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Reviews
The English Patient (1996)
Why do two people madly love each other? It is just sex? Thats it?
I am slightly surprised by the overwhelming positive reviews given to this movie. I understand that the cinematography is good, acting is decent and overall the movie is OK, but Oscar for best movie, even before Fargo? Please!
My main gripe is that it seems like a glorified one night stand. I am not criticizing this movie from a moral standpoint. I have no issues with people sleeping around. What bothers me most is that there was absolutely no effort by the director to develop the main characters of Ralph Fiennes (RF) and Kristin Scott Thomas (KST). RF is a wooden, dis- respectful loner and KST is a bored housewife. They spend a couple of days in desert and start sleeping around. I understand this. It can happen. But they are madly in love? Really? Why? What was it in RF's character that made KST's character to fall for him completely? Except many of those love scenes, I can't point a single instance where I felt that there was something happening between the two. It just felt that director was focusing so much on passion (read numerous one night - day - afternoon stands) that it seemed nonsensical.
The only slightly likable character is that of Juliet Binoche as Hanna. Her acting is good. But she has been underutilized. And even in her case, her affection for the Sikh soldier (Naveen Andrews) seems so made up and fake.
Why do two people fall in love with each other and remain in love till the end? If you think that the English Patient will give any answers then look elsewhere. Its a huge disappointment.
Filhaal... (2002)
Filhaal - for the moment
Meghna Gulzar's directorial debut is a fantastic effort. She takes a rather serious topic of surrogate motherhood and produces a gem of a movie that is very real-life.
Sush and Tabu give one of the most convincing performances of their individual careers. Sanjay Suri is fantastic as usual.Its a shame that he doesn't get as many chances as some other clowns like Fardeen Khan!
Though I would say that the movie is slightly slow for everyday viewer. Cinematography is exceptional and all songs are part of the movie.
I would highly recommend this movie to someone who looks for some substance in their movies.
Before Sunset (2004)
Best film of 2004
This was the best movie of 2004. you can only define it by superlatives - superb, best, simply awesome :) But yes the movie is not for everyone. It requires an attention span of more than 2 minutes. If you cant view 2 people conversing for 1+ hours then its not for you. Not that the dialogues are boring - on the contrary they are so real. The people, the events, the talk, the circumstances all are real and may even remind of your own lives. Highly recommended. I wished that more movie like this were made. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphi are extremely good especially Julie. She should have had been nominated for Oscar.. but then Oscars are a sham.
Zinda (2006)
Much better than OldBoy!!!
I knew that zinda was a remake of oldboy. I saw both movies on consecutive weekends.
To be honest, I found Zinda to be much better than OldBoy. I think both movies are good from start until the last 15-20 minutes where OldBoy becomes a sick movie. The whole tension that is build up is just thrown out of the window along with the sense and logic. The way movie shows what can be done through hypnotism is laughable! Making someone hallucinate for a minute or so is one thing but to show that it can last forever is stupid!! And whats wrong with the story writer of OldBoy? I have never seen a movie starting with such a wonderful concept getting trashed in last 10 minutes!! Incest, hypnotism and all other weird concept makes me feel as if the writer forgot what he was writing and pumped all his sick fantasies in the last 10 minutes. Honestly, I have never felt as sick after seeing a movie as I felt after seeing OldBoy! Zinda on the other hand somehow provides a lot more logic. The end is also lot believable! Technically, I think both movies are at par though since Oldboy is the original, it should be declared better! All in all, I would day Sanjay Gupta has made a remake which is definitely better than the original!