i've been to turkey but didn't have a clue about turkish cinema n hadn't heard of nuri bilge ceylan...but "three monkeys" last night got me to sit right up in my seat riveted to the very end...a dark, very dark tale of denial and silence...brooding n deathly slow but brilliant!...a family plunged into a spiral in order to save a local politician's honour and his re-election following a car accident. the camera hardly moves n the long takes force you into the slowly unfolding narrative...no shifting focus to relieve you of an unsettling image, no cutting away or unnecessary pans. you confront the moment squarely in the face digesting every morsel of information it holds...and what performances! soo understated yet so powerful in a gut-wrenching story. hatice aslan - what a face! hauntingly beautiful...now, i learn that ceylan was a photographer before he began making films...raw gritty de-saturated, almost 'digital' imagery...there are two absolutely dramatic images when the past slips into the present!... haven't seen nothing quite like this before! so a must-watch!
"a wednesday" on the other hand, was among the worst films i've ever seen with THE worst cinematography possible...was there even a cinematographer? o it was fuad khan? no wonder! atrocious shot-taking and worse, so much of the film out of focus! the story even more disturbing - simple common man takes law into his own hands and ends up a hero complete with bhaashan that has the nation cheering and police in awe! pathetic n scary! o of course, there's this pretty bimbette utv news reporter in dilemma ...faux shallow torn betw news duty and service to the nation...in i have no idea what people were raving about :( i mean, yes, there was naseer doing what he does best so easily and anupam kher trying hard to keep up with naseer's demands as the jimmy jib swung to n fro and up n down like someone had just discovered it's function! terrible terrible terrible...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
mama, they dropped the bomb...so many!
...to all the bigots out there...kabir's got something for you...
"Where do you search me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash
I am with you o man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation
Neither in fasting
Not in yogic postures
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of Nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search
Says Kabir, Listen with care
Where your faith is, I am there."
"Where do you search me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash
I am with you o man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation
Neither in fasting
Not in yogic postures
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of Nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search
Says Kabir, Listen with care
Where your faith is, I am there."
sunday morning tull
There's no double-lock defense; there's no chain on my door.
And I'm available for consultation,
But remember your way in is also my way out, and love's four-letter word is
no compensation.
...from "0 to the power of ten equals nothing at all"...how? just how does he do it?...the most unusual compositions and instrumentation with such brilliant lyrics...
And I'm available for consultation,
But remember your way in is also my way out, and love's four-letter word is
no compensation.
...from "0 to the power of ten equals nothing at all"...how? just how does he do it?...the most unusual compositions and instrumentation with such brilliant lyrics...
Friday, September 12, 2008
tahaan vs padre neustro
it's like lycra - either you have it or you don't!...and we, indians definitely don't.
tahaan- thin plodding plot beautifully shot with fantastic performances by the boy, anupam kher and sarika. bose, on the other hand, should be banned. however hard he may think he tries, he cannot act and will remain as stuck up as frozen carrot. but above all, i was most disappointed with sivan's handling of the plot. didn't expect him to succumb to using the boy for some specious hair-brained terror act. showcasing kashmir in it's rugged beauty coupled with taufiq's music distanced me even further n left me cold (of course, 13 people in a freezing multiplex didn't help either;) i guess i keep going back to sivan only because of his brilliant "halo"...but then, that's what first films are all about - the passion, the exacting detail and control...no "cutting away" to beauty shots coz your plot lacks depth.
padre neustro had my heartbeat racing from the opening minute!...a lil like the way cidade de deus opens but there ended the comfort. such control, crisp succinct riveting dialogue, intimate in-your-face camera filmed at the just the threshold of exposure, your pupils dilated opening up every pore of experience and a sound track that melded atmospheric sounds brilliantly with music to heighten that unsettling edgy feeling...and this continued till the very end, by which time you let out this huge phew and go, 'fuckkk!' ...chris zaalaa - all of 35, had us wrapped firmly around his lil finger with this story of migration n identity. not for a second does he show you new york as the big apple...the big american dream. you are in that frame...face to face with each character, twisting at every turn, reeling n being repulsed by the city's underbelly...and what performances!...paola mendonza in particular.
kya hoga apun logo ka? mera toh, kuch nahi...with my penchant for the beautiful, glossing over all that is uncomfortable. my challenge to myself as i get back to my film...
tahaan- thin plodding plot beautifully shot with fantastic performances by the boy, anupam kher and sarika. bose, on the other hand, should be banned. however hard he may think he tries, he cannot act and will remain as stuck up as frozen carrot. but above all, i was most disappointed with sivan's handling of the plot. didn't expect him to succumb to using the boy for some specious hair-brained terror act. showcasing kashmir in it's rugged beauty coupled with taufiq's music distanced me even further n left me cold (of course, 13 people in a freezing multiplex didn't help either;) i guess i keep going back to sivan only because of his brilliant "halo"...but then, that's what first films are all about - the passion, the exacting detail and control...no "cutting away" to beauty shots coz your plot lacks depth.
padre neustro had my heartbeat racing from the opening minute!...a lil like the way cidade de deus opens but there ended the comfort. such control, crisp succinct riveting dialogue, intimate in-your-face camera filmed at the just the threshold of exposure, your pupils dilated opening up every pore of experience and a sound track that melded atmospheric sounds brilliantly with music to heighten that unsettling edgy feeling...and this continued till the very end, by which time you let out this huge phew and go, 'fuckkk!' ...chris zaalaa - all of 35, had us wrapped firmly around his lil finger with this story of migration n identity. not for a second does he show you new york as the big apple...the big american dream. you are in that frame...face to face with each character, twisting at every turn, reeling n being repulsed by the city's underbelly...and what performances!...paola mendonza in particular.
kya hoga apun logo ka? mera toh, kuch nahi...with my penchant for the beautiful, glossing over all that is uncomfortable. my challenge to myself as i get back to my film...
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
full moon n solar eclipse
...been reading murakami's "wind-up bird chronicles"...
is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts in order to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person's essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything really important about anyone?"
woke up again well before dawn...with these n other such thoughts about the universe within... complete with black holes, milky ways and a sun that i go around...
is it possible, in the final analysis, for one human being to achieve perfect understanding of another? We can invest enormous time and energy in serious efforts in order to know another person, but in the end, how close can we come to that person's essence? We convince ourselves that we know the other person well, but do we really know anything really important about anyone?"
woke up again well before dawn...with these n other such thoughts about the universe within... complete with black holes, milky ways and a sun that i go around...
Sunday, September 07, 2008
mama noronha unwinding!
it must've been a tough trip for her...one sunday morning after mass, we just decided to juts chilllll!...florentine's @sailgao is such a safe bet...
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