The Cranes Are Flying became a darling in the film festival circuits upon its release, and quite rightly so. This Russian drama by Mikhail Kalatozov remains to this day a powerful and deeply affecting indictment against the utter futility and absurdity of wars. In fact, its basic premise is that of ‘love at the times of war’. After her fiancé Boris voluntarily enlists himself in the army at the break of World War II, Veronika falls victim to the obsession of Boris’ cousin Mark during a night of frightening air raids and the two marry despite her lack of any love for her; while Boris loses his life during one treacherous mission, Veronika sadly bides her time hoping against hope for a happy ending to her misfortune. The most striking aspect of the movie, for me, was the way Kalatozov distinctly contrasted its tone with its form. The tone was one of elegy and melancholy borne out of dashed hopes and lost love; yet, quite interestingly, the brilliant camerawork, the marvelous usage of chiaroscuro, and the expressionistic cinematography lent a strong noirish feel to the proceedings. This terrific juxtaposition courtesy the marvelous concoction of style and substance, and in turn the audacious stylistic choices, made this a devastating film to watch – both emotionally and from an audio-visual perspective. The scene where Boris is killed was a display of bravura filmmaking – the technical excellence achieved through sheer ingenuity reminded me of the woodcutter’s journey into the jungle in Rashomon. This deeply felt storyline reached a heart-wrenching climax on Victory Day which showed that the nation’s triumph and one’s personal happiness are oftentimes mutually exclusive of one another.
Director: Mikhail Kalatozov
Genre: Drama/War Drama/Romance
Language: Russian
Country: Russia (erstwhile Soviet Union)
J. Edgar Hoover was one of the most powerful, controversial and complex figures of the 20th century – the kind of personality that filmmakers find extremely tempting. Yet, ironically, those very traits also make their biopics an inherently risky proposition as either the directors tend to get lost in the details or they try to cover too wide a ground in the limited timeframe. Clint Eastwood, in this sweeping epic on the life and times of the first Director of FBI who, through his shrewd and often despicable tactics, enjoyed an unprecedented stint under a number of Presidents, touched base on numerous aspects of Hoover’s life, including a number of skeletons in his closet – his rise in power within the government, the formation and growth of the FBI, his bringing in of scientific forensic studies for evidence gathering, and the kidnapping of Lindbergh’s baby that proved to be a watershed moment for the Agency; as also, Hoover’s uptight and often hypocritical behavior that mostly stemmed from his personal insecurities, relationship with his domineering mother (played by Judi Dench), his long-standing homosexual tryst with his loyal subordinate (Armie Hammer) and his platonic acquaintance with his secretary (Naomi Watts), and of course, his bullying stratagems and his self-delusional nature. By focusing on so many facets, the end product turned out to be a tad insipid and uninvolving too, except for the well-made first-third of the film. Further, the makeups of the protagonists after they’ve aged were so poor as to appear comical. The major saving grace for the movie turned out to be Leonardo DiCaprio’s excellent performance and also few of the key subplots.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Genre: Drama/Biopic/Political Drama/Historical Drama
Language: English
Country: US
A Tale of Winter was the second chapter in the ‘Tales of the Four Seasons’ series by Eric Rohmer, one of the most accessible and enduring of all Nouvelle Vague filmmakers. A loving ode to and yet a fine departure from the kind of romantic comedies most people are accustomed to, the movie has in its content most of the tropes this genre is associated with – love at first sight, heartbreak and serendipitous reunion. This is the tale of Felicie (Charlotte Very), a beautiful young lady who had a brief yet passionate affair with a guy named Charles while on vacation; unfortunately, when they parted ways, she erroneously gave him a wrong address as regards to her home and neither did she take his contact details. Consequently, five years later, though she is in and out of relationships, they are mostly non-committal from her side, while raising her daughter whose father she is eternally waiting for and forever hoping to meet someday. The camerawork and dialogues of the film are such that one gets a feel of both realistic portrayal of the day-to-day lives of the protagonist and her various acquaintances, and the kind of longing, undiminishing hope and romanticism that are essential in endearing a work belonging to this particular genre. Felicie’s character too is an interesting creation – though a born romantic at heart, she’s also an exceedingly fickle-natured person who fails to appreciate the love coming her way; hence, even if and when she meets her long-lost love, one can never be sure as to how long she’ll manage to stay with him as well. Though seemingly detached at places, the inherent poignancy and subtle observations made this a thoroughly engaging movie.
Director: Eric Rohmer
Genre: Drama/Romance
Language: French
Country: France
Road movies have been mostly known as a quintessential American sub-genre for geographic as well as popular cultural reasons, but some marvelous road movies have been made elsewhere as well – case in point, the fascinating “Road Movie Trilogy” by Wim Wenders. Kings of the Road was the final chapter of the loosely-plotted existentialist trilogy which also comprised of Alice in the Cities and The Wrong Move. This male ‘buddy movie’ comprised of as its protagonist two men who have become social outsiders either through choice or circumstance – Bruno (Rudiger Vogler), a movie projector repairman who roams around the border between East and West Germany in his van searching for bit-jobs, and Robert (played by German critic Hanns Zischler), a suicidal and a more erudite person who is trying to cope with his decision of leaving his wife. Brilliantly shot in exquisite black-and-whites and boasting of an equally memorable soundtrack comprising of classic pop/rock hits, the film’s tone is meditative and quietly nostalgic, while its theme is one of disillusionment, loneliness and ennui, and the feeble attempts at coming to terms with oneself (and one’s past) as also the need to break through from the state of status quo one is trapped in. The growing kinship between the two contrasting and lonely men has been captured well against their liberating journey through desolate and sparsely populated urban-rural landscapes. The film is also punctuated by Wenders’ observation of and sharp commentary on the then state of the German society, in general, and its film industry, in particular.
Director: Wim Wenders
Genre: Drama/Road Movie/Existential Drama/Buddy Film
Language: German
Country: Germany
Czech New Wave is mostly renowned for the numerous utterly delectable fables and brilliantly satirical sociopolitical commentaries it has gifted us with. The much acclaimed yet largely obscure avant-garde comedy, Daisies, provided an entirely different perspective to the movement. This vibrant, gleefully experimental, and surrealist film was a daring exercise in Dadaism, and as a result most people would not find the humour and underlying message of this ‘nonsense film’ accessible – it might leave one cold or even alienated as it’s certainly not an easy film to watch or appreciate. No wonder, like so many films belonging to that subversive movement, it was banned by the establishment, while its director, Vera Chytilova, was forbidden to work for the next 8 years. On the surface it might seem that the director is having delirious fun at the expense of her actors and her audience. The two irreverent young women protagonists indulge in a series of largely unrelated activities like dating older men and then leaving them for cold, going for picnic, having fun in their home, or indulging in a grand feast; and the director presented their antics through audacious experimentations with everything ranging from fractured narrative progression to psychedelic montages to jawdropping special-effects for its time (and budget, too). But, for all its nonsense exterior and disorienting imagery, it was a scathing attack against order, control, discipline and regimentation. Its rebellious protagonists and freewheeling spirit were essentially an allegorical but brazen denunciation by the director of the then regressive regimen behind the Iron Curtain and its thought police.
Director: Vera Chytilova
Genre: Comedy/Black Comedy/Political Satire/Social Satire/Avant-Garde/Experimental Film
Language: Czech
Country: Czech Republic (erstwhile Czechoslovakia)
If Batman was dark and violent, with Batman Returns Tim Burton took superhero movies to places hitherto unimaginable. This is a twisted, demented, disturbing, and well, a macabre take on the something that, till then, used to be considered a genre tailor-made for teenagers. Batman isn’t just relegated to play a supporting role here, he’s more of a dull and minor character at best – and that probably remains the film’s biggest flaw. But that apart, it worked astoundingly well at various levels. We have two incredibly sketched and portrayed villainous characters here, with an interesting third thrown in for good measures. On one hand there is the uncouth, grotesque and vengeful, yet quietly melancholic, Penguin Man (powerfully played by Danny De Vito), who was abandoned at birth for his physical deformity – despite the fact that he’s one of the bad guys according to the classical definition of a villain, I found the scene where he dies really moving; and on the other there is the dangerously seductive, unpredictable and mentally damaged Cat Woman (played with striking panache by Michelle Pfeiffer). Michael Keaton returned in the titular role of the Caped Crusader, but he hardly had much to do here with or without the cowl. Though a ‘Good versus Evil’ story on the surface, the line between the two has been so blurred here that it’s nearly indistinguishable. Consequently what we have is a subtly profound commentary on society’s obsessions with outwardly looks, and how the inner self doesn’t really matter if one’s physical appearance doesn’t conform to what the society wants. Brilliantly scored and nicely photographed, this is one superhero film I would never recommend any minor to.
Director: Tim Burton
Genre: Action/Horror/Superhero Film
Language: English
Country: US
