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Notting Hill (1999)
Surreal, But Nice.
Romantic Comedy is my Second Favourite Genre in Movies following only Dramas. What is it that makes a great Rom-Com? Is it the chemistry between the Protagonists? Is it an unclichéd and non-banal script? Is it the Direction? Is it a mesmerising Soundtrack Or the enthralling Cinematography? Maybe it's a combination of all these. Notting Hill is one of those few which have all these ingredients to make for a great Rom-Com.
Notting Hill is the story of William Thacker, a diffident divorcee who lives in a house with a Blue Door and runs a not so lucrative Travel Book Shop in a small cheerful neighbourhood of London called Notting Hill. It is the story of his eventful rendezvous with the fabulous, ravishingly beautiful Anna Scott, a renowned American Actress and the love affair that ensues.
As William says in the movie 'Surreal, But Nice', is exactly how I'd describe my experience watching Notting Hill. It is one of those Movies which makes us believe in fateful encounters, in the enigmatic inexplicable appeal to which our very hearts tremble, in the aching separations and the exhilaratingly joyous 'Happily Ever After'. Some people might be of the opinion that these so called Rom-Coms though exquisite, portray an unrealistic affair, that the Writers conjuring such Fables live in Oblivion and not in the real world. To some extent this might be the hard truth. After all what are the chances of me running into Julia Roberts? Probably next to zero or, to be a hardcore realist, absolutely zero. These Movies might give false hope to the heartbroken or the lonely, but it is Hope nonetheless. Hope, that I might bump into a significant other while fetching for Orange Juice and that some people do spend their whole lives together. And that is what I'd prefer to believe. After all I am guilty of being the Hopeless Romantic.
What I like about the movie is that it isn't just some random Girl Meets Boy Story. Albeit being a Rom-Com, Roger Michell tries to dwell a little deeper into each character's Inhibitions, Hopes and their Psyche. The 'Last Brownie Scene' is a testament to the same. This very brief scene is my favourite from the movie. It portrays immaculately how each character on the table has their own Wins and Fiascos, Dreams and Inhibitions and how life never goes on as intended. As Bella very aptly says - 'C'est La Vie'.
'Hugh Grant' plays William Thacker while 'Julia Roberts' is Anna Scott. Their Chemistry is most coveted and undeniable on screen. 'Rhys Ifans' plays the eccentric roommate Spike and 'Gina McKee' plays Bella, among the troupe of Artists employed by Michell.
The enthralling Soundtrack is an anthology of Songs by various Artists which works flawlessly for each scene. My favourite among them being 'When You Say Nothing At All' by Ronan Keating.
In short, Notting Hill is an absolute delight to watch. It may not be the best Rom-Com out there, but it definitely is worthwhile.
A Review by -
Mohammed Saood.
(A Joseph still awaiting his June)
Court (2014)
Ingeniously Scripted.
Chaitanya Tamhane's 'Court' is a Regional Marathi movie. As the very title depicts, it follows a case in the Indian Judicial Sessions Court, and sheds light on the lives involved.
It is the story of Narayan Kamble, an ageing Folk Singer and Activist who is prosecuted for abetment of suicide of Vasudev Pawar, a Manhole Worker. It follows the court proceedings of the case involved to its entirety. It also gives us insight into the lives, psyche and prejudices of the the State Prosecutor, Defence Lawyer, and the Judge pertaining to the case and how these prejudices seep into the courtroom debates. Thereby to some extent impacting the verdict and the very life of the man in question along with their own lives.
The title and synopsis does give connotations of a typical court room drama bearing likeness to Sidney Lumet's '12 Angry Men' (1957) OR Oliver Stone's 'JFK' (1991). However, 'Court' turns out to be a completely different breed. It is more about the lives involved than the court case itself. Thus in the end the verdict seems insignificant. The lives of these three characters are a metaphor for society as a whole, a society shackled by prejudice, bigotry, superstition, casteism. For the Judiciary is for society, by society.
The audience also gets a glimpse into the working of the Indian Judicial System as well as the plight of Activists and Manhole Workers. The movie doesn't shy away from depicting the dilapidated court rooms, the overburdened Judicial System, the time consuming proceedings where justice is delayed, the perfunctory attitude of the Police and their shady workings, and the squalor living conditions of Manhole Workers in their tenement homes.
Chaitanya Tamhane's direction is simple yet empathetic. He uses only the most simple techniques, which mostly include static and pan shots. The Cinematography has a certain warmth and the Sound Production creates a cacophony of sounds which makes the audience feel as if they are standing amid the very hustle and bustle of Mumbai.
Chaitanya Tamhane employs 'Vivek Gomber' as the Defence Lawyer and 'Geetanjali Kulkarni' as the State Prosecutor among his troupe of artists, who have deftly played their roles.
'Court' is the perfect paradigm of a Regional Movie. I believe Regional Cinema to be the quintessential embodiment of exactly what Movies strive to achieve or should strive for. Since the inception of Cinematography, since the very first moving pictures were projected by The Lumière Brothers, Cinema has given people insight into the lives, cultures and traditions of strangers and of lands unknown.
Court was recommended to me by a fellow Cinephile who supports and believes in the supremacy of Regional Cinema. I saw this movie with the least anticipation and was gladly flabbergasted. 'Court' truly is a hidden gem.
A Review by -
Mohammed Saood.
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988)
An Ode To Cinema.
Guiseppe Tornatore's 'Cinema Paradiso' can be described in the most simplest way as 'A Love Letter to Cinema'. Whenever someone asks me, 'Why do you love Cinema? What is it about Movies that beguiles you', I always fail to articulate my feelings into words. I tell them if they ever want to understand a Cinephiles love for the Movies they should watch Cinema Paradiso. Guiseppe Tornatore gives lucid words and images to these emotions that I utterly fail to express.
Cinema Paradiso is the story of Toto, a young boy from a small town in Sicily, his relationship with Family, his friendship with Alfredo - the Cinema Projectionist, his entrancing love of Cinema, his romance with a town girl and eventual separation, his leaving town to foray into Film Making and his eventual success. Most of the Film is in the form of a Flashback, after an old Toto, a celebrated Film Maker, reminisces about his childhood on hearing the devastating news of Alfredo's death.
The Film can be divided into 3 parts. The first part narrating the story of childhood Toto and his relationship with Alfredo, the second part narrating the story of Toto as a young man and his blossoming romance, the third and final part narrating old Toto's visit to his hometown to attend Alfredo's funeral and his rendezvous with the woman he once loved.
Cinema Paradiso is a rollercoaster of emotions. It will make you laugh as well as cry. It is simple yet complex. A simple story dealing with complex emotions.
What I love about the movie is that the Cinema is a character itself. It has a relationship with each patron who has sat in its seats. It has brought people together, made them laugh, cry, tremble with horror. It has made them experience a myriad emotions.
Like people, the Cinema changes with time. It is not only the movies on the entrancing screen that change, but also the seats, the decor, and even the faces in the audience that change with time. It has its owns highs and lows. It has screened Movies ranging from the Charlie Chaplin Classics to Softcore Porn at its desolate end. It has been burnt down to the bricks, then rebuilt again, then demolished to dust. Once it was the tallest structure in the square now only to be surrounded by edifices at its end. With Toto, the Cinema too grew old and dilapidated, and like an old ailing dog had to be put down, to make way in the name of progress. C'est la vie, everything good must come to an end. I am a stoic man, I don't cry easy in movies, but the demolition scene made me teary eyed and I am sure did the same to anyone who saw the movie.
The Demolition Scene is one of my favourite scenes in the whole movie. It hits you real hard with raw emotions. It shows how the Square had changed and not changed at the same time since Toto left town. The buildings surrounding the Cinema had changed, the gravel path had been replaced by cobblestone, there were now cars in place of carts, there were now billboards all around. This is not the square that has been etched in Toto's memory, it is nothing like it. Probably that why it is said, once you leave there is no going back Home. But even after all these years some things are still the same. It's the same fountain gracing the centre of the Square, the same Patrons who once rejoiced in the Cinema are now gathered for its dismal end, it's the same Town Idiot who still meanders the Square yelling 'The Square is mine!'.
This scene even shows the disparity in emotions in regards to the Cinema. For Toto and the patrons, the demolishing of the Cinema is a dismal event, while for the new youth, the dilapidated Cinema holds no place in their hearts. This scene, in the advent of Streaming Giants like Netflix, has relevance more today than ever before.
Guiseppe Tornatore's Direction is Masterful. He employs only the simplest camera movements while capturing the Actor's emotions. Ennio Morricone's Soundtrack is absolutely mesmerising. 'Salvatore Cascio' portrays Childhood Toto with ease and 'Philippe Noiret' plays Alfredo. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in the year 1990.
I personally never rate a movie 10 stars as no movie can ever be perfect. There are a very few movies which to me are near perfect and Cinema Paradiso tops that list. This movie is a must watch for any Cinephile. However, I'd recommend you watch only the 173 minute Director's Cut. These are 173 minutes of pure bliss.
A Review by -
Mohammed Saood.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Unconventional To The Very End.
Paul Thomas Anderson time and time again has proven himself to be one of the contemporary directors whose oeuvre is widely respected, and whose work has inspired many. His latest venture 'Licorice Pizza' has done just the same.
It is the story of a turbulent budding romance between 25 year old Alana and 15 year old Gary in the San Fernando Valley in 1973.
The movie invokes connotations of a 'Romance cum Coming-of-Age Drama'. Paul Thomas Anderson very deftly takes the audience on a joy ride filled with the tribulations of Young Love. During the course, he brings to life the subtle emotions of infatuation, jealousy, apprehension, and eventual love with vivid colour and warmth.
Paul in the very opening scene, with the masterful lateral tracking shot, tells us that this is not gonna be your typical romance, but something more. He deftly captures emotions of the protagonists on screen. He even coordinates the colour palette with overtones of their relationship, which works very well with the whole narrative. The Art Production and Soundtrack are very reminiscent of the bygone Californian Life, and very well compliments the movie theme.
'Cooper Hoffman' plays Gary and 'Alana Haim' plays Alana. Both despite being novices to the art of Acting have portrayed these nuanced characters with the utmost skill. The movie also employs the skills of 'Bradley Cooper' and 'Sean Penn' to play John Peters and Jack Holden respectively.
The only thing that doesn't work for me in the whole movie are the scenes encompassing Bradley Cooper's character John Peters. Though he does a terrific job of portraying the character, the scenes don't add much to the narrative in regards to Gary and Alana's relationship. This I comprehend is something that could have been avoided.
Despite this shortcoming, Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza is a delight to watch, bohemian in every sense. However, is it a Masterpiece? I do not believe so. May be I expect too much from the auteur who made 'There Will Be Blood'.
After viewing the whole movie, one thing still eludes me, why is the movie named Licorice Pizza? This my menial brain can't comprehend. As I said, unconventional to the very end.
A Review by -
Mohammed Saood.
Ghare-Baire (1984)
Confounding Ideologies.
'Ghare Baire' contemporarily known as 'The Home And The World' by Satyajit Ray is an adaptation of Rabindranath Tagore's novel of the same name. It is an allegory of sorts, which primarily revolves around the lives of Bimala, Nikhil and Sandip, in the backdrop of the Indian Swadeshi Movement in Bengal.
Bimala is married to Nikhil an opulent Bengali Landlord. Bimala was brought up to be the quintessential wife, who confines herself to her quarters in the Mansion, whose life revolves around her Husband's. She herself has no true existence of her own apart from being a wife to her husband. However, Nikhil, Bimala's husband is a man of modern ideals, who educates her wife, brings her out of her confinement and introduces her to the world and to Sandip. Sandip is the leader of the local Swadeshi movement who coaxes Bimala to take up his cause.
Sandip and Nikhil, despite being friends since college, are Men poles apart in Ideologies. Nikhil is a man of gentle disposition, who tends to concern himself more with the abstract than the material. He is obsequious to his virtues and morals, almost pedantic. Despite this austere way of life, he is a Liberal at heart and believes Bimala is free to make her own choices. He is a man always in scruples to do right by others, sometimes at his own expense. He intuits that the Swadeshi movement would create a social rift and doesn't support the cause despite Sandip's multiple attempts to persuade him.
Sandip on the other hand is a charming, promiscuous man. He is a confident, eloquent orator and a man of action. He doesn't concern himself with morality as long as he succeeds. He believes Men who accept their own despondency as destiny are weak men. If a man desires something he should persist to achieve it without having any scruples in regards to morality or the means involved.
When Nikhil introduces Bimala to Sandip, he opens up the world to her. But none could comprehend its consequences. When cajoled by Sandip, she agrees to take up his Swadeshi cause. She is now torn to choose between two Men of confounding ideologies. 'Ghare Baire' is the story of these consequences, the frailty of relations, and the the social rift so created by the Swadeshi movement in Bengal.
Satyajit Ray employs an ensemble cast including 'Victor Banerjee' as Nikhil, 'Soumitra Chatterjee' as Sandip and 'Swatilekha Sengupta' as Bimala. Along with them, Jennifer Kendal portrays Miss Gilby. The movie may seem slow paced to the viewer with long elaborate scenes and dialogues. However, Ray deftly dwells deep into the psyche and interrelationships of the protagonists and with the other characters such as Amulya and Nikhil's sister-in-law. Swatilekha Sengupta does a brilliant job in portraying Bimala's troubled tumultuous state of mind. And so do the other protagonists.
I was fortunate enough to have read Tagore's novel prior to watching the movie. Tagore's novel is considered, to some extent, to portray his own personal views on the Indian Swadeshi Movement. On reading more about Tagore one realises that he moulded Nikhil's character in his own light and through Nikhil he puts forth his political views.
Ray does his best to bring to life this vivid personal work, but, in my opinion, fails to completely do justice to Tagore's genius. This movie may not be Ray's best work, but it surely is one that stays on your mind and forces you to ponder. If that doesn't constitute art, then I don't know what does.
A Review by -
Mohammed Saood.
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
A Saga Brought To Life - Peter Jackson's 'Lord of The Rings.'
'The Lord of The Rings' by J. R. R Tolkien is probably the most eloquent, elaborate and seminal piece of fiction ever written. The Saga is 6 Books long, a rich narrative with Maps, Poems and Ballads, which is brought to life by the auteur Peter Jackson in his Lord of The Rings Trilogy.
The Lord of The Rings is the fable of Frodo Baggings and his misadventures leading finally to the destruction of the One Ring of Power. It is a tale of Friendship, Loyalty, Betrayal, Politics, War, and much more - An Epic of our Time.
Peter Jackson through his Trilogy pays homage to Tolkien. Jackson is the Pupil and Tolkein is the Master, and the Trilogy is Jackson's reverence to Tolkien. He through his artistic genius gives colour to this fictitious world of Dwarves, Elves, Men, Hobbits, Orcs, Nazgûl's and The Dark Lord. He gives face to its various people, and brings to screen their tribulations, their emotions, their misgivings, their endeavours and its outcomes.
The Trilogy is divided into 3 Parts - 'The Fellowship of The Ring', 'The Two Towers' and 'The Return of The King'. The films portray the adventures of the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) of the Shire and the Fellowship which was convened in the Council of Elrond under Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving) in Rivendell. The Fellowship consisted of the Hobbits Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin), Peregrin Took (Billy Boyd) and Meriadoc Brandybuck (Dominic Monaghan), the Elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the Dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), and of the race of Men Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Boromir (Sean Bean). These 9 compromised the Fellowship who embarked from Rivendell on a quest to destroy The One Ring in the Fires of Mount Doom where it was yielded by Sauron 'The Dark Lord' (Alan Howard), the only place where it can be undone. The destruction of The One Ring ensures the destruction of Sauron. The Fellowship eventually splits up and Frodo continues the quest with his loyal companion and friend Sam and the treacherous Gollum (Andy Serkis). Meanwhile, Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, along with Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, Merry, Pippin and the wizard Gandalf, unite to save the Free People of Middle-earth from the forces of Sauron and rally them in the War of the Ring to aid Frodo by distracting Sauron's attention. The saga ends with the destruction of The Ring along with The Dark Lord, Aragorn being anointed King of Gondor and the Hobbits retiring back to the Shire. In the Shire, Frodo completes the account of his and Bilbo's (Ian Holm) Adventures and undertakes the journey to the Undying Lands on an Elven Ship leaving Middle Earth along with Lord Elrond, Gandalf and an old and senile Bilbo.
Each film of Peter Jackson's Trilogy is approximately 3 hours long (The Director's Cut being 4 Hours). Despite being protracted, Peter Jackson manages to keep the viewer enthralled and on the edge of his seat during the whole viewing. Despite this, Jackson couldn't cover the whole range of Tolkien's work. On reading Tolkien's books, one realises, a myriad of events have not been depicted in the films. To give an example, The Wild Men of The Woods 'Drúedain' haven't been portrayed in the films nor have they received mention. The Chief of the Drúedain guided King Theoden's Army of Rohirrim through the Secret Pass of Stonewain Valley to avoid being attacked by the Orcs so that they could safely reach Minas Tirith for aid. This event is described by Tolkien in the Chapter 'Ride of The Rohirrim' in book 5. In another example, the Hobbits journey through the Old Forest and how they were assisted by Tom Bombadil. This too has been skipped in the films.
Jackson has taken certain Creative Liberties while creating these films (Most probably, I reckon for emphatic effect). Jackson at certain instances has strayed from Tolkien's work and imposed his own ideas into the narrative. For example, in the films, it is Arwen (Liv Tyler) who rescues Frodo from the Nazgûl's after he was stabbed on the Tower of Amon Sul and brings him to Rivendell where he is healed by the Elves. However, in Tolkien's narrative, it is the elf Glorfindel who assists Frodo reach Rivendell in time. Another such instance is in regards to 'Narsil' - The Sword That Was Broken. According to Jackson's Films, the Shards of Narsil were kept safe in Rivendell until they were reforged into Andúril, and was brought to Aragorn by Lord Elrond himself. In Tolkien's work, the shards of Narsil are passed down as heirloom by the heirs of Isildur, the last owner being Aragorn. Before the Fellowship departs from Rivendell, Narsil is reforged into Andúril and is carried by Aragorn.
If he were alive I do not know how Tolkien would react to these changes in the narrative. However, despite these creative liberties by Jackson, his Trilogy is, till date, the best adaption of Tolkien's work.
The impeccable Casting of characters is what makes the Trilogy live up to the hype. Ian MacKellen and Andy Serkis have to be specially mentioned for their portrayal of Gandalf and Gollum respectively. Jackson has even managed to include poems and ballads from Tolkien's narrative into the films in the form of Songs. These songs are backed up by a brilliant Music Composition which is surreal and mystifying. Apart from these, it's the Visual Effects which make the film truly stand out.
The Trilogy truly does justice to Tolkien's genius. It is nothing short of a Masterpiece. The 11 Academy Award wins by the Third Film of the Trilogy -'Return of The King', proves the same. With these 11 wins, it ties with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most awarded Film in Academy History, a feat in it's own. Today, nearly 2 decades after the release of the last instalment, the Trilogy has attained a Cult status among fans and its popularity keeps on waxing. The Trilogy just might prove to be one of the few works of art that stand the test of time.
A Review by -
Mohammed Saood.