The Fountain Reviewed
Posted by Uma Damle | Filed under Uncategorized
Calling this movie a mere movie would be an impertinence on my part. Its a poem written in a work of art. It is ambiguous, mysterious, and subject to personal interpretation. Its not a story to be enjoyed but rather an incomparable experience to be felt. This movie is a testament to the cycle of life and death and how love transcends across it all.
The plot moves in three different story lines taking place over a span of a thousand years, one each for past, present and future. A Spanish conquistador in a Mayan country searches for the tree of life to free his captive queen; a medical researcher, working with tree sap, looks for a cure that will save his dying wife; a lone space traveler, travelling with an aged tree within a bubble, moves toward a dying star that’s wrapped in a nebula.
The stories weave in and out of each other seamlessly while maintaining their individual identity. The painful reality of the past and present meets the metaphorical surreality of the future in a beautiful blend that makes you cry with its sheer beauty.
The two leads, Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz have done an impeccable job and blend into this sublime movie with their nothing-short-of-sublime performances. Rachel Weisz’s role of a brave person who embraces death would have been a cliched stereotype had it been another actress. But Weisz plays the part with such held-back and downplayed intensity and innocence that are moved to tears.
After watching X-Men my perception of Hugh Jackman was that of a dumb action hero. After watching The Prestige (Another movie which deserves a looong review) I realised that he can, indeed, act. But watching him perform in this movie was an eye opener. He plays three complex characters (That of the conquistador, the researcher and the space traveller) caught in a myriad of complex situations with an ease that’s breathtaking in its simplicity. Especially the character where he plays a husband not able to come to terms with his wife’s mortality… he makes you feel his agony and his helpless desperation.
They both share an amazing onscreen chemistry.Their eternal love for each other is entirely believable. You envy them for feeling what we can only dream about.
I fall short of words in description of the imagery, graphics and cinematography of the movie. Breathtaking, heart-breakingly gorgeous, bewitching….even these adjectives would be a gross understatement. The animation, lighting,each and every immaculately delivered shot just blows you away. The general color tone of the movie is a striking soft luminous gold against black which gives it an atmosphere that leaves you sighing.
The music of the movie…I wouldn’t even try to describe it. Lets just say the most haunting Howard Shore (Of LOTR music fame), Enya and Loreena Mckennit music that I have ever heard have the depth of puddles when compared to the ocean of this hypnotic music which is faintly reminiscent of music scores in Chinese movies. Clint Mansell (The music director) is truly a genius.
This is a thinking man’s movie. It can be frustrating at times for being too profound to be comprehended. But its art afterall. You can almost see Darren Aronofsky the genius behind this movie smiling enigmatically as he made beautiful strokes on a 70 mm canvas, knowing that only a few will be able to understand his designs.
My verdict:9/10
Links:
IMDB Review
Trailer
-Bluegenemaid
<flotsam> Man looks for the proof of the existence of God in his/her life. I see it everyday when I see life blossoming out of a dormant seed lying in lifeless soil. Nature is God and just because we can sometimes comprehend her design doesn’t make her any less powerful. </flotsam>
Ek Bayalis Ki Last Local Reviewed…
Posted by Prashanth | Filed under Uncategorized
Actually, it is Ek Chalis Ki Last Local. So what’s so special about this movie that the great connoisseur of movies Prashanth is going to review it and keep this post on a priority above his 42 pending blog posts?
The Answer is pretty simple. (Not 42!) It was one of those lucky movies which Prashanth got to watch. FIITJEE HW, roaming around with friends, eating out, sleeping for superhuman hours, and many other things which includes extreme levels of laziness and walnut worth of memory and all the activities above made him neglect his sweet little blog…
So someday, when I got time (and patience) to sit patiently in front of my PC, which is situated in the hottest corner of the house which for some reason cooled down due to the recent rains, I had the (mis)fortune of watching this movie.
Now let me start the review….
Cast
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Abhay Deol (Dharmendar’s 3rd son. (where the hëll did he come from?)) - Nilesh
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Neha Dhupia (Dont start licking lips just yet…) - Madhu
Makkhi -
Vinay Apte (Who the hëll?) - Ponnapa
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Snehal Dabi (Which gender?) - Habiba
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Ashok Samarth (Never heard of him) - Malwankar
Plot + Synopsis
It all starts when Nilesh, a guy who thinks and behaves a lot like I do, misses the last local train which punctually leaves the the Korba station at One Forty (Two) AM. This bloke then thinks, should he wait for the next local train, or should he move on in an auto, or should he walk all the way home…
The last two ways were out of the question, as he had just 70 bucks in his pocket… and walking the distance which is all the way to Vikhroli from Korba would be something even the most devoted piligrims wouldn’t dare to do especially in Mumbai, with the highest night crime rates! But for this guy, (who thinks and behaves a lot like I do) that wasn’t really the reason. He apparently wasn’t the only unlucky guy (read person) to miss his train. He had the company of the deadly looking Neha Dhupia in a backless top and salwar kameez who also wanted to go to Vikhroli.
With an instant change in plans, and just 70 bucks, he decides to spend the night flirting and taking as much time as he can with the pretty lass with an umbrella to not just offer protection from the romantic rains of Mumbai…
If you think now these two love birds are going to get to know each other, fall in love and get married in the next 2.5 hrs, you have been completely prejudiced about hindi movies… but then, that was what Nilesh had in mind…
So to kill time, and make friends, they end up in the nearest Bar passing several goondas, dogs and the nocturnal life (and dead) of Mumbai where our Nilesh does everything from Gambling, drinking, flirting, and even a scuffle with a gangster, and also gets embroiled in a murder…
Meanwhile, far away in some other ugly corner of Mumbai, two gangsters from a gang leader named Ponnapa’s team manage to get a ransom amount of worth 2.5Cr behind which, the rival gang team is after. So now, we have two gangs in a rat race for a hefty amount of 2.5Cr and heavily caricatured, sick and perverted cops behind them. Basically, you have gangs locked in internecine wars with cops who can fall for any extent for the Khoka or Peti. Also, both Nilesh and Me lose interest in the girl at just about the same time when it is revealed that this is Neha Dhupia’s 6.023 X 10^23rd role in a movie as a prostitute named Mala instead of the stereotyped Maya ..!! (Hëll, destroyed all the fun!)
So then, we start seeing a series of fast moving misadventures of Nilesh and Madhu who would eventually, sooner or later be destined to fall in love with each other. The misadventures include Madhu almost getting raped by one of the constables, Nilesh also being done the same by a sick gangleader (male) and that too all tied up to a bed with a smiley stuff toy stuffed into his mouth, sickening conversations with the policeman in the jeep, even more with a bunch of Hijdas (Indian term for scray eunuchs) lead by Habiba, and lots of ugly Mumbai.
Anyway, the movie is all about how the two and a half hours that he spends before catching the next train transform is life completely. Nope, he isn’t castrated, nor is he handicapped for life and deemed to become a begger, neither this is a RGV flick in which he turns into a gang leader, nor this gets melodramatic when he becomes a vicious criminal and his family tried hard to turn him back. What actually happens is, he gets his hand on the 2.5Cr worth booty even the girl… a nice happy, lucky ending.
Before I forget, there is a duplicate Rajnikanth in the story. It was a nice caricatured “cartoon” to be thrown in the middle.
Verdict
A refreshingly brilliant plot. A uniquely different story. The director has the same last name that I have (spelled differently though). Abhay Deol’s acting is phenominally natural. Not like those typical Hindi heroes, who win the race by beating up a bunch of baddies and throwing lofty lines and even sing a song for the woman after all that…
He was simply natural, and the character was a lot like me. If there is anyone who can be shown as a satirical (non-geeky) portrayal of me, it would be Nilesh. And I seriously got pìššëd off at the stage when Neha was shown to be a Prostitute. The actors, especially the cops did a wonderful job. Everything was done so well, still I hated it. Perhaps the comedy was simply too cheap or low for me? Perhaps I prefer light decent witty comedy instead of the dark non-veg slapstick sort.
Anyway, this movie is a clear example of Bollywood growing up and experimenting with different sorts of movies. This one was a youth focused satirical portrayal of a Mumbaikar’s life highlighting the worst things that can happen to a him. Pretty different from the conventional plots.
The plot was this movie’s greatest strength since it wasn’t star studded and didn’t have experienced people guiding it. Even the director is a debutant.
The music wasn’t given much emphasis either. Other than the promotional track Laree Choote by Call, the band, this movie didn’t really have a strong soundtrack. And thank goodness that soundtrack doesn’t mean the actors dancing together in front of the Gateway of India in this movie!
Overall, it could have been packaged better, as very rarely you see plots like this. Hoping to see more movies like this one… only a lot less frustrating. It is innovated to an extent that it starts looking coincidential. You would probably know what I mean once you watch this movie. In all, it ends up being a time pass flick.
Rating: 2/5.
Inhabited Planet #3: Flying back with Spice Jet from Hyderabad…
Posted by Prashanth | Filed under Uncategorized
Sorry all readers, Internet connection gives way. The MTNL guys are upgrading their infra to the 2mbps standard or simply fiddling with the wires…
Coming back was fun too… I had another low cost flight starting from Hyderabad to right back here in Delhi. This time, my victim was Spice Jet. But before that, let me tell you about Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad. It is situated right at the heart of the city, unlike the airports in other big cities, which are kept on the outskirts or in the sub-urbs.
Even in Delhi, the township had not expanded that far until recently, so, IGI was infact in the outskirts a few years ago. RGI is a staggering city planning achievement. It is located somewhere around the centre of the city, therefore, it is equidistant from almost all places in and around Hyd. And this one actually looks, functions and feels like an airport, unlike HAL. Kudos to Hyd planners for this!
Coming back to my flight…
While checking in the luggage itself, I had checked out other things and realized that Spice Jet hostesses are hot. I guess they do a lot of examination before actually recruiting an air-hostess. The red skirts, (ripped off from Kingfisher (pun not intended)) look much better than the blue ones worn by the Indigo ones…
Anyway, my flight was a Boeing 737, had twin engines, which are located close to the fuselage, thus not obstructing anyone’s view. I had my seat behind the wing, which gave me triple advantages.
- The wing and the engine don’t block my sight (completely),
- The crew is in the front therefore I can be a shutterbug,
- Pretty close to the restroom (Spice Jet flights don’t have a restroom in the front, instead, 2 at the back)
And Spice Jet, was on time for me. While waiting for my flight in the passengers’ waiting room, I observed the little-less observed sights of RGI, which included a military flight, a micro-lite, as well as the airport parking yard.
Then, an announcement: Clear Skies, Humidity: close to nil, chances of rainfall: less that zero. And, our flight is ready to take in people. The rest is what you people might have already expected, [Click, click...zooom, click-click and unzooom, and the click a bit more]
I took more that 42 pictures, (64 to be exact) during the flight.
Flying with Spice Jet:
11:00 AM : “Hey, they are serving water, the food must be coming soon. Everything here looks better than the Indigo flight. Hope its the same for food as well…”
11:05 AM : “Now, they are giving cake, and biscuits. Perhaps they offer tea too. Or may be this is an appetizer.”
11:10 AM : “Now where the hëll is the crew… heating food or serving them into trays?”
11:15 AM : “Now, a crew guy is coming with a serving trolley, food foood… Ðámn, water again?”
11:20 AM : Crew Member: “No clicking pictures of the flight and the crew, it is legally prohibited, please turn off your camera”
Me : But…
Crew Member : I said, please turn off the camera…
Me: But… I was…
Crew Member : You haven’t turned it off… let me see. Ok fine, no more clicking pictures.
Me: Sure, sorry. (In my mind: &^@^@$%$$)
11:25 AM: “Now this guy is giving napkins to everyone, food must be next.”
11:30 AM: “He is giving water again, why can’t they understand, people are hungry… not thirsty!”
11:35 AM: Me (after losing patience): “Don’t you %@$^* people serve any food in the flight?”
Crew member : “Sorry sir, we don’t offer any food in the flight. (WTF do you expect in a flight that costs Rs. 1600?)
Me: Shìt! (not the answer to his/her question)
11:40 AM - 12:10 PM : [clicked, clicked, clicked and clicked a few more pictures]
12:10 PM : Back to Delhi in an empty stomach, a filled 1Gb memory stick, and a mind with tons of memories in a Non-A/C-ed coach back to the terminal. (Indigo Flights are better!)
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