Batman [1989]

Superhero films had always been known to be simplistic and light-hearted but likable tales of ‘Good versus Evil’. Tim Burton reversed that trend with his pair of forays into the legendary creations of Bob Kane, and provided the template that would be followed thenceforth. Batman, the first of those two films, wasn’t just quirky but also a dark and disturbing take on the vigilante justice doled out by the caped crusader as multi-millionaire Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton), who loves dressing in the ludicrous Batman suit, has been portrayed here as a weird guy living a dual life who isn’t really much different from his antagonist and arch-nemesis, viz. Joker (Jack Nicholson). Horribly disfigured upon being accidentally thrown in into a vat of industrial chemicals, Joker represents the darkest sides of human nature with his manic outbursts and propensity for massacre and mayhem, yet the two principal characters of the tale essentially represents the two sides of the same coin. Jack Nicholson played the role of the gleefully psychopathic and suitably cartoonish Joker to absolute perfection. Keaton was also decent, though he was rather in a supporting role vis-à-vis his more charismatic enemy. Kim Bassinger played the love interest in the movie. Burton made good use of music, what from a technical standpoint what really stood out were the excellent cinematography as also the terrific creation of the urban jungle of Gotham City that was Blade Runner-esque in its depiction.








Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Action/Crime/Superhero Film
Language: English
Country: US

The Day of the Jackal [1973]

The book by master storyteller Frederick Forsythe ranks among the most compelling and popular spy thrillers ever written in mainstream literature. Fred Zinnemann’s adaptation of the bestselling novel did considerable justice to it by being nearly as engaging and immaculate in its detailing. It was also imbued with European sensibilities, viz. stylishness, slow buildup and exquisite pacing, as opposed to the kind of ‘slam-bam’ and frenetic pacing most American thrillers are equated with. The film, like the book, has two parallel narratives – the first concerns with the preparations and the subsequent activities carried out by a mysterious and ruthless lone-wolf contract killer code-named ‘Jackal’ (played by Edward Fox) who has been hired to assassinate French President Charles De Gaulle; the second deals with the frantic investigation being carried in the dark by the resourceful French police detective Lebel (Michel Lonsdale) in order to track down the nameless and faceless assassin. The way in which the identity of the Jackal is pieced together by Lebel and the British police is worth beholding, and it has been wonderfully juxtaposed with the brilliant planning and one-track agenda of the cold-blooded chameleon-like assassin with a chilling smile. On-location shoots added to the film’s visceral quotient.








Director: Fred Zinnemann
Genre: Thriller/Political Thriller
Language: English
Country: UK/France

Super [2010]

I found it really surprising that two movies, viz. Kick-Ass and Super, with nearly identical themes & content, released in the same year! Of course, it’s another matter that, while the former, with its zany and darkly funny execution, had its social commentary only as a subtext, the latter chose to take itself too seriously for its own good – as a result, though it has been touted as a black comedy, I didn’t really find the comedy part anywhere. The movie is about an ultra-religious Everyday-Joe (Rainn Wilson), who’s a pea-brained loser in his life for all practical purposes and whose addict wife, whom he loves with all his heart, elopes with a notorious gangster (Kevin Bacon), dons a superhero costume with the intent of saving his wife and for also doing some crude crime-fighting in the process. He gets a sidekick in the form of a petite but sociopathic young girl (Ellen Page) in this crusade of his. The movie is ultra-violent but that really came in the way of the drama – also, some of the set-pieces and sequences were well orchestrated. Perhaps had the director not made its social and quasi-religious commentary so overt, and instead injected some acerbic humour and intelligence both into the script and the characters, this could have been a much more memorable ride.









Director: James Gunn
Genre: Drama/Black Comedy/Action
Language: English
Country: US

Tokyo Story [1953]

Akira Kurosawa has always been the face for Japanese cinema to the international audience, but when it came to artistic brilliance his compatriot Yasujiro Ozu deserves equal acclaim. Tokyo Story would probably remain Ozu’s greatest and most famous work, as this quietly observant, deeply melancholic, and meditative film has come to be recognized as a landmark in world cinema. The film chronicles a few days in the lives of an aged couple who decide to visit Tokyo in order to spend a few days with their children. Unfortunately, their children have their own lives to lead, and though their displeasure remains subtle for most parts, it’s still palpable to them. The old and lovable couple has a good time at the bustling metropolis, but deep within they feel sorrow that their children have moved away from them from an emotional standpoint. The only person who cares for them during their stay at Tokyo is, ironically, the widowed wife of their dead son, Noriko (Satsuko Hara). The elegiac tone and the inherent sadness in the content have the ability to move anyone, yet the film isn't bleak or depressing. Despite the numerous sorrows that life puts in one’s path, the director didn't turn the two principal protagonists cynical. Consequently the movie’s deeply-felt humanism and its willingness to appreciate the small joys in everyday life – like the serenity that the couple feels by quietly sitting in front of the beach, or the nostalgic throwback that the husband (Chishu Ryu) experiences by joining in for drinks with two of his old friends – made this lovingly paced and beautifully acted film a deeply affecting and emotionally resonating masterpiece.








Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Genre: Drama/Family Drama
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

The French Connection [1971]

The French Connection, with its gritty, visceral and action-packed tale of two unconventional, no-nonsense New York city cops taking the drug mafias down through their doggedness, craftiness and courage, became one of the most influential American movies of the 70’s and provided the template for many such buddy-cop action films to follow in later decades. However, what separated it from most of its imitators were its in-your-face display of brutality, its hard-edged realism in its depiction of the Big Apple and the ensuing grime and grunge, and its bleak and fatalistic finale (as opposed to happy endings where everything gets tied together properly). The two police detectives in this film, viz. Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) and his partner Buddy Russo (Roy Scheider), were the classic angry cop/cool cop duo and their contrasting personalities provided a major drive for the story. The movie was shot in a near cinema verite style – the visuals are completely bereft of any form of stylizations, while the narrative too is suitably jagged and rough to complement the film’s proceedings, and its on-location shots provided the kind of portrayal of the city that was anything but romanticized. And not to forget, the movie comprised of one of the most spectacular and iconic chase sequences where Doyle, oblivious of the safety of civilians, makes a mad dash in a forcibly acquired car while trailing an elevated train with which a hired killer is trying to escape. The film is well enacted and very well paced, too.

p.s. My latest review of this film can be found here.

Director: William Friedkin 

Genre: Crime Thriller/Action/Police Detective Film 

Language: English 

Country: US

Meghe Dhaka Tara (The Cloud-Capped Star) [1960]

Meghe Dhaka Tara, the first in Ritwik Ghatak’s “Partition Trilogy” which also comprised of Komal Gandhar and Subarnarekha, is considered the greatest masterpiece of the mercurial genius, and remains a seminal achievement in the history of Indian cinema. Ghatak took the otherwise pejorative melodramatic tradition of Indian cinema to stratospheric heights with this heartbreaking examination of the socio-political repercussions of partition, as he did with the other two films belonging to this landmark trilogy of his. The film’s central character is Neeta (a stellar performance by Supriya Chowdhury), the sole breadwinner of her impoverished refugee family. All those around her – her irascible mother, her hedonistic sister, her younger brother, and her spineless fiancé – are classic examples of self-centeredness and opportunism; yet Neeta silently cares for them with all her heart despite the enormous grief she suffers in the process. Only her erudite father and her elder brother Shankar (Anil Chatterjee), who aspires to be a classical singer, reciprocate her love and appreciate her sacrifice; unfortunately, they are either too weak or too preoccupied to really stand up for her. Music, as in all his films, plays a huge role here too in terms of emphasizing its downbeat mood and strangely liberating tone. It in fact boasts of one of the most incredible uses of Tagore’s song where whiplashes are used to stress upon, with devastating effect, Neeta’s inner turmoil and crushing grief. The scene where Neeta finally screams out to Shankar, now an established maestro, that she wants to live (“Dada ami banchte chai”), is not just powerful and debilitating, but transcendental too. The film ends with a darkly ironic depiction of the sad but inherent cyclicity of life.






Director: Ritwik Ghatak
Genre: Drama/Family Drama/Social Drama
Language: Bengali
Country: India