Harishchandrachi factory is about the making of first motion picture of India in 1913. The movie does not effectively depict the exact realism of the period. It doesn’t have any political or social backdrop about freedom struggles during that period throughout the movie. The focus of the movie is narrow, not a quite drama genre. But somehow the movie compensates that drawback to some extent by bringing back the realism of 1913 with is well maneuvered sets.

I don’t know about the actual struggles endured and efforts put by Dadasaheb phalke in making the first motion picture. But after seeing this movie I definitely can see him as the pioneer of Indian Cinema. I can see the how far his passion took him up. I can see how his wife, Saraswati, was tolerant and was a pillar of strength to him in the process. But I don’t think the film has justified the whole struggle and process that might have taken pace in conception of the Raja Harishchandra. The struggles that Phalke has to overcome in the movie are,

1.) Society’s Rejection of Phalke’s interest in films.
2.) Financial hurdles.
3.) Incongruousness of the cast and crew who are first timers.

Seems to be the challenges faced by every young aspiring filmmaker even today. May be more details would have helped.
Some of the detailing in the film is interesting. In a scene where everyone is watching the movie, Phalke, interested in process, is facing towards the projector. When no women, not even prostitutes, agreed to act in films Phalke had to cast men in female roles and he trained those men to adopt the body language and characteristics of female with the help of his wife is interesting.

Nandu Madhav, who plays the role of Phalke , was a stunner. Excellent performance by him. Overall the movie is entertaining and warmly felt but depicts the birth of Indian Cinema nonchalantly.

The film is India’s official submission for Oscar Foreign Language Film category.

Thomas Vinterberg the dogme95 guy along Trier has given a gripping film. Celebration(Festen) is the only other film of Thomas I’ve seen. In both these movies ‘child sexual abuse’ plays an important role. In Hunt vinterberg depicts the aftermath of a false allegation of pedophilia. The film shows how fast a sensitive, serious accusation like this spreads over the society and how it sees the convict after that , even though if it is a lie.

In Hunt, Mads Mikkelsen, villain who scratched Bond’s balls in Casino Royale, plays as a kind-hearted ordinary man ‘Lucas’, a kindergarten teacher. All the kids love him, his friends love him, has a cute dog Fanny, after all his son Marcus, who is living with mother after divorce, loves him very much. All are good until an impulsive lie of an innocent little girl, daughter of his best friend, rips his life apart.

As Grethe, Head teacher of the school, blindly believes the lie of the innocent child and addresses the issue with help of a child psychologist, who seems to be inexperienced. Then all the parents of are asked to lookout for some symptoms in their children, suspecting that Lucas might have done this to many of them. Police are called. Situation goes out of control only to cause grief to Lucas and his son Marcus.

Well scripted also well driven by Mikkelsen’s performance. Has been premièred in Cannes and nominated for Non English film in BAFTA this year.

The Hunt is moving. A Must watch.

“I might get rich someday, but I will always be the director of ‘Angst’”

. I’d say he might have been a Haneke-like director otherwise.

Angst starts with this line,

“The fear in her eyes and the knife in the chest. That’s my last memory of my mother. That’s why I had to go to prison for four years, even though she survived. “

Angst is about a psycho, who after serving 10 years for killing a old woman, is just getting out of prison. Narrative screenplay adds up to the distubia. Narration is like we are hearing the Psychopath’s mind-voice throughout. As he is walking out of the prison, his thoughts are that he is free now, after ten years, to quench his thirst of lust, killing-spree and the satisfaction that he gets of torturing women, but this time he is not gonna get caught as he is having a perfect plan.

He after failing to kill a cab driver flees out and finds a destitute house where he quenches his psychotic thirsts. Saying more would be revealing I guess. The film is based on a serial killer named Werner Kniesek says many. I see this film in line with ‘Henry : Portrait of a Serial Killer’ and many others see it the same way. But this film will be more unsettling and brutal. Two main facets of this movie which really adds up are the actor Erwin Leder – for his lifetime performance, cinematographer Zbigniew Rybczynski - for his unconventional, disturbing camera work.

This film is not for everyone and even if you are like ‘ey, I always have been a fan of serial killer movies’ this is worse. This is not like a hillbilly, backwoods horror movies or slasher movies with blood and gore. It is a mind f——- movie. And if you are a fan of Dexter, he is not a true psycho for your information.

There are two versions of this movie you can find the info and comparison about’em here.

Angst - A genuine psychopath.

A few days ago, I came across a documentary on paintings. A special mention was made to a certain minimalist Russian painter called Kazimir Malevich, who around the 1920’s had painted a truly radical work of art. His series of paintings inspired several art movements and is considered to be the Godfather of minimalism. I was eager to know what this particular Russsian had painted and then I got to see this:

A black square.Not some divine angels,not a breathtaking landscape,not a sombre still life but a simple black square.It did put me off further when I learnt that it was purchased for around 250,000 dollars!!!Well,anybody could have painted that! I thought,ishould take up painting , though I cant draw to save my life(My tenth standard biology record books would provide sufficient proof).

But I soon did realize that Malevich was a genius,simply ahead of his time.By painting a simple black square,he had broken the idea that a painting need not be representational.It seemed that he was inviting viewers to create their own paintings (of course in the mind)by looking at the Black square.He had created an in finite reservoir of imagiantion and he may have liberated painting from the shackes of tradition.

So,can we do this to cinema?Can cinema be truly liberated from the shackles holding it?Does a cinema need a story?Is it mandatory to have some plot or the other?Does it always need to have some hidden meaning or Some metaphor or symbolism?

Not necessary,I guess!Well,I,for now haven’t shot anything  truly liberating nor will I claim to do so.Great film makers all over the world have succeeded in doing this both in the past and present.There are hundreds of films that bear testimony to this,that a film can exist and move you without the so called plot or story or the dramatic twist ending.Well,so lets all go experimental and watch alternative parallel avant garde cinema.Imagine,we all walk in to a theatre having bought the Rs.120 ticket and the “Bucket Popcorn”(As RJ Balaji would say).We wait for the movie to start but all that we get to see is nothing more than a black square and the viewers asked to interpret their own visuals.That would be totally not worth it and we  would be right in demanding our money back.Maybe we (or am) are not ready for such cinema but in the present context of liberating cinema,I really do have a small piece that I would like to share with you .The internet isn’t that expensive.My laptop is got some battery remaining,my friend is still snoring.So I figured,let me write on!!

I recently came across this film”Café Lumiere” directed by the Taiwanese auteur  Hou Hsiao-Hsien who made this film as a homage to Yasujiro Ozu,the poet of Japanese Cinema.The movie begins patiently showing a young girl talking on the phone,hanging clothes,reading books and travelling in a train.Meandering shots,the camera letting you observe the girl and her activities.Really naturalistic ,really minimal !We are down 16 minutes in to the movie.The girl travelling by train arrives at her home,chit chats with her parents and this beauty of a sequence unfolds:

These above  frames are only meant to give a glimpse of the actual shots and do not in any way demonstrate the beauty of the sequence.All that happens is the girl goes to feed her cat,lies on her back on the floor lazily and calls out to her Mother asking what’s for dinner while the cat strolls around her,climbs the table and jumps from it and that’s all.Nothing earth shattering.The camera,as you can see stays still,letting you watch from only one perspective.

Well,when I watched this sequence,I was immediately nostalgic about home where you would sometimes laze on the floor and talk to your Mother about what’s cooking.I do this at my home in Coimbatore and I realized, its no different in Japan or Taiwan.The borders have melted in a space of few seconds.You feel at home!!For me the sequence worked,though it didn’t have a plot,nor did it give me some deep character insight,no allegory or metaphor or symbolism(even if there were any,it would least bother me!)because these simple  frames have transcended all our customary expectations of Cinema.

So Is “Café Lumiere”,the “Black Square” of Cinema.No,definitely not,many would also be right in pointing out there are more innovative,avant garde films,both Indian and foreign ,that are more radical in content and form than the above sequence.Well,for me,this gave me a simple and organic approach to Cinema.I didn’t have to analyze the compositions nor try to “understand”using vague theorotical explanations  or complex allegories because when something is beautiful,logic need not even apply.All that you have to do it is give it some time,watch it and feel it!

I guess most of you would are already wondering when my rambling is going to stop.Well,for those of you who read till the end,I have some good news.I feel really sleepy,am gona crash!Thank you for your patience!

                                                                                                                                  -ASOC

Directed by Nithilan,Punnagai Vaanginaal Kanneer Elavasam is a short made for Naalaya Iyakkunar Season-3.The script is powerful and based on a true story as mentioned in the film.

The director has handled the script cleverly which makes it to pierce deep into our heart.

This film got huge appreciation from the Padmashree Kamal Haasan and K Balachander.

Must Watch for Movie Lovers

Lament of Karna(Karna Motcham) is a short film about Street Play artists and their life.Street play,the oldest form of art has now become the dying art because of the technological advances and the popularity of cinema.The film won National Award by Government of India for best short film.Karna Motcham is directed by S.Murali Manohar.The story and dialogues were written by S.Ramakrishnan,one of the greatest writer in India.

The ironic scenes and the powerful dialogues will touch your heart and make us feel the pain of these artists.

Heaven on Earth is a powerful film directed by Deepa Mehta.The plot is about chand ,a punjabi woman, who is married, leaves northern India, to live with her husband who she is meeting for the first time as well as her in laws.Its not defnitely the heaven for chand where she is abused by her husband and family. Well scripted and excellent direction where pin drop silence scenes dominate the movie and makes the noise of silence.This conveys the thoughts in chand’s mind and how she is going to confront it.

Deepa Mehta,Indian-born Canadian film director, known for her Earth,water and Fire trilogy,proves again.She has always been honest towards her film’s demands. She could have made this film in Hindi or atleast partially in Punjabi to achieve a wider audience but she uses unadulterated Punjabi throughout for a much more effective result.The black and white sequences are a visual Ecstasy.

The Impassioned Eye was shot shortly before his death at 96 .Henri Cartier Bresson holds his masterpieces and explains the hidden details in his photographs. His contribution to the world of photography couldn’t be explained in words.If you are a cinematographer or a photographer ,this could be one film to change your vision.More than 100 photos are explained in detail by Bresson. Watching this film was like a workshop given by the master itself.Bresson also explains how one should look for moment.

If you are a photographer.Also watch this documentary “Just Plain Love”

A narration from Just Plain Love:

“I’m very old .Memories Accumulate.The recent ones float on top and others fade away.Seeing a face might bring them back.It all comes back to me with such clarity.
A sign said “Enter without knocking”..Well this knocked me out.When i saw them,I took the shot and then I said hello.It’s an enquiry but also it’s a physical embracing of the person.It happens in less then fraction of a second.You must feel it intuitively.”

The plot is about Louka who incidentally meets with a young Russian boy Kolya and slowly their relationship gets deeper. The story starts with 55-year-old Louka, a cellist who used to play for Philharmonic (the Prague state symphony orchestra) but now plays at funerals, paints graves and leads a fairly playboy-ish lifestyle. It was the time when the Czechoslovakia was occupied by Soviet Union.

Louka, who is void of emotions and bonding, is in need of money agrees to marry a Russian girl; half his age whose son happens to be Kolya, helping the young lady secure the Czech citizenship. Although it was a marriage of convenience and there was no serious intentions both sides, situations leave stranded Kolya under Louka’s care.

1996 Academy award winner for Best Foreign Language Film,Kolya-directed by Jan Sverak is a soul stirrer. Apart from heart touching scenes, the film has excellent cinematography .The characterisations of Louka and Kolya, played by Zdenek Sverak and Andrei Chalimon respectively, were well portrayed and their performances were equally supportive.

Captain Abu Raed,directed by Amin Matalqa is a Jordan movie filled with love,kindness and compassion .Its has mesmerizing cinematography and everlasting characters.The film really leaves one with a lot of thoughts.

Abu Raed is an old janitor at Amman Airport.He speaks from the heart. He is well-read and wise, but he is very much alone since the death of his wife.One day while cleaning the bin,he finds a pilot’s hat and wears it home.The next day,Abu Raed finds himself surrounded by a group of children asking for tales of adventure and dreams.He makes them happy telling stories about his journeys.Abu Raed continues to care for them and soon discovers the problems the children are facing in their lives. He decides to help them which risks his own life.

The movie won the Audience Award at Sundance Film Festival.

Abu Raed will be one of your favourite heros.