(Movie) Distant directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

If ever a movie was forged out of silence, this is it. There are only a handful of dialogues in the whole of the movie and it conveys much more than a verbose movie ever can. The testimony of the movie’s genius is that even when there is seemingly ‘nothing happening’, you are still gripped by the movie. You realize that it is the atmosphere in the scene that grips you and holds you and that the seemingly nothingness is a medley of light, colours, facial expressions, sound and silence that speaks more than words ever can.

The story is about Mahmut and Yusuf, both of whom hail from the same village. Mahmut is a middle aged photographer who came out a long time back from the village and who has ‘made it’ in Istanbul. Yusuf is a 20 something lad who has been forced to move out of the village due to closure of a factory and looks to Mahmut to give him some support in the job hunt due to the same-village affinity. The story starts with Yusuf trudging upto Mahmut’s place where he is greeted with polite condescension as one would greet a poor country cousin. The story evolves as both try to adjust in the same home with each other’s presence.

We are slowly given a glimpse into both of their lives – not directly but by almost wordless encounters with each other and with other people, their expressions when they are alone, and their behaviour with each other. The complexity of the two men’s their lives and the how their proximity affects each of them is something that needs to be seen and cannot be explained in words. 

The title ‘Distant’ comes into its own as the movie explores the contradictions and the weakness and their own little failures in life. Mahmut is shown to be a washed out photographer who has lost the fire to enjoy the work and who is essentially alone without the strength to maintain a relationship. His encounter with his ex-wife who is leaving forever is especially poignant. Yusuf is shown to be a person who while typifying a country bum at times is sensitive and shy. He implicitly understands his position in Mahmut’s house but keeps on trying to become better friends with him which Mahmut shrugs off as he feels that such a gesture is just opportunistic.

‘Distant’ suffuses everything in the movie – distances become unbridgeable and words become inadequate, relationship become strained and then the tenuous link snaps and there is nothing that can be done to repair it. The movie is a testimony to the fact that it is not language or culture that makes people and their lives distant but our lack of understanding and living in our own cocoon. The movie is about distances that become a part of our lives and between people around us without us getting to know about it.

The movie tells us all this and much more by the act of silence. Even the dialogues that are present are strained and pointed. Much more is expressed by the silence and the expressions. It is a masterpiece in the way all the visual and auditory elements are synchronized throughout the movie. The scenes sometimes leave you almost breathless with your own indefinable emotions chocking you. The movie is almost like a symphony with large tracts of silences that cut deep into your heart.

Having said all that, this movie is not for everybody. I have seen some people crib about the fact that the movie is a drag. You need a different temperament to appreciate this movie. If you would rather be somewhere else, you would be wasting the beauty that is being played out in front of you.

I believe that this is a movie which can be watched at different times in life and we would feel different emotions. This is a kind of a movie that grows with you (or do you grow with it?).

Labels: Cinema, Foreign Movies, movies

posted by Protik Basu @ 11:16 AM 0 Comments

(Movie) The Devil’s Backbone directed by Guillermo del Toro

Some people would just call it a horror movie and that it is - quite a good one at that. But classifying it in the horror genre would be stifling the whole concept of the movie

This movie is about ghosts – ghosts that we commonly know as ghosts, ie the paranormal ones and more importantly its about ghosts of events and betrayed hopes. The setting is in the Spanish Civil war in a town that is Republican but which is under siege by the forces of Franco. An orphanage run by Carmen and Casares, both ardent believers in the revolution, takes care of orphaned children of republican comrades. Both are shown to be brave in the face of mounting despair. We also witness their human fallibilities in their personal lives as we go on in the movie. That makes them very believable and makes them much more brave and heroic in our eyes.

The movie has a fabric that seems to be bordering on tension. There seems to be a feeling that something terrible has happened and is going to happen. There is an air of a mystery that is waiting to be unravelled. Side by side, the lives of the various characters are explored. Each person’s character has a link to the external political scenario – each of them is a product of it one way or the other.

Enter Carlos, who is brought by his republican tutors who have had to flee the area. He soon realizes that there is a mysterious character that haunts the school and discovers slowly that it is a child called Santi who disappeared mysteriously when a bomb fell in the courtyard of the orphanage and embedded itself without exploding. As events progress, Carlos discovers that Santi was murdered.

While Carlos is discovering the mystery one step at a time, the political scenario takes a turn for the worse and the inhabitants prepare to flee but is betrayed and their vehicle sabotaged. Amidst the death and carnage, the boys decide to take revenge. They fight back and also help Santi take revenge on his killer in a dramatic anti-climax.

The movie, when seen beyond the horror/mystery element is multi-layered. It explores human nature under duress, both in personal and external spheres. It explores relationships (Dr Casares-Carmen, the boys, Jacinto-Conchita) and in this this movie is very strong. Every character’s relationship with others is explored and given thought to. Every character is shown in the grey, quite unlike most horror flicks. This gives the movie much more depth and gives it many memorable moments.

One of the most poignant moments is when this poem is read out by Dr  Casares to Carmen at the end -  “Stay by my side as my light grows dim /as my blood slows down and my nerves shatter with stabbing pain / as my heart grows weak / and the wheels of my being turn slowly / Stay by my side /as my fragile body is racked by pain /which verges on truth / and manic time continues scattering dust / and furious life bursts out in flames. Stay by my side / as I fade / so you can point to the end of my struggle /and the twilight of eternal days / at the low, dark edge of life.” It is these moments that makes the movie truly unforgettable.

Labels: Cinema, Foreign Movies, movies

posted by Protik Basu @ 6:39 PM 0 Comments

Infernal Affairs – Mou Gaan Dou

This is the Hong Kong thriller from which Departed took its inspiration from…hence there is no need of an explanation required as to the content. The tag line in Imbd.com is enough to give the gist - Loyalty. Honor. Betrayal…

And after watching this one, I am liable to give this movie a higher rating than its English counterpart, not only because of the acting bit but because this movie has more nail-biting sequences. De Caprio is the only exception to the acting rule – he was equal to the performance shown here by Tony Leung in terms of depth and range.

What also compels me to give a higher rating to this movie is that so many sequences in this movie is a shameless rip-off from the original. There was a strong sense of Deja-vu in many of the sequences. Only the ending is different.

All in all, its a masterful crime thriller that grips you right from the opening sequence and does not let go…its cinematography is a fabric of tautness and its fast-tracked.

And in the end, unlike Departed, you end up relating to both the characters in the movie. Everyone is a victim – of circumstances. That itself gives it an edge of the english version.

There have been sequels to this – two more. I am not sure I would watch them. Too many times, they go the way of ‘The Matrix’ or ‘Pirates of Caribbean’. This movie is complete in itself.

Labels: Cinema, Foreign Movies, movies

posted by Protik Basu @ 10:51 PM 0 Comments

Viggo Mortensen – Interview to Guardian

I admired him in “Eastern promises” and he was one of the characters that gave depth and gravity in “Lord of the Rings”…what I didn't know was how much interesting he is as a person…The following interview he gave to the Guardian was an eye-opener…

Its one of the interviews you want to keep with you and keep with you so that you can look at it at different times at your life and probably understand things much better, things which might seem a little out of our experience right now…

The interview

Labels: Cinema, Eastern Promises, Interviews, Viggo Mortensen

posted by Protik Basu @ 8:36 PM 0 Comments