Arrival (2016)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Screenplay: Eric Heisserer (based on the book by Ted Chiang)

Cast: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker

Music: Jóhann Jóhannsson

Time: 116 minutes

Bottom-line: Interesting concept, and well executed! 

Why are they here?

Denis Villeneuve’s version of Michael Crichton’s science fiction novel (and one of my all-time favourites) Sphere, is Arrival. This science fiction drama stays far away from all the clichés we usually associate with alien invasions, and in fact, turns out to be quite thought-provoking. Amy Adams plays the lead, supported by Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker.

There are days that define your story beyond your life… like the day they arrived.

A linguist, Louise Banks (Adams), is lecturing at a university one day, when twelve enormous space-crafts land across the planet. U.S Army Colonel Weber (Whitaker) asks her to join physicist Ian Donnelly (Renner), to decipher the alien language and find out their purpose. Banks and Donnelly make several trips to meet the seven-limbed alien species, and slowly get a grip on their language: not words, but just circular patterns. Banks also has several – at times disturbing – flashbacks of her daughter, who dies at an early age. As she becomes more fluent in the language, she realises the symbols are not just vocabulary, but something far more complex and mind-boggling…

 

Renner as Ian, and Adams as Louise 

I liked the idea of a psychological thriller using the concept of an alien invasion, rather than just an all-out assault film. There also innumerable similarities with the Crichton novel: the concept of a new language, circular symbols and vivid dreams. Like other Villeneuve films, there is a lot of screen time given for setting up the plot, so while the pace is a bit slow, the story is quite intriguing. One thing I still haven’t been able to figure out is the truth behind Louise’s dreams; the rest of the science in the film works out well, and in fact, gives us a lot to think about – like the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and the causal loop.

In all the three collaborations between Villeneuve and Jóhannsson, the score has always been chilling and suspenseful; Arrival is certainly his best among the three. The visual effects were brilliant too. I was reminded a little bit of Jaws, where for most of the movie the presence of the beast was felt, even without actually seeing it; the same technique is employed here, with the heptapod aliens – most of the time they are behind a translucent barrier, but the way their presence is indicated keeps you riveted. Amy Adams’ delivers one of her best performances here. Playing the role of a grieving mother, and a linguist convincing others to listen to her theories, and ultimately being the hero of the day, she carries the role with great responsibility.

One such pattern the aliens use 

The best aspect of Arrival is that it actually focuses on science; just on the surface level, but that’s good enough. There is lot of attention given to detail, and that makes it all the more engrossing.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%

La La Land (2016)

Director: Damien Chazelle

Story: Damien Chazelle

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

Music: Justin Hurwitz

Time: 127 minutes

Bottom-line: Colourful and emotional; a feel-good movie

Winner of seven Golden Globes this year, including Best Picture, Director, Actor and Actress, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land is certainly going all in this award season. This rom-com drama starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone leaves you (as an reviewer said) “with a tear in your eye and a song in your heart”.

A barista/aspiring actress, Mia (Stone) and a jazz pianist, Sebastian (Gosling) cross paths in an LA highway. Mia is rejected in every audition she goes to, and Sebastian is fired for playing jazz when his boss explicitly told him not to. Both of them, despite initial hostility towards the other, slowly start to become close, with Sebastian taking Mia to jazz clubs and cultivating an interest in her. Mia wants to become a full time professional, while Sebastian tells her his desire to start his own jazz club, in a time when jazz is dying. In a land of dreams, will the two of them realise theirs?

Finally, someone had the idea to make a musical! In an era where action and thrillers seem to be the most sought after, Chazelle’s La La Land is a refreshing break. From the opening song, “Another Day in the Sun”, every scene is filled with dazzling visuals, foot-tapping songs, stylish dance moves, and of course, wonderful acting. The title refers to the “land of dreams”, and the story focusses on how Mia and Sebastian encourage each other to follow their own. They fail, they fight, they get hurt, and the script is so well-written that the viewers vicariously feel everything all the way. The last scene of the film reminds me a bit of City Lights: man and woman sharing one last smile, leaving everyone watching it, in tears.

Gosling as Sebastian, and Stone as Mia

I like the visual effects and the cinematography, especially during the song sequences “Planetarium”, “A Lovely Night” and “Epilogue” (that beautifully captures a “what could have been” story). The chemistry between the two lead actors is what makes the magic work. Ryan Gosling – playing the suave, chivalrous and talented jazz pianist – and Emma Stone – playing the funny, emotional and equally talented actress – each of them give it their all and really make the film spring to life with their committed performances.

In a tale of romance, sacrifice, music, dance and of course, dreams, the best part turns out to be the simple story made so entertaining because it is a musical. I would have preferred a better ending, but, then again, this is a reminder that not all our dreams might come true.

My Rating: 4/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 93%

Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru (2016)

English translation: Sixteen extremes

Director: Karthick Naren

Story: Karthick Naren

Cast: Rahman, Prakash Raghavan

Music: Jakes Bejoy

Time: 105 minutes

Bottom-line: Superb work for a debut, but far from flawless

In recent years, most of the debut films made by new directors have all amazed me: Thegidi, Soodhu Kavvum, Jigarthanda and Neram to name a few. Having heard the latest such debut film, Dhuruvangal Pathinaaru (or D16) is quite good, I had to see it. While the immediate reactions of the audience would have been gasps of surprise and shocks at the plot twists, a little mental rewind revealed to me, several plot holes and loose ends.

2021, Ooty: Retired inspector Deepak (Rahman) is living a peaceful life in Ooty, when he gets a visitor aspiring to join the police force. They discuss Deepak’s last case, which cost him his leg: that of a psycho killer, back in 2016, Coimbatore. At around 2AM, a masked assailant commits a murder in an apartment complex. At the same time, three boys accidentally kill a stranger who jumps in front of their car. They hide the corpse in the car and plan to dispose it off in the morning. The next morning, a girl complains that her flatmate has gone missing, and it is the same house of the murder. In a situation full of coincidences and surprises, what really happened that night?

 

Rahman as Deepak (left), and his assistant Gautham (Prakash Raghavan)

The first half leaves us with too many unanswered questions, which would have been really good if only all of them were answered. Yes, it is impressive in terms of the suspense, atmosphere and the setup, and the fact that we get our dose of entertainment in a compact 105 minutes, not to forget the jolting plot twists… but while these are what you register in your mind immediately, a little pondering and revisiting of the events make you question the logic. A lot of “whys” crop up which you may satisfy with your imaginative answers (I doubt it), but the onscreen content is vague.

The cinematography is something I really liked, especially the way long shots and slow-motion have been employed here. The background score is chilling and sets up the atmosphere beautifully. There are no songs or unnecessary violence/cop-beating-up-10-guys-with-one-punch type nonsense, which is good! I also liked the fact that the acting crew was entirely new, except for Rahman. The acting was a bit monotonous, but I felt it matched the situation.

So, depending on how many loose ends you can let go unnoticed or solve with your own logic, you will find the film that much sensible. The visual presentation is excellent, and credit must be given for making an unconventional thriller film. However, if a good edge-of-the-seat-suspense detective thriller is what you expect, then Thegidi or even Yavarum Nalam is a far better alternative.

P.S: Don’t get confused by the YouTube trailer. It’s only job is to make you more interested in the film!

My Rating: 3/5

The Dirty Picture (2011)

Director: Milan Luthria

Story: Rajat Aroraa

Cast: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi

Music: Sandeep Shirodkar, Vishal Shekhar

Time: 144 minutes

Bottom-line: Vidya Balan’s magnum opus… a surprisingly clean film

“Dirty”, controversial, and highly talked-about (till date too), The Dirty Picture – irrespective of how the name sounds – is one of the most realistic, dramatic and powerful films made in India, this decade. The film stars Vidya Balan in the lead – who later won the National Award for Best Actress – who gives her best performance till date. Supporting her are Naseeruddin Shah, Tusshar Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi and Anju Mahendru.

 

Balan as Silk, with Kapoor as Ramakanth

In Chennai, one day before her marriage, Reshma (Balan) runs away from her house. Determined to become an actress, she approaches a casting director who insults her and sends her away. She gets an opportunity as a side dancer, but her erotic movements anger the director, Abraham (Hashmi), who erases the song sequence. The producer, Selva Ganesh, however, thinks it will make a fortune with the tickets and releases it in smaller towns. Ganesh offers Reshma a role in his upcoming film, and says that from then on she would be referred to as “Silk”. She has to dance with her childhood idol, Suryakanth (Shah), and soon she makes a lot of films with him, and starts to have a sexual relationship with him too. Despite his wealth and popularity, things go down the drain when a critic, Nayla (Mahendru) insults Silk in her reviews. Moreover she realises that people look at her as nothing more than a “dirty secret”. Her subsequent deterioration: professionally and personally, forms the rest of the film.

Shah as Suryakanth

Rajat Aroraa’s script deals with themes like Silk’s early career, then her rise to fame and popularity, interspersed with her relationship with Suryakanth, and later his brother Ramakanth (Kapoor), to finally her fall. The Dirty Picture is a biopic of not only Silk Smitha (a South Indian actress known for her erotic roles), but also her other South Indian contemporaries, according to the filmmakers. There is a lot of erotic content on the screen, but that’s what makes the film realistic. In fact, Luthria had to convince Balan that what she was doing was not crude or cheap. Silk herself says so in the movie (to the audience and filmmakers): “You people make erotic films, even give awards to the stars, but are hesitant to acknowledge them.” This is the bitter truth: how directors and producers people like Silk to boost the sales but the criticism falls solely on the actors.

 

Hashmi as Abraham

The movie thrives on Vidya Balan, who is simply outstanding here; who would have thought she would have pulled off such a difficult role with such grace and class! Indeed, she might be playing a “sex symbol” but what commitment! The expressions, body language and her lines are a class apart. She brings a new level of heroism to the screen; how one woman faces so much criticism and personal heartbreaks and still fights on. Her transition from the simple South Indian girl to Silk is remarkable. Naseeruddin Shah, as always, delivers a good performance; his display of superiority, arrogance and infidelity could well induce a burning inside you as a viewer.

You can be assured The Dirty Picture is not a light-hearted movie; it is quite deep in terms of content. Despite whatever vicarious sensual experience you might get during the movie, once it is over you realise what a tragedy it is: how one’s talent is misused to such an extent that it ruins that person’s life. As Abraham’s character says, “What Silk did…is it right or wrong? I don’t know.” However, provided you can handle the content, this three-National-Award winner is a must watch!

My Rating: 3.5/5

Grave of the Fireflies (Hotaru no haka) (1988)

Director: Isao Takahata

Screenplay: Isao Takahata (based on the short story by Akiyuki Nosaka)

Cast: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi

Music: Michio Mamiya

Time: 89 minutes

Bottom-line: Deeply moving. A masterpiece in animation

A World War II story from the Japanese point of view, Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most moving and beautiful pictures made on this topic. There is no fancy 3D animation graphics, or grand visual effects, but with good old Japanese animation and a powerful portrayal of the tale of survival of a brother-sister couple, this film will be etched in your memory for a long time.

21 September 1945: The story begins in Sannomiya Railway station, where a boy, Seita (Tatsumi), is shown dying of starvation. After removing his body, a janitor finds a candy tin on him, which he throws away. From the tin, the spirit of Seita’s sister, Setsuko (Shiraishi), comes out, and is joined by the spirit of Seita, and the latter starts narrating the story, from 17 March, 1945. The two siblings hide in a shelter, hiding from an air raid. Their mother however, doesn’t survive. They take shelter under their distant aunt, to whom Seita sells off their mother’s kimonos to pay for food. As food becomes harder to come by, the siblings decide to live on their own. Slowly times get harder, and Seita is forced to steal to keep the two of them barely alive. How they endure the ordeal of the war is what the film is about.

 

Seita (left) and Setsuko

This is the first animated film I am seeing that doesn’t have a comedy track. From the start, there is an aura of depression. The story takes place in the last few months of the War, and we are not made aware of the suffering of the family before that period. The animation is quite vivid… the images of their mother’s burnt body causes your stomach to turn too. The expressions of the characters: the sadness, the subtle instances of happiness, the terror and fear are beautifully captured. The portrayal of the pitiable conditions and the effects of malnutrition are realistic enough to make you empathise with Seita and Setsuko. Given that depressing tone, all their little moments of joy seem to stand out… the elation when Setsuko releases the fireflies, when she eats the fruit drops, to name a few.

The fact that the film focusses on a short time period makes it possible to emphasise more on the gradual degradation of the couple’s health and mental strength. First they lose their mother, then their aunt chases them out, then Seita is forced to steal food, but finally they still fall prey to malnutrition. The last twenty minutes are the most emotional moments; we see Seita finally cook a proper healthy food with all of Setsuko’s favourite items, but the latter has already passed away… it is unbelievable how through the eyes of a brother and sister the devastating effects of war can be so accurately portrayed.

Grave of the Fireflies is quite grim in narration, and it is not exactly a children’s film. Some maturity is needed to fully appreciate it. However, if you are willing to take a look at the Japanese point of the War, then this is probably the best place to start. Wonderful visuals, solid storyline and some brilliant background music make this an animated masterpiece.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 97%