Thursday, May 24, 2012

Moloch

    I had created this blog to note my immediate unedited response on watching a movie. This does not therefore serve as a review and there is every chance that a more thought out analysis of the movie would present a different perception from the initial one.


    Well , for this movie, which I watched the day before, I decided to not put in a quick unedited blog immediately. The movie is clearly the output of a very intense creative process and I did not want to risk a misrepresentation. Two days later, I am blogging this just so that I don't miss out on the chance to note the impressions before my memory fades off.


      As you can make out from the two paragraph disclaimers, I have a lot of respect for this movie. This has not been made to sell. It simply won't. The director of 22 Female Kottayam , the movie I had watched before this one had in an interview presented his confident conviction about how a movie should respect a budget and so forth. 'Moloch' is a different league.
   
     Moloch has been made because Moloch wanted itself made. A stream of consciousness that was gushing through the director , Aleksandr Sokurov just presented itself.  The cinematography was ethereal - magical. There is a perfection to it that leaves you spellbound. Think of a beautiful painting of a misty morning and you somehow get into the painting and see more of the world in the painting and all the sights as beautiful as the painting itself.That is how the cinematography was. 
    
     The subject itself is a very surprising one. As you watch the movie, a protagonist comes in who looks like Hitler. You are not sure if he really plays Hitler yet. A little later , this person is presented in a very light manner and you think it is some sort of a spoof of Hitler. Soon you realize that this is a portrayal of Hitler among people he is close to and this closeness leads to comic moments where Hitler's ideosyncracies are presented. After many such situations , Hitler's conviction in cruelty and insanity is presented with such conviction that it sends chills down your spine. The director has been extremely adept here.


     The movie is based out of Hitler's secretary's diary notes and the aspects presented are eye-opening.  The way he sits in his building and watches news reels of real war that is happening projected for him in his theater. His mad conviction towards what he is doing. When his weaknesses are presented , it is unbelievable to imagine that this idiot is such a terror. There is a vacation sequence where guarded by german soldiers Hitler and his close friends fool around.
The soldier is unable to look at Hitler's slapstick dances as this is the same man who has made his life so taut.           
      One isane man and so much devastation. This movie needs another watch for further comprehension - worth a thorough study for content and for presentation.





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