Closer

Is love a creation? Are humans always in pursuit of that which they don't have and especially of that which they can't have...? May be things like alcohol in prohibition or restricted drugs?

The law of the land enforces monogamy and somewhere, humans have started believing that monogamy makes sense; for most cultures, multiple partners had been the norm for a long time and then things began to change as humans started living in societies and the concept of materialism reared its ugly head.

Another issue that this movie raised for me was about sex.
Could sex really be that desirable? Could sex really be that much of an issue such that it could hurt a man's ego? May be this movie says a lot about the India that is becoming.

Jude Law, Natalie Portman (didn't think she would have had such a brilliant body) and Clive Owen were phenomenal. One can see Clive's potential on the real stage. I have never liked Julia Roberts. Alas.

The movie is not for the masses because it demands patience and thought. Parts need to be glued together to make sense and one is left wondering how it will end and often, how it is still progressing. Something very operatic about the movie, like a tragedy. It ends with the godess that is Natalie.

Can't take my eyes off of you.

Ilhaam

Every thought is unique. Similar to how everyone who saw this play would have thought of different things.

There is a time when the world flows into you, when you can sense everything around you and understand all that there is; when that happens, things that used to matter, cease to matter in the same way. What would you do if you were to choose between moksha and bondage to human societal life?
/I can't be here and there at the same time... that is what humans want./
/Kya poori duniya aa kar tumse kehti hai... main hoon...?/

There is a joy in being a kid and there is regret in seeing that innocence in somebody else.
Someone weird is just someone who does not conform to accepted norms of human societal behaviour. Epilepsy was deemed madness, homosexuals are still not treated well, cross-dressers are not accepted, autistic people are scary, deformed faces are revolting. Odd people exist because of the categorization by other people who form the majority.

Moving to another point; what would you do if your loved one goes insane, i.e. you can't understand/ tolerate him/ her? What happens when that someone does not appreciate your presence?
What is the similarity between someone who treats you badly and someone who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer's? Are you liable to take care of a loved one more because of your love or because of society? What would you do if you realised you were losing control over your sanity?

Ilhaam is a play that I saw at Prithvi Theatre yesterday. One of the best I have seen in a while. A note to the buffoons who like to text and email while the play is on - one fine day, you might be shot or stabbed by someone like me.

Kshay

Revolutionary Road meets Trainspotting in India. Not suggesting that the creators of this movie copied from any other movie - am just referring to how deeply thought-provoking, social, intense and terribly depressing this movie was.
An absolutely wonderful creation shot in black and white - good idea though because it focuses attention on the characters. I haven't heard such wonderful use of music in a while now and the story was simple yet filmed in a brilliant way. Even with the use of expressionism, the director didn't tire the audience as it happened in that god-awful movie: The Tree of Life.
Rasika Dugal was awesome and it was her movie through and through.

Thoughts:
Why was the sculptor kid such an angry boy?
Why was Chhaya obsessed with the stone?
Why did Laxmi always look at Chhaya?
Could losing a child during pregnancy be that disturbing?
Would Chhaya have been the same if she would not have cared for the neighbour's kid in the beginning of the movie?
Why was Arvind oblivious to everything?
Is India finally becoming like the West, where social support is difficult to find?
If life really is that difficult, why do people struggle through it?
Would a dead spouse be better than a dead self?

I went for this movie because a friend recommended it. I didn't know the meaning of Kshay until I came back home after the movie. The progression towards the end.
"Do you know what a woman goes through when her child has died and she will never know what it would be like to ever give birth to one of her own? Do you know what it's like when she is left all alone at home with nothing to do with her life?"

Dahan

I met someone who recommended a bunch of bengali movies. I saw Dahan last night. Fabulous movie - there is beauty in its creation, in its characters, in their emotions, in the nuances of being Indian/ Bengali. I liked how the director did not make it a 'powerful' movie about rape, but rather about molestation born out of an act of instinct. I loved the grandmother in the movie.
There was a story about how many years ago, someone from her (grandmother's) family forgot a wallet full of money in the cab. Everybody was upset. In the morning, the cab driver returned with the wallet. Everybody was happy and rejoicing and distributing sweets and giving a tip to the cabbie. "They reacted as though stealing the wallet was the natural thing and returning it was something special."
I loved that story because it is thought-provoking.
Coming back to the movie... characters were thoroughly controlled. The husbands/ boyfriends were quintessential MCPs and may be a little more than that. When Romita (victim) thought about divorce, it wasn't made a big issue in the movie, but the snap response was, what will the people think? Think how much your parents spent on the marriage? Polash (Romita's husband) shied away from the incident and hoped to not face it in society; as a defense mechanism, he diverted his angst towards Romita and accused her of having pre-marital relations with the molesters. May be she was raped? That's the story which floated about in the community.
It was odd, how I thought the movie would be about the plight of a girl who had been molested and when  I sat through the movie, the plight was shared by every character in the movie but based on the perceived thoughts of others in the community.
We Indians grow up with a cultural burden based on how society perceives events; luckily, things are changing in cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore but not as much as they should.
I am also reading Swami Vivekanand's letters right now and I see that the Hindu culture had a wonderful influence on Indian development, but somewhere, society has indeed become such an overwhelming force which dictates most people's behaviour based on what is the right or the wrong thing to do.
Strawberry fields forever. Nothing's gonna change my world. I am happy to be a Mumbai-ite. Thank you Rituparno Ghosh.

The Matrix

It's 2011 and I'm watching a movie that was released in 1999. This movie is still cool.
"C'mon - Stop trying to hit me and hit me!"
"Everybody falls the first time."
Some of the dialogues are embedded.
In 1999, the world did not have Google. Internet was a novelty. America was free of terrorism. India was still a 'bad-land'. People didn't care about China.
The Wachowski brothers decided to market the idea of the world being a dream in which we are stuck. This idea may have influenced people the world over. This movie, I want to believe, somehow made people become independent.. in their thoughts and actions.
The movie - Cool. That's it. Stunningly intelligent in the nuances planted at certain junctures. Great effects, fantastic direction, crisp, great story and rather excellent acting by Laurence Fishburne and Keanu Reeves.
I wonder if it will retain its coolness 20 years from now :)

The best quote of all : "There is no spoon."

Into the Wild

I'm appalled at myself for not having written about this movie. It has been one of the most influential movies in my life - and that is the reason you should watch it.
It is based on a true story based on that of Christopher McCandless. A man, disillusioned, curious and gaining consciousness decided to leave society - to a degree. He met random people on his journeys with his eventual goal of going to Alaska, or as he said it "Alaskalaska"

It's difficult to not let my emotion cloud this 'review' but I shall try. Emile Hirsch, Sean Penn and Eddie Vedder created magic. The music and the lyrics breathes life into dull patches and gets the viewer interested in trying to understand this creature called 'Alexander Supertramp'.

One issue with the progress of society, especially over the last 100 years, has been the influx of people, technology, communication, capitalism and a bull-headed focus on getting ahead. Christopher saw what was happening around him and disliked the materialism that surrounded him and just wanted to go away from all these accepted rituals of daily life.
MGMT's song, Time to Pretend, was written well -
" Yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute... We're fated to pretend."

People who don't like the movie have said, ' Ya.. it's about this guy who goes to Alaska right?'
People who like the movie sound like Jeff Bridges and say, ' Just watch the movie man'


Special thanks to Eddie Vedder for moaning and groaning through his simple, hearty lyrics that instantly makes me question our society.

Just watch the movie man.

District 9

A movie that will be categorised as 'just another alien flick', however, it is one of the most brilliant creations I have seen. Brilliant in terms of the thought process, the independence, the sincerity that is evident through the movie and a very natural screenplay. What I mean by the last part is that if an alien were to see the movie he would assume it without doubt to be a sample of life on earth - a bit of a stretch, but only a bit.

It was portrayed as a documentary on the life of and the life around Wikus van de merwe. The make-up of and the chemistry between actors was incredibly unbelievable. References were made to humans' need to have sex with the alien 'prawns' where the prawns would serve as prostitutes... The aliens were technologically quite advanced, yet quite weak - there was something very human about them and there was a small story behind their presence - Wikipedia does a great job of it. Search for 'District 9' - apologies for the complex steps.

I couldn't help but see how poor humans are at times and yet, we have a compassion for other beings. Wikus was discriminated against because he was different, scary and a potential research resource.
'Let it be'.
A must watch. Touching, gripping and almost non-fiction.

Monster's Ball

Patience is missing too often nowadays... The director did a great job of taking his time with filming each scene. Often times, loosely woven stories and bad actors make movies slow, and in this case, great acting, especially by Halle Berry, combined with a well-knit story made this movie easy to watch. When I say easy, I refer to how quickly the movie passed me by; it was, however, a movie that was subtly grotesque.
There was a guy who was going to be executed, and he liked drawing. He said that he disliked pictures - portraits were better. This statement stood out: "Truly takes a human being to see a human being".
Loved the way the movie tackled racial discrimination in the US, the way sexual satisfaction tends to make humans happy, the way we are forced to think of our plight once we grow old... This movie touched so many nuances. Wouldn't call it one of the best movies I have seen.. Would call it a very good movie. But surely, a must watch.

East of Eden

Shakespearean - that's what I would like to call this movie. A story about lust, jealousy, greed, naivety and ambition. I had often heard about James Dean and always wondered why he was so critically applauded; now I know why. He was a child in this movie (metaphor) and he played that character to perfection. The movie revolved around relationships within the family, flaws of human society and customs and James's search for himself.
What makes it special? The character is not loud or in your face; rather, one can see the confusion on the child's face and every drop of emotion comes out so strongly. There is an elan coupled with confusion and aggression. There were moments when I simply gaped in awe at James's face; partly because he seemed flawless, and partly because he was a gorgeous guy.
Physical struggles are difficult to perform convincingly, but emotional struggles are near impossible to portray well; I do not know how James managed to do so, but he did it very well.
I saw in this movie what I see everyday - flaws in human society and the idiosyncrasies of each individual, and I saw in this movie an actor that could have been cherished.

Fight Club

There is a particular scene from Fight Club that has stuck with me. It's when Tyler speaks of pain, control, acceptance and reality.

Excerpts: After Tyler sprinkles lye on the 'Narrator's' hand.

Narrator Voice Over: I tried not to think of the words searing flesh.
Tyler: Stop it! This is your pain. This is your burning hand its right here.

Tyler: This is the greatest moment of your life and you’re off somewhere missing it
Narrator: I am not! [sobbing and grunting in pain]
Tyler: Shut up. Our fathers were our models for god, if our fathers bailed what does that tell you about god?
Slap.
Tyler: Listen to me! You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you; never wanted you; and in all probability... he hates you. It's not the worst thing that can happen. We don't need him!! Fuck damnation man! Fuck redemption!!
We are God's unwanted children? SO BE IT!!

Tyler: Listen to me. You can run water over your hand to make it worse, or, look at me. [Their eyes meet.] Or you can use vinegar to neutralize the burn
Narrator: Please let me have it!! Please!! [sobbing]
Tyler: First you have to give up. First you have to know, not fear, know that one day you are going to die.

Tyler: Its only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.

Thank you to : http://blaiseryan.wordpress.com/2009/01/08/fight-club-quote-%E2%80%9Cits-only-after-we%E2%80%99ve-lost-everything-that-we%E2%80%99re-free-to-do-anything%E2%80%9D/
Although, there was a part in the middle about God that, I believe, he was too scared to write about :D



Quotes:
"With insomnia nothing's real; everything's far away; everything's a copy of a copy of a copy."

"This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."

"If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?"

"Things you own end up owning you."

"You're not the car you drive, you're not the contents of your wallet, you're not your fuckin' khakis; you're the all singing all dancing crap of the world."

"Listen up maggots: you're not special, you're not a beautiful or unique snowflake, you're the same decaying organic matter as everything else; we're the all singing all dancing crap of the world."