Lights, Camera, Action!!

Movies, ah, who doesn’t love them!! This is a topic I’ve been thinking of writing since summer of '08. Back then, I had just finished a 3 month long movie marathon. A daytime in any of those 90 days meant either watching films or searching for them in libraries. This insanity had to stop at some point obviously (and sadly); nevertheless I have tried to continue my quest, albeit with much less fervour.

This prose is akin to a dissertation at the end of this pseudo-doctoral exercise (wish this could be a resume point). I’ve tried to list down the best I’ve seen in various genres and talk a little about them. However, I’ve deliberately avoided all obvious classics (Shawshank Redemption, Life is Beautiful, Godfather, Forest Gump etc) or big blockbusters (Titanic, Jurassic Park kinds). Instead, I'd like to put forth other lesser known marvels whose commercial absence is compensated by their creative brilliance. Be warned, it’s going to be a long one ......and yawning is prohibited.

Best Acting

Bruno Ganz (The Downfall)
This movie was made from the account of Adolf Hitler’s personal secretary. Bruno plays Hitler in his final days of life in the bunker. The movie tries to show the real Fuhrer behind the closed doors – his idiosyncrasies, histrionics and absolute belief in his grandiose plans till the very end. Bruno has done a great job in portraying the man inside the dictator.

Daniel Day Lewis (My Left Foot) 
Absolutely stunning performance by Daniel who plays a poor Irish man suffering from cerebral palsy. His performance is so strong that you become convinced Daniel is a real life cripple, and watching him walk in other movies feels like miracle. There are certain scenes which deserve winning ‘Oscar of Oscars’, if there was any.

Edward Norton (American History X)
I find it very difficult to express how much this movie impressed me. This movie very eloquently shows both sides of a highly controversial and universtal topic - immigration, ethnic bigotry. Edward plays an ultra rightist skin-head.


Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, Cast Away)
In his case the difficult part would be to pick one performance among many contenders. If humans ever concocted an elixir, guys like Tom Hanks should be forced to take a sip for the sake of future generations.

Best Documentaries

Thrilla in Manila 
I have grown up reading amazing things about Mohammed Ali, like the fact (maybe rumour) that his credit card mentions his name as GOAT (Greatest of All Times). Later in my college, when I took avid interest in advertising, Nike used to be one of my favourite advertisers – primarily due to their inspiring ‘Ali’ campaign. However, one documentary changed all my opinion about this man. I feel bad that in today’s time, most heroes are just marketing products (like Tiger Woods). There exist equally, if not better, talented heroes (like Joe Frazier) who are languishing in obscurity just because they were too humble or in this case too nice. This documentary shows Ali and Frazier’s rivalry at its peak, and all the dirty things Ali did to win his title.

By the way, did you know that the movie Rocky (a modest Philadelphia meat factory worker becoming a boxing champion) is largely based on Joe’s life? It’s a shame that Philadelphia has a statute dedicated to Rocky Balboa (Rocky’s fictional hero) but none for the actual inspiration for the film, their own local Joe Frazier.

Night & Fog
One of the earliest films on holocaust. Though I’ve seen countless pictures of concentration camps before, I haven’t seen anything so horrifying or inhuman as this. It is certainly not enjoyable, but reminds us of what our species is capable of doing.

Pioneers in Aviation
A trip to Seattle and the Boeing museum few years back has instilled in me a lifelong respect for the Aviation industry. Before this trip, my degree in Electronics prejudiced me to believe Transistor to be the fundamental invention which brought the biggest change to mankind in the shortest time (1948: Birth of Transistor – 1980s: wide usage of computers). However, I now think this title goes to Aviation. For many centuries man has dreamt of flying like birds. This desire was the basis of many a folklore (Greek Icarus' wax wings) and also led to many deaths of foolhardy inventors in Europe. And then, two brothers running a bicycle repair shop in Ohio made it possible in 1902. From that point, it took just 67 years for us to be able to walk on the moon. Isn’t that quick?

This documentary is a biopic on the lives of two of the greatest pioneers of Aviation – William Boeing (a pure businessman with no scientific background) & Donald Douglas (an engineering genius with no business background). This movie shows how the competition between these two geniuses took us from simple wooden aircrafts to the jet-age. Just to add a little context, there was nothing called Aviation 'industry' when they had started. Aircrafts were just rich men’s hobby.

Bus 174
In 2000 a young street criminal walked into a bus in Rio and took the passengers hostage in broad daylight. Within moments the bus was surrounded by armies of media and police; the entire episode flashed live in all living rooms of Brazil. What unfolded next is hours of thrilling drama between a petty yob turned national enemy #1 and the state police, with each side's every move watched live by the entire country. This documentary also explores the socio-economic conditions of Rio which, more than anything else, is responsible for creating such tragic incidents.

Best War/Action

Enemy at the Gates 
This movie made me realise that the only people who died on battlegrounds are soldiers. The real biggies, whose elimination can discourage/defeat a thousand men, are not killed by bravery, but by deceit. Before this movie I never knew how vital a role snipers played in changing the course of major wars.

Downfall
A WW2 movie without even a single bullet. As I said earlier, it shows Hitler in his last few days in the bunker.

Machuca
Among all possible war scripts, perhaps the best are Civil wars. Personally, I like them more because they tend to be more fundamental and intriguing in nature – in most cases a divide caused by a strongly differing ideology. Machuca is the tale of friendship between a rich and a poor boy against the backdrop of General Augusto Pinochet’s coup in Chile.

U571
Seeking to capture the cipher for Hitler’s Enigma, American troops disguised as Germans end up on a destroyed U-boat with no English manuals. Completely on their own, the team's situation becomes very tricky when Germans suspect something fishy with the U-boat.

This movie was well received, though it did not rub-off particularly well with the Brits who weren’t happy with the Americanisation of the story (it was actually Brits who captured the cipher in the war). The then President, Bill Clinton had to console the Brits telling them the movie was just a work of fiction.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Two brothers fighting for Irish freedom end up on the opposing sides when truce is signed with Britain. Each becomes a traitor and anti-national in the eyes of the other.

Best Thrillers/Crime

The Departed
This is not exactly a low profile movie. Big stars, bigger director & Oscar glory. Nevertheless it is an exception I want to make for the benefit of those who may not have watched it yet. Would you believe me if I told you that I had to pause this movie several times to allow my excitement to sink in? The suspense peaks so much at some places that you almost feel you’re going to suffer a cardiac arrest. An ultimate thriller.

Heat
A mafia movie, but with absolute class. This cat and mouse game between Robert De Niro and Al Pacino is a must watch. De Niro is by far the best villain ever. His negative characters (Godfather, Heat, Goodfellas) are so cunning and sharp that the viewer can be forgiven for siding him.

City of God
A entertaining and entwining story of young kids/boys who run organised crime in one of Rio's infamous flavelas nicknamed 'City of God'. The story is narrated through the eyes of a neutral non-participant kid who dreams of becoming a photographer. This movie contains extreme amount of reckless violence and is not recommended for the weak hearted. Based on a true story.

Best Love/Romance

The Postman

A sweet comical story of a postman who gets an opportunity to deliver mails (mostly female fan mail) to the poet Pablo Neruda serving his exile in an Italian village. The postman's desire and inability to woo his love interest makes him seek help from Pablo. This teacher-pupil relationship between a celebrated poet and a rustic villager is cute and transforms into a good friendship.

Best Sports/Adventure

The Motorcycle Diaries
A true story of two young friends who toured all around South America on a rickety bike nicknamed ‘La Pedarosa’ (The Mighty One). Theirs is an inspiring journey filled with trials, tribulations, fun, introspection and realisation. This movie is based on the diary written by the younger of the two, who is now remembered as Che Guevara.

Touching the Void 

Unfortunately there aren't enough good movies made in genres like comedy, romance or sports. The best directors seem to be prejudiced towards Drama, Thrillers or History. Or perhaps it is more difficult to make good comedies or movies on sports. 'Touching the Void' is actually a sports documentary. However, since much of the movie is a reconstruction I have listed it here (besides the fact that documentary section is already too long).

This is the gripping tale of two young Britons (Joe Simpson & Simon Yates) who tried to scale Siula Grande in Peru through its west face, becoming the first to conquer using that route. Their ascent was a success, however their descent wasn't exactly smooth (70% of mountaineering accidents happen while descending). I don't want to spill any beans, except one fact - a particular step they took for their survival became a subject of worldwide debate and criticism, to the extent that Simon was about to be banned from moutaineering for life. It is at this point that his mate Joe wrote the book to tell the world their story. This documentary is based on this book. Mountaineering and Aviation accidents have one thing in common - they rarely have survivors!!

Best Old Classics

Casablanca
I love it for its dialogues. Pre-1950 heroes had a particular style infused in their characterisation – specially their loose self-aggrandising wit. It sounds very funny if you watch it now.

It’s a Wonderful Life
I did not know about this movie until I went to the US, where I believe it as integral part of Christmas as is a Turkey roast. A simple optimistic story which is thoroughly enjoyable. Surprisingly this story hasn’t been copied by others in the last 60+ years, or at least I haven’t come across ‘inspired’ versions.

Bicycle Thieves
This often discussed 1948 classic lives up to its expectations. A very moving father-son story in which the father succumbs to the pressures of the cruel world and the son is shattered to see him punished in public.

Most Over-Rated
(there are many, but here are the biggest disappointers)

Magnolia
I can never understand why this film scores high on all movie rankings. I have failed to get its message.

Dial M for Murder (or most Hitchcock movies) 

While I understand that most movies should only be judged as per their time, I still can’t fathom why many of Hitchcock’s movies are so popular that his name has became a genre of its own. Some the biggest Hitchcock hits (like Rear Window) never appealed to me because I did not find the final revelation convincing or clever. His only decent film just good enough to watch even now would be ‘Strangers on a Train’.

Pulp Fiction 

Here comes the King. Definitely the most over-rated movie in the history of mankind. I’d like to take a moment to describe what I feel about Quentin Tarantino’s work. He and his movies aim to be different, and they do achieve that objective, except they fail in every other department. Pulp fiction had disappointed me like none other, but I felt it would not be fair to judge a cult movie/director on the basis of just one movie. So I watched three more (Kill Bill 1, KB2 and Reservoir Dogs). Result : My regard for Quentin halved at the end of every movie, and now it doest exist anymore.

Top 5 Films

The Departed
Talked about earlier.

The Prestige
An unheatlhy rivalry between two magicians sets off a chain of malicious tricks and obsessive pursuits to outwit the competitor.

American History X
Talked about earlier.

Sometimes in April
Many people recommend me the movie ‘Hotel Rwanda’. It’s indeed a nice one, but no compare to ‘Sometimes in April’ which deals with the same subject. The difference between these two is that in Hotel Rwanda much of the story is inside the hotel, whereas in 'Sometimes in April' the camera ventures out onto the streets. The difference in results is quite stark.

The Sea Inside
When I watched 'Life is Beautiful' in my college some years ago, I was so deeply impressed that I assumed no other movie could come even close. It remained my #1 favourite ever since, and even now I count it among my top 3. However it's reign ended after I watched Alejandro Amenabar' classic - 'The Sea Inside'. It is a truly exceptional movie arguing on two sides of a subject we assume everybody concurs on. It’s the true story of a bed ridden Spaniard, Ramon Sampedro, who fought for 30 years for his right to die.

Top 5 Directors (in no specific order)

Coen Brothers
Martin Scorsese
Clint Eastwood
Steven Spielberg
Christopher Nolan

Special Mention: Anybody who likes good intelligent filmmaking should watch Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant'. A very different and difficult style of film-making on an ordinary subject. This is the best non-linear film I have seen till date.

This ends my long discourse on movies. I hope I haven't killed you by cerebral suffocation. Anyways, we all have our own list of movie favorites. If you strongly feel I've missed any good movie, pls suggest them to me. Over years I've been able to see some of the best movies, thanks to disagreeing friends like you :)