Beyond Kurosawa

My foray into cinema of a particular language is through an eminent director who made movies in that language. For e.g. Ingmar Bergman led me to Swedish movies, Fellini opened the door of Italian Cinema to me, Truffaut helped me to sail on a French Riviera. Similarly, I took a plunge into Japanese culture by holding the hands of the great cinema maker Akira Kurosawa. Watching a movie of some different foreign language has always given that unique experience and an unexplained thrill.

I have always admired Kurosawa and his ground-breaking work. Probably I will capture Kurosawa’s works in some other blog posts. But this one is about looking beyond Kurosawa in Japanese cinema. And It is specially inspired by two wonderful movies I watched sometime back “Onibaba” directed by Kento Shindo and “Hara-kiri” directed by Masaki Kobayashi.

Harakiri aka Seppuku (1962) was directed by Masaki Kobayashi who was fresh after his monumental movie series The Human condition, and eventually landed into another masterpiece. Harakiri has a very plain simple theme where an old poverty stricken ronin comes to a clan house to commit Harakiri. Harakiri  or better known as seppuku at those times was a way for a Samurai to die gracefully and was an act of redemption. Some more details about this coveted practice are here. 

But what appears a simple desire to commit Harakiri by the old Ronin is not that simple and has some convoluted motives. This movie keeps swinging between the facets of principles, self-respect, humanity and justice.  What astounds me is the way story unfolds layer by layer and the impact created.

Old ronin’s role is marvelously played by the Japanese movie industry’s stalwart “Tatsuya Nakadai”. Nakadai,  who was at that time the most versatile actor and was specially endorsed by Kabayashi. Later he goes on to feature himself in movies of prominent directors like Kurosawa and Hiroshi Teshigahara. In 2015 he was awarded with the “Order of culture”, Japan’s most significant award given to people with significant contribution to art and literature.

The second movie I want to dabble with now is “Onibaba” directed by Kaneto Shindo. This again takes us to Japan’s Medieval age where Samurais, clans, honor and deceit prevail. If you search for this movie, then this movie is enlisted under the horror genre. But just restricting this movie to a single horror genre will be an injustice done to it.

This is a poignant story of two women (daughter in law and her mother in law) who keep killing war racked Samurais and then make money by selling their belongings. They have to resort to this hideous act  just for their survival. The movie then actually changes when their neighbour (who was also fighting along with their son and husband in the fight) comes back and has his own intentions.

Younger of the women is instinctively attracted towards the young man after he makes some invitations to her. This closeness amongst the younger ones creates a sense of insecurity and apathy in the older woman. Her minds keep pondering on how will she survive and on her future.

Onibaba introspects deep into human psychology and their reactions under different situations.  This movie also stands out for the unique ambiance in which it is set in. The swampy vast grasslands consisting of tall intimidating grasses, the never-ending war, human’s effort to survive, all exemplifies this ambiance.  The movie ends with the one of the most psychological and philosophical scene ever created in a movie industry.

Japanese cinema are very easy to watch but they create very deep impact with their simple story-lines. Maybe its same as like other Asian language cinemas like Iranian or Chinese. There is neither the surrealism or neo-realism of European Movies or nor the usual flamboyance of Hollywood movies but they create their own course and are very easy to comprehend. They fully resonate their culture and mannerisms and that what makes them different.

Do witness these movies if you care for serious cinema and want to venture into resplendent Japanese Cinema.

Race to Oscars 2017 - Part 2

Academy has been consistently rewarding the best picture awards to the right movies for some time now. I like Academy because it is impartial, it is objective and has always embraced  movies of varying concepts . Though there have been some controversies about the predispositions Academy posses, but in my view they are trivial and Academy is right on most of the times.  This is a good article on tasteofcinema on how Academy got right on some of the occasions.

I am also doing my bit by providing my ranking and a brief review of this year's Oscars best picture nominees. Rank 9 to 5 have been already decided and you can find the review here.
Also please participate in the poll created right to the post and cast vote for your choice

The 5 films i am going to review now are brilliant on their own and they deserve a dazzling standing ovation for their achievements.

5. Lion

Lion is a story adapted from the autobiographical book of Saroo Brierely's "A Long way home". Its a simple  plain story of an Indian boy who gets lost in Kolkata , gets adopted by an Australian couple in Hobart and then his journey to trace back his roots.

This movie is as flawless as it could be, it has scenes directed in multiple languages and set in different geographies but all are nicely tied together with a same thread. Dev Patel plays the role of Saroo who gets lost in Kolkata and then gets fostered by the Australian couple of Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. After 25 years he starts tracing back his roots in India from Australia using Google earth and visits his village. Dev Patel has shone through the movie and shows why he is considered one of the best actors of this generation. As a result of his emotional and brilliant portrayal of Saroo he wins an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.

Dev Patel is aptly supported by the supporting cast of Nicole Kidman , Rooney Mara and Priyanka Bose. Special mention for Nicole Kidman for coming out of her usual grand glamorous roles and for providing her subtle touches in the movie .Her performance has earned a Best supporting actress nomination this time.

4. La La Land

Damien Chazelle's ambitious musical La La Land comes next and  it has already swept everyone off their feet. Its a love story of a Jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) and an aspiring actress (Emma Stone). Its a story about their ambitions, their principles and all about music. La La Land has already got 14 Oscar nominations this year and i am sure its going to sweep all the technical categories like sound effects, editing etc.

Music by Justin Hurwitz is catchy and heart warming. "City of Stars" is still ringing bells in my mind. Damien Chazelle has already proved his mettle in "Whiplash" which i felt was a better movie than La La Land.  His subject matter expertise in Music is well proven and i am excited for his future projects.

Special mention must go to Emma Stone who i felt made the movie of her own. She is turning into one of the finest actresses of this generation. Her expressions and body language depicted the perfect blend of fragility and excitement of a person passionate about movies. She is a definite Oscar winner for Best Actress for me this year. Story is nothing new, its a kind of boy meets girl story but the treatment of this story deserves a standing ovation.

3. Manchester By the Sea

Unassuming, Unassertive, Stoic and deeply melancholic is "Manchester by the Sea". It starts slowly and continues to unravel the story by going flash backs. Its a story about how a stoic person Casey Affleck comes to terms when he is given the responsibility of looking after his teenager nephew as his brother dies from a chronic disease.  Affleck who has his own set of demons to deal with has to now confront his nephew and deal with his childish ways.

This is a very slow and strong movie with a stupendous performance by Casey Affleck.  It was not an easy role to portray and he has performed it with aplomb. I was really amazed and moved after watching this movie. For me Casey Affleck should get his first Oscar for best actor this year. Michelle Williams in one scene has acted marvelously and has moved audiences with her acting. This has earned her best supporting actress nomination. Special mention must go to director and art director who has captured the cold and somber Manchester to further add to the melancholy of the main protagonists.

2. Hacksaw Ridge

Mel Gibson is back and how has  he come back i.e sitting in the director's chair. Hacksaw ridge is a real life story of war medic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield of Social Network fame) who was the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. This tells the story of how Desmond Doss a  saves lot of life in the battle of Okinawa. He was initially ridiculed for not picking up the gun as he wanted to save people not to kill them . Eventually at the end by saving numerous life he becomes a war hero.

Commendably supported by the the star cast of Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Huge Weaving (in a very small but powerful ) role. What sets this movie into a different plane is how Mel Gibson has shot some of the war scenes. He has given a fresh treatment to depiction of war situations and how people react at that time. At times gory and visceral some scenes were quite shocking at first to see, i felt no body has captured war scenes like that before.  The initial training scene i thought was inspired from Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket and was shot well.This story was a long time pending one to be shot and was given to Gibson specially for his ability to shot combat scenes (Apocalypto , Braveheart )

Andrew Garfield already has a very good year with Scorsese's silence in his back and has rightfully bagged the best actor nomination. He may end up winning it this time.

1. Arrival

Arrival is a science fiction movie based on Ted Chiang's story "Story of your life". Probably the best science fiction after Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Space Odyssey. We have seen usual stories of aliens invading earth and retaliation back by people in earth, but this movie offers a fresh perspective on alien- human relationship.  This movie has scientific, emotional and political notion to it.  The political undercurrent flowing through the movies makes it more exciting to
watch.

Acted by ever versatile Amy Adams who already has a very good year with Nocturnal Animals on her back. Arrival for me is the best movie to come out this year and deserves the best picture.

Director  Denis Villenueve had already made crucial impact in past in both French movies as well as in Hollywood. (Prisoners, Sicario). He was  surely on the verge of a masterpiece in Hollywood and he has achieved it with Arrival. I am excited to see what comes from in future.

I have to say movies in this list are all very good and have their unique flavor to them. A person inclined towards science fiction may gorge on Arrival as the best movie or a person deep buried into music might want to root for La La Land as the best one. So it was a quite arduous thing to come up with a  ranked list but be sure i that have considered all aspects and realms of movie making. Hope you enjoyed reading the both the blog posts.

Race to Oscars 2017 - Part 1

It is that time of the year when the cinematic procession culminates towards the glittering night of Oscars. This time it will be held on 27th of Feb and so thought of writing a blog about my take on best picture nominees in Oscars this year.  On the principle I feel its quite unfair to compare these movies and rank them, because all of them have been made on different subjects and have received different treatments from very different directors. But still i will go ahead and will produce a rank of mine which ultimately culminates to the best picture chosen by myself.

This same kind of exercise i had attempted to perform last year too, as i navigate through my drafts where i had started writing about the movies like "Sicario" and "The Hateful Eight". But now i have firmly decided to complete this activity.

This year Academy has nominated 9 films in best movies category "Arrival", "Hell of High water","Hacksaw Ridge", "Moonlight","La La Land", "Hidden Figures","Lion" , "Fences" and "Manchester by the Sea". Topics in these movies range from  a sophisticated science fiction to a riveting family drama, from an enchanting dazzling musical to a hardcore  staunch war movie. Please read through to know about my views on these movies.

9. Hell or High water 

Chris Pine and Ben Foster starrer "Hell or High water" is like a slow poison which seeps onto you slowly and steadily. Tim McKenzie (director ) and Giles Nuttgens (cinematographer) have been able to capture the laid back milieu of Texan countryside . They have maintained that rugged and sluggish feeling throughout the movie.Its a simple story about two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) who do some low key bank robberies across the state of Texas to earn some money and to save their old family ranch. It is followed up by how the Texan Rangers led by Jeff Bridges intelligently crack them down.

What actually steals the show is the funny and spooky conversation between Texas rangers Jeff Bridges and his Mexican deputy Gil Birmingham .The chemistry they share is catchy and witty. Jeff Bridges keeps on joking and poking Gil on his Mexican identity forth and back throughout the movie.  This act has also landed an Oscar nomination for Jeff Bridges in best supporting actor category.

I have kept Hell or High water at the bottom of the list mainly because i felt it had offered nothing new and we have kind of witnessed these kinds of westerns before.

8. Fences

When he hits it , he hits it hard. Denzel Washington is one such actor who can carry a movie alone on his shoulders at its length. And on top of that when he comes behind the camera he becomes even better. This movie is all about a man (Denzel Washington) being an African American how he tries to raise his family in 1950s America. This deals with the contemporary 1950 situation and Denzel's characters beliefs  and thought processes at those times. This movie is based on August Wilson Pultizer awar winning play with the same name "Fences ".Aptly supported in Voila Davis in his wife's role which has rightfully earned her best supporting actress Oscar nomination and Joyan Adepo as Cory (his son). This is a powerful film packed with some strong intense and emotional dialogues.  Denzel Washington is very well known to harbor on racial issues in his direction. He did the same with  "The Great Debaters" which in my opinion was another resplendent movie. This film has also earned Denzel Washington a Best actor nomination and he remains a strong contender for that.

7. Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures is a story of a group of African American women who contributed  significantly to the success of a first manned space mission for NASA in 1950s and 60s. The movie tethers on the line of how a person can succeed against all the odds if he relentlessly pursues towards it. The main protagonists of the story fight against the two most prominent issues of all time i.e. against racism and gender indifference .Here all the 3 female leads (Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae act well ,complemented by a very subtle and resplendent display of acting by Kevin Costener as the NASA project lead. This movie navigates through the common taboos of that era and finishes the movie on a good note.  Climax at the end seems to be bit cliched but this is the case as always with an adaptation of real life stories.

Hidden figures is a good movie to watch with family. It sometimes goes into the details of mathematics (i sometimes i felt how blessed now are we with computers and can't think of writing such lengthy formulaes and their deductions on board.), so an apt movie if you want to inculcate the culture of mathematics and science in your kids.

6. Moonlight

Just before i start my review of moonlight i should mention that from now the serious business will begin . From moonlight and the movies above in the list we will see the truly unique concepts, mind twisting cinematography, editing and direction which will touch the heart and brain of a movie goer.

Moonlight is a story of a person of African American origin traced from his childhood to his adulthood. It shows his travails in the rough neighborhood of Miami where he explores his feelings and his sexuality. Brilliantly acted by all the 3 characters in the character of Chiron. This movie is very unassuming and subtly directed. A must watch for all the movie goers who like serious movies. Mahershala Ali brilliantly captures the scenes in a pretty short role as the character of Juan which has rightfully earned him an nomination for best supporting actor.

I would end this blog post with this and will provide my reviews for rest of the five movies in my next blog post . As i had mentioned before from Moonlight the serious business has kicked in and art of movies will be at extreme display for the next five movies.

PS: All the images are courtesy of IMDB