'1001 Movies' Mini Reviews - Cannes Festival Winners Edition

One of the biggest events of the year when it comes to movies, Cannes Film Festival, started on 15^th May. Even though Sidney Lumet disregards it as ‘nothing but glorified sales convention’ in his book, for many of us it is still a big deal. At least we get an idea of what to expect from many films that we are waiting eagerly for. During the time of the festival, Criterion made a bunch of their films that made splash in Cannes in the past, free for streaming on Hulu. Having many of them on my watch list for some time, I decided to make maximum of this opportunity and here we are, with the ‘Palme d’Or Winners’ edition of ‘1001 Movies’ mini reviews.

Z(1969): Politics and History are the two things that have always fascinated me. Costa-Gavras’ political drama Z, based on a book by Vasilis Vasilikos, brings these two topics together and hence has been on my watch-list for quite some time. It is very difficult to sum up Z in few sentences without giving up too much about it. Or it is difficult to sum it up in few sentences that will sound as fascinating as movie is. I probably can round it in single sentence – it is a story of murder and subsequent trial of a leader of left-wing party in the right-wing military led country. If you don’t have problem with watching politically motivated movies and that doesn’t entice you, you’ll have to take my word that every second of it was in fact intriguing. Also, what happens is probably less important than how and why? Story has many layers to it and works on multiple fronts that, as a viewer, you have to keep track of. At the same time, there are so many characters we are introduced to and so many events that happen at a very brisk pace. But, not having read the book I do not know if it the story or screenplay that I should credit, it is told in such a way that it never gets confusing. All the events line-up perfectly, all the characters get enough time to leave their impression.

Another interesting thing about it was the way it changes the protagonist in the middle of it. At the start whole focus is in Z, this charismatic leader played by Yves Montand, and various problems their organisation faces arranging the event he is in the town for, the death threat he receives and eventually the attack on him which results in his death. Enter Jean-Louise Trintignant, playing a magistrate specially brought in to investigate this case and from that point onwards, whole focus shifts on him. I am not sure if I have seen this anywhere else. Film carefully tries to avoid any reference to any particular country or place. We never get the name of any country or city everything is happening. Someone more familiar with Greece may deduce it based on the names mentioned or judiciary and military system in work, if that is a good indicator. I can’t. But if you know certain facts about this movie and the events it portrays, you can certainly see so many hidden clues pointing to the obvious. The events depicted in this movie are based upon the assassination of democratic Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis in 1963. Everything about Lambrakis’ background, events that led to this attack, the manner in which it was carried out and the aftermath of this event matches with what we see. Also the fact that Z means 'He Lives' in ancient Greek also points towards Greece. However despite being inflammatory, everything is portrayed with remarkable candour. If you can stand 127 minutes worth of political cat-and-mouse chase, this movie is must for you.

Rating(out of 5):

Taste of Cherry(1997): When I saw Certified Copy(2010), that was the first time I heard of Abbas Kiarostami. Since then I’ve seen his name constantly making rounds through various sources though I never saw any of the movies he did apart from that. Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of Certified Copy, there were quite a few of his films that interested me. But I never got around to any of them until this weekend when I saw that criterion had Taste of Cherry streaming for free on Hulu, being previous Palme d’Or winner. This was a curious film. In fact, all the three films I saw for this post were curious. Taste of Cherry is about a middle-aged man, Mr. Badii, who has determined that there is nothing in his life worth leaving for and therefore wishes to die. He has already decided how he wants to kill himself; he has even picked up a spot for his own grave. All he needs is someone to bury him after he is dead. In his truck, he drives around the various parts of city in search of someone who is alone so that he won’t go on telling anyone and is willing to help him. This is pretty much what the whole movie is about and majority of it, almost 90%, takes place while he is driving in his truck.

Until last 5 minutes of the film, it doesn’t use any kind of background music. All the sounds we here are natural sounds coming from various things in the surrounding. It can be birds, people talking around or machines running in the vicinity but they are all actual sounds direct from the source. I have only seen a couple of other Iranian films but I’ve noticed the similar trait in them as well which gives it a very different, curious feel. In this case, this complete lack of music helps add to his desperation, his loneliness, his lack of any interest in anything. Desolate landscapes of cement factory only add to this void. It is interesting to realise that as the old man tries to get him to live with his tale of cherries, talking about all the pure, beautiful things in this world worth leaving for, background changes from barren desert to trees and bustling city alleys probably suggesting there is still a faint hope he might change his heart. I have never seen Homayoun Ershadi, playing the lead role of Mr. Badii, in anything else but like Michael Shannon in Take Shelter(2011), he has a natural look on his face that goes long way in convincing us of his problems. I don’t know if all the actors from this movie are trained actors or not but in any case, there is something in their natural disposition that adds a lot to the overall mood of this movie. And then there is that ending; but to tell you the truth it was such a fascinating journey, I was perfectly content with not knowing. I was rather happy to leave it open-ended.

Rating(out of 5):

Paris, Texas(1984): For some reason I was under the impression that this is a time-travel movie. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out it wasn’t. I swear I was devastated. Paris, Texas is a very personal story of Travis, a lost man who walked out on his wife and son four years ago. When he first see him, he is somewhere in the middle on Mohave Desert in Texas. He runs out of water and so he goes into a bar nearby. As it turns out, that bar is closed down for some time and he soon collapses out of exhaustion in that bar. When he wakes up, he is in the hospital and doctor informs him that he has already called his brother to let him know about Travis. His brother, Walt, owns a billboard business in L.A. and he, even though surprised to know Travis’ whereabouts after four years, rushes as soon as he can to reach this middle of nowhere. By the time he reaches there, Travis has taken off again but he soon finds him somewhere off the road and they start their journey back home. Travis has stopped talking; he doesn’t eat or sleep at night. Walt tries to break his defenses off one by one and by the time they got back home, he is pretty much back to his old self. With his footing back and Walt and Anne’s, his wife, encouragement, he starts working on getting his life back together that he left four years ago.

Like Taste of Cherry, Paris, Texas is a movie in no hurry to reach anywhere though it does not mean it is an uneventful journey. Couple of times, I even doubted if it meant to go somewhere because I had no idea where can it lead to from that point for a while but Wenders directs this ship masterfully. In many ways, slow pace of this movie allows everything to make its full impact. It allows you to settle down, process everything you see on screen and form your own notions. It allows you to be the part of their world, understand all the characters. Visual beauty of this film also aids us, the viewers, to enter this world. However what impressed me the most is not the visual beauty. It is such a beautiful film, not just in its look but also in its tone, in its feel. There are many very personal but beatific moments in the film like Travis and his son Hunter looking at the old photographs or whole family watching an old super-8 film of the family trip they took before Travis disappeared. However, nothing is as beautiful and sad, as deeply moving as the final conversation between Jane and Travis. It’s his catharsis, his moment to repent for the life he has given to Jane and Hunter. If that doesn’t move you, you might even be made of stone.

Rating(out of 5):

Wall-E or Pixar's most 'Studio Ghibli'-esque film

I am so not a Pixar person. I was and always will be Studio Ghibli guy. I probably don’t know what I am talking about because I have more Pixar movies in my Top 100(3) than Ghibli(just 1) but I am still Ghibli person because I love their traditional style of animation than Pixar’s computer generated ones and also because when I update my top 100, which should be very soon, that Ghibli film will be head and shoulders above every other animated film. In case you don’t know, the film I am talking about is Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies(1988). There is only Pixar film that had any chance of putting up a fight for that top spot – Wall-E(2008). Off course, it is my favourite Pixar film and one of my favourite animated films but to tell you the truth, I had not seen it since I first saw it in 2008. I really needed to correct that and also see if it does put up any fight to Grave. My ‘favourites’ series also needed a little animated favour, so I decided to take all these opportunities and here we are!

I doubt if there is anyone who doesn’t know what this film is about, because it is one of the best animated films made. But just in case, there is someone leaving under the rock and reading this blog from there – It is a love story of two robots. In the distant future, where Earth is nothing more than a big, glorious dump incapable of sustaining growth of any leaving organism and with everyone worth leaving already gone, Wall-E is a small garbage collecting robot left behind to clean up the place while everyone is gone. He spends his days making the cubes of garbage that is lying everywhere and making some artistic structures with them. His favourite part of the whole process is collecting the trinkets that catch his eyes from the trash. His trailer is full of such junk but that’s his treasure. One fine day while going about his own business, he witnesses a big, fancy spaceship dropping off a small, cute robot. The instant his eyes fall on that robot, he is absolutely swept of his feet. In his own clumsy way, he tries every trick in his book to impress her. Her name is Eve and she has been dropped on earth as a part of routine to check if there is a chance of any life form sustaining on earth. Incidentally, last addition Wall-E made to his treasure is a plant and an instant he presents that plant to Eve, she stores it inside her in secret compartment, sends a signal to the mother ship and becomes completely unresponsive. Wall-E tries hard to get her to talk, he even takes care of her through everything until one day, same spaceship comes back to take Eve away.

Thinking that she is in trouble, Wall-E somehow even gets onto the ship and reaches Axiom, a ship that he always watches on the big screen on his way to work. On reaching Axiom, Eve is supposed to deposit the proof on possibility of sustaining life on earth, the plant she is carrying, which will start the process of bringing humans back to earth. On reaching Axiom, Wall-E sees humans for the first time and they have all gotten so fat due to lack of any movement at all, thanks to all the technology. Eve is presented in front of the captain of the ship who initiates ‘Operation Recolonize’ but ship’s auto pilot system - aptly name Auto - which pretty much has all the control of ship, has some other directives and tries to hinder them. Wall-E and Eve have to put up a fight to do the right thing. Best thing about Wall-E is even though it is portrayed as a distant future, leaving in a current world it is not that hard to imagine us getting there. It’s not impossible to imagine that we humans will turn this earth into a glorified garbage can and neither is us getting turned into big, fat slobs unable to carry their own weight on their own legs due to the over-dependence on all the technology. Another aspect that Wall-E scores handsomely in is personification of the robots. Making the two robots fall in love itself is the most commendable thing about it but that’s not it. The way Wall-E falls head over heels at first look of Eve, his complete absent minded behaviour trying to impress her with his stupidities and most of all, his tendency to hold on to something as insignificant as his trinkets is something that draws out Wall-E as almost human and I really love that about this movie.

When I first heard about a movie featuring love story of two robots, I wasn’t into it at all. I remember passing on watching it in a theatre for that reason. I only saw it later because of the effusive praise I heard from many of my friends. Given this background, it gets a lot of credit for not only drawing me into this world but making me love it. I have seen people calling it an inferior film because it borrows from other films and I don’t get it. It obviously borrows from many movies, probably most importantly from 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968) with similarities between Hal and Auto. I am sure there are many movies that borrowed something from 2001, almost every movie based in space made since 1968 does. But somehow I deny calling it a strike against these films as long as they aren’t outright copying it; I would rather call it greatness of 2001 to inspire so many. Chaplin’s Tramp is another obvious influence on developing Wall-E’s character and Writer-Director Andrew Stanton even agrees to have watched lot of Chaplin to learn displaying emotions without dialogue. I don’t understand how any of it makes it any inferior. For the first half of the film till Wall-E and Eve reach Axiom, there are no talking characters. It is almost like a silent movie except for the electronic voices in which Wall-E and Eve say each other’s names. However, body language of the two characters, background landscapes and music used is so rich, so detailed that they easily set the right mood.

One of the important reasons I say I prefer Ghibli movies to Pixar is besides being entertaining and adorable; they always have some bigger, universal message behind them, usually related to the environment. To me, a good animated film is something that doesn’t come with age-limit. With this warning to the mankind about possible course of future, Wall-E serves the purpose of giving the message(that's why the title!) and even gives something to big kids to think about. To answer the first question I posed while choosing to focus on Wall-E; No, it is no way better than Grave of the Fireflies or at least I don’t think it is. So, the Grave still remains to be my favourite animated movie and I even see Wall-E falling down a bit in my imminent Top 100 update. But it will still remain to be my favourite Pixar as an incredibly adorable and very well executed story with no age-bar.

Rating(out of 5):

Past Favorites:

Notorious(1946)

Rashomon(1950) 

City of God(2002)

12 Angry Men(1957)

Bicycle Thieves(1948)

Celebrating 100 Years of Indian Cinema: 10 movies that made the difference

This post is little late. On 3rd May 1913, Dadadaheb Phalke released first ever full-length Indian feature film - Raja Harishchandra(1913). I was little late to act and post something on 3rd but better late than never. To commemorate this occasion, I give you 10 films that made difference to the industry, in many ways, to take it where it stands currently. Even though the title says Indian cinema, for this list I will concentrate on Hindi cinema since except for Marathi film Industry, I have no real expertise to judge other regional cinema. That would imply Satyajit Ray won't make an appearance here, though I have no doubt whatsoever about his place and legacy. There also won’t be obvious choices like Raja Harishchandra above or Sant Tukaram(1936), first ever Indian film to be screened at an International Film Festival. Now, making a list on such a broad topic is very subjective. There is no one way to define 'making a difference'. So, this is just my take on it. You may agree on some of them, you may disagree on some but I hope you'll join me in saying that all these movies substantially contributed to the Indian cinema, for better or for worse. Another thing I must mention, this is not the list of my favourite films. I may not even like some of the films on the list. Though it is impossible to completely avoid personal biases seeping in, I have tried to look at it objectively through my limited knowledge of cinema and this list is a result of that. Hopefully, some of you will find some value in it.

In chronological order,

1. Alam Ara(1931): This is a by-default entry in this list on the virtue of being ‘First ever Indian talkie’. Unfortunately, this movie has been long since lost and hence off course I haven’t seen it. Director Ardeshir Irani was just one of many directors trying to make a talking film and gauging its importance, made a conscious effort to finish it as soon as possible. After release, he turned out to be right as the movie turned out to be such a big hit, they needed police to control the crowds. But even in 1931, it wasn’t just talking; it was singing too and was 124 minutes long(Now you know why Indian movies are long or have songs).

2. Neecha Nagar(1946): Directed by Chetan Anand, it is one of the three films being credited for the rise of Parallel Cinema in Hindi film industry. Other two being Nagarik(1952) by Ritwik Ghatak which I have never seen and Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zamin(1953) which I have already written as an Essential film in Bollywood. So I guess I am giving Neecha Nagar its due credit by including it in this list, after all it is the oldest movie of three and was a winner of Grand Prize at Cannes. All these films also introduced the theme of neo-realism to the industry which became very much prevalent later in a lot of mainstream films as well.

3. Mother India(1957): First Indian movie to be nominated for the Oscar and it probably was the pinnacle of neorealism that Neecha Nagar introduced. The period from ‘40s to some early ‘60s is usually regarded as ‘Golden Age’ of Hindi cinema. Lot of movies which are still held to the highest acclaim were made during that time. As usual, I was trying to spread the wealth as much as possible in this list but this is 4^th film from that period; there is a reason it’s called golden age. Mother India sometimes gets flacked for being too melodramatic and to tell you the truth, I even agree. But what makes it great is the accurate depiction of social and economic conditions in India at that time.

4. Madhumati(1958): If you watch this movie today, I am sure nobody will think world of this movie because, to tell you the truth, there is nothing extraordinary about this movie that you see on screen. What’s extraordinary is its legacy. There are hundreds of trivial things that we take for granted in horror films that were first used in Madhumati like inhibited mansion in the middle of nowhere, suspicious looking caretaker of that house who is the only living soul in miles, even something as trivial as cracking main door or the walking candle. I strongly believe that every single thriller, horror movie made since owes something to Madhumati. 

5. Mughal-E-Azam(1960): In many ways, Mughal-E-Azam is Indian cinema’s Metropolis(1927). There is no connection with the subject matter but the first thing that comes to my mind about it is K. Asif’s epic vision. But that’s not the only similarity. Asif started working on this film in 1944. By the time it released, everything that can be changed about it was changed and it drove Asif to bankruptcy becoming the most expensive film then. However, he always kept his eyes on the target and relentlessly pursued it, to the last detail. He also made sure it never became style over substance. As a result, there are not many films even today that have such an epic scope but still have solid cinematic foundations.

6. Sholay(1975): No list talking about the greatest movies in Bollywood can be complete without the inclusion of probably the most iconic Hindi movie of all time. What the hell! Why do I even need ‘probably’? It is THE most iconic Hindi movie of all time. I really don’t think there are many people who’ll think of that as going too far. Sholay is just that solid. 1975 was a great year for Bollywood. There are few more films that year that left their mark on the industry including Deewaar(1975). In 1975, Deewaar was a bigger hit; it won most of the awards over Sholay as well. But after so many years, I think not only Sholay has endured the test of time better but it has contributed more to the industry to substantiate this place.

7. Mr. India(1987): Of all the films on this list, this is probably the least expected film to appear on such list but I think it is worth that honour. Despite being a very mainstream film with every aspect of a typical ‘Masala’ film present, this is probably the only example Sci-Fi film done right in the industry. Yes, I called it a sci-fi film. Well, the man disappears! So, if Hollow Man(2000) is sci-fi, so is Mr. India. I can think of many other movies that attempted this genre but in my opinion almost every single one of them fails miserably. The fact that Shekhar Kapur at least successfully entertains you in Mr. India is enough for me to put it in this list. Add on one of the most iconic villain and Hawa-Hawai to it and I am sold.

8. Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge(1995): Since '90s, a typical Bollywood movie can be summed up as a ‘Family-centric Romantic Musical’. I know that is lot of genres together but on an average, any Hindi film fits into about 5 genres. So bear with me. In my opinion, success of DDLJ played an instrumental role in shifting the pendulum towards it. In the intro, I said that these movies changed the industry, for better or for worse. In the hindsight I think what followed it was for worse but I am not about to blame this movie for incompetence of those who tried to cash-on its success. It does have its weaknesses, I won’t deny that but if you want to watch a typical Bollywood masala movie, why not go for the best? That’s Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge for you.

9. Satya(1998): There aren’t many movies that can boast something Satya can – it made it necessary to introduce whole another genre in the industry. Mumbai Noir. Ramgopal Verma’s Satya is first gangster movie made in Hindi. This legacy alone guarantees it a spot on many lists, executing it as well as it does was just an added advantage to solidify its position in the history of Hindi cinema. Genre made popular by the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese came to India in the form of Satya and I don’t know if it reflects positively or negatively on the industry but despite many other movies made since, it still remains to be ‘the best’.

10. 3 Idiots(2009): This movie is Bollywood equivalent of Fight Club(1999) for me because I might be one of 7 people on this earth who have seen this film and does not think that it is the greatest thing in the world. In my opinion it goes way too over the top too many times to take it seriously. But at the same time I cannot deny the fact that this is the highest grossing movie of all time, first one to cross INR 1 billion mark and the reason it’s on the list – to open many overseas markets for Indian movies. It’s not the first time Indian movies have had success overseas; Karan Johar has been making movies exclusively for that market since late ‘90s but none did the business like this one did and I believe 3 Idiots is an important reason why there have been film festivals going on in Japan or regular releases of Hindi movies in many other markets of East Asia.