My Five

Hamlet

Laurence Oliver

"To be or not to be”, a popular quotation used widely by all is taken from the play ‘Hamlet’ written by William Shakespeare. People who patronize literature know the value of this play and it is undoubtedly one of the best plays of Shakespeare. Hamlet (1948), movie adopted from the play was directed and acted by one of the best known actors of British Cinema Laurence Oliver. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark finds out that his own Uncle Claudius has killed his father and takes revenge upon his uncle who has been throned as the new king of Denmark. Realising the fact that his own mother Gertrude has been involved in this mysterious murder, Hamlet is pushed into procrastination. The movie received several accolades including the honour of being the first British movie to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture. The casting in the movie had been praised by critics and till now amidst numerous screen adoptions of this play, Hamlet directed by Laurence Oliver stands out as the best.

Mackenna’s Gold

J.Lee Thompson

I was never a big fan of Western movies but after watching Mackenna’s Gold, Western genres invaded my Heart and that is mainly because of the stupendous acting shown by both actors Greogory Peck and Omar Sharif. Greogory Peck who belongs to the school of method acting once again proved why he was one of the most wanted actors during his times through his flawless acting. Mackenna’s Gold is about an expedition by a group who goes in search of the Mountain of Gold which is believed to be protected by the Apache spirits. The movie was hailed for Thompson’s narrative technique and also for its cinematography. Quincy Jones who composed the soundtrack for this movie was widely appreciated for his efforts.

Bicycle Thieves

Vittorio De Sica

Bicycle Thieves (1948), is one of the best movies ever made should I say. Directed by noted Italian director Vittoria De Sica,’ Bicycle thieves’ centres around a cycle interesting woven well with the political situation in Europe. A poor unemployed man’s attempt to search his lost bicycle for survival is what the movie tells us. The movie was an exact portrayal of economic instability in Italy during the time of World War and it also identifies the poor people as the victims of Wars. Lead actors have shown some tremendous amount of acting to elevate the plot.

The Passion of the Christ

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’ was hailed for lot many reasons but I hail it mainly because he made me cry. It is about the final hours of Jesus‘s life during the crucifixion. Jim Caviezel’s portrayal of Jesus Christ was highly praised from all sections of the society. What made this movie so special was the detailing of the crucifixion which was never shown in any other movie. The background score of the movie blends well with the plot and connects well with the audience. The movie bagged several awards and was nominated under many categories for Academy Awards.

Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock

Rear Window directed by the prominent director Hitchcock, and acted out by the admirable actor James Stewart became a huge hit in 1950’s. ‘Rear Window’ is about a professional photographer who broke his leg in an accident is confined in an apartment and also bound by a wheel chair investigates a murder in his apartment by observing the events through his lenses. James Stewart’s brilliant acting skills help the movie to travel in steady pace without any interruption. It is definitely one of the best suspense films from the master of suspense. Grace Kelly plays the love interest of James Stewart also helps to unravel the mystery towards the end.

Quotes on Women

The other day I was browsing through few interesting quotes and I just want it to be posted on my blog and here they are:

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages."

-William Shakespeare

Women are made to be loved, not understood.

-Oscar Wilde

"I see when men love women. They give them but a little of their lives. But women when they love give everything." -Oscar Wilde

"I have thought a sufficient measure of civilization is the influence of good women."

-R.W.Emerson

"A cigarette is the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumer."

-Unknown

"To win in life,don't fear in life" -Unknown

Superstar India- Shobhaa De

Book Title: Superstar India

Author : Shobhaa De

(Non-Fiction )

Shobhaa De’s ‘Superstar India’, is a book which can be or rather ‘should’ be read by all Indians at all times, it is more than a book about India. For some of them out there who still think it is a fiction let me ignite a fact that it ain’t any fiction. It is about India, it’s about ‘us; ‘Superstar India’ takes a dig at everything about our ‘Indianess’. The book simply questions our age old traditions and questions our own commitment and sincerity towards our customs and traditions which we have been preserving for centuries.

Narrative Style:

It is really nice to read Shoba’s free flow of thoughts being poured in the pages in a unique narrative style. She touches about everything which is bothering our society and she also tells how our India’s newly acquired status is creating vibes in the Western world. What she constantly mentions in this book is about the reluctant younger generation, unwilling to learn anything from our tradition but instead mindlessly follow the Western culture and their way of living. The fact of the matter is we are still obsessed with the Westernized lifestyle.

What is so surprising in the book is that the writer unhesitatingly has touched upon certain controversial ideologies, sensitive matters and of course lots of minuscule things, for example in the book she talks about how she hates to be addressed as ‘Mrs’. She hates men introducing their wives as ’My Mrs’ instead of their names, she calls it that embarrassing.

She talks about how a middle class family had to shed out a lump amount in cine multiplexes, few bold statements about UP Chief Minister Mayawati is more than enough how well the writer is well-versed in political theories. Generally, in India age old traditions, customs and rituals are passed over to the children from the parents, so that it never dies but Shoabhaa confesses her failure to learn anything from her parents and its dead and gone with them. I sincerely do not know what to talk and what not to talk about this book because it has so many issues Shobha has meticulously covered; in fact some of the stories are really astonishing and can be enjoyed only when it is read rather than it is told.

This is one of the very few books we have seen in recent times that analyses our deepest sentiments in a much broader way. It’s a great book to read, I strongly recommend everybody to get hold of this wonderful book and plunge into this priceless adventure.

INCENDIES (2010)

DVD-PICK

Incendies(2010), is a French-Arabic movie directed by Denis Villeneuve gained much appreciation for its excellent plot, well crafted screenplay and some amazing performance by the leading actors. The movie is based on a play called Incendies by Wajdi Mouwad.

PLOT

Nawan Marwan (Luban Azabal), the mother of Jeanne (Mellisa Poulin) and Simon hand over two letters and a surprisingly unique will to her lawyer for whom she worked as a secretary before her death. The mother expects nothing from her children but to find their father and brother. The twins are shocked when the letters are given to them, because the will of her mother is quite different from an ordinary one. The letters are supposed to be handed over to their father and brother, but before them lay a tough task of finding them in a foreign country. Jeanne decides to search her father and brother in Middle East, whereas her brother stays back in Canada but soon joins her. The story moves rather slowly than expected but without losing its track it peaks well at the right moments sensing the pulse of the audience, hats off to the director for a well stitched screen-play. The movie fluctuates from past to present to show the war atrocities in the name of religion only helps the director to tell about the sufferings of young Nawan and the war atrocities in the name of religion. As the story slowly unravels before us, we head to a shocking revelation, something which we can’t expect in an Indian movie. The movie was well received by the critics and bagged several international awards but sadly missed the Oscars. For a movie despite a strong story line losing in prestigious events like Oscars certainly gives us a mixed feeling, and even occasionally makes me to question the credentials of Academy Awards. Nevertheless the movie scored well with the audience which is I think more important than anything else.

Bottomline: A heart rending master piece which should’nt be missed out.

Of Gods and Men

Of Gods and Men (Des hommes et des dieux) 2010, is a French movie directed by Xavier Beauvois. It is about a bunch of Trappist Monks at an Algerian monastery threatened by Islamic terrorists. The movie received several accolades when it was released and more importantly this movie is said to be based on a true unpleasant events in 1995.

PLOT: A small group of French Christian monks live in a Monastery situated in the Algerian Countryside. Father Christian’s (Lambert Wilson) character has been well etched and crafted. As a strong believer of love he persuades other monks to stay in the Monastery. Another important character in the movie has been acted out well by a well known face in the French Cinema, Michael Lonsdale. Father Luc (Michael Lonsdale) is a doctor without expectations desperately wants to serve the people as long as he could. Islamist terrorists constantly trouble the monks asking for more medicines despite knowing the latter are running out of stock. Father Christian’s courage has been well portrayed throughout the movie. Algerian government repeatedly pleads the monks to leave but the monks decides to stay inspire knowing the fact that their stay further adds more turmoil. The Character of every monk has its own importance, though initially some of them wanted to leave but later, they all decide that to flea has nothing to add to their sacrifice of becoming as monks. The movie was well received at the box-office and also gained critical acclamation for its screenplay and not to forget the music is exceptionally convincing at all means. It was premiered at the Cannes Film festival and was nominated for several awards including that of BAFTA.

Obscenity

Obscenity in lyrics few decades back was considered a taboo, but now things have changed drastically nobody actually cares about it. As far as Indian movies are concerned, songs are not just ‘songs’-they depict our culture seriously. Ever since we entered into the world of celluloid, songs have been playing a crucial part and there can’t be any denial. Most of the lyrics are not obscene but few are, they are either covert or requires certain amount of maturity to comprehend the real intentions of lyricists. Indian culture has accepted certain elements, only when people accepted minimal obscenity, lyricists started to lurk.

Repulsion-Timeless Classic

Repulsion (1965) is a psychological thriller movie directed by noted director Roman Polanski. The movie gained critical acclamation for its narrative style and it is still considered as one the best movies under the thriller genre.

Plot:
Carol (Catherine Deneuve) is a young and good looking lady who works in nail salon in London has a strange phobia called androphobia. People who suffer from androphobia generally fear the presence of men; they avoid any sort of interaction with men. Carol is closely attached to her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) and stays with her but hates her sister for her relationship with a married person. James Frazer as Colin comes as a boyfriend to Carol but finds it hard to cope with her because of her abnormal behaviour. Carol behaviour turns worse only when Helen and her boyfriend leave on a holiday to Italy. Her psychosis turns very bad and she totally withdraws herself from the real world. Frustrated by her behaviour Colin tries to call her upon in her house but she refuses to open the door, not knowing what to do Colin breaks open the door but eventually gets killed by her, she then dumps the body in the bathtub. While Carol’s hallucinations take a dead turn, the landlord of the house meets her only to get killed. Unaware of the all these happenings Carol’s sister reaches London with her boyfriend only to witness two dead bodies lying in her apartment, while her sister suffers from schizophrenia.

The movie was highly praised by the critics and was also nominated for several awards including BAFTA. Every character in the movie was neatly crafted and the performances of the actors were quite remarkable, especially that of Catherine Deneuve with her stunning looks delivered an unmatched performance and gained several accolades for her role.