As Engaging and Powerful As It Can Get!!

CHANGELING (2008)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich
Rating:****& 1/2

By,
Rahul Ojha

Changeling has Clint Eastwood donning the director’s hat and Angelina Jolie in the lead role. The movie is set in the year 1928 and is based on a true story. Being a Clint Eastwood fan, it is with great expectations that I went and saw this movie. A couple of hours later, the movie ended and there were a plethora of emotions inside of me. Yet another film by Clint Eastwood had had a deep impact on me!

The struggle of a woman to find her lost son is a long gruelling search that turns into a fight against a corrupt police force and an immoral establishment of the city of Los Angeles in the year of 1928. The film highlights the grave injustice the ordinary citizens had to face during that time by the very establishment that was meant to serve and protect them.

If you thought that L.A Confidential showed the dark side of the Los Angeles Police Department then Changeling shows it as a living hell where the words - justice and morals didn’t exist in the dictionary. That such travesties happened in the most powerful democracy in the world is both shocking and shameful.

Changeling is as engaging a drama as it can get! An interesting story is brilliantly executed. The effort put in by the screenplay writer is clearly evident when during the run time of 139 minutes, not once do you feel that the plot is dragging and saying anything too much or too less. Clint Eastwood’s school of cinema is often conventional and focuses on the story. Changeling too is a story well told. On one hand Clint shows the shallowness of a corrupt system and on the other hand he shows the strength and perseverance of a mother which serve as a wakeup call to set things right in the system.

It is the toughest challenge to base a movie in the 1920s and make it seem real and the last time it was done well was in the 2001 Tom Hanks starrer ‘Road to Perdition’. It is the brilliant cinematography in Changeling that gives the film that highly authentic feel in which you are submerged and lost in those 2 hours, witnessing first hand, the mystery unfolding. The backdrop of the city of Los Angeles is after Angelina Jolie, the most important character in the movie. Changeling is high on production values! The film is A + on production values be it the artwork, the cinematography or the costumes and makeup of the characters. It says a lot when you drape the sexiest woman in the world with loose fitted garments and make it seem real!

And lastly let’s talk about Angelina Jolie. I, for long have maintained that she due to her sexy body and those luscious lips she has got more than her due and is overrated as an actress. But now, after having watched this movie, I eat my words! From frame to frame Angelina dominates with her intensity and her subtlety. One feels the excruciating pain and desperation of her character. Like in that horror of a scene when you jump out of your seat crying for help when she is about to get the electrical shock at the asylum or in that scene where she screams and asks the convict whether he indeed killed her son or not! This is what they call an OSCAR winning performance.

The supporting characters of the comforting Reverand, the menace that is Captain Jones, the heinous killer - Northcott, and the morally upright Detective Ybaraa are played well by the different actors and deserve a high amount of praise.

"Changeling" is a very grim movie but it inspires tremendous courage in you. Courage to stand up the next time you face injustice!

Heart Wrenching!

THE WRESTLER (2008)

Director: Darren Afronosky Cast: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Rachel Evan Wood

Rating: ****&1/2

By,
Rahul Ojha

As a kid living in Urban India, I along with many others of my age have grown up watching WWF/WWE, idolizing the likes of Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Bret Heart, Steve Austin and The Rock. Hell, we even had mock fights, copied their moves at school, at home, in short just about anywhere! I can never forget that incident, when I had gone for this school trip to Jaisalmer and the WWF spirit in all of my friends kicked in. I got on top of the cupboard of our room and did a Matt Hardy by jumping on the bed and broke the the ply! It was a matter of time that the house-keeping staff found out and the four of us were in for some serious trouble! Time passed and this passion for WWF went away as we mentally grew up and found out that wrestling was nothing but a staged act carried out by muscled stuntmen. Then what? We stopped watching wrestling altogether!

Darren Afronosky’s film on drug addiction - Requiem for A Dream happens to be one of my favorite films and after hearing so much of appreciation for his new film – The Wrestler, I took the plunge and saw it. After having watched it, I can easily say that 'The Wrestler' is one of the finest films I have ever seen! It gave me an inside perspective on the wrestling world, one that made me realize that what we call fake could be the only real thing in these wrestler’s lives. The beauty of 'The Wrestler' is that it'll appeal to not only the niche audience of wrestling fans but also the genreal cine goers with no interest in wrestling.

The Wrestler makes for a fantastic and fascinating character study. The fictional character of Randy ‘The Ram’ has achieved the pinnacle of fame and success as a wrestler in the 1980s but loses it all and fades into the oblivion. Now, he lives all alone in a trailer park, is poor both materialistically and in terms of relationships. Then Randy despite his fading health, decides to make a big comeback after 20 long years and resurrect his career. The conundrum this chracter faces of deciding which place he truly belongs – the wrestling world where the fans cheer and shout when he jumps from the top of the ring or the actual world where he lives in the wilderness and is just a middle aged man going through financial and emotional crisis, makes for the rest of the plot.

The Wrestler shows you the de-glamorized and behind the rings footage of what actually happens in the wrestling world - of how fights are choreographed and the hazards these athletes take. Essentially, the plot can be divided into three parts – Randy’s comeback, the stripper played by Marisa Tomei whom Randy visits as a customer but develops feelings for, and his daughter with whom he tries to mend his broken relationship. The turmoil that the protagonist goes through in these three areas of his life truly shakes you. All along you feel and are moved by the entire range of emotions of this character, be it his frustrations, regret, anger, anguish or cynicism. The screenplay is filled with so many deeply moving moments that bring out the tears in your eyes.

Mickey Rourke, the boxer turned actor who plays Andy is pretty much at home playing the tough wrestler and does a great job at that. But what surprises is you is his perfection and brilliance in the scenes where he shows or expresses his emotions. The scene where he confesses his regret to his daughter makes you dig inside your pocket for that handkerchief! It is a phenomenal performance by Mickey Rourke and it would be criminal on the part of the Academy to deny him an OSCAR for the ‘Best Performance in a leading role.’ Other highly noteworthy performances are of Marisa Tomei who plays the stripper and Randy’s daughter played by Rachel Wood, who is with her raw emotions in the scene where her father fails to turn up for the dinner he promised they’d take together, deeply impacts you.

Darren Afronosky has got it all right ‘The Wrestler’. It is grounded, true to life tale and one of the best, if not the best movies of 2008. And yes I reiterate that there's no one more deserving than Mickey Rourke for the best actor OSCAR this year. Its a knock out performance!

Benjamin Button's epic journey of life...

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

Director: David Fincher Cast: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett

Rating: * * * * *

By,
Rahul Ojha

An old lady lying in the hospital bed with her daughter besides her is counting her last hours. It’s pouring outdoors and the weather report on the Television news channel warns of a hovering hurricane, the destination of which is not known. In the midst of this turbulent backdrop ,the old lady requests her daughter to open the thick diary kept in the corner of the room. The daughter starts reading out and an epic memoir unfolds.

Rewind to the year 1918.....

The story of the life of Benjamin Button, a man who was born old and wrinkled, and ageing backwards epitomises and philosophizes with a high degree of subtlety the transience of human lives, their relationships and mental faculties. It’s like that painting which at first glance you would find vague but on closer examination you can interpret the meaning of each and every stroke made by the painter and admire its true beauty. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (TCCOBB) is a wonderfully crafted painting, the brilliance of which you can appreciate only if you use all your senses and truly feel the movie.

It is inevitable that while watching this, you are reminded of and draw comparisons to that very endearing film – Forrest Gump. Characters of both the movies are naive, gullible, are essentially all alone in their journey of life and have a steady and inextinguishable flame of love for the girl they met and befriended in childhood. But David Fincher’s treatment of Benjamin Button is passionate, very artistic and not as feel good as Forrest Gump. David Fincher departs from the dark movies like Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac which he is known for.

Life is all about those magical moments – your first breadth, the first step you take, your first day at school, the first time your heart skips a beat, the first kiss, the first love, the first heartbreak, the first pay cheque, the day you tie the knot, giving birth and raising your own kin and alas facing the inevitable. Benjamin Button’s life wonderfully captures these events in reverse order. It is the implausibility of the storyline which brings about the beauty and essence of the film and what it is trying to convey – “Life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments.”

The only problem with ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is that for all its artiness, one is never actually at the edge of their seat. The plot and series of events are quite predictable. Don’t expect or wait for a scene that’ll make you hold your stomach and laugh out loud. Instead what you will be served from time to time is heart warming moments that will emotionally move you.

The casting of each and every character is perfect and their performance brilliant. With so many dimensions to the title in character of Benjamin Button and the time-line of the story it is a very difficult role indeed. But, Brad Pitt does justice to every layer of this character and simply outstands in his portrayal of Benjamin Button. Cate Blanchett also proves why she is one of the most critically appreciated leading actresses around.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is also an excellent endeavour in cinematography, background score, dialog writing and screenplay. With the OSCARS round the corner it will certainly be in the middle of all the action!

Deserving of not a Million but Billion applauses!

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Director: Danny Boyle

Rating: ****&1/2

By,
Rahul Ojha

There are movies and there are movies. Some entertain while some are cinematically brilliant but lack mass appeal. And then there are some like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ that transcend all barriers and manage to do both.

At its very core ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ is a magnificent love story, which seems like a fairytale, yet it is so damn realistic and believable. We have all dreamt of the perfect romance, the kind which blossoms and gets better over time like wine. Slumdog Millionaire is living that dream on celluloid for two hours. It’s about the perseverance of the protagonist, a Mumbai slum kid named Jamal portrayed brilliantly by the two child actors and Dev Patel, to unite with the love of his life – Latika, whom he met, fell in love and was separated from in the direst of circumstances.

Filmed entirely in India, it captures the life, the spirit, the greatness and the follies of the nation and its people in a way, which perhaps no other foreign film has been able to. In fact the excellent production values achieved by this US-UK and Indian joint venture is something that will put many popular Indian film-makers to shame. Of course, it goes without saying that this venture would not shine without the A Grade effort of the Indian crew right from the assistant director to the lower level technicians. The soundtrack composed by A.R. Rehman is a major highlight of the movie. His brilliance in this foreign venture stands out proving that Indian artists can match the best of the best in the business. Each of Rahman’s composition has the effect of cocaine injected into your blood stream.

The British director, Danny Boyle is clearly the captain of the ship. Slumdog has some clear and refined shades of his other highly acclaimed movie – Trainspotting. But here Boyle outdoes that effort by perfectly understanding the essence of this Indian story, bringing out its soul, thereby brilliantly executing it. In fact, Indian film maker Madhur Bhandarkar would do well to learn a lesson or two on how not to stereo-type and play the same record again and again.

Coming back to the film, the game show, 'Who Wants To Be a Millionaire' hosted by Anil Kapoor is the pivot around which the story revolves. Jamal, a chaiwala in a call center is on the verge of winning the grand prize in this popular show. But how could a chaiwala, a slum boy possibly do that? His euphoria is short lived as he is arrested on suspicion of cheating and interrogated by the police inspector played by Irrfan Khan. The story goes back and forth, with Jamaal revealing his adventurous journey with his elder brother Salim and Latika, the love of his life. The riveting tale starts from the slums of Mumbai. With a glib charm it gives us an engrossing depiction of their turbulent lives which take unanticipated turns time and again. It is commendable how brilliantly plots like the massacre of Muslims and the organized child- begging business are woven into the story. As is often the case to gain audience's sympathy for the characters, the film-makers do not resort to any emotional manipulation even in the most intense scenes. Instead, they establish a strong and resilient central character of Jamal backed up by equally powerful characters of Salim and Latika. Whenever they are in a spot of bother the viewer is rooting for them with all his heart just like in a football match when one supports a minnow against the league champion.

Slumdog millionaire will uplift you to a feel good pedestal where you are less cynical and in a more positive life state. That there is a thing called DESTINY will force even the cynic to think about once he watches this. Of course, destiny always doesn’t have to be as over the top as shown in Slumdog but it does exist in everybody’s life and that the elements of the universe conspire for you to achieve your's.

Maybe in that envelope for the 2009 OSCARS there is a card where it is written : BEST MOTION PICTURE – Slumdog Millionaire.

Plays To The Galleries...

Ghajini (2008)

Rating: *****

By,

Rahul Ojha

Its one of the most hyped movies in Bollywood history and over the past eight months we’ve heard and seen it all – the hair cut, the jokes about the Aamir-ferocious-look, Aamir’s guide to get the 8-Pack abs and the brilliant marketing campaign in build up to the release, which will make for a fascinating case study for marketing students at the country’s premier B-Schools. But talking about the core product itself i.e. the movie – Ghajini, one has questions. Is it yet another cinematic masterpiece coming from the Aamir Khan school of cinema? Does it live up to the tremendous hype? Is it the best movie of the year? Unfortunately, as is often the case with over- hyped extravaganzas the answer to all these three questions is NO. But is it a bad movie? Certainly not! That this will be liked by the movie goers by and large and that it will be a blockbuster is a foregone conclusion.

First up, let’s set the record straight. Ghajini is a remake of a South Indian movie of the same name which itself is inspired (the favourite word for Indian film-makers when they blatantly copy foreign material) from Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece – Memento (2000). Therefore, you can’t credit it with any points for originality. But director Murgadoss’s ‘Ghajini’ is NOT a scene by scene copy of Memento. And how could it ever be? The film makers realise (or assume) that the average Indian movie goer is too unintelligent to grasp an intriguing, non linear type of storytelling with a twist in the end that would leave him dumb founded. Hence, to rake in the moolah, the film makers turn Ghajini into mishmash of Memento and Masala cinema of the 70’s and to add icing on the cake – action straight from the Rajnikanth School of Martial Arts. Now that is what makes for entertainment for the masses!

Ghajini’s ‘Indianised’ storyline has all the three hallmarks of a blockbuster, the 3Rs – Romance, Revenge and the Righteous ending. It has a back and forth style of storytelling which doesn’t warrant a crossword solving approach by the viewer. Sixty percent into the run time and the viewer knows what it will culminate into!

The romance element in the movie is endearing with newcomer Asin doing a great job of playing the chirpy girl next door and Aamir as the ambitious business tycoon mesmerized by her earthy ways. We break into romantic ballads courtesy dream sequences (The tracks, Guzarish and Kaise Mujhe will go down as A.R. Rehman’s best works). The romance blossoms, but the inevitable tragedy strikes and a revenge seeking animal is born.

The build up to the climax is great as the screenplay engages the emotions of the viewer making him feel the grief and pain of the terrible tragedy of the protagonist’s girl friend brutally murdered in front of his own eyes. You expect one-helluva ending, something like the ending of ‘Unforgiven’ in which Clint Eastwood left you awe-struck. But Ghajini’s climax is laughable! Aamir Khan gets possessed by Rajnikanth. Dhoom-dhaam-dhishum, bodies fly in the air at the touch of a finger! Mission Accomplished!

From start to finish, Ghajini is dominated by the one and only, Aamir ‘Ferocious’ Khan. It is the sort of role only a few can do justice to and performance wise it won’t be an understatement to say that even the toughest of men in Hindi cinema like Dharam Paaji (in his prime) or Sunny Deol couldn’t play the revenge seeking Sanjay Singhania any better than Aamir Khan! Yes, as always he successfully re-invents himself and hats off to that! But you can’t help but wonder what was his motive in selecting this role? Maybe because, its a tailor made role to get the whistles from the 'front rows' and an attempt to establish himself as the biggest undisputed superstar of Hindi Film Industry.

All the dissection done, Ghajini is an entertaining and riveting affair, a onetime watch but nothing beyond that. One expects an Aamir Khan flick to be an intelligent affair and the film-makers (Aamir included) use this image to masquerade Ghajini as a different, creative and intelligent piece of work which it is certainly not. Ghajini is conveniently contrived and has half a dozen plot holes which if given attention to insult your basic intelligence! Why the pretense? Why not sell it as a no-brainer-masala pot-boiler in the first place?