The Bridge on the River Kwai [1957]

Bridge on the River Kwai is an epic action/adventure movie based during World War II, and is a magnificent viewing experience. A classic American film without a doubt, the film comprises of lavish set pieces and packs quite a punch through its thrill-quotient. Based mostly in a Japanese POW camp, the film has on one hand a group of captured British army, led by the disciplined, principled and stoic Col. Nicholson (played brilliantly by Alec Guinness), building a magnificent bridge across River Kwai, while on the other it has a smooth-talking but tough escaped American convict (played with élan by William Holden) having to volunteer a small team of British Soldiers based in Ceylon back to the treacherous island to blow up the bridge. Though the film can be divided into separate acts, David Lean’s masterful direction has fused them into an intense, thrilling and captivating whole that combined visual splendor and terrific conversations with implosive action. The movie was also extremely well-paced, so that despite its long length, none of the scenes seemed out of the place. The film also happens to be a terrific study of disparate and complex characters. The music too forms an integral part of the movie’s rousing package.

p.s. I'm very thankful to Clumbia Classics for contacting me and sending across this classic in a collector's edition box-set. Apart from exemplary picture and sound quality, the blue ray discs also boast of a host of extra features. And the box-set, with its booklet, pictures and postcards, is worth ogling at.








Director: David Lean
Genre: Epic/War Drama/Adventure/Ensemble Film
Language: English
Country: UK

Kung Fu Panda [2008]

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda is a 3D animation movie that is easy to like and equally easy to brush aside while critically appraising it. If animation films are meant to provide wholesome family entertainment through liberal use of slapstick humour along with its subtler variation, and a free-flowing plot, Kung Fu Panda, can be proclaimed as an unequivocal success. But if one were to derive more intellectual satisfaction along with the entertainment dose, the movie would qualify as no more than kitsch meant only for underdeveloped brains. But, whatever be the agenda of evaluating a film, the film sure managed to keep one engaged through its crisp length and fun-filled action sequences. The tale of a pot-bellied panda’s journey from his father’s noodle shop to a legendary kung-fu warrior (a dream that he always harboured), has been helped enormously through the all-star voiceover cast. Jack Black ( as Po the Panda), Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan have all managed to make their respective characters eminently enjoyable. Now, the plot might be all too predictable, but the director has been innovative and creative in making this tale filled with sequences that are nothing short of spectacular and even an air of unpredictability. And there’s no doubting the fabulous animation work that must have been done behind the camera.








Directors: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Action
Language: English
Country: US

The American [2010]

Plot-wise, as many critics have complained, The American might seem woefully short. There aren’t many twists in the tale, and the ones that are present, are easy to guess if you’ve watched a few movies. Yet, what makes this film interesting is that it is a departure from the fast, action-a-minute thrillers that we’ve become so accustomed to. Moody, evocative and absorbing are few of the adjectives that can be associated with the European-style movie despite it being a thriller. When a job for middle-aged contract killer goes awry, forcing him to execute his fiancé, he’s forced to retreat to the tiny Italian town. He’s determined not to be noticed, but he ends up striking friendship with a priest, and slowly but surely also finds himself falling for the beautiful hooker that he frequents out of necessity. And when these make him want to quit the business of cloak-and-dagger, things don’t turn out as planned. George Clooney is excellent as the laconic, loner, naturally paranoid and highly competent American hit-man, while Violante Placido gives the film its human element as the lovely local prostitute wanting to get out of her decrepit life. The movie is beautifully paced, exquisitely shot, and quite enriching, and though nothing much is displayed for large parts of the time, they play vital roles in showing the protagonist’s sense of ennui, loneliness, self-imposed discipline and a strong current of distrust and paranoia.








Director: Anton Corbijin
Genre: Thriller/Existential Thriller/Romantic Thriller
Language: English
Country: US

Gorosthane Sabdhan [2010]

Sandip Ray’s latest Feluda venture Gorosthane Sabdhan (which, translated, means "Attention at the Symmetry") might easily rank as his best Feluda movie till now. Adapted from a highly engaging and mystery-ridden novel of the same name belonging to the immensely popular Feluda franchise of Sandip’s late father Satyajit Ray, Gorosthane Sabdhan starts off with the digging off of a grave at Calcutta’s South Park Symmetry that goes awry with the unanticipated arrival of a man, thus kick-starting a tale of murder and betrayal. Prodosh Chandra Mitter, or as he is popularly known, Feluda, is drawn into the incident as a fish is drawn towards water, and along with his trusted nephew-cum-sidekick Topshe, and middle-aged friend Lal Mohan Ganguly aka Jatayu, a crime fiction writer, ends up unraveling a racket, headed by a wealthy megalomaniac, which into getting hold of antic watches. For once Sandip Ray based the entire film in Calcutta, and it was sure a pleasure watching on-screen some of the famous locations of the city. Boasting of a highly original credit sequence, the film also comprises of some impressive interior designs. Sabyasachi Chakraborty as the extremely knowledgeable sleuth with a razor-sharp mind is good as always, though newcomer Shaheb Bhattacharjee as Topshe is a minor letdown, and Bibhu Chakraborty’s Jatayu, despite reducing his antics, is a bad shadow of Santosh Dutta’s unforgettable turns in the Satyajit Ray films. However, Dhritiman Chatterjee and Tinu Anand in their respective cameos are worth looking out for.








Director: Sandip Ray
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Language: Bengali
Country: India

Autograph [2010]

If Shukno Lanka showed a Satyajit Ray-esque filmmaker choosing a middle-aged, down-and-out character actor for his latest film (which in a way was a reflection of Ray’s Parash Pathar), Srijit Mukherji’s Autograph is a 180-degree flip to that. Here a young, untested filmmaker with big ideas gets to cast the reigning superstar for his first venture. And both films had as its central protagonist two superstars of Bengali cinema, Mithun Chakrabarty and Prosenjeet Chatterjee, respectively, albeit in hugely contrasting roles. A modern day rendition of and tribute to the Ray masterpiece Nayak, the movie-within-the-movie has a young and cocky lady getting to meet and know a superstar while on flight. In the movie, however, we see that the actor, despite his immense fame, is essentially an extremely lonely, guilt-ridden man who, like the character of the Ray film, was a small-time theatre actor, who, despite the protests and pleadings of his acting teacher, made the jump to celluloid, principally for the sake of money. The film has been well acted by Prosenjeet, as well as, Indranil Sengupta as the young filmmaker desperate to make it big. Nandana Sen, however totally disappoints as the director’s fiancé who gets to become the unlikely leading lady of the movie. Though some parts of the movie felt good, parts of it also felt clichéd which ought to have been better dealt with. And I’m sure it’s not a coincidence that the protagonist is named Arun Chatterjee – which in essence was the real name of Uttam Kumar, who was the principal protagonist of Ray’s Nayak and Bengali cinema's biggest superstar ever.









Director: Srijit Mukherji
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Showbiz Drama
Language: Bengali
Country: India

All the President's Men [1976]

Alan J. Pakula might not rank among the most renowned filmmakers, but he sure had a few significant films under his belt - particularly, a few pertinent Watergate era films. And, All the President’s Men surely ranks as his single most renowned work. Made almost in the form of a documentary, the movie, based on the legendary account of Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s unlikely exposé of the Watergate Scandal that ultimately led to the resignation of the then American President Richard Nixon, closely follows the activities of these two hard-working but seemingly unexceptional reporters, and their tireless strives against all odds to expose one of the biggest cover-ups of its times. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, as Woodward and Bernstein, respectively, may not have given the most memorable performances of their respective careers, but they were both quite notice-worthy for capturing these two iconic journalists in such meticulous details. The director also ensured that the movie forms a zeitgeist of its times, and has used settings, attires, communication, etc. that reflect the era perfectly. Even the supporting cast of the movie was chosen extremely well and they do play immense roles in making this film such an iconic work of its time. And despite the knowledge of the ending, the suspense was quite well created and maintained, thus adding to its thriller-quotient.

 

 

 

Director: Alan J. Pakula
Genre: Drama/Political Drama/Political Thriller/Conspiracy Thriller/Docu-drama
Language: English
Country: US