Mulholland Drive

Four years back when i saw Memento I thought it was one of the most complicated movies ever made.Today after watching David Lynch's Mulholland Drive i feel this could be the big brother of Memento.

I think Mulholland Drive is non-linear, but then i havent understood enough to confirm whether the narration is linear or not. The movie made some sense only after reading the wiki entry. Actually i didn't sit and analyze after the movie, but i dont think analyzing would have helped as such.

The movie was entangled and complex, and i found it tough to interpret. May be there is no single interpretation for the movie or may be there is no interpretation at all. Even the director has actually refused to comment on the interpretation and symbolism of the movie*. One of theories in Wikipedia speculates that the movie could be just a Mobius Strip with no beginning or end.

Anyways if at some point of time, if you are planning to watch Mulholland Drive, here is a cheat sheet* that could help you to understand the movie better.

1. Pay particular attention in the beginning of the film: At least two clues are revealed before the credits.
2. Notice appearances of the red lampshade.
3. Can you hear the title of the film that Adam Kesher is auditioning actresses for? Is it mentioned again?
4. An accident is a terrible event — notice the location of the accident.
5. Who gives a key, and why?
6. Notice the robe, the ashtray, the coffee cup.
7. What is felt, realized, and gathered at the Club Silencio?
8. Did talent alone help Camilla?
9. Note the occurrences surrounding the man behind Winkie's.
10. Where is Aunt Ruth?

Good luck and Happy movie watching!!!

*Contained within the original DVD release is a card titled "David Lynch's 10 clues to unlocking this thriller - Source wiki.

Dhobi Ghat

...is abstract.

Abstract like our life.

Life that started without meaning,

just with people,

people who are nothing but just characters.

Characters with their limitations,

with some that we adore,

and some that we despise.

But its the moments,

the moments that we share with these,

that gives meaning.

Meaning to the relationship,

relationship that defines life,

the life that started as abstract.

It's a Wonderful Life

This is wonderful....

Many a times we never know what difference we make to the life's of people around us. Here is a man, whose dreams are just dreams throughout his life and makes him feel better not born . Trying to kill himself, he experiences a wonderful thing. A thing that makes him realize what he has done to the people around.. Thats the beauty of the movie..

There are certain movies that makes us feel good after watching.. This one belongs to that genre for sure..

This movie is available online in Google videos.





P.S Nandri Hi to Bala for suggesting this movie :)

Adaptations

In recent times, movies has become a pleasure for me to watch rather than a time pass. This is mainly because of the movies which portrays a powerful art in the form of motion picture rather than being an entertaining medium alone. A significant number of beautiful movies that are pleasant to watch are being produced and directed without any lingual or regional barriers. They may not be always thought provoking or inspirational, but they will give you some sense of joy (like reading a book). And interestingly many of such good movies are adaptations from novels. There is always a opinion that books are always better than their movie version. This is mainly because movies cannot provide all the small minute details that a book can provide and the movies cannot fit an abridged book version within a frame of two hours. This gives books an edge over the movies,but still these movies are enjoyable.

Seeing these movies (most of them made in Hollywood), i wonder why such kind of adaptations are not being made in the Indian cine industry. Having watched a considerable number of Indian movies am able to list only a very few numbers which i have watched under this category.

The Namesake -Hindi/English (2007) -Adapted from The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Parineeta - Hindi(2005) -Adapted from Parineeta by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

Aalavandhaan - Tamil(2001) -Adapted from Aalavandhaan by Kamalhaasan

Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal - Tamil(1975) -Adapted from Sila Nerangalil Sila
Manithargal by Jayakanthan

Pather Panchali - Bengali(1955) -Adapter from Pather Panchali by Bibhutibhushan
Bandopadhyay

It will be great to see quite a number of Indian movies to fall under this category. Especially for books and movie lovers like me.. :)

Godavari

A beautiful movie from Tollywood - the Telugu movie industry. No plots, no surprises, no scintillating fight scenes, but still the movie is pleasant to watch. All praise to the national award winning director Shekar Kammula (Masters in Computer Science, University of New Jersey and Masters in Fine Arts, Howard University) and actress Kamalinee Mukerjee for her beautiful on screen appearance.

The movie is a package of good screenplay, direction, cinematography (For showing the river Godavari so beautiful), decent background score and a wonderful song uppongle godavari sung by SPB.

A worth watching movie.

otnemeM

Many a times i have felt good, some times bad, sometimes even irritated after watching a movie..But first time am little confused after seeing a movie... I was bowled while trying to understand the crux of the story.. In fact I knew that the movie is not conventional and i was even expecting some little surprises here and there. But never thought i will get baffled. It even made me feel dumb headed. But the set of FAQ available in the IMDB answered most of my questions with some probable and possible answers.. But still some of my questions are left unanswered.

Was Lenny's wife murdered by some one or by Lenny himself like what Sammy did to his wife?

Is Sammy a character imagined by Lenny or it did exist?

What ever told by Teddy aka Gammell in the climax is true or did he make it up?

I would suggest all movie lovers to watch this movie so that some one can answer my questions :)

On a serious note, Memento is worth watching for its incredible screenplay, direction and editing.. Do watch it once. viewers like me have to watch more than once ;(

Of course don't forget to answer my questions if you ever happened to watch...Blease.. :)

12 Angry Men

"12 Angry Men**"

One of the movies that i watched recently.. 12 Jurors, one room, their prejudice: itha suthi thaan the story will move. 5 minutes thavira full padatha orey room la mudichitaanga. Ithu romba^infinity low budget padamaa irukkumnu nenaikren.

Thigil scenes, Athiradi sandai kaatchigal, Kavarchi kannigal, Brammaandamaana sets, colourful locations, kanna parikra costumes.Itha ellam neenga oru padathula ethir paarpinganna appa ungalukkaana movie illa ithu. Ithu oru Karuppu Vellai thirai chittiram (Black and white movie i say :) )

Padathula suber duper plot ellam ehuvum illa. 12 jurors is about to decide the verdict of a case in which a boy is trialed for killing his father. Every one feels the boy is guilty except one. Antha oruthan kooda avan thappu pannalannu sollala.. He is only not sure whether the boy had done it or not. So he doesn't want to vote for guilt until he is fully convinced.The way the director has shown the mindsets of the jury is fantastic.

Intha padatha namma ovorutharoda personal life la easy ah relate pannidalaam. Every one of us at some point in our life would have reacted or will react like any of this 12 men. The way we make judgements, our arguments, our prejudice towards society, culture, ppl, the face values we give to others without knowing them, reacting emotionally without thinking logical.. itha maathiri naama daily panra pala visahyangala ilai marai kai ah* solli irukkanga...

Good screenply and direction makes the movie worth watching...

*ilai marai kai - its a tamil phrase which means "hidden meaning" . The literal translation of the phrase is "fruits hidden by leaves" . So if u read plainly u wont understand the meaning. If u read between the lines u can get the real meaning.