things from this film and this is the reason it works. Directed by Pravin Dabas (‘Monsoon Wedding’, ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’), and also starring him, this one is low-fi ‘Delhi Belly’ and any other crime-gone-wrong comedies. Not bad.

Shabri: In a year of strong woman-orientated films, this one was perhaps less talked about, and mind you, it’s not the fault of the film. Isha Koppikar belts out a de-glam and convincing performance of a Mumbai slum woman who turns to crime as a means of survival. The film, which had been in making for several years, suffered from bad marketing, and the lack of a salable star.

Shagird: The second Tigmanshu Dhulia film of the year, starring Nana Patekar as a north Indian cop. This is should be the reason enough. Hangover of ‘Ab Tak Chappan’?

Shaitan: A young film, if that’s a category. Lots of visual flourishes, and a script which bites more than it can chew. The end result is not without merit. Debutant director Bejoy Nambiar arrives.

Shor in the City: An anthology film, which isn't quite. A slice-of-life film which isn't quite. A Mumbai film, which isn't quite. Yet, it is this ubiquitous presence of Mumbai that lifts this tale of several odd-ball characters trying to find their destiny — a foreign-return businessman, an aspiring cricketer, and a pirate of pirated books, and a bag ful of smuggled weapons to boot.

Singham: Ajay Devgn does a Salman Khan; it’s a tough act to follow, and Devgn succeeds to varying degrees. It’s another matter if anyone would remember this Rohit Shetty blockbuster in the years to come!

Soundtrack: Do you really want to “see” a film called ‘Soundtrack’? Or would you rather listen to it. The soundtrack of ‘Soundtrack’ isn’t great, but the film benefits from Rajeev Khandelwal’s mature performance of a musician who gets everything and loses everything, and learns his lesson.

Stanley Ka Dabba: After his fallout with Aamir Khan during the making of ‘Taare Zaameen Par’, and after donning the villain’s hat in ‘Kaminey’, Amol Gupte finally directs his own children’s film, with his son Partho in the lead. It’s not as serious as the Aamir Khan venture, but the performances of Partho and his friends make it an interesting watch.

Tanu Weds Manu: A South Indian hero and a North Indian heroine. If this isn't a recipe for success, then nothing is. However, it’s the supporting cast, led by very talented Deepak Dobriyal that makes this troublesome wedding a success.

Tell Me O Khuda: Hema Malini returns to direct a film with the express wish to resurrect the dying career of her daughter, and effectively kills it, this time beyond hope. Tragic really. More tragic than her choice to remake her first film, ‘Dil Achchna Hai’, this time with three fathers.

That Girl in Yellow Boots: A Bollywood art film from Anurag Kashyap, shows the director’s command over the medium, and his talent for telling off the beaten track narrative, greatly helped by the virtuoso performance of Kalki as the girl from England looking for her father in the seedy underbelly of Mumbai, ably supported by Naseeruddin Shah. (There something to Shah’s cinematic output in the recent years, especially in 2011, where he appeared in several movies with strong female leads, and gave marvellous performances.

The Dirty Picture: Just two words. Vidya Balan. The most talked about picture of the year, and deservedly so, despite the director chickening out at the last moment to make it a really subversive feminist text. Balan is phenomenal. A star is re-born.

Turning 30!!!: Gul Panag gives a terrific performance in a pseudo-feminist tale peppered with ageism. 'Sex and the City' in Bollywood? Not quite.

Yamla Pagla Deewana: The Deol home video following the success of ‘Apne’. Not without charm if you are a fan of Dharmendra or one of his two sons.

Yeh Saali Zindagi: Sudhir Mishra, and Mumbai together, gritty, if unfocussed. What actually went wrong? Go figure!

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: Joya Akhtar lives up to expectations and gives us a Bollywood version of a road movie, which looks wonderful, so wonderful that you forget that movies also need to tell a story. A star-studded vacation. If you always wanted to travel to Spain and could not afford it, this film will give you a chance to live your dreams.

End of Part II

Hindi Films of 2011: Part I

Hindi Films of 2011: A Short Guide: Part I

The other day the ‘Filmfare’ magazine printed an ad in ‘The Times of India,’ featuring a list of Hindi feature films released in 2011, and asking readers to cast their votes on the year’s best in different categories, from best film, best actor/actress to best song and music and so on. There are 100 odd films in the list, some of which I had never heard of before. Anyway, here is a shorter list of Hindi films that made sense in 2011. Some are “blockbusters”, some are “good films”, some may be neither, yet, they made sense in a year filled with inane entertainment.

7 Khoon Maaf: It could have been Priyanka Chopra’s year instead of Vidya Balan’s, if this film was a killer at the box office. Somehow, a murderous heroine was too much for the Indian audience. And, Ms Chopra was over-the-top. A fine performance by Vivaan Shah. The ‘Darling’ song. Truth is Vishal Bhardwaj cannot make a bad film, even if he tries.

Aaraskshan: The proof that controversy cannot help a film’s popularity. A film that lost its way in its own idealism, and it’s not ‘Rajneeti.’ We expected better things from Prakash Jha, especially after his last outing.

Bbuddha Hoga Terra Baap: The bad spelling in the title notwithstanding, the verdict was that we prefer Amitabh Bachchan as an old man, or a as child, but not as a peacock.

Bheja Fry 2: The secret to a good recipe is that you cannot repeat the same taste twice, especially when you insist on adding more spices to the proceeding because it tested so good last time; this time, it's yuck!

Bhindi Baazaar Inc.: A typical Mumbai-underworld flick, good, but, where’s that zing? We need the style, bhai!

Bodyguard: The second Salman Khan blockbuster of the year after ‘Ready’. This is the year when Salman Khan became the film itself. No, not in the sense that he’s the hero, in the sense that he’s the film itself. This film exists to look at Salman Khan, and nothing else.

Challo Dilli: While everybody is gaga over Vinay Pathak’s talent, they forget that Lara Dutta is such a good actor, if you give her a chance to do something other than just dress well.

Chargesheet: The last film Dev Anand will ever made. The film shows the respect Dev Anand commanded. Nobody may have gone to the theatre to see the film, but no one uttered a single word against it either, even the virulent of critics.

Chillar Party: A so called children’s film can also be a hit, if it’s well made, and well, if it has Salman Khan’s name attached to it.

Dam 999: Another example of how controversy cannot sell a film, if the product itself is half-constructed, or badly constructed. A washout!

Damadamm!: Guess, it’s time this guy, called Himesh Reshammiya, woke up from his dreams that he too is a hero, a romantic one at that. It’s like Baba Sehgal singing ‘Main Bhi Madonna.’

Delhi Belly: Controversy may not sell a film, but Aamir Khan does. A raunchy comedy directed at multiplex audiences. It worked. The swear words helped. And those who still talk about the importance of a script are vindicated.

Dhobi Ghat: But Aamir Khan doesn’t always sell, if the art film is really arty, even when he stars in it. Never mind that. Kiran Rao does a splendid job making a film she wanted to make without succumbing to the trapping that is Bollywood. A fine meditation on the city of dreams, from inside.

Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji: The so called serious slice-of-life filmmaker, Madhur Bhandarkar forays into comedy, a puerile attempt really. Somehow the film works. Shall we give the credits to Ajay Devgn, or is it because of Emraan Hashmi?

Dum Maaro Dum: Surprisingly, the film got more coverage before it’s release then after — controversy over the remix of the iconic song, Deepika Padukone in an item number, the Bipasha-John break-up, the Bipasha-Rana hook-up. The story of drug mafia in Goa was not all that bad. Neither was Abhishek Bachchan’s attempt at hip-hop.

F.A.L.T.U.: The film was really faltu (useless!). Poor Remo. He is a good choreographer. Everyone is not Farah Khan.

Force: This is the one film that divided the crop of critics this year. While some loved it (four stars), some absolutely hated it (one and half stars). How do you explain this? It depends on how do you react to a tattooed John Abraham lifting a motorbike with his two bare hands. That the film was released after ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Singham’ did not help the matter either. Question is, is Nishikant Kamat India’s answer to Nicolas Winding Refn?

I Am: Same is the case with this anthology film by Onir. Anthology films are not new in Bollywood (‘Das Kahaniya’), yet we have not really warmed up to it. All said, nobody can deny the power of the ‘Megha’ episode and Juhi Chawla’s heartbreaking performance.

I Am Kalam: Children’s films can be a hit too, but it needs marketing, which ‘Chillar Party’ had, and this film did not. This film about a child labourer in Rajasthan who finds hope and inspiration in former Indian President, needs to be seen. It’s not ‘Saalam Bombay’, neither is this ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. A sweet coming of age tale, told with heart.

Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl: There are heroes and there are heroes, and there are those who become the toast of the town in the first few films and then, without any reason, just disappear from the scene. Case in point, Chandrachur Singh. Remember him? If my hunch is right, the current heartthrob Ranveer Singh is heading towards that direction. Yash Raj alone cannot help your career. If it could, it would have helped Uday Chopra a long time ago. Is this the beginning of an end?

End Of Part I.