Polytechnique [2009]: A Ponderous Glimpse into the Layers of Misogyny
“Polytechnique” is a hard film to watch because Villeneuve (and co-writer Jacques Davidts), not only makes us to sit through an atmosphere, drenched with dread and grief, but also employs his profound artistry to coerce the viewer to patiently contemplate on the unspoken things in the narrative. Often the director infuses moments of dislocation, devoid of sound, to offer subtle commentary.
There Will Be Blood: A Compulsive Capitalist against a Volatile Force of Nature
Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic character study of a baron anti-hero ‘Daniel Plainview’ (played by legendary actor Daniel Day-Lewis) ‘There Will…
Zootopia [2016] : Animalistic tendencies!
Move away cutesy films with dance numbers where the princess has to kiss the frog to make things right. Disney has finally made a film that doesn’t have to hide behind a white inflated toy. Here’s a film that, in spite of its very similar premise, reinvents ideas and takes imagination to la la land. Zootopia will be hated by that racist friend of yours who’s busy making internet memes because life hasn’t told him…
Southbound (2015): The Ride of Atonement
Southbound brings the incredible talent of intermixing 5 stories into one with an anti-climax that leaves you in the same state as most of the film’s characters. It’s the type of horror film that makes you wish that you never find or see the regrets running after you. Yes! Even when your car works on all cylinders. It’s that rare kind of film that leaves you hanging around the characters who know that going round…
Aligarh (2015): A Tender ‘Human’ Story!
In the film Dr. Siras says – The new generation just wants to label everything. So, if I call Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh fantastic, fabulous, cool, and awesome it would be a grave mistake on my part. What Mehta’s film did to me was turn my head in shame because that’s exactly what people like you and me do. We like to label things because poetry is just not our thing anymore and reading between the…
Room (2015) Movie Review: A Heartfelt Journey of Love, Survival, and Rediscovery
Lenny Abrahamson’s Room is poignant. Room is evocative. Room is devastatingly beautiful. There is a magic in creating a world in a child’s perspective. To capture and display the innocence, the purity, the sheer amount of confusing vastness of the world is no mean feat. Writer Emma Donoghue, who is also the writer of the book that the film is based upon, and director Lenny Abrahamson manage to do just that.
The Great Cinematographers and their “Visions of Light”: A love letter to the DOP
Great cinematography has a tendency of sneaking up on you. When it’s done well, the average moviegoer will have a sense of appreciation for the level of visual beauty on display but most people aren’t really conscious of the artistry involved and the incredible level of work that goes into the making of all of those pretty pictures. I know for me personally, it took many years of film appreciation before it finally occurred to…
Neerja (2016): A Brave Account of Human Spirit!
Being brave and scared are two very closely intertwined feelings. Ram Madvani’s Neerja (2016) tells us that no education can teach you to be brave. It just takes that extra bit of human spirit that needs the right trigger at the right moment. While Neerja does undergo the typical melodramatic turn, the emotions seem more real than they are made out to be.