Monday 30 November 2015

November 2015: Films

Satya; Ram Gopal Varma (1998)


Liked it. Casting is the best. Actors competing on who does better. 

3rd November
My Life to Live; Jean Luc Godard (1962)



Godard usual. But what about prostitution? Why is it shown as if it's a normal thing to do. Does making a film on it mean otherwise? If then why does it present the issue as normal. Need to think.

Vidheyan; Adoor Gopalakrishnan (1993)

Great! Remember reading the novel over a year ago. What i remember of it i think i can say that i liked the film better. The simple realistic way in which Adoor constructs his mise en scene is amazing to watch. How he build up suspense when Pattelar is going to kill his wife the first time. Extracting the best from actors. Uff! See this frame which i liked a lot. He is a bull. an animal.
And his fall. His downfall. Great. The chair shown in the titles. I love early Adoor.


John and Jane; Ashim Ahluwalia (2005)
Documentary on call centre people by the director of Ms Lovely. It's a good job. He has experimented with form. Sound work is brilliant too. But somewhere is it making fun of the way in which people want to be American? I don't know. It was a very sad sight though.

Obsession: Luchino Visconti (1943)



Extra marital relationship. About sex, sexuality, poverty, fear of poverty of a woman. Husband a rich man who runs a bar and an eatery. Wife cooks. A tramp and wife meet and they make love and decide to be with each other. They eventually murder the husband and take over the property. But they are now unable to live in peace. Especially the man.
Whatever the theme, the craft employed is brilliant. Didn't like the film but yes, it shows it's by a good storyteller. (First film of the director)

Umberto D; Vittorio De Sica (1952)



I remember the first time i watched it in CRT (Classroom Theatre). I was moved to tears and it was the first time that i realized may be, that such films too could be made. Have been made. And perhaps can be made. The casting of the young pregnant girl is truly brilliant. Her face shows what she is. Wow!
The scene in which Umberto thinks of begging, the way it has been shown is great.

Two Women: Vittorio De Sica





Writing after months of watching the film and the only thing i remember after reading the plot summary on wikipedia is the gang rape. I remember how the girl became numb after it.