Peepli Live (2010) - Anusha Rizvi

Although farmer's suicides are a serious problem, I am not one of those killjoys who claim that one cannot make use of satire to depict a serious problem. My advice to those would be to go read Srilal Shukla's Hindi novel 'Rag Darbari'. Thus, I am already empathetic to the film's message and form; the same goes for its portrayal of media and politicians as ruthless - which should come as no surprise to anyone who watches television and who has an iota of intelligence. Having said that, I must confess that the film was a big let-down.

Both the script and the direction were hurried. Most scenes just seemed to finish too early, as if there were so many check-boxes to be checked before the film got over in its 100-odd minutes. On the other hand, there were not too many points to be made - once the media and the politicians enter the frey, the film has nothing more (or original) to say and it seems to get breathless just saying nothing, but making it a shouting match of saying nothing, to make things worse. Scatological jokes, swear-words relying on the infidelities of sisters and mothers, or on various parts of the anatomy are not new to me - they don't offend me, but I don't get cheap thrills just because someone on screen utters them either. So the jokes seemed just juvenile. More seriously, as a friend pointed out, the end is more or less copied from "No Man's Land", which won the foreign film Oscar when Amir's Lagaan was in the race, so this seems like a way of getting a kick out of copying your (better) adversary. 

I am sorry to say, but I don't get impressed by such things. Neither do I get fresh insights into the plights of the Indian farmers by watching such silly films. If you need to get entertained by Indian villagers while still  getting some serious insights about India and its problems, I will recommend 'Rag Darbari' any day.

Winter's Bone (2010) - Debra Granik

This is just the kind of depressing piece of Americana that I love to watch on the indie film circuit. Everything in the film - from the faces of the actors, the winter landscape, the rare but pithy dialogue, the amount of things left unsaid and the underlying horror and beauty of life - is perfect. Highly recommended to people who hate 'movies' but love cinema, who hate Hollywood but love Russell Banks's America.

Flamenco (1995) - Carlos Saura

If you like Spanish guitar, throaty songs and passionate dance, then the film will satisfy your senses. Some of the best dancers, singers and musicians come together, helped by the cinematography of Vittorio Storaro and the vision of Carlos Saura.

Here is a magnificent piece to tempt you...

Noviembre (2003) - Achero Mañas

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376800/
What happens when a group of radical theatre enthusiasts come together and vow not to do commercial theatre in the 'money-and-me' nineties? To call their theatre 'Street Theatre' does not really do justice. The challenges they face from an establishment that seems to have forgotten 1968 and its aftermath are not as bad as the challenges they face themselves when living in a world where any form of radicalism is treated as an insult, if not an outright threat. A must-watch for every theatre person and performing artist who would dare to call himself contemporary. Also, a must-watch for every person who cries 'hurt sentiments' at the drop of a hat.

Trailer from Youtube:

Mother Joan of the Angels - Jerzy Kawalerowicz

A haunting tale of passion repressed by dogma. Excellent acting (as is the norm in Polish cinema), visuals and music.

Matka Joanna od aniołów is a film against dogma. That is the universal message of the film. It is a love story about a man and a woman who wear church clothes, and whose religion does not allow them to love each other. They often talk about and teach about love—how to love God, how to love each other—and yet they cannot have the love of a man and a woman because of their religion. This dogma is itself inhuman. The devils that possess these characters are the external manifestations of their repressed love. The devils are like sins, opposite to their human nature. It is like the devils give the man and woman an excuse for their human love. Because of that excuse, they are able to love.

- Jerzy Kawalerowicz, in an interview in Kinoeye

A Bomb was Stolen (1961) - Ion Popescu-Gopo

A delightful comedy about the absurdities of war, weapons and the quest thereof. The obvious association is with the Kubrick classic 'Dr. Strangelove', Jacques Tati and of course the Marx Brothers. It's a shame that just because a film comes from Romania, it is now forgotten, despite having been nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes once. Thanks to the web, I found someone else with similar feelings: The Forgotten: The Dumb Bomb Would love to get hold of some of his animated films from the 'Homo Sapiens series'. See a sample below:

Alice in Wonderland (2010) - Tim Burton

An interesting script gone askew in execution. The idea of having a grown-up Alice with an existential dilemma about - what else but the Austenian conundrum of whom to get married to - sounded like a promising start. The post-modern question 'Is this really Alice?' or 'What is the real Alice like?' seemed to go in the right direction, too - as did Alice's refusal to sleigh anyone even if her life depended on it, just because the script demanded it. I was willing to condone Alice for falling in love with the mad hatter, but the repeated maxim 'All the best people are mad' sounds kitschy in 2010, I must confess. The Bandersnatch turning out not as evil as it seems (well, at least for the heroine!) seems right out of the Harry Potter territory of plot twists just to keep the story going ahead, with a veneer of 'everyone who looks evil is not so' to keep the moralists happy, but without even the simple balancing act of a conventionally good-looking character turning out evil. At the end, when Alice takes charge of her life by refusing to marry a twit, what does she do? Go off to build an empire in China, in full colonial style. Political correctness, anyone? If this is what Tim Burton can produce (with Disney's money) in 2010, I can't help feeling sorry for the poor lad. I would prefer 'Charlie and the chocolate factory' any day. As for post-apocalyptic vision, you can't beat the 'Blade Runner', dear old chap! In short, 'You used to be much more...muchier. You've lost your muchness, Tim!'