Recommended films at the International Film Festival of India, Goa.

Recommended films at the International Film Festival of India, Goa.

Nader and Cimin - A Separation - Asghar Farhadi

Hi-So - Aditya Assarat

Luc Besson Retrospective - Leon, Big Blue, The Fifth Element


American Section - Sketches of Frank Gehry (Sydney Pollack)

Tribute Section:
Raoul Ruiz - Lost Domain

Sidney Lumet - Network

Claude Chabrol - The Swindle

Recommended Films at the Mumbai Film Festival

Here is a list of recommended films from the Mumbai International Film Festival.
For the complete selection and schedule, visit http://mumbaifilmfest.com


International Competition:

• Las Acacias Pablo Giorgelli (Argentina-Spain / 2011) - selected this year at Cannes Critics week 
• My Little Princess Eva Ionesco (France / 2011) - stars Isabelle Huppert, one of the most important living actors today. 
• She Monkeys (apflickorna) Lisa Aschan (Sweden / 2011) (Special mention at Berlin)

World Cinema:

• Pina Wim Wenders (Germany-France-UK / 2010)
• The Turin Horse (a TorinÓi LÓ) Béla Tarr (Hungary-France-Switzerland-Germany / 2011)
• We Have A Pope ( Habemus Papam ) Nanni Moretti (Italy-France / 2010)
• Almayer’s Folly ( La Folie Almayer ) Chantel Akerman (Belgium-France / 2011)
• Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da) Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey / 2011)

French Cinema:

• The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Les Neiges du Kilimandjaro) Robert Guédiguian (France / 2010)

Cannes Critics Week:

Almost every film here is worth watching, but here are a select few:

• The Hour Of The Furnaces (la Hora De Los Hornos) Octavio Getino & Fernando Solanas (Argentina / 1970)
• Esther Amos Gitai (Austria-Israel-UK / 1986)
• See How They Fall ( Regarde Les Hommes Tomber ) Jacques Audiard (France / 1994)
• Boy Meets Girl Leos Carax (France / 1984)
• Rana’s Wedding (jerusalem, Another Day) Hany Abu-Assad (Palestine-Netherlands-UAE / 2002)
• Provincial Actors (aktorzy Prowincjonalni) Agnieszka Holland (Poland / 1979)
• Walkover (walkower) Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland / 1965)
• Or (mon TrÉsor) Keren Yedaya (France-Israel / 2004)

The Political Subtext in '7 Khoon Maaf'

Vishal Bharadwaj's '7 Khoon Maaf' is a deeply flawed film. However, instead of delving on the film's failures, I would like to discuss the political subtext present throughout the film.

Disclaimer: The following describes some critical plot elements. If you plan to watch the film, and if you are the kind of person who does not like to know too much about the film before watching it, discretion is advised.

Neil Nitin Mukesh's character is Susannah's (the protagonist played by Priyanka Chopra) first husband. He is overpowering and aggressive, much like Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister. Neil loses a leg during Operation Bluestar, which also ultimately cost Indira Gandhi her life.

John Abraham's character is a youth icon - a bit similar to Rajiv Gandhi, whose reign followed Indira Gandhi's death in 1984. He is also an extremely popular character in the film who ultimately underdelivers, again, much like Rajiv Gandhi.

Next comes Irfan Khan's character. He is shown to be a Kashmiri poet and this episode happens during the height of the Kashmiri disturbances in the late eighties and early nineties. He is sadist and tortures Susannah. It is quite an interesting plot development, since Susannah is seduced by the Kashmiri and then tortured. One could say that Kashmir plays the same role in the Indian psyche - seducing, poetic but which ultimately proves a sadist lover to a masochistic India - one can't let go of it, and one can't help getting tortured by it.

The fourth husband is the Russian and is juxtaposed against the Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998. What appears as a triumph (the nuclear tests) ultimately ends up in a betrayal - sanctions imposed on India by the US and other nuclear powers. In the films, the Russian seems alluring, but ends up betraying Susannah.

What follows is Annu Kapoor - the Policeman and the first Hindu lover of Susannah - during the BJP's rule in India. It is interesting to see that this character is around for a long period in the film before he actually possesses Susannah, much like the BJP, which has been around for a long time, but which gained power only much later in India's history. It is also rather clever or subversive (depends on the way you see it ;-) ) of Vishal Bharadwaj to show this character requiring Viagra to perform with the lady! On the one hand, the BJP came to power riding on militant, jingoistic Hinduism (one can't help remembering Anand patwardhan's film 'Father Son and the Holy War' here). This episode ends with the IC-814 hijack episode - an episode that tested the masculinity of the Saffron party.

Then comes Naseeruddin Shah - during the long congress rule with Dr. Manmohan Singh as the PM. Like him, Naseer's doctor is very knowledgeable, but ultimately proves to be bankrupt and ineffective. The episode ends with the 26th November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai.

Throughout the film, the unattained and unrequited love is that of Vivaan Shah playing Arun. He is an orphan with a twinkle in his eye. To me, he is quite like the Saleem Sinai of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children - perhaps the only lover worthy of India/Susannah, but their love for each other is never fulfilled. 

Thus, the film's attempt seems to be that of endowing the character Susannah with the complexity of India - many try to master her, but she cannot be mastered by falsehood, violence or chauvinism, She longs for a pure man, but such men can only be found in the millions of its common citizens, who can never really rise above their situation to prove their worth to her and to fulfill her.

Dabangg!

I watched Dabangg in one of these dilapidated single-screen movie halls that charged 35 rupees for a ticket. It was a weekday evening, but the hall was almost full. The film kept an otherwise noisy crowd completely hooked throughout its duration. The visuals and the locations are clearly meant to match a good old western. However, since this is no 1975 (when Sholay was released), there is absolutely no attempt at concealing the absurdity of the story; nor is there any attempt at over-sentimentalizing the love angle or the loss of central characters. This is Hindi cinema at its kitschy, over-the-top, campy best - so unintellectual that you cannot help but laugh along.

Going by the audience's reactions, I realized what a loss the average Indian crowd has had with the multiplexes and the metropolis-themed movies that are supposedly made for the young people of today. I hate watching films with those popcorn-munching, heavily perfumed rich brats who have paid hundreds of rupees only to watch the film while constantly smsing or chatting on the phone. This audience was a good contrast. I know why they flock to watch Salman Khan films. I feel a bit sorry for them, since I just don't see any actor in the next generation who can appeal to them in the way Salman does.

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...