back in form after a long time. watched 5 movies over the weekend.
RGV ki Aag (Hindi/Indian): Its a remake of the old movie "Sholay" released in 70s. The story is almost the same except a few scenes where the events are different. The director chose different camera angles. He wanted to try something different for his much awaited movie. I personally feel that whatever the technical stuff you use should to maximum level improve the way the story is told but not make the stuff complex and difficult for the audience to understand. I guess the second thing has happened in the case of Aag. I was watching the movie and the camera moved so fast (or scenes edited so fast) that at some point I got headache and my eyes couldnt stay on the screen. The other most important reason behind failure of the film is the actress in the role of "ghungroo". She didnt have the correct expressions. She did overact all scenes. The way she says the dialogue "Too much hain" was aweful. The complete characterization was worst. May be the director should have chosen a good one for that role. I assume the director was under pressure to make the movie differently and so he tried ways to do the same stuff differently and I feel there was less creativity in it. The villain "Babban" imitated Marlon Brando in Godfather for some of the scenes and some of the scenes were kinda comic. The positive things were the role of "Rambha bhai", few changes to the old story. Overall the movie is a below average movie. I think the selection of the actress and ordinary camera angles would have made it an average movie atleast.
Requiem for a dream (English):This movie is a good example for presenting stuff differently, novel, effectively,...etc of an old concept. The movie is about "the plight of drug addicts". An ordinary person can make a documentary with this kind of subject but the movie is not a documentary. By the end of the movie I can feel the pain, agony experienced by those people and I never want to get into that stuff. I mean I can literally feel its happening in front of my eyes. Simple narration, absolutely fabulous camera work, good background sound, fine editing and justified ending made the movie a good one. The best camera work was the way the maker portrayed the drug injection done by the guys. The pressing of needle, the adrenaline rush, the enlarging of the eye-ball,..etc. I dont know if this is all true or false but they definitely made an impact on me. As a sub-plot the director also showed that addiction to TV is also not less than consuming drugs. It makes you go to that farthest extent possible. At the end, everyone (all characters) is a loser. This is also an example to show the larger affect images have on human mind than lengthy/boring dialogues. Nothing is said in the climax. All the images are shown with a good back ground music which rises the tension in its audience. It made an impact on me. This movie is an example where the "Goal" and "Need" both are not achieved by the characters. The Goal of these guys was to become big, earn money, live rich life but their need was to earn this movie through selling drugs, consuming drugs, ...etc. This has a moral too, just as a documentary but just not pushed onto us. If your path is drugs,..etc you cant achieve your goal. Nice work by the cast and crew.
Sideways (English): This portrays the life of a loser. I analyze it to be a character-driven movie and not a plot-driven movie. The character doesnt have distinct goal and need. The publishing of book, his reunion with his divorced wife or new life with Maya could have made him happy. His life is just like any normal man's life. The presentation is pretty simple and neat. Miles saves the chevy blanc '61 for a great occassion but at the end when everything goes against him, he drinks that in a burger store, hiding it from people. He decides to let loose everything and live life as it comes. The next thing is he hears back from Maya. So, we assume that he gets Maya and then he might achieve other stuff too. Not a hi-fi flick but a pretty decent one to watch and connect with if you think life is going against you.
Good Will Hunting (English): I liked this a lot. It had so many intense moments and so much of emotions filled scenes. The dramatic question of the movie is: "Does Will Hunting take up the job or act as imagined by the Math professor?". The goal of the movie is that Will take up the NSA job. The need of the character is to solve his personal problem. We come to know by the end that the problem of Will is that he fears losing the people he want. So he acts defensively and loses them before they leave him. But after the counselling by Robin Williams, he gets cured and finally goes back to his girl friend. He doesnt take up the job. So, the need of the movie is fulfilled but not the goal. The inciting incident/catalyst is when Will solves the difficult Math problem, the way he answers the kid in the bar. The mid-point is when he starts talking with Robin Williams. The crisis is when his girl friend leaves him, his friend (Ben Affleck) tells him that he should get into a good job rather than working at the construction site. The climax is the point where Robin Williams tells Well "thats not your fault". Will breaks at this moment and his inner fear comes out. Resolution is that Will starts toward his girl friend, leaves a note for Robin, leaves his home as said by his friend. The last scene when Ben Affleck finds that the guy left made me feel very emotional. The director picturized the scenes awesome. A must watch movie.
The Prestige (English): A different/creative screenplay. The core concept of the movie is about jealousy, hatred-competition. The two guys in the same profession feel jealous and does things to make themselves great to such an extent that they can kill each other for it. The thing that makes this a different movie is its screenplay. The movie is presented as a flash-back revealing incidents from one guy's diary in which that guy reads this guy's diary. So its like seeing a mirror through another mirror. The inciting incident is when ideas of both the guys clash. The big event happens when one person's wife dies. The dramatic question is "who wins the competition and how?" Actually I feel there is no protagonist here. Both have done evil deeds. So, both should be punished. Hence two guys die at end. The only thing is that the identical brother of one of the guys' is alive. The moral is that if you are obsessed with something and do evil acts to gain success, you fail. Though the person loses his wife, he doesnt care. The only thing he always thinks is about is to become famous than the other guy. The other guy is married but keeps secret of his identical brother from her, giving his jealous-filled competition more importance than his wife. So, both of them die at the end. The mid-point is when one of the guys does the "Transported man" magic. Crisis is when the opposite guy tries to achieve the same magic through Tesla. The climax is when the other guy succeeds in performing the trick. Resolution is both of them die, the identical brother is revealed and also how did the Tesla's incomplete experiment work for the guy. A good screenplay.
thats it..
-Shiva
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