The reason I quote Metallica is because of one reason. I saw one of the best made movies ever (Inception) and one of the most boring and horrible movies I have ever seen (We are Family) both in the same weekend. While one was scary in what someone can do with your mind when you sleep, the other one is watchable only when you are dozing off. I don’t even need to explain what is what.
I only wish I had seen Inception before WAF (seriously wanting to draw your attention to how close it is to WTF). I could have sat through WAF thinking about inception. Its like drinking warm malt thinking about a cold pint of Westvletere, or making love to someone thinking of Scarlett J or Salma H or whoever else that catches your fantasy
It is sad and shameful to talk about these 2 movies in the same sentence. So here it goes (in chronological order of when I saw them)
We are Family – Intuition is a funny thing, human mind an entirely different story. It is funny why the mind ignores intuition and makes you do crazy things. I knew even before I entered the theatre that this movie was going to be a disaster waiting to happen. Yet there I was the good samaritan who wanted to “spend time with friends”. I’ve never admired the interiors of a movie hall before, but the only realization that this movie gave me was that. What all does it take to make a movie (read theatre) work. The beautiful curtains that I hoped would come down soon to end the torture. PoWs are often said to be subjected to some of the worst punishments in life. Following is a step-by-step training in torture management that the military should implement:
a) Find a dark room (sound proof for the sake of humanity) with some electric sockets
b) Buy the most expensive LED TV and some blue ray disk player
c) Hire movies like Tom Dick and Harry, Pyare Mohan, Kya Kool Hai Hum etc.
d) Watch them repeatedly for 15 days with breaks only for nature calls
e) If this does not help, hire all KJ movies and repeat the above procedure for 15 days
f) If this also does not work watch WAF once. (If it’s a lady or a sentimental guy who cries a river – lock them without tissue rolls)
g) The only thing that will push you over the brink more than the above would be the news of him winning a Bharat Ratna
Albeit no credit taken away from the actors – there were some good performances, but poor them what can they do (And even KJ coz he isn't the director, though investing money in such a venture is still a questionable act). Its like making Michael Schumacher drive a tuned Maruti Alto and expecting him to win a Europe crosstour.
WAF happened on Thursday and Friday went in getting over the grief. Then came Saturday and finally after much anticipation, I went and saw Inception!! (I know I need to be crucified for not watching it this long)
If I need to describe it in one word I would say Brilliance!! I have never had to watch anything with more concentration and had a bad back at the end of the movie coz I spent the last 45 minutes sitting on the edge. Not that I’m a novice movie watcher and didn’t know what will happen next. Its since I’m a reasonable interpreter of events and I wanted to compare what happens with I thought would happen. Some of it did, some didn’t but whatever was on screen takes your breath away.
Ever since Memento I had huge respect for Nolan. And he has certain set schematics for how his movie moves. He follows a certain pattern which is very evident in his movies. My respect for Leonardo is growing after each of his performance ever since Catch Me if You Can. But Inception is beyond the actors and beyond the direction, it is all about conceptualisation. Credit to whoever thought of a concept like this and decided that something like this could be converted to a movie.
The direction and editing is phenomenal and the cinematography is good though there is not much scope in terms of producing something out of the world there. The only problem is, how many people would ever understand it the first time. It is probably not as complicated as I thought it would, but is still complicated enough. And you can’t miss one frame or one word of what is being said. Not that they are all important, but you never when the important stuff comes.
For those who have not seen the movie, please go watch it. Even if you don’t understand it all, you might still appreciate the idea. If you do understand it, am not sure how comfortable your dreams will be. Or it will leave you wondering how you can ever control it so that it doesn’t destroy you. One thing you won’t ever do going forward is sleep in public places. What does make the movie more understandable is that you can relate to the basis of some of the concepts. For ex – time moves faster in a dream or you never remember the beginning of a dream etc. It is a movie you watch atleast twice. The first time you are too caught in the events you may fail to notice certain subtle directorial touches. Watch it twice and you will spot the finesse.
For all my tamil knowing friends – In between i also watched Naan Magaan Alla. It was a different attempt at an all too familiar story, but worth watching once for sure.
All in all, the weekend started badly with the worst ever Thursday evening, but ended really well. Can’t wait for the blue ray release of Inception. And can’t wait for KJ’s next release (only to see if the concept called learning curve works for all!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment