Not long ago watching movies in theaters was one of the things I looked forward to. I was born in 1968, and probably acquired some aesthetic sense to enjoy and appreciate good films in 20 years. Passionate remarks or casual discussions about the great movies of the earlier era by relatives or elders would make…
Set in post Second World War Tokyo, this crime investigation masterpiece in the genre of Film-noir, carries the ubiquitous stamp of Kurosawa’s genius. It is the story of two cops who are on the hunt for a criminal on the loose; The Stray Dog. The film starts with one of the cops Murakami losing his…
Kanchan is the only child of a headmaster in a village school. He is young, playful and has big dreams of going into the world and exploring its wonders. His mother shields him as often as she can from his father’s strict eye. He is a disciplinarian and punishes Kanchan for his naughty quarrels and…
A reflection on Vittorio De Sica and Italian neorealism, where ordinary people, natural settings and unadorned truth become the substance of cinema.
I’m a movie fanatic. Having grown up in a town without the pastimes and hobbies of a village (the charms of the rural) like fishing, swimming, gaming or taming animals, my principal source of entertainment was going to the movies. The theatre behind our home was the center of gravitation. When ever I was early…
The Revenant is about one man’s (Glass) resolve to seek revenge.He is the Revenant,the man who has returned from the Dead. The Dead have no words to speak and the living speak falsehood.The Revenant are the bridge between these two worlds. They have to straddle both these worlds. They must ensure justice for the Dead…
I watched John Ford’s “Young Mr. Lincoln” starring Henry Fonda. The movie carries that distinctive stamp of John Ford’s genius. Young Mr. Lincoln is the story of Abraham Lincoln in his young years practicing as an advocate in a Country Court. Ford achieves the aura and the mood of those days when life was more…
A few years ago while trying to get to know more about international cinema,I got interested in French cinema. The only French movie of international fame that I had watched until then was Joan Renoir’ s Rules of the Game. As I went through the list of Directors that had several names of repute, I…
Ritwik Ghatak’s Subarna Rekha: Ghatak’s style is different from Ray’s. It is raw and edgy, replete with repressed energy. The film has a hopeful ending but Ghatak’s depiction of the social reality hits you hard. Caste prejudice, unemployment, poverty and migration are some of the themes. These forces were very strong in independent India as…
Two Fritz Lang films—M and Metropolis—open questions about justice, alienation, power, the city and the social responsibility of cinema.