Before sunrise, Before sunset and everything in between

Just imagine, two strangers in a train decide to spend time together walking the streets in Vienna and getting to know each other! The very idea sends a tingle down my spine and fills my mind with a sense of being overwhelmed. And, the same strangers, of course not strangers any more decide to meet in the Vienna train station after six months, and in the interim not exchanging any phone calls, letters or visits. Well, they don't meet but connect after nine years in France. Well, more than the films, what really interested me was the conversation that transpired between the strangers during their first walk around Vienna which lasts until the wee hours of the morning - before sunrise, to be precise. To me the film is an ode to conversation - A conversation which is genuine, frank, occasionally punctuated by the gurgle of a stream, song of a street singer and by the different sights and sounds of the city. A conversation without mobiles, facebook and other usual suspects.

The strangers, okay the actors, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy converse on an assortment of topics ranging from feminism to climate change to love, sex, popular culture, media, animals and so on. Their discourse is peppered with anecdotes and in the process of sharing thoughts and ideas, they get to know the other quite well and also by the end of the meeting are attracted to one another. The film consists of only walking and talking and there aren't any more characters in the film than the two actors. Reading up on the film, I found that most of the dialogues are written by the actors themselves and that does not come as a surprise!

I wondered at the possibilities of me doing something similar - chatting up with a stranger on a long distance train and impulsively deciding to walk the town with that stranger. The thought did seem quite thrilling to me and I guess I would have done it, perhaps some years ago when I was in my turbulent twenties! Real conversations are definitely a turn on and as the talks go on, layers of our selves start peeling off and unwittingly we reveal our personalities in the intoxication of words. The same transpires between the two on that walk. I find that I miss that sort of real conversation sometimes. Books allow oneself to travel to unknown lands, mingle with exotic cultures and imagine surreal situations but it is a process that is done alone unlike conversation, and here I mean 'real' conversation where I can see into the eyes of the listener, catch the faint smirk, observe the change in the tone of the voice and take in the gestures of the speaker. You get the drift, don't you? And, if the person on the other end has an equally arresting face, body that fits the conversation then it is imperative that sparks will fly but don't get me wrong here. Conversations don't always have to lead to physical and emotional attraction in the form of love/lust. But I don't deny that there is a higher possibility of falling for someone who can hold an exciting and meaningful conversation for hours (This trait is fast dying because of the various gadgets that vye for one's attention throughout the day/night).

If this post on 'conversation' has made you curious, you must watch the films - there are three of them -- Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight

So, are you turned on by a heady conversation sans any distraction?

Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet

Gibson, Indonesia and Billy Kwan

Last evening, after tea, amidst intermittent power-cuts, I saw the 1982 film, The Year of Living Dangerously. First, I hadn't seen any old films of Mel Gibson and was completely mesmerised by his appearance. He is definitely handsome! Not only handsome but unidentifiable from the Gibson I know of in Braveheart. Though I felt that the real hero of the film was the dwarf, Billy Kwan, Gibson's local photographer contact in Jakarta, Indonesia, I couldn' stop drooling at Gibson. And Sigourney Weaver as a young and beautiful woman is quite different from Grace Augustine in the 2009 film, Avatar.

Set in poverty-stricken Jakarta, the film raises many issues that any thinking individual would encounter while looking at people who live in slums and despair. The Western arrogance and superiority toward third world countries; prostitution to escape hunger; clash between the left and the right -- are some of the issues that the director Peter Weir had brilliantly handled. Billy is a friend and photographer who accompanies Gibson on his assignments, is a philosophical and intelligent character. His diction, observations and comments are something that make the film a wholesome one. Billy comes across as a person who identifies the human weakenesses and strengths which help him analyse a person and thus enables the viewer to see the character as well.

The story, for most part, is shown through the eyes of Billy. And when Billy dies nearing the final part of the film, I couldn't help shedding tears. I wondered what moved me to tears: Was it Billy himself or the principles that he stood for or the betrayal that he faced from his beloved leader, Sukarno or the brutal way in which he was murdered. Maybe everything.

It was indeed wonderful to watch the younger Mel Gibson and the actress, Linda Hunt as Billy Kwan. Watch this film if you haven't still and you will find yourself thinking about Billy Kwan long after the film is over.

So, have you seen this 1982 Gibson starrer? How do you think the third world is portrayed in Hollywood? 

Image: Internet 

Incest, imprisonment and revenge

When I last did a post on a Japanese film, a reader, A. J. Poliquit commented: "Films from the Far East are slow and calming with memorable music." Having AJ's comment in mind and the backdrop of the movies that I have already watched, I sat down to watch the Korean film, Oldboy. The film was definitely slow (in the beginning) but not calming.

The protagonist is locked up in a cell for 15 years, without knowing why he is locked up. I had tremendous difficulty in following those parts as I was completely oblivious to what was going on with him. It almost seemed that along with the protagonist, even I was perplexed and confused. The film's narrative was also a bit confusing as it went back and forth between what happened before, during and after the 15 years of imprisonment. In fact, one had to pause, go ahead and then resume the movie, in order to understand the narrative scheme and the plot. Movies like this one, though keep me glued, exasperate me.

It is after some time that one realises that the imprisonment is an act of revenge for something that happened in the past involving the protagonist and two other individuals who were students of the same school. When I came to this part, I understood the title of the film (Ahhhhhhhhhhh. A long sigh). It is after this part that the movie gets exciting. What's next? What's next?

Then the story rapidly moves forward with shots of the past cradling the present. A tale of incest is revealed. After sitting through all this, one is left wondering about the different nuances of life, relationship, crime and emotions. The film is definitely a thriller and it thrills you in different ways sometimes leaving you with a bitter taste.

The film has some distasteful scenes. Let me mention two. In one scene, the protagonist eats a live octopus and in another he chops off his own tongue. 

This film from the Eastern world shook my sensibilities and I am short of words when it comes to praising the craft of the director, Park Chan-wook.

Watch the film if you can digest incest, imprisonment and revenge sprinkled with some gory scenes.

So, what kind of films do you like watching? Will you watch Oldboy, if given a chance?

Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet

"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper"

Finally. Yes, finally I did see the oft praised and quoted movie: CITIZEN KANE. After a long time, I allowed myself to be sucked by the willing suspension of disbelief. I found time to watch a movie, a good one that!

While the film has received rave reviews for many many aspects of film-making, I enjoyed traversing through the life of Charles Foster Kane and his projected self. Above all, I see the film as a wonderful tribute to the print medium: the Newspaper.

The newspaper determines Kane's life and vice-versa. While there were many businesses in which he could have made money, Kane chose the newspaper. While the ethics he followed were completely Kane-stamped, the popularity of the medium those days was well-exploited. Certain lines from the film hold true even in today's given world. Kane says, "The news goes on for 24 hours a day" in response to one of the editor's claim that they work for 12 hours only. In today's scenario, this cannot be truer where we have news channels which run 24/7.

In another situation, Kane remarks that if there is no news just make the headlines bigger and bolder. Well, we have seen instances of that as well. Kane chooses the business of running newspapers primarily because he could force people to think the way that he wanted them to. The media does exactly that! To imagine the power of media in those days (1941) is absolutely mind-boggling to the likes of someone like me.

Though Kane is depicted to be brutal, selfish, egoistic and cunning, I found that I started admiring his vulnerability. He was a child who loved playing with Rosebud and treated everything else as something which was just there and not relished by him. His line "I always gagged on that silver spoon" is example to that.

Finally, after seeing the film, I realise the the hype surrounding this film is indeed worth it. Making a film like that in 1941 truly deserves honour and glory. Orson Welles, I stand in awe of your prowess.

Have you seen this historical film? If yes, do share your experience with me and if no, please do see it.

Image: Internet

Sucked into the willing suspension of disbelief

I love Coleridge for the expression "willing suspension of disbelief!" Whenever I watch a movie and get engrossed with it, I turn into the characters. Especially when the character is an individual who fascinates me, I become her/him for a few minutes of film-viewing. Now this is getting a bit complex. Let me explain. I don't behave or try to act like them in my everyday-life; rather I put myself in their place. I wonder what I would have done if  . . .

Sometimes when serious decisions are to be taken by the character, I start my journey. What would I have done when situations like walking away or remaining behind confront me. Watching The Three Colours Trilogy by Krzysztof Kieślowski, I associated myself with all the women characters in the three films!!! According to my personality I arrive at a certain decision AND if the character takes the same decision as me, I allow myself to extend my imagination: Perhaps the director knew someone like me. Maybe his love interest had certain traits like that of me. Hmmmm.

The saner part of me sometimes fails to keep an aesthetic distance from the film that I am watching. Certain characters are etched in such a way by the directors that the individual is a bundle of contradictions. Such characters interest me as I try to mentally speak to the character and try analysing their problems with them.

Another way in which I tend to get into the film is when certain minutes seem like a deja vu.Pieces of my life always find places in the films I watch and think about later. The thinking and analysing sometimes goes on for days together.

It's a shade of my personality to allow myself to be sucked into the willing suspension of disbelief!!!  Maybe  the movies I see are ones which fall into the 'realism' mode  which reflects on the existential meanderings of life and individuals.

Image courtesy: Internet

Love . . . naturally . . .

Reading through Part I and Part II fiction of my blogger friend Nevine's blog, I could not help but wonder at some of the conventions and conditions of the notion of love. I also noticed the different perceptions of the male and female mind. Culture and mainstream society has ingrained our mind with the picture of a man and a woman while thinking about love, sex and other related ideas.

Traveling to Madurai last week for purpose of my research, I moved closely with the transgender group that lives there. Being a researcher of gender and related concepts, I encountered a spectrum of sexuality which completely baffled me and opened me into a colourful world filled with a mish-mash of relationships. It was a revelation to me: The existence of different hues of sexuality in comparison to the usual 'heterosexual' one. Media fuelled by the mainstream which is further fuelled by the cultural domain has strongly impressioned the heterosexual norm that one is choked by the variety that is presented by the so called 'other.'

But what I found interesting is that even though my transgendered friends live in a community, they fall in love with a man (who is gay as well as married having a family) and follow the norms like any heterosexual couple. The male-to-female transgender assumes the role of a wife and does everything that is expected of a dutifully married woman in the Tamil society. Even this is love. There are issues of jealousy, trust and fidelity that creep between the couple.

This further brings me to write about the 1994 film that I saw in the telly a few days ago: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. The film tells the story of two drag queens and a male-to-female transgender who take a road trip through Australia performing in many places. The story showed the emotional humane side of the three individuals who have their strengths and weaknesses. However strong and aggressive they appear on the outside, their inside is populated with a mirage of emotional anxieties ranging from fear, anger, restlessness, etc. The director has tactfully shown their life as well as  people's reactions towards them.

Now coming back to love and relationships: My experiences of staying with them as well as watching the film makes me wonder whether the treatment meted out to them is justified. At the end of the day, they are no different. They are plain human beings who crave for love, express their anger and fight for causes that are dear to them. This is also love.

Let the credits roll . . .

Maybe I have a peculiar affiliation to the movies. I like watching the beginning of the film and the credits rolling. That does not mean that the movie holds less fascination. No. I just cannot get up when the credits roll and this causes a lot of annoyance for people who sit in my row when I happen to go to the movie-house.

The feel of the credits rolling gives me a special thrill. I wait for that sound track which is saved for the last bit. I also like to catch the various names of the different people who have contributed to the film. And if its a foreign film (English included), there are several people whose names are either Susan or Deborah and that gives me a special joy. A child-like happiness to see my name. No strings attached. Sometimes I strain my eyes (many a times the credits are so very tiny) to see the lead character's name if I do not happen to know them. Well, I could definitely google the name but then why do that when I can find out when the credits roll.

Now for the spectacular beginning: I especially adore the 20th Century Fox, Columbia Tristar openings. The whole beginning gives me goose-bumps and I am at the edge of my seat with wonder. And it happens everytime the film opens. The tune, the logo - everything is the opening of a dream for me.

The credits sometimes has 'behind-the-scenes' which are quite funny and hilarious. They enable one to savour some of the happenings on the set which make us to view the real people behind the characters.

The willing-suspension-of-disbelief is incomplete for me without the beginning and the credits rolling. Are you a bit insane like me while watching films.

Can only someone as Forrest Gump love unconditionally . . .

I can see this movie any number of times and still can relate to it. I cannot say that this is the best movie ever made but I can definitely vouch for the humaneness that this movie portrays. Forrest Gump can reveal different layers of thoughts and interpretation each time. The most obvious being the power of the self, the warmth of a story, making a difference in others' life and unconditional love.

This post will talk about one of the endearing aspects of this film: unconditional love. Sample this dialogue:

Forrest Gump: Will you marry me?
[Jenny turns and looks at him]
Forrest Gump: I'd make a good husband, Jenny.
Jenny Curran: You would, Forrest.
Forrest Gump: But you won't marry me.
Jenny Curran: You don't wanna marry me.
Forrest Gump: Why don't you love me, Jenny? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.

When thinking about unconditional love, Forrest Gump inevitably comes to my mind. Along with it there are certain other questions that also accompany. When seen in the perspective of being smart and suave, Gump does not definitely fall into that category. He is not the romantic ones who can wax eloquence about love and other aspects of love. What he knows is that one should love dearly and unconditionally no matter what. Throughout the movie, the female lead Jenny gets herself into various entanglements like drugs, wrong men, etc. But then she always falls back on Gump who is there to offer solace, comfort and strength. Jenny knows that Gump loves her as no one can ever can but still she does not take that love with open arms. Perhaps as Gump said "He was not a smart man" and thats why Jenny cannot accept him.

This also raises another question: Can only the no-so-smart- man offer unconditional love. In all practical terms Gump can be called a stupid man who can only do something when he is told to. He lacks the clever and practical sensibility that is quite vital for survival. But then if Gump knew all the practicalities and manipulations of life, would he be the lovable Forrest Gump.

Seeing the movie always made me wonder if I would fall in love with someone as Forrest Gump. Maybe not and thats why I can enjoy the movie as it offers me the willing suspension of disbelief that momentarily creates a pseudo reality.

What ever said and done, I can never tire watching Forrest Gump.

Watching Girish Kasaravalli's work for the first time

In the age of mushrooming channels vying for attention and TRPs, there is a channel (I don't know how many of you know about it) called Lok Sabha TV. The channel deals with events in the Parliament and other social issues like health, education, economic reforms and gender. Alongside all these programmes, Saturday nights hold special interest for me as they telecast NFDC award-winning films from noted filmmakers. The weekend classic has a repeat telecast on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm. The best part of this package is the uninterrupted viewing. There are no commercial breaks or any other interruption. We get to watch the entire film sans any break and that makes the slot worthwhile.

Last night the movie was Nayi Neralu, a 2005 Kannada film by the noted  filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli. I have heard his name many times, promising myself that I will for sure see his films but then I just could not do so and finally last night I made it.

The story evolves around the belief of reincarnation. But the greatness in the film lies in the fact that one can peel layers of thoughts and ideas from the film. Social issues like the trauma faced by widows, emotional aspects like love, lust, sympathy, anger and betrayal, relationship problems and many more were handled in great detail by Kasaravalli.

The protagonist Venku is a widow whose life revolves around her daughter, Raji. Raji is a modern young woman who does not believe in rituals and other religious sentiments but turns around when she finds her mother in love with Vishwa. The problems begin when Vishwa in another village claims that he is the reincarnation of Venku's husband, Ramanna. Venku's father-in-law is persuaded by his wife to visit Vishwa and bring him home. Venku, at first is unable to accept a stranger in her house who claims to be her husband but things gradually change and she accepts him. Even Raji who comes across as a very perceptive modern girl is against her mother when she discovers her mother's love for the stranger, Vishwa.The same society which could accept the stranger as a son could not accept him as Venku's husband.

The scenes where Venku is chastised by her people and others is very poignant. In one scene, she tells her friend: "You told me that things will change if I am a married woman but now I am neither accepted as a widow nor as a married woman." Another scene that is quite disturbing is when Raji, Venku's daughter is against her mother accepting Vishwa, who is of her age, as her husband. Venku tells her and her parents-in-law that everyone accepts whatever they want to accept. The truth is what each one sees. My truth is different from yours so you cannot come to terms with it. Perspectives is what she was referring to and that also reminds me of another movie that I saw last week, Rashomon  by Akira Kurosawa, which also deals with different aspects of the truth which is perceived differently by individuals. That was a stray thought.

The film evoked many questions, thoughts and debates within my mind. A film worth watching which has a lovely feel from another century. I am sure to try and watch other works of Kasaravalli.

Kinsey -- Unfolding the taboo word

Surfing channels is a nice way to kill time and criticise the trash doled out commented one great man. Well, sometimes doing that also makes us stumble upon some nice piece of work. This time it was the movie 'Kinsey.' As I was randomly switching channels, I saw this classroom scene in a channel devoted to movies. Any classroom scene gets me interested and this was from the movie 'Kinsey.' Its a 2004 release and the frequent use of a word albeit scientifically made me linger on and watch the movie. The word: SEX. It was interesting as I had previously heard about the Kinsey reports and their revolution in the United States of America. Well, this movie was a biography of Dr. Kinsey. A rather well knit movie where one could observe the personality of Kinsy and his methodical research on sex. His passion and commitment for the subject was brought out well in the movie.

The relationship between Kinsey and his wife, Mac, though cannot be categorised as 'ideal,' was complete in many aspects. The thin line between sex, love, emotions and feelings were brought about in a very nice manner. Not preachy or philosopical but the way it ought to be. While talking about sex, one generally blushes, shies, etc. but Dr. Kinsey was to the point: he treated it as science and nothing else. This was the attribute that made the film lovable despite the taboo subject. My wikipedia tells me that this was the only film permitted to show human genitalia uncensored in Japan. Hmmm.

Stripped of love, emotions and other aspects, sex remains only a biological need of the human animal. Often many factors like morality, convention and others attach a very high priced tag to sex. The movie scientifically adresses the topic and the actor who portrayed Alfred Kinsey, Liam Neeson did full justice to the role.

A movie that one can watch for learning, unlearning and relearning many things that have so conditioned our minds over and over the ages.

Neruda, Pablo -- Personal Reflections

Neruda, the Chilean poet and political activist, has a way with expressing intimate thoughts. His poems always seem as if they splash the emotions of the inner self through the medium of words. Reading his poems can never be a continous process. The poems have to be taken in line by line and word by word. Added to that, if the reader is anything like me, a dreamer of the highest order, then every poem has something from the pages of the past to think on.

I must mention the lovely movie "Il Postino" (The Postman), the 1994 Italian film directed by Michael Radford. The film tells a story in which the real life Pablo Neruda forms a relationship with a simple postman who learns to love poetry. The film has lovely stills, music and fabulous acting by almost all of them. The film has various awards and credits to its name. A story told from the heart which touches and strikes a chord.

Finally a lovely poem of Neruda's (I had a slight difficulty in choosing a poem of Neruda's but then this one made me linger longer and thats why I chose this one):

If You Forget Me - Neruda, Pablo

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine.