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Sumeet — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:33:01 +0000

I saw James Cameron’s new film Avatar this weekend. It’s wonderful.

Much has already been said about the film. Response is mostly positive:

The visual effects are stunning and new.
“Pandora” is one of the most lush and breathtaking fantasy worlds ever created.
The 3D is implemented tastefully and enhances the film rather than distracts from it.
The characters are real enough that you care for their cause and fate.
The CGI natives of “Pandora” are the best attempt so far to overcome the Uncanny Valley.
The film has positive messaging, including strong environmental and anti-war stances.

Of course, the film has left some fans disappointed as well. Mostly, they complain about the following:

The story is predictable and recycled.
The soundtrack is uninspired.
“3D glasses give me a headache.”

I fall into the group of fans who loved the movie with a passion, and I’d like to see it again some time. Here some personal thoughts of mine that I hope are not just a restatement of the above consensuses:

“Pandora” is remarkable. However, I think it will be a challenge to achieve the same diversity of life in this world that – for example – Star Wars achieved with its massive Empire and Rebel planets. This might be due to the fact that only one species (the Na’vi) actually speaks on Pandora, whereas most species have some kind of communicable language in the Star Wars movies. I believe this challenge is not insurmountable, but future films won’t be able to rest on their visuals’ laurels. So they better get to work on adding more rich primary species or other planets.
This is the first 3D film in which I didn’t get a headache. Much obliged.
Reading a bit about the struggles overcome and investments required to make the film added to my excitement and enjoyment. (Further Reading: 1, 2, 3)
Even though it’s almost 3 hours long, I didn’t have to go to the bathroom during the movie.

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Slumdog Millionaire

Sumeet — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:34:02 +0000

You can’t shake it. The feelings of suspense, warmth, anger, sadness, and terror are so strong in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire that I was on a post-film high for hours after the showing.

Our hero is Jamal Malik, a boy from the slums of Bombay. In the first few minutes of the movie, we learn that he is a contestant on India’s Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. His success has the host of the show – Prem (played by Anil Kapoor) – doubting the integrity of Jamal’s answers. After all, how could a “slumdog” answer questions that doctors, lawyers, and professors cannot? Prem hands over Jamal to the police and assumes that a night of torture will elicit a confession of cheating.

But Jamal isn’t a cheater. As the police inspector forces him to explain how he knew the answers, Jamal recounts the relevant experiences from his life. We are given a glimpse into this “bizarrely plausible” tale of a slumdog, who has approached the many joys, adversities, and horrors of his life with courage, wit, and appreciation.

What makes Slumdog Millionaire different from other Dickensian “journey” films is that Jamal’s story is presented with such intense sights and sounds that you are transported to India and are therefore witness to a wide array of imagery unseen on this side of the world.

Boyle’s most ambitious goal and his greatest success are both the fair depiction of India’s many sides. The pain and bleakness of the slums, an unfairly wealthy upper class – often controlled by gangsters and thugs, and more people between these extremes than the population of North America. Sprawling metropolises, vast deserts, pockets of jungle, war zones, and quiet neighborhoods. Vibrant colors, bold smells, a cacophony of city, country, and individual clashing to create a unique portrait of humanity.

Jamal is driven throughout his life by a fairytale love for his childhood companion Latika (Rubina Ali). Theirs is a love challenged by distance, betrayal, and the hopeless gravity of life in the slums. And although the plot is formulaic (a boy in love wins a quiz show to reunite with his soulmate), the drama of the setting is so powerful that it rises above the formula to deliver a profound experience in movie-watching. Every time the movie flashes back to show us more of Jamal’s past, it escapes the formula and taps into the richness of his story.

At least, that’s how I felt about the flashbacks and their value. Some disagree:

Now, for viewers who want to know everything about Jamal’s painful boyhood, [the flashbacks present] no difficulty. But for others, who are captivated by the drama unfolding in the present – how will he elude the police? What will happen on the quiz show? What will happen if he wins? – every retreat into the past feels like a suspension of the story. - Mick LaSalle’s Review

I believe appreciation of Slumdog Millionaire hinges on the cause of this disagreement. If you are interested in the quiz show and feel that Jamal’s past is an annoying departure from the “real story”, then you will either dislike the film or simply find nothing unique in it.

But if you are captivated by the setting – the world created by Jamal’s memories – and you see the quiz show as merely a starting point, then you will leave the theater feeling like you were part of something special. And you might agree with me that this is one of the year’s best films.

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Children of Heaven

Sumeet — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 07:53:10 +0000

Here is a film for which I need not restrain my praise. Regardless of how irresponsibly I manipulate your expectations, you will fall in love with Ali, Zahra, and most definitely their story.

Ali and Zahra are child characters, which is rare enough. But they are also kind, intelligent, helpful, and not bullied every day. They are children who will grow up to be respected – if they are not already.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This isn’t a film about kids growing up to be leaders of their industry or famous rock stars.

Rather, it’s a story of a big brother who picks up his sister’s shoes from the cobbler. He has to buy some potatoes for his mother before returning home, and – as he digs through the cheap potatoes pile – a blind trash collector mistakenly takes the shoes. Ali is terrified to find the shoes have disappeared, and later returns home, tears in his eyes, to tell his sister he’s lost her shoes.

Her only response is to ask how she will go to school tomorrow without shoes. Ali and his sister Zahra work out a plan right under their parents’ noses (It’s homework time, so talking is not allowed.) by writing notes to each other as they pretend to study. The plan? Zahra will wear Ali’s shoes to school each morning. When her final class ends, she will race back to their alley to give Ali back his shoes. And then he will run to his school, which starts a little later.

Of course, sometimes either Zahra or Ali cannot run fast enough; and Ali, who is an excellent student, has to deal with punishment for being tardy:

I submit that this situation is scarier and more absorbing for children than a movie about Godzilla or other manufactured entertainments. Even when you’re a kid, you know you’re not likely to be squished by a giant lizard, but losing something that has been entrusted to you? And getting in trouble at school? That’s big time.

From Roger Ebert’s review of the film.

And that’s really the nature of much of this film’s beauty: In the hands of a good storyteller, real life is more captivating than any science fiction or fantasy tale. Indeed, all fiction aspires to distract us long enough to make a statement about our reality.

This review merely introduces you to the film’s premise. So much more is packed into Majid Majidi’s master work that you’ll just have to watch it for yourself to see.

Note: Children of Heaven is a foreign-language film. But you don’t need to worry. This is absolutely a film for children. The subtitles are brief, simple, and easily understandable for kids in the 2nd or 3rd grade.

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