Chamaram - 1980

     Following recent discussions about malayalam cinema, Bharathan stood out as being much more of an artist than Padmarajan. I also realized that there are so many movies from this great director that I have not yet seen.
   That is how I watched Chamaram on youtube two hours back.

    The start of the movie was very endearing with Johnson's 'Naadha nee varum kaalochcha kelkkuvan' and the innocent flawless beauty of Sarina Wahab. The theme score was nice too. The movie seems to have been remade so very many times that the story did not offer anything new.

        The movie tells the story of a love affair between a student and his teacher.  Uncomfortable truths. Bharathan and Padmarajan have been attracted to such uncomfortable themes and present such subjects in their films.Chamaram also fits into this genre.

      Sarina Wahad and Pratap Poththan have done their parts well. Sarina stood out much more due to her beauty.

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.

Malayalam Movie 22 Female Kottayam -12/May/12(Theatre)

  The first reaction on watching the movie was to come again tomorrow for another watch.
  Makes one hopeful of the plight of malayalam movies.

  Aashiq Abu and team has taken up the challenge of presenting something relevant , a burning truth of current times from your own society and your own times and has succeeded well with the challenge. It is easy to find some interesting theme if you don't restrict yourself in time and space.

 The movie felt very current unlike typical malayalam movies that seem to lag in time by 10-15 years(big traditional houses etc.)

  Having chosen the theme, looks like the team has built a story that represents their reaction to the subject. They have been very creative and impactful in their response.

  The movie pleasantly lacks irrelevant side tracks.

  A very bold movie.
  Close to unpleasant shocking realities of current times.
  Very novel and drastic subject - very convincingly presented.
  Great screenplay - you never see something that you have already expected - the plot, the situations.
  Reema Kallingal has done excellent acting. Fahad Fazl looks good in the movie.
  Loved the camera.

  Direction has been excellent - the movie is completely in Aashiq Abu's control.There were certain points in the screenplay that I believe has a risk of fizzling out bad unless expertly directed and Abu has done that.

   The changed value system of today's rich city youth and yet a certain integrity to it comes out.A never give up ness.

   Cinematography of the movie is excellent with simple uncluttered compositions and excellent lighting and hues.

Very engaging.

The curious case of benjamin button

    This one was an ok one for a hollywood movie. The case of a life which goes backwards.Strange and almost absurd as it is, the movie has tried to present it as a genuine case and has succeeded with that. It portrays the challenges that a man who has his body clock running backwards where as his mind runs forward faces.
      I am a little bit of a fan of Brad Pitt and I imagine him as pretty down to earth for his success. This helped me through the movie as well. Quite forgettable though.Curious, but not particularly remarkable.

Ordinary(Malayalam Movie) 2012

    This movie has evoked good interest and has had good response in Kerala. For short of the right word, Divya had expressed an 'If only we could see this movie' some time back.So when Jimmy(colleague) sent an email about the shows on Friday and Saturday, I had immediately responded enthusiastically to all in the mailing list.Also, I am currently suffering from a soccer ankle sprain that got worsened from the time I responded to the mail and the time I need to drive to the theatre.
        Tried to work out a ride from Brijesh and Binish that did not work out as Binish had some sports plans. So I limped to the car and drove to the highway. Once on the highway, set the car in cruise mode, first time for a purpose.I wanted to still rest my leg as much.So once at the theatre building, I did not want to limp and find the hall. So I drove around to choose a spot close to the hall.There were no lots - so I circled around and parked on handicapped reserved spot.While I was working out optimizations on parking , people were trickling in.Once in,  the theatre organizer tells us that tickets were sold out.Then we are told that the first row is empty but it is right next to the screen.Decision was easy as I did not want to drive back again tomorrow nor did I want us to miss the chance having worked this far.
          So Brijesh,Binish,myself and Divya sat on the first row. Actually , we had an added advantage that we could stretch our legs and rest it on the stage.Helped rest my sprained leg well.

----

        So, here we were ,  half an earth rotation away from home with a hall packed with people like us - in a hall listening to a lot of malayalam comments / laughters.  The movie's first half was full of one liner quick jokes/ light romance and generally warm and friendly ambience. The story was not going anywhere for quite some time - a string of comedy dialogues. That is all we want too. The whole theatre was laughing as the movie had worked it's humour well and the theatre was full of young families.
        The second half is when the new filmmaker tried to put in some story into the movie. That is a requisite - it seems. Can there be a time when movies are made without a need for a story and is still enjoyable.In this case, story is not what drove the film. The film was driven as indicated by the title by a  setting. The setting of a KSRTC ordinary bus and associated people and humour around them. The story is what did not fit into the film.I think the right thing to do might have been to just build around the humour and just have the actors wave a friendly good bye to the audience at the end of the movie.Something like 'Ok guys - hope you enjoyed the movie. see you.. ' or something like that.
       The first half was amazing. It was a nice string of comedy sequences and has evoked the right response. Cinematography was not that great but there were some nice shots around the red and white nostalgic bus and it's saturated colors.Music is also not the high point of the movie save the catchy tune of 'Sun sun sundarathumbi..'. Biju Menon is the one who shone best in the movie followed closely by BabuRaj. Dialogue rendition by both have been excellent. As an audience,  my feedback to young aspiring filmmakers is to focus on doing the things that they relate to and really enjoy and to not to try too hard to make a drastic impact by putting in some shockers.Keeping the light mood of the movie and conveying some simple theme beautifully through the setting should have been sufficient.
         The second half had some chase scenes which felt pretty natural and yes, you are not going to predict the climax. Overall , it is a good movie to watch , for me , primarily for the humor.

The flight of the red balloon

   The movie was a very slow one.Juliette Binoche has done a great job at portraying the struggles of a mother living with her husband away. That is what stood out most for me - Binoche's acting. She has done a real fantastic job.
   The last scene of the movie was about a teacher teaching her students. The style of teaching is similar to the teaching style seen in 'The Class'. The teacher asks ten times as much questions as she herself teaches anything. A system designed to bring out the thinking rather than fill in the theory.That was very impressive - questions like 'What do you think that is? Why is the balloon red .. "
       

Who is Camus anyway(Japanese)

 A movie based on the making of a film by a group of students in an arts university .Has well brought out the campus environment and the various relationships and lives of the students.The layered approach where the story that they are filming leaves impressions on their real life.
      The movie climax is striking and represents the culmination of the overlap of life and reel life.The movie was not exactly a gripping one till the climax.