light to the world
So the two Urmila films new to my collection.
Banares was strange. A bit too ambitious and a bit lacking at the same time. Just seemed really artificial cos the city was so clean and empty of people and the Ganges itself looked totally unlike any picture or footage I've ever seen. It was all very idealised which I guess was sort of the point of the film, going to higher planes of existence and all. Just a pity that such an approach actually damaged the realism of the film for me. I kept going "Okay, dude, that's a beautifully framed shot and all but, for fuck's sake, it's India! No city is that empty! And I have never ever seen the Ganges that colour! Wtf!" It's quite possible they've cleaned up the city and the river since I left India and okay, I've never actually been there but bloody hell, it so didn't look real.
And the guy was a bit of a shit actor, totally let down the fucking incredible dream team of Dimple, Urmila and Naseeruddin. ZOMG, Urmila and Dimple in the same scene. Aside from nearly swooning at the hotness, they had the most riveting scene towards the end. My brain sort of broke. But even that got undermined by the mysticism that came off less profound and more stupid.
Or maybe I'm just not spiritually evolved enough to get it. *pulls face*
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara was the total opposite. A film that changes you. Perfect movie, perfect example of personal made universal. Perfectly acted, beautifully shot and god, it was so real, so real. I had tears in my eyes for most of the film and was totally heartbroken with beautiful poignancy at the final scene.
As if the whole dementia thing isn't so terribly sad anyway, they extrapolated it to the political and the universal so beautifully with such great intellect and compassion that it was totally an admiring sort of sadness. Even if they had given us an unhappy ending, it would have still been a very satisfying movie. Beautifully crafted, well realised film, the kind of film I wish had been an official Oscar entry.
Anupam was amazingly amazingly amazingly true and heartwrenching. I want everyone who's ever seen Bend It Like Beckham or any of his painful comic turns to watch this. Talk about a quiet revelatory performance. He was at once familiar and totally unrecognisable in every moment. Every moment was beautifully portrayed. Such great delicate skill in every moment.
And god, Urmila nailed it. I love how authentic she is, how lovely she plays humour and family affection, and is so not afraid to scream and break down. It was a bit much in Banares but I'm inclined to think that's cos I didn't feel the dude fully merited her love and subsequent breakdown. *raises brow*
Here she was note perfect. And god, that moment she buys into his dementia and screams at the rest of the family was all kinds of chilling rightness. Gah. So creepy, so right and so sad. And of course she maks you fear for her own sanity. God, that's brilliant.
And she won for it! YES! *punches air*
Excellent family dynamics, that each of the children do love him but in their own way. That she will sacrifice everything without fuss for him. That the youngest wants to put into an asylum for his own good and you understood the love in that, the grief and desperation and frustration, of not being recognised, of being feared and rejected by your own parent. And that the older brother from America comes back from his wife and kids to help with the situation, to support his sister even when she upbraids him for his "typical American attitude". Not exactly sure what she meant by that, perhaps the whole institution thing. Which he slapped down immediately.
Oh, and the bitter knife of a great intellect brought low, demolished by this disease. God, that killed me. A man of principles undone by his own mind so his ideals condemn his own conscience, however deluded. Totally got me where it hurt.
I'm beginning to think Boman Irani is a sort of a quality stamp. I can't think of a single film I've seen with him that hasn't turned out to be some sort of filmic excellence. He has impeccable taste. And the man himself as an actor is just a freak phenomenon, seriously. He inhabits a role so thoroughly that you almost forget you ever saw him in anything else. Sort of Depp-esque.
I finally understood the full significance of Gandhi as a philosopher and humanitarian. He was always too much of a saint when I was young. I was quite sure he wouldn't like me cos I was so enamoured of the west and the English, however brainwashed into hatred of the Raj. This film made me proud to have a racial heritage that included such a man even as it shamed me for not knowing more of his words and not holding him in greater esteem. That's the problem with cliches, isn't it? You forget that quite often there was a damned good reason for the person to gain such importance. Even if you still suspect that importance's been cheapened by every pretentious asshole claiming a legacy. Bah.
Still, I'm more curious about Nehru, about that sharp intellect and rapier eloquence. I always had a greater affinity for Nehru, dunno why. Maybe cos he loved kids? Maybe cos he looked a little more elegant and Westernised than Gandhi? Gandhi always scared me a bit. *shrug* Kid. What do you do? On the hunt for a good Nehru bio at the moment. I want to know more about his ego, pitfalls and triumphs, influences and legacy. What was he really like? As a lover and a father and a husband and a writer.
Was a bit unnerving though to see parallels between Banares and the novel.
Mind you, I might be at that stage where everything I encounter seems to reflect the novel back at me.
*shrug* Writer. What do you do?
Banares was strange. A bit too ambitious and a bit lacking at the same time. Just seemed really artificial cos the city was so clean and empty of people and the Ganges itself looked totally unlike any picture or footage I've ever seen. It was all very idealised which I guess was sort of the point of the film, going to higher planes of existence and all. Just a pity that such an approach actually damaged the realism of the film for me. I kept going "Okay, dude, that's a beautifully framed shot and all but, for fuck's sake, it's India! No city is that empty! And I have never ever seen the Ganges that colour! Wtf!" It's quite possible they've cleaned up the city and the river since I left India and okay, I've never actually been there but bloody hell, it so didn't look real.
And the guy was a bit of a shit actor, totally let down the fucking incredible dream team of Dimple, Urmila and Naseeruddin. ZOMG, Urmila and Dimple in the same scene. Aside from nearly swooning at the hotness, they had the most riveting scene towards the end. My brain sort of broke. But even that got undermined by the mysticism that came off less profound and more stupid.
Or maybe I'm just not spiritually evolved enough to get it. *pulls face*
Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara was the total opposite. A film that changes you. Perfect movie, perfect example of personal made universal. Perfectly acted, beautifully shot and god, it was so real, so real. I had tears in my eyes for most of the film and was totally heartbroken with beautiful poignancy at the final scene.
As if the whole dementia thing isn't so terribly sad anyway, they extrapolated it to the political and the universal so beautifully with such great intellect and compassion that it was totally an admiring sort of sadness. Even if they had given us an unhappy ending, it would have still been a very satisfying movie. Beautifully crafted, well realised film, the kind of film I wish had been an official Oscar entry.
Anupam was amazingly amazingly amazingly true and heartwrenching. I want everyone who's ever seen Bend It Like Beckham or any of his painful comic turns to watch this. Talk about a quiet revelatory performance. He was at once familiar and totally unrecognisable in every moment. Every moment was beautifully portrayed. Such great delicate skill in every moment.
And god, Urmila nailed it. I love how authentic she is, how lovely she plays humour and family affection, and is so not afraid to scream and break down. It was a bit much in Banares but I'm inclined to think that's cos I didn't feel the dude fully merited her love and subsequent breakdown. *raises brow*
Here she was note perfect. And god, that moment she buys into his dementia and screams at the rest of the family was all kinds of chilling rightness. Gah. So creepy, so right and so sad. And of course she maks you fear for her own sanity. God, that's brilliant.
And she won for it! YES! *punches air*
Excellent family dynamics, that each of the children do love him but in their own way. That she will sacrifice everything without fuss for him. That the youngest wants to put into an asylum for his own good and you understood the love in that, the grief and desperation and frustration, of not being recognised, of being feared and rejected by your own parent. And that the older brother from America comes back from his wife and kids to help with the situation, to support his sister even when she upbraids him for his "typical American attitude". Not exactly sure what she meant by that, perhaps the whole institution thing. Which he slapped down immediately.
Oh, and the bitter knife of a great intellect brought low, demolished by this disease. God, that killed me. A man of principles undone by his own mind so his ideals condemn his own conscience, however deluded. Totally got me where it hurt.
I'm beginning to think Boman Irani is a sort of a quality stamp. I can't think of a single film I've seen with him that hasn't turned out to be some sort of filmic excellence. He has impeccable taste. And the man himself as an actor is just a freak phenomenon, seriously. He inhabits a role so thoroughly that you almost forget you ever saw him in anything else. Sort of Depp-esque.
I finally understood the full significance of Gandhi as a philosopher and humanitarian. He was always too much of a saint when I was young. I was quite sure he wouldn't like me cos I was so enamoured of the west and the English, however brainwashed into hatred of the Raj. This film made me proud to have a racial heritage that included such a man even as it shamed me for not knowing more of his words and not holding him in greater esteem. That's the problem with cliches, isn't it? You forget that quite often there was a damned good reason for the person to gain such importance. Even if you still suspect that importance's been cheapened by every pretentious asshole claiming a legacy. Bah.
Still, I'm more curious about Nehru, about that sharp intellect and rapier eloquence. I always had a greater affinity for Nehru, dunno why. Maybe cos he loved kids? Maybe cos he looked a little more elegant and Westernised than Gandhi? Gandhi always scared me a bit. *shrug* Kid. What do you do? On the hunt for a good Nehru bio at the moment. I want to know more about his ego, pitfalls and triumphs, influences and legacy. What was he really like? As a lover and a father and a husband and a writer.
Was a bit unnerving though to see parallels between Banares and the novel.
Mind you, I might be at that stage where everything I encounter seems to reflect the novel back at me.
*shrug* Writer. What do you do?