The Firemen's Ball [1967]

The Firemen’s Ball was quite an event in the career of Milos Forman, who would later become a darling of Hollywood what with his One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus. It was his first film made in colour; but more importantly, it was his last movie in his native Czechoslovakia before he headed for America just in time to escape Prague Spring. The movie, which got banned in the country, is about a disastrous ball hosted by a group of middle-aged firemen in honour of their old retired chief. The crisp length and hilarious gags belie the movie’s immense artistic worth. It is a brilliant, anarchic, genre-bending classic whose comic timings would leave everyone laughing out loud, but whose subversive humour and satirical insights into a society behind Iron Curtain would not escape even those unaware of the then political turmoil surrounding the country. The actors, mostly non-professionals, did a remarkable job in bringing forth the farcical events that ensue over the course of the evening (interestingly, a number of members of the cast were repeated from the movie that preceded it, Forman’s delightful comedy Loves of a Blonde). The fact that Forman could infuse even the boisterous proceedings with a few moments of deep pathos and subtle (yet pinching) observations made the movie one for the ages, and along with a similarly subversive socio-political satire by Jiri Menzel, Closely Watched Trains, forms a cornerstone of the Czech New Wave.








Director: Milos Forman
Genre: Comedy/Political Satire/Social Satire/Black Comedy
Language: Czech
Country: Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia)

Jerichow [2008]

German filmmaker Christian Petzold’s Jerichow is a modern-day variation of James M. Cain’s classic pulp fiction The Postman Always Rings Twice, albeit minus the hardboiled content that gave the source material its iconic status. The movie is about a penniless, laconic war veteran who, through a string of coincidences, gets employed by a reasonably wealthy middle-aged Turkish man (performed with great effectiveness by Hilmi Sozer) married to a bored, philandering, blonde adulteress screaming to get laid. The movie has been pictured without the kind of stylizations or disorienting camera angles that defined film noirs; rather, it is grim in tone and filled with dramatic realism and socio-political insights that belie the genre’s archetypal conventions. Further, even in the movie’s fatalist climax, there is more an element of absurdism than the kind of bleak nihilism that typified classic noirs. The movie is certainly not without its flaws – some of the plot contrivances seem too obvious, and the drifter’s character has not been as well delineated as the other two protagonists, for instance. However, having said that, this deceptively simple fable and revisionist neo-noir does deserve to be paid attention to.








Director: Christian Petzold
Genre: Drama/Neo-Noir
Language: German
Country: Germany

A Hard Day's Night [1964]

Producers of A Hard Day’s Night, in all probability, had one thing alone in mind when they conceptualized the movie – to cash in on the intense hysteria and mass frenzy surrounding the Fab Four. But, in the surprisingly jaunty hands of Richard Lester, the movie turned into a freewheeling, satirical and humorous cult classic, combining the peppy feel of early Beatles music with French Nouvelle Vague filming sensibilities. And in its circuitous, whimsical and delightfully irreverent portrayal of a fictitious day in the lives of the four iconic Liverpudlians – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Richard Starkey (aka Ringo Starr), all playing themselves, the movie managed to present a definitive zeitgeist of a time that has since been immortalized with the moniker Beatlemania. Shot in dazzling black-and-whites and based on a madcap script with an abundance of self-deprecating humour, the movie is filled with idiosyncratic characters like Paul’s amusingly eccentric granddad, comical managers, and an uptight TV producer. The movie is peppered with such legendary songs like the title track “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “She Love You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)”, among others. A fascinating blend of avant-garde narrative, brilliant (and at times, surreal) music videos, and cinema verite techniques, the movie, made in the form of a mockumentary, feels remarkably fresh even after nearly five decades of its release.






Director: Richard Lester
Genre: Comedy/Satire/Showbiz Comedy/Musical
Language: English
Country: UK

Repulsion [1965]

Repulsion wasn’t just Roman Polanski’s first English language feature, it was also the Polish master’s first great masterpiece. Universally hailed as a cornerstone in the genre of psychological thrillers, and often placed in the same pedestal as Hitchcock’s Psycho, the movie is about the terrifying journey made by a young Belgian manicurist, living in London with her elder sister, from being a shy, introverted person to a criminally-insane psychopath. Hauntingly shot in moody black-and-whites, the movie is a brooding, disturbing and a brilliantly executed study of emotional alienation and psychological disintegration, and an eerie look at the delicate link between sexual repression and raging lunacy. The movie alternates between jazzy exteriors and claustrophobic interiors, interspersed with disconcerting surreal imagery on one hand, and shocking, albeit sparingly used, violence on the other. Catherine Deneuve (only 22 at the time!) brought to screen the frigid and emotionally distant protagonist with a seemingly pleasant demeanor, with astounding power, and her nubile, delicate beauty made the emotional impact of her portrayal that much more devastating. Though the movie might appear fatalistic, harrowing and even misanthropic to many, the story’s latent humanism wouldn’t get lost to those willing to delve deep.








Director: Roman Polanski
Genre: Thriller/Psychological Thriller
Language: English
Country: UK

Mother of Mine (Aideista Parhain) [2005]

Second World War was a bad time for children to grow up in Finland, as nearly 70,000 Finnish children were displaced and sent to neutral Sweden. Mother of Mine tells the story of Aero, one such Finnish child sent to Sweden and placed under the care of foster parents, against his wishes. Told in flashbacks by a much older Aero, this is a moving account of a child at complete odds with his otherwise idyllic environment, which to him is far more hostile than his war-torn homeland. Finding it exceedingly difficult to adapt and only begrudgingly accepted by his foster mother (who takes it upon herself to hide letters sent by his mother), Aero grows up to be a lonely man neither in touch with his foster mom nor able to rekindle the relationship with his real mother, and hence with a deep sense of abandonment, alienation and cynicism. Aero survives the war, yet for him his life is a great tragedy, and justifiably so. This is a fine, lyrical and an honestly made anti-war movie and a heartfelt tale told by a very sympathetic director of one of the many personal tragedies and disasters of life during the times of the war.










Director: Klaus Haro
Genre: Drama/War
Language: Finnish/Swedish
Country: Finland/Sweden

Inglourious Basterds [2009]

Quentin Tarantino’s seventh feature direction (sixth if you consider the two Kill Bill volumes as a single movie) is a riotous and rambunctious rampage; there isn’t an iota of exaggeration in that! Inglourious Basterds (the title has been deliberately misspelt) recounts parallel attempts to assassinate the top brass of the German leadership, including Adolf Hitler, during WWII, while they are watching a movie at a theatre in German-occupied France – on one hand by a group of hilariously comical American-Jews called the Basterds who love to kick Nazi-ass, and on the other by the owner of the theatre, a Jewish girl, whose parents were executed by the Nazis. The movie is at once, an audacious and a provocative chronicle of an alternate WWII history where the Nazis face a reversal of fate vis-à-vis the Holocaust, an effective genre-spoof (some have even called it a spaghetti war movie), and the kind of wildly entertaining ride that can best be called Tarantino-an. The acting is memorable throughout, especially that of Brad Pitt as the gleefully over-the-top leader of the Basterds, and Christopher Waltz as an unctuous, sinister and silver-tongued Nazi ‘Jew Hunter’. However, the only flaw, as I remarked to a wonderful analysis of the movie by a fellow blogger, is that, despite some brilliant individual episodes, sum of the parts somehow failed to add up to the intended whole.








Director: Quentin Tarantino
Genre: War Drama/Action/Comedy/Political Satire
Language: English
Country: US

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 [2003] & Vol. 2 [2004]

The two volumes of Kill Bill have told a vengeance story of epic proportions and together form yet another feather in the shining crown of Quentin Tarantino. An unabashed homage to the violent Manga comic strips, kung-fu flicks of Hong Kong and American Grindhouse movies, the Kill Bill franchise might be a tad too violent for the regular audience and tad too deviant from formulaic revenge tales, but for a movie buff like me, it worked just fine. And one reason for that might be the magic wand that Tarantino weaves on his viewers with such ease. An addictive storyline, gleefully over-the-top action sequences (they are so well orchestrated that they almost got alleviated to the stature of ballet dancing), great sound track, well-etched characters, and hyper-kinetic narrative, laced with a fine sense of deadpan humour, add to the flavour of this enthralling double-bill. Uma Thurman, as the woman-wronged seeking bloody revenge, was quite astounding, as were David Carradine as the verbose and suave Bill, and Michael Madsen as his mild-mannered brother. Interestingly, while the first volume was the more action-packed of the two, the second captivated me more through its philosophical overtures. The two movies are an exuberant reaffirmation of Tarantino’s love affair with cinema.









Director: Quentin Tarantino
Genre: Action/Thriller/Martial Arts Movie/Revenge Movie
Language: English
Country: US

Night and the City [1950]

Though most feel Carol Reed’s The Third Man was the greatest Brit noir, I feel Jules Dassin’s Night and the City was more “noirish” and definitive of the two, and hence should rank higher in the pantheon of great film noirs. McCarthy’s horrendous witch-hunt forced Dassin to flee from America just before he begun working on this movie, and his mental effect clearly shows here. One of the bleakest movies I’ve watched, Night and the City drew a truly nightmarish picture of crime, corruption, human weakness, urban paranoia and existential angst. The basic surmise of the movie is about a small-time hustler who wants to strike big, and who, in the end, "sinks into the quagmire of his own ambition." Terrific camera work, through exceptional use of expressionist lighting, disorienting visuals, chiaroscuro, and oblique camera angles, turned the teeming metropolis of London into a brooding urban jungle infested with thugs and con men. The acting is first-rate throughout, especially Richard Widmark as the slimy anti-hero, and Francis L. Sullivan as the sleazy owner of a seedy joint (his grotesque physicality reminded me of Orson Welles’ legendary turn in Touch of Evil). The deeply ominous soundtrack, the morally ambiguous tone and the frenetic narrative, too, played vital roles in making this a thrilling masterpiece. The lovely Gene Tierny, of Laura fame, played the moral backbone of the story.








Director: Jules Dassin
Genre: Film Noir/Crime Thriller/Urban Drama/Gangster Movie
Language: English
Country: UK

Houseful [2009]

Bappaditya Bandopadhyay’s Houseful is a difficult movie to appraise, for the simple reason that it IS a difficult movie. I haven’t seen any other movie by the director (his Kantatar earned him respect if not popularity). Nonetheless, it wasn’t difficult to realise that the movie, about a film director who neither manages to lure people to the theatre not impress the critics, and who is being incessantly coaxed by his loyal sidekick to play to the gallery for once by plagiarising a formulaic movie, has strong autobiographical touches. But that’s only the short of it. The movie, mostly about his making of yet another “unsuccessful movie”, has, with fair amount of élan, blurred the line between fact and fiction, between dreams and reality, and hence between cinema and life. The protagonist might be a miserable failure in his personal and professional lives, but that never deters him from living in his own world – a parallel existence of sorts. Prosenjit Chatterjee, in the challenging role as the dour-faced intellectual, might have given the most accomplished performance of his career, while Nitya Ganguly, as his jovial and ever-optimistic Man Friday, was also exceptional. The luscious Sreelekha Mitra, too, was impressive in her cameo as a successful heroine. While on one hand this experimental movie has a difficult subject matter and relies on complex narrative techniques, on the other it also has a fair amount of black irony and insider’s jokes that would make one smirk in appreciation. The cinematographer deserves special mention for the fine use of textures and colours to accentuate the specific moods of every situation.








Director: Bappaditya Bandopadhyay
Genre: Drama/Showbiz Drama/Social Satire/Experimental
Language: Bengali
Country: India

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 [2009]

There is no denying Tony Scott his claim to fame – his ability to provide wholesome, fast-paced entertainment to the popcorn-churning public. He deserves that much, though rarely anything more profound than that. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, his latest offering, does boast of a compact narrative, stylized packaging and a reasonably engaging plot. However, on the flip side, and quite unlike his more famous and more appreciated works like True Romance, Top Gun, Spy Game and Enemy at the Gates, this one failed to scale such high-octane levels, attain breathtaking kinetic momentum or display audacious ingenuity. The movie starts off spectacularly, with a New York subway train hijacked, apparently for ransom, even though, seemingly, there isn’t any escape route for the criminals. However by the second half things start veering towards been-there-seen-that ground, and it climaxes with a finale that is flat and unimaginative. Thus, at the end of the day, the only real saving grace of the movie lied in the crackling chemistry shared by its two lead actors – Denzel Washington, as an everyday Joe, and John Travolta, as the psychotic mastermind. James Galdolfini, too, is impressive as a cynical Mayor nearing the end of his term.








Director: Tony Scott
Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller/Heist Movie
Language: English
Country: US

Let the Right One In [2008]

On the surface (i.e. if one were to go by its plot skeleton) Let the Right One In might seem like a genre fare what with its tale of a vampire let loose; but scratch a little and what you have is a deeply disturbing and profoundly moving take on adolescence, friendship and growing up. The movie is about a frail, lonely and socially inept 12-year old boy – a regular target of a local bully who lives in a small Swedish town that is as quaint as it is brutally harsh, and who ends up befriending a mysterious girl who has recently moved in next door. He realizes later that the girl is in essence an ageless vampire, but that inescapable fact, instead of acting as a barrier to their burgeoning relationship, ends up adding deeper layers and philosophical undertones to it. The movie, in the tradition of great revisionist genre films, has completely deconstructed the myth, romance and horror associated with traditional vampire flicks. Though unabashed in its depiction of blood and violence, there isn’t any glamour associated with it for the simple reason that it never aspires to be spine-chilling (though it nonetheless is) in the conventional sense. Consequently what you have is a remarkable, deeply affecting, psychologically complex, visually stunning, hauntingly eerie, deeply melancholic and starkly beautiful movie that deserves a standing ovation as much for its detailing as for its near flawless execution.







Director: Tomas Alfredson
Genre: Drama/Horror
Language: Swedish
Country: Sweden

Grosse Point Blank [1997]

Grosse Point Blank is a nice little black comedy that manages to be engaging with its slick, compact storyline, as well as highly entertaining with its intelligent, darkly funny humour. The most laudable aspect of the script’s humour content is that it is laced with a fine dose of wry cynicism deftly masked by a seemingly playful exterior. The movie is about a gleefully nihilistic hitman (writer/actor John Cusack at his deadpan best) suffering from existential crisis, not because he kills people for money (it’s never ‘personal’ for him anyway), but because he is plain bored with his job. So, while on one hand he is coercing his nervous shrink (hilariously played by Alan Arkin) for psychiatric sessions, and on the other he is being coaxed by a delightfully neurotic fellow-hitman to join his ‘union’, he is secretly planning to quit while he is still alive when he reluctantly takes up an assignment at Grosse Point, which incidentally coincides with his high school reunion. Thus he must deal not only with his trigger-happy colleagues, but also with a curious bunch of former school mates, one of whom happens to be his high school sweetheart, and whose father happens to be, well, his ‘assignment’! The narrative progression, from its deceptively innocuous beginning to its uproarious climax, has been superbly paced, and has been very well aided by an excellent pop soundtrack.








Director: George Armitage
Genre: Comedy/Black Comedy/Romantic Comedy/Action
Language: English
Country: US

Shob Choritro Kalponik (Afterword) [2009]

Rituparno Ghosh has made some remarkable movies on the frailties, nuances and undercurrents of human relations, be it Utsab, Dahan or Shubho Mahurat. But his take on male-female equation in his latest outing, Shob Choritro Kalponik, might just have been the most difficult to execute. The movie is about Radhika, a working professional, and the complex relationship she shares with her poet-husband Indranil, more so given that she is involved in an extra-marital affair with Shekhar, who happens to hero-worship Indranil. Radhika isn’t happy in her marriage, but when Indranil suddenly drops dead, she ends up, in a way, being enslaved by his brooding and seemingly inescapable presence. Bipasha Basu and Jishu Sengupta, as Radhika and Shekhar, have delivered surprisingly layered and effective performances, while Prosenjit, as Indranil, has given a wonderfully matured and restrained portrayal in what was easily an author-backed role. And add to that a leisurely narrative that jumps back and forth in time, and the magnetic poetry by Joy Goswami, one of the finest Indian poets alive, and what you have is a movie that could one day be regarded as one of the most important in the Bengali auteur’s oeuvre.








Director: Rituparno Ghosh
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Romance
Language: Bengali
Country: India

Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha) [1968]

Pather Panchali in particular, and Apu Trilogy in general, might be his most internationally famous work, but if you ask any Bengali-speaking Ray aficionado, more often than not you’ll find Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne is THE movie they all like to remember him by. On one hand this timeless classic was a delightful children’s fantasy filled with humour, adventure and magic, while on the other it was a subtle yet powerful statement on the absurdities of war, brought forth through high satire and sharp insight – things that only grownups would be able to appreciate. The tale, adapted from a short story by his grandfather, is about two young, simple-nature guys – Goopy and Bagha, who upon getting banished from their respective villages, end up being awarded three magical boons, including, among others, the ability to spellbind people (literally as well as figuratively) with their music. This wonderfully charming movie stands out as a clear elucidation of Ray’s unmatched versatility – not just in terms of seamlessly traversing across genres, themes and tonalities, but also in the auteur’s ability to don a staggering number of hats over and above that of a director’s. Apart from directing, writing the screenplay and composing the background score for the movie – things he did for nearly all his movies, he also wrote and composed a plethora of unforgettable songs, as well as designed the costumes of the characters! The acting by every single member of the cast was outstanding – especially Tapen Chatterjee as Goopy, the inimitable Rabi Ghosh as Bagha, Santosh Dutta in the double role of long-lost twin brothers and kings about to go to war with each other, and Jahar Roy as an evil minister. The movie also employed special effects – as in the breathtaking ‘dance of ghosts’ sequence, which were spectacular given the movie’s budget as well as the era it was made in.








Director: Satyajit Ray
Genre: Comedy/Fantasy/Musical/Adventure/Political Satire
Language: Bengali
Country: India

Collateral [2004]

Micheal Mann might be a part of the Hollywood bandwagon, but he manages to retain his signature in the otherwise faceless crowd. In his expert hands in the stylish and visually stunning Collateral, Los Angeles isn’t just another teeming metropolis, but a living, breathing entity with a character of its own. On one hand it is dark, brooding and deeply alienating, while on the other it is vibrant, gorgeous, and with an intoxicating air about it. The tale of Max, a good-natured cab-driver, becoming an unwilling accomplice to Vincent, a cold-blooded contract killer, is almost in the fashion of a good old-fashioned character-based thriller. Jamie Foxx, as the classic case of being “in wrong place, in wrong time”, is the soul of the movie, while Tom Cruise, cast against his type, might just have delivered, along with his terrific turn in Magnolia, one of the most memorable performances of his career. The only real weakness of the movie lies in its formulaic ending that is oh-so-big-bad-Hollywood. But, if you can somehow forgive that, you’ll be in for a smart and entertaining ride.










Director: Michael Mann
Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller
Language: English
Country: US

The Killing [1956]

-->The Killing was the then 28-year old Stanley Kubrick’s third feature film direction; however, where his immense capabilities coming to public knowledge was concerned, it might very well be considered his first. Though nowhere as famous as some of his later, more universally recognized movies, this gem of a hardboiled noir still ranks as one of his finest works. The movie is about a motley group of regular Joes, led by veteran crook Johny Clay (immaculately played by Sterling Hayden) planning his last caper, who plan to execute the perfect heist by robbing a racetrack of $2 million. But then, as we all know, there’s no such thing as perfect crime, and Johny’s best laid plans go awry for reasons ranging from human flaws to plain bad luck. Though the movie’s fatalistic themes as well as its basic storyline have been heavily inspired from John Huston’s noir masterpiece The Asphalt Jungle, Kubrick made the movie his own by unraveling the story in chronologically fractured sequences and through complex use of flashbacks. Striking B/W photography – the scene where Johny details his plan in a dimly-lit smoke-filled room was a clincher, top-drawer performances by its largely B-list actors, and gripping, fluid narrative made this a remarkable, albeit deeply nihilistic piece of film noir.






Director: Stanley Kubrick
Genre: Crime Thriller/Film Noir/Heist Movie
Language: English
Country: US

Angshumaner Chhobi (Angshuman's Film) [2009]

Atanu Ghosh might have made quite a few telefilms, but his inexperience in feature direction was palpable in Angshumaner Chhobi. The movie has its fair share of flaws, and that despite the fact that the basic storyline and concept are so strong that it had a spellbinder written all over it. In fact I’d go so far as stating that it is so much a Rituparno Ghosh’s kind of movie that he might have done wonders had he directed it, or at least written its script. Having said that, one has got to admit that the film has been brought to screen with restraint and sensitiveness, and without any undue gloss or flamboyance – in keeping with what I was hoping for. The film is about a famous film director called Angshuman who has returned to India after a long time to make a Bengali movie. The movie within a movie boasts of two well developed characters – a legendary thespian on self-imposed exile (played very well by Soumitra Chatterjee – a legend himself), and an emotionally fragile actress who is unaware of her true worth (exceptionally portrayed by Indrani Halder). Unfortunately the character of the principal protagonist wasn’t fully realized, and the sub-par enacting of the role as well as the weak script didn’t help matters at all. Thus what could have been a memorable cinamatic experience ended up being just another decent, forgettable watch.








Director: Atanu Ghosh
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Showbiz Drama/Mystery
Language: Bengali
Country: India

Gilda [1946]

Gilda, the noir classic by Charles Vidor, starts off exceedingly well. We are immediately introduced to a drifter making easy money by gambling at shady joints in Buenos Aires. And the movie reaches fifth gear when he hustles his way into a lucrative job as the manager of a gambling joint owned by a wealthy German guy. Soon enough enters the teasing femme fatale (played with sizzling effect by Rita Hayworth) as the newly wed wife of the owner; it is however obvious she once had a torrid affair with the drifter which didn’t end well, thus making him deeply embittered by her very presence. However, as the subject matter starts becoming heavier, with the added angle of international conspiracy thrown in, the initial chemistry starts wearing off. Only near the end does Vidor pull an ace up his sleeve with the innuendo-laden song “Put the blame on Meme”, followed by Hayworth’s famous striptease scene which might seem as an expression of her “loose morals” but in essence is indicative of the turmoil in her mind as well as her troubled life. Thus, though in my opinion the movie doesn’t rank among the best of this genre, it still does deserve a watch.








Director: Charles Vidor
Genre: Film Noir/Romantic Noir/Mystery
Language: English
Country: US

Bonnie and Clyde [1967]

Lots of great movies get made, but few manage to attain iconic status such that they linger in public conscience long after their sell by dates in theatres. Easy examples of such movies would be Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Easy Rider, Breathless, Sholay or perhaps even Jaws; Bonnie and Clyde is easily part of that elite group. The real-life tale of two lovers – Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow – hitting on a cross-country crime spree, happened to be Warren Beaty’s pet subject, and under Arthur Penn’s hands the movie went on to achieve stratospheric popularity despite the initial criticism it had to face because of its then-graphic depiction of crime, violence, lawlessness and the characters’ notorious detachments where things concerning morality and ethics were concerned. Played with amazing charm and skill by Warren Beaty and Faye Dunaway, two actors who would go on to achieve great glory in their respective careers, their terrific screen chemistry is stuff that legends are made of. Though I feel the movie hasn’t dated well – the acting of the supporting characters (including Gene Hackman, and especially the lady who played his wife) seemed way over the top to me, the attempts at humour were a tad lame, and the plot too at times seems not tight enough, but there’s no denying the movie’s place in cinematic folklore. And the fact that it has inspired such famous inspirations like Terrence Mallick’s lyrical Badlands and Oliver Stone’s hyper-violent Natural Born Killers, makes its claim to fame that much more strong.








Director: Arthur Penn
Genre: Crime Drama/Gangster Film/Road Movie
Language: English
Country: US

Mean Streets [1973]

Mean Streets was the movie that established Martin Scorsese as one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation, and set him on the path to cinematic immortality. If Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather took the Mafiosi to mythic levels, Scorsese’s Mean Streets brought them back to the 'streets' – incidentally the only place, according to Charlie, the principal protagonist of the movie (played by Harvey Keitel) and the director’s alter-ego, where you pay for your sins. A loose companion piece to Scorsese’s fascinating debut feature Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, the movie has been heavily inspired from the director’s personal experiences of growing up in Little Italy, the Italian-American community in New York. Told through the eyes of its guilt-ridden anti-hero, the movie manages to provide a powerful kaleidoscopic view to the grimy underbelly of one of the world’s greatest metropolises, while at the same time touch upon themes ranging from Catholic beliefs to loyalty, blood or otherwise. The standout feature of the movie is, without doubt, Robert De Niro, who, as the volatile and downright crazy Johny Boy, doesn’t just set mailboxes on fire, but also sets the screen blazing with his raw, explosive performance. Add to that terrific camerawork, brilliant pop/rock soundtrack hand-chosen by Scorsese from his personal collection, and screenplay that bursts with energy, and what you have is a tour de force that is mesmerizing as much because of its ferocious intensity and unabashed violence as it is because of its undiluted realism. Interestingly, this was also the first in a string of legendary collaborations between Scorsese and De Niro.








Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Drama/Gangster Drama/Crime Drama/Urban Drama
Language: English
Country: US