La Mosca en la Ceniz - Review

The fly ash or La Mosca en la Ceniza by Gabriela David, is the story of two girls who reach Buenos Aires from a rural place, in search of a good job, but are deceived and forced to work in a brothel.

One of them refuses to work and struggles to escape, but the other adapts to her new life.

The film portrays the issue of human-trafficking and is indicative of the fact that how poor girls are hoaxed into such a business.

Most of the film is shot within the brothel, showing us the life inside these closed walls. The frames, lighting and sound within the brothel are suggestive of the closed space they are in. A feeling of suffocation accompanies and is well portrayed.

The rooms in which the girls gather, is highly decked, while the room they sleep in looks cold and closed, except a small closed glass window. This perhaps mirrors their life, decorated from the outside for customers, but lonely and dreadful in reality.

The frames emphasize the thought and reactions of a character through a lot of close up frames, and mid-shots. As if each character is important as a separate entity and everyone has small parallel stories that are visible even with the main story that is happening.

The film also depicts a huge contrast in the neighboring affluent houses and open spaces. Neighbors continue to deliberately pretend to ignore the hidden brothel.

The trick of the drowning fly in water and its revival when it’s dropped into a tiny heap of ash could be metaphorically similar to the drowning of the two girls and their revival as they succeed in getting out of the brothel. It’s like ‘resurrection’ when one of the girls manages to escape and brings the brothel to the notice of people thus saving all the other girls trapped inside.

I enjoyed the movie for the social issue it deals with.

El Nino Pez - Review

El Nino Pez(Spanish) is directed by Lucia Puenzo, the movie portrays Lala and Ailin Gyaui(a house maid) in Buenos Aires, madly in love with each other.

The film weaves together two separate themes. While the first and prominent is a lesbian couple and their struggle, the second is about a supernatural being or Gyaui’s ‘fish child’, who is half-fish, half-human and lives under water in the lake Ypoa next to which gyuai’s home is.

While the girls plan their escape and steal everything they can lay hands on, events with Lala’s father being involved in this mysterious story become clearer. Ailin ends up in prison for a crime she has not committed while Lala reaches  Lake Ypoa here she finds out about Gyuai’s past.

The film does present the social inequality in South America while showing the contrasting lives of Lala's father and Guayi's father and the other people like a guy who keeps a lot of dogs and helps Ailin out.

I do particularly like Lala's dog, it's really sad when the dog is shot.

The camera gives us the stories of both the characters as it indulges in both their lives separately. We can feel two characters being shown. The underwater shots are beautiful as the legendary fish child is magically portrayed with his surroundings and the place he lives in.

The movie is a good one time watch, but not something I'd call a 'must watch'.

Road To Sangam - Review

Dir : Amit Rai

India 2009, Hindi

The movie starts with an Urn being take out of the Orissa State Bank locker and moves on to change the location to Allahabad, with a fast panning to introduce parts of the city to the viewer. Between a sufi song in the background we’re introduced to the group of men, obviously Muslims in present day India. Here we meet , Hashmat Ullah  who has to repair an old V8 ford engine that once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi. But the local community leaders call for a strike in reaction to arrest of young muslims and their killing. Hashmat Ullah is caught between the love for his country and loyalty to his community. To top it all, the old man is one among the leaders within the locality.

But for Hasmat Ullah, patriotism rules over the feeling of communal loyalty. In his decision to repair the V8 ford engine, the man goes through a struggle against his own community as he’s almost disowned by them at the face of it. But the surprise comes when, even while denying to talk to Hasmat Ullah in broad daylight, the muslim brothers get together in the night after being persuaded by Hashmat, to do their part in getting the engine working.

Paresh Rawal, playing Hashmat Ullah convinces the viewer of his dilemma so well that by the end of it, it felt like I myself was a part of his struggle. Also,I like a particular dialogue by a rickshaw wala in the movie when asked by Hashmat Ullah if it wrong to do one’s work during a strike, he responds saying this is India, not “Pakistan or Taliban” to say that free thought is the right to each Indian.

The movie also throws a question on why terrorist attacks lead to suspicion on Muslims. A message here is delivered that Muslims in India chose to stay here, they chose India as there motherland and should or are loyal to it.

A couple of scenes I particularly remember is the birds eye view of Paresh rawal being alone in a huge empty expanse portraying his being left alone and a frame where he sits on the terrace with his back facing the camera.

What I also find nice are the interveneing shots of  the pot carrying Gandhiji’s ashes , shown with Hashmat Ullah’s story, both stories meet at a confluencing point. The pot first taken from the bank locker, over River Kaveri, the Yamuna bridge – New Delhi, National Highway 12.

The role of the press is well emphasized, and how they hype up events is shown. It  is at an interview with NDTV at the first place that Hashmat Ullah comes to know that the V8 engine belongs to the V* for that carried Gandhiji’s ashes.

We see a repetition of Gandhi’s Satyagraha when Hashmat Ullah is ready to give up food and sleep and to sit outside the shop till he gets the key back. He is singled out in his community.

I see the use of Kites being used to send messages as representing spreading the word beyond boundries.

The movie ends with, the Urn being placed on the vehicle as Church music plays in the background and the whole of Allahabad forgetting religion, revering the pot of Ashes as the Ford vehicle moves through the streets on its road to Sangam.

Review- The Blessing[Velsignelse]

The Blessing[Velsignelse]

Denmark, 35mm, 75 minutes

Dir: Heidi Maria Faisst

Theme

Motherhood

Review

I feel, the movie juxtaposes two mother-daughter relationships to put across the theme.

While Katrina, in her becoming a mother, finds herself ruined, Katrina’s mother Lise cannot digest the fact that her daughter did not ask her to visit while she was in labour.

Both the daughters need their mothers, but Rosa can’t get hers while Lise supports Katrine as much as she can. Lise is ready ti take care of Katrine’s child when she realizes Katrine can’t.

We see how Katrine cannot come to terms with her new identity or role of a mother. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she finds herself responding with disappointment and surprise at her changed physical appearance.

While talking to her relatives about the delivery, Katrine compares it to the pain of  a “gallstone” being removed from her body. She appears uncomfortable with holding or breast-feeding the child. She even goes on to ask Lise “Can you feel that you love me?” indicating that she can’t feel the same for Rosa.

We see an inner struggle that Katrine goes through in coming to terms with motherhood and her journey through a tough time accepting truth. She decides to run, escape and hide but nothing works till she finally tries herself to work towards building a closer relationship to the child.

Lighting

A lot of scenes involving Rosa and Katrine, in the bedroom are shot with a red tinge on Katrine’s face. Even when Lise and Katrine are in the same room, a paler shade falls on Lise’s face while Katrine’s still seen in the reddish light. This might heighten the mental conflict and anger-like state her mind is in.

The pattern on the wall, often appear like cracks and seem to emphasize Katrine’s frustration.

Camera

The camera appears to be like an intruder watching the moves of the characters . There were noticeable shakes in the camera and an unnatural movement of zooming is used in places.

Narrator

An omniscient, intruder-like narrator.

The Role of the Husband/Boyfriend

As opposed to the conventional idea of the man being more inconsiderate, Andrea, Katrine’s boyfriend and Rosa’s father is extremely supportive, sometimes to fantastical levels.

Not only is he caring, but when Katrine leaves him and the child, he goes in search of her. He makes sure till the end that he sticks by her and takes care of her and the child.

I see a reversal of roles here, with fatherhood rising to a greater level than motherhood.

Pace

The movie was well paced, short, had no flash-backs or fast forwards.

Review- Ramanam [Night Sky] M. P. Sukumaran Nair

Night Sky

Dir:  M.P.Sukumaran Nair

Malayalam, 116 minutes

Theme

The movie throws a light on the baseless separation in society with regard to religion and community.

Story

Ramanam or ‘the Night Sky’ shows the life of a rich muslim merchant, Thangal, in rural Kerala. Thangal upholds age old family traditions, is helpful in nature and is a man of ecular beliefs. The story takes us through a part of his life where he decides to help Neeli, a girl found unconscious on ‘Valiya Thangal’s’ grave. Neeli, as we come to know later is the wife of a naxalite who is caught bythe police. She is a Hindu woman and is in the family way.

At about the same time we come to know that Thangal’s wife is also pregnant with a girl child.

Thangal pays for Neeli’s requirement and makes sure she gets all care required till the time her baby is delivered. However, Neeli dies as soon as she gives birth to a baby boy. Thangal at this point of time is at his place where his wife is also about to deliver the child. As soon as the girl is born, Thangal’s helpers come to inform him of Neeli’s death.

He names his own girl, Pookunji Beevi and Neeli’s Child is called Kunjali. He decides to adopt the child even though he’s of a Hindu origin. He requires of his wife to feed Kunjali too. His wife, doesn’t appreciate Thangal’s decision to adopt the child and despises him, but obeys her husband with repeated taunts about the boy.

Kunjali is made to stay with the house maid. A lovable woman with a husband who never cares for her, she takes care of Kunjali as if he were the son she never had. Pookunji and Kunjali grow up together. Infact, we see Thangal just as much careful with Kunjali’s upbringing, as he is of his own daughter’s.

While the society murmers against Thangal’s decisions, he remains unaffected. Kunjali is converted into a Muslim and is circumcised, there are objections to this but Thangal ignores, revising the fact that when the child was motherless, no Hindu woman turned up to help him. The child had to be breast-fed by a muslim woman.

Meanwhile, Pookunji grows up to go against conservative Muslim laws with the support of her father and ‘brother’.  She becomes a student politician and learns the Hindu temple art ‘Nangyarkoothu’.

Once while preparing to perform this at a temple festival, the temple committee disagrees with Pookunji performing at the temple as a response to the post-Babri-Masjid riots in the country.

However, pookunji with the help of her fellow student supporters performs. The stage but, is set to fire in retaliation.

The movie ends with Pookunji’s decorated body lying lifeless on the sea shore.

References in the story to the Title

The Night sky is constantly referred to, not directly, but, through constant recitals of Myths that involve the moon or heavenly objects as central characters.

The Moon is given the identity of an indulgent lover mostly.

Pace

The movie spans over 116 minutes. Within the movie, over 20 years are covered. The pace of the movie however seems a little slow with the idea of ‘deep thought’ or a ‘troubled mind’ is emphasized with longer shots involving little or no noticeable action.

Narrator

An omniscient narrator tells the story of what happens to Thangal and his life mostly.

However, parts of the movie also focus on Beekutty and Kunjali’s relation with a  doubtful question on whether or not, Beekutty’s fascination for her brother was beyond a brother-sister relation.

Characters

I feel the movie shows a clear cut distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Though no one is entirely bad, Thangal, I think is portrayed very ‘white’ as is his attendant played by Indrans.

Thangal’s wife in ‘grey shades’ seems closer to black. She is a little selfish, forever taunting and cribs almost always.

The children, the maid servant and her husband come across as purely innocent.

The Princess and the Jin

The maid recites to Pookunji, the myth of the princess who wants to marry a Jin and in her desire is found “kissed to death” by a Jin on the night she was married. “She lay on the seashore dressed in Silk and Gold”. The movie ends with Pookunji on the sea sore in the exact manner while even as an end to the act she was supposed to put up on the stage. With a bird’s eye-view angle of the camera, her being alone is emphasized, while her father lies dead on the verandah.

Review - Land of Scarecrows

Land of Scarecrows [Heosabideuleui ddang]

Dir: Gyeong-tae Roh

South Korea, 2008

90 mins.

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Ji-Young is a young installation artist. A woman biologically, Young believes herself to be a man. She wears men’s apparel to hide her feminine body structure. During her stay in Philippines, she meets Rain, a beautiful shy girl appearing among other young girls as a contender for eligible suitors for a matchmaking agency.

Young manages to persuade Rain to marry her by her convincing dress up as a man. A few days into the marriage, Rain starts feeling cheated and lonely as the couple enjoys no physical relation. One night she discovers Young’s identity and the fact that the “man” she married is actually a woman, dawns upon her. In a torn mental state but not shy anymore, Rain leaves… she meets Loi Tan, a good-looking boy, working as a dishwasher and looking for his father in the Philippines.

Rain eventually falls in love with Loi.

Themes

1)      An idea of being cheated or snatched off, an identity that one desires

2)      A search

The idea of being Cheated

Right from the onset of the movie there’s a delusive element, this I feel is emphasized by the first scene where the scarecrow is set up in a barren land. A scarecrow is used during a full harvest and has no use in a barren land. Young feels cheated by nature for not biologically making her a man. Rain is cheated by Young into believing her and marrying her. Loi Tan is cheated by his parents.

The Search

There’s a sense of incompleteness the 3 characters go through. Young blames her life at the wasteland as the reason for her “transgender-ness”. She wants to be a man. She is searching for that identity and has gone through every possible wayto getherself cured.

Rain is shy, she desires to be a wife to a Korean man. Once married to Young, she desires to be bodily united with ‘him’ and be loved. She fails to achieve this. She feels incomplete and is seen till almost the end, searching for her Korean man.

Tan’s constant search is for his identity as a son to a father who left him. This search brings him to Philippines.

Narrator

An omniscient narrator, starts by telling us the story of 3 different people and then knits it all together into one.

Structure and Pace

           

The film moves in a linear fashion at a uniform pace with no flashbacks or fast forwards. However the movie appears a little slow often, with some frames excellent in composition but with really slow and little action, making you wish it would move a little faster.

The Bed

I don’t to call it a prop as much but the bed I feel, represents Young’s and Rain’s married life. From a cozy place filling the entire screen in the first few times its shown, the bed starts appearing abandoned with crumpled bed-spreads and a part of it starts being excluded as if to emphasize some sort of uncomfortable incompleteness.

The image of the bed once Rain leaves with the bedspread crumpled on one side, strewn clothes all over and Young sitting alone, in its being a representation of the end of the married relationship, even resembles the barren land with a scarecrow at a level.

Light and Setting

Most of the shots appear to be shot in natural light. Shots with vast landscapes emphasize empty spaces. Shots within closed spaces and rooms are dark as if an element of secrecy is present.

Frames

My favourite part of the movie is the way the shots have been framed. The frames are beautiful though simple. The ‘Rule of Thirds’ has been used abundantly, along with the noticeable use of lines in vast landscapes. Shadows and Darkness are complimentary to the mental state of a character being shown.