Kiran Rao had been known till now as the wife of the popular Hindi movie actor, Amir Khan; henceforth, thanks to her assured directorial debut film Dhobi Ghat, she has carved a recognition for herself, albeit among those of you who, like me, enjoy niche, intelligent, sensible and middle-of-the-line cinema. The film is about four individuals, and residents of the mega-metropolis of Mumbai, who, as coincidence would have it, end up sharing a link to each other’s lives – a chain-smoking painter who prefers living a lonely existence (Amir Khan, in a fine role completely stripped of his ‘star’ persona), a US-resident investment banker who has taken a sabbatical from her job in order to pursue her passion of photojournalism, a poor ‘dhobi’ (laundry man) who dreams of becoming an actor someday, and a young lady who has recently moved in to Mumbai with her newly wedded husband. What I found most striking about the film was, apart from the honesty of the nicely penned down script, was the way simple, unspectacular moments of a few regular people have been affectionately captured. And these moments have been wonderfully woven together to provide a collage of these disparate individuals, with the city acting as a silent but omnipresent observer. The film has been exquisitely shot, providing a tapestry that is as rich as it is affecting.
Director: Kiran Rao
Genre: Drama/Urban Drama/Ensemble Film
Language: Hindi
Country: India
Act of Violence had more fatalism in it than most noirs could hope for, and that is reason enough for me to classify it as a truly brilliant piece of cinema. This Fred Zinnemann film is a disturbing vision of a successful man suddenly finding his quietly secluded and happy life and the world around him disintegrating (read: crashing) into pieces; yet, despite its existential bleakness, the film is also quietness personified. The story involves a World War II veteran finding his darkest secret and haunted past suddenly popping out of nowhere when a mysterious crippled man starts looking for him with manic determination. The ominous buildup of the script aside, this brilliant cat-and-mouse tale had at its forefront a slew of sterling performances – not just from the two male protagonists (Van Eflin as the man on run and Robert Ryan as the enigmatic stalker), but also from the two ladies in supporting cast (Janet Leigh as the loving, beautiful wife and Mary Astor as a world-weary hooker). The melancholic soundtrack and the expressionistic camera-work do exemplary jobs in setting up the atmosphere of this moody and, at the risk of repeating myself, deeply fatalistic work of art. It is also a great piece on such gothic themes as guilt and retribution. I’m sure it wasn’t a matter of coincidence that David Cronenberg’s masterwork A History of Violence bears such striking thematic resemblance to this criminally underrated film.
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Genre: Film Noir/Psychological Thriller/Crime Drama
Language: English
Country: US
D.O.A. has one of the most memorable opening sequences in the history of film noirs – a man walks into a police building to report a murder… his own murder! The remainder of the movie is played in flashback where the protagonist Frank Bigelow , a CPA vacationing in California, gets mysteriously poisoned while in a bar. With only a day or two to live, Frank goes about solving his own murder piece-by-piece. Exceptionally played by Edmund O’Brien, Frank is a regular man inadvertently thrown into a nightmare – an inescapable nightmare and of the darkest sort, and a sordid and sinister world of black marketers, extortionists and cold murderers. The plot might seem a maze to many for its convoluted nature, yet it also happens to be wildly intriguing and gripping, and the storytelling has ensured that the film ought to rank as one of the most innovative noirs ever made. The film is relentlessly dark, and expectedly it ends on a fatalistic note – the final sequence where Frank’s file is closed with the remarks “Dead on Arrival” would rank as one of the most fascinating final scenes. The film is frenetically paced leaving one breathless at times, and when the film gets over, I had a feeling that I too was as much a part of the nightmare as the protagonist was. Yes, it was a B-film, but it remains a classic-noir nonetheless.
Director: Rudolph Mate
Genre: Crime Thriller/Film Noir/Mystery
Language: English
Country: US
Unstoppable has Tony Scott at his gleeful best or his woeful worst, depending on your point of view. As many critics have pointed out, the film is over-edited, and uses far too many cameras and camera angles than ought to have been necessary. Yet, despite its flaws, the film also happens to be a high-octane, hyper-kinetic thriller, and unapologetically entertaining. The story is about a runaway train with a truckload of deadly chemicals on board – a recipe tailor-made for an edge-of-the-seat disaster story. Denzel Washington, as a middle-aged, veteran, and about to be released train driver (engineer), who decides to defy the pompous authorities by engineering in a jaw-dropping rescue mission, is reason enough to watch the film. He has as his partner a rookie conductor with severe marital problems, played by Chris Pine. The most notable aspect about the film lies in its simple premise, which is a deviation of sorts given who the film has been directed by; and that, in my opinion, happens to be the strongest aspect about the film, as it gives enough provision for us to know the two protagonists, get engaged in some scintillating train-chase sequences, and yes, cheer for the two outsiders on an impossible mission. The film is not about messages or class or a lasting effect; hell, it is essentially the kind of film made for people to watch with cola and a bucketful of popcorn in one’s hands. Yet, despite its lowbrow appeal, the film is also entertaining, ably aided by an old school script and great tension build-up.
Director: Tony Scott
Genre: Thriller/Disaster Film
Language: English
Country: US
The Romanian New Wave has given us some of the most brilliant films of the last decade. And Cristian Mungiu, who made the devastating 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, has continued in the tradition by collaborating with 4 other directors for Tales from the Golden Age, a seemingly light but a decidedly black comedy on life in the Ceausescu regime. The film comprises of 6 chapters – short films, if you will – depicting the various facets of everyday life under the draconian rule, with all their irreverence, ironies, silliness and banality, and are filled with the kind of caustic wit and absurdist, wry, tar-black humour that Romanian films like 12:08 East of Bucharest and California Dreamin’ have made the country’s own. The tales, though of mundane, tragi-comic existences of common people, have been presented as urban legends of sorts, and have been captured through brilliant performances, sharp storytelling and naturalistic cinematography. Most of the seemingly innocuous stories end badly for their protagonists, yet what remain are their humanism, and biting commentaries on the socio-political times they lived in. The shorts include the disastrous preparation of Ceausescu’s arrival in a small village, the preparation of a party-sponsored photograph that again ends on a hilarious note, the innovative attempts of a family to slaughter a live pig without much raucous, a laconic truck-driver who tries to earn a few extra bucks by selling eggs, a young girl who is inadvertently drawn into a minor racket involving empty bottles, and a zealous party-member who tries bringing in education in a remote village.
Directors: Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Hanno Hofer, Ioano Uricaru, Razvan Marculescu
Genre: Drama/Black Comedy/Social Satire/Political Satire
Language: Romanian
Country: Romania
The Great Debaters is a classic example of an underdog story, yet its premise has managed to separate it from the horde of similar films that Hollywood offers with great regularity. It is about a group of African-American students, studying in an all-Black college, called Wiley College, located in the then-racist state of Texas, in an age when racial discrimination and intolerance was as widespread as it was absolute. And these young students, under the guidance of a well-read and openly rebellious teacher (and a fiery speaker himself), forms an all-conquering debating team. By the time they get to debate the students of Harvard University, within the premises of the hallowed institute, we know how the film will end, yet the passion with which the speakers go about their job, one cannot but cheer for these underdogs on the path of making history. The film is well-acted, and melodramatic moments have been largely kept under bay (though they do show up from time to time perhaps to up the audience’s emotions). Denzel Washington didn’t just helm the film as its director, he also enacted the role of the volatile, angry, passionate and inspirational teacher; though in a supporting turn, his is integral part of how a bunch of kids, with problems of their own, turn into a brilliant debating team, and in the process end up playing significant roles in the history of the African-American community. As a critic aptly opined, it might be at the end a feel-good film, but it certainly wasn’t a run-of-the-mill film, and did do more than a commendable job portraying the social context that played a key role in the "based on true events" storyline incisively.
Director: Denzel Washington
Genre: Drama/Historical Drama
Language: English
Country: US
To call the acclaimed French filmmaker Oliver Assayas’ Carlos an epic would be an understatement because, its 5 ½ hours length might seem formidable even to those accustomed to watching epic films regularly. The film deals with the rise and fall of the infamous political assassin Carlos who, as we all know, is now languishing in prison. Employing incredible research work, the film has pieced together the life of one of the most enigmatic persons of the last century through terrific storytelling. The director has resorted to cinema-verite, giving the film the feel of a documentary. Thus, by being ripped off of any unnecessary melodrama and by being a fiercely honest portrayal of the man without any ounce of judging him, the film has succeeded in making Carlos seem like a frighteningly real man of flesh and blood. Divided into three parts, this episodic portrayal of the infamous terrorist’s rise through the ranks, his attempts (which often are successful) at some outrageous and spectacular acts of violence, his pop-culture celebrity-hood, his comparative stagnation after being ousted from the Palestinian group he was part of, and finally his slow decline after massive changes took place in the world order post the collapse of Soviet empire. Edgar Ramirez has given a tour-de-force performance as Carlos in this visceral, violent, anarchic and thoroughly outstanding piece of work.
Director: Oliver Assayas
Genre: Drama/Crime Drama/Epic/Biopic/TV Miniseries
Languages: French/German/Arabic
Country: France/Germany
Robert Wise’s The Set-Up, apart from being an engrossing film noir – and a pretty fine one at that, it might also rank as one of the greatest boxing films ever made (maybe second only to Scorsese’s Raging Bull). It was also one of the earliest films to be shot almost entirely in real time; it begins and ends with clock timings displayed, and time elapse within matches with the film’s length. This kinetic, compact, pulsating and razor-sharp film has as its protagonist an ageing boxer who still believes he can make it big despite the numerous reversals that has left his wife mortally scared for his life. Robert Ryan, as “Stoker”, the washed-up boxer, and though liked by all, but regarded as a has-been by most of his peers, has given an exemplary performance. Though he still believes he can defeat his much younger and highly regarded opponent, his manager has secretly taken money from a mob-boss, and though Stoker comes to know of the deal much later into the fight, he decides to continue full throttle and flatten his opponent in the last round after some of the most gut-wrenching fight sequences ever filmed. The result however brings unpleasant consequences for him. The film didn’t just portray in amazing and nerve-racking details the boxing duel, it also did a fine job capturing the reactions and emotions of the blood-thirsty fans at the ring-side, as well as Stoker’s fellow boxers who range the entire gamut thinkable. And this all has been captured through great camera-work and editing.
Director: Robert Wise
Genre: Sports Drama/Film Noir/Crime Thriller
Language: English
Country: US
