The Hunt

The Hunt (Orignal Danish title: Jagten), which was released early this year has been receiving showers of praise from almost everyone who has seen it. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg , one of the founding brothers of the Dogme 95 film movement in Danish Cinema, this film has all that it takes to present a simple yet powerful picture in front of the viewer. Thomas Vinterberg co-wrote it with Tobias Lindholm.

The Hunt follows the story of a man named Lucas (Mads Mikkelsen) who works in a kindergarten school. He is divorcee and has been struggling to maintain a stable relationship with his son who stays with his ex-wife.

The story is set in a small town where everyone knows everyone. At the beginning of the film we are introduced to Lucas and his group. Lucas has a best friend in Theo. Theo is married and has a kid daughter, Klara. Along with Klara, Theo also has a teenage son. Lucas is very close to Theo's family. He often walks Klara from her home to kindergarten and back.

All the things go on as usual until Klara sees some pornographic images on her brother's iPad. It doesn't make a proper sense in her innocent mind. What's worse is that she imagines and makes up a story which involves Lucas doing certain acts (sexually abusing, although nothing shown or even mildly suggested visually) with her.

When Lucas returns back the gift she had made for him, it triggers her emotionally and she confides her story to Martha, the head of kindergarten. Certain actions are taken according to the protocol. Slowly the whole town knows about it. And what starts as an innocent lie by a small kid turns out into a mass hysteria of the whole town against Lucas.

Everyone starts to shun Lucas. He is fired, his current girlfriend leaves him. His friends don't want to see him any more, the shop keeper won't allow him in his shop, etc. Lucas' son who believes in his father's innocence, comes for his help. That is the only relief for Lucas. Slowly the resentment of the people turns into voilence and Lucas has to deal with the dreadful mass hysteria against him.
 
The film currently holds a fresh rating of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Thomas Vinterberg and his team deserve to be honored for taking such a subject and showing it in an effective way. Mads Mikkelsen gives some of the best performances we as a movie audience will ever see. The little girl, Annika Wedderkopp is adorable and shocks us with a performance that's way too ahead for someone of her age. Editing, music, cinematography and everything else about the movie is just so good. Overall the film turns out to be winner. 

Tasher Desh

A few months back I saw Gandu, an Indian film which broke all the taboos of the Indian society with such an ease and flow that one hardly notices until the end credits appear. The effect of that movie was the only reason that took me in the cinema hall today to watch Tasher Desh, the latest film of Gandu's director Qaushiq Mukherjee aka Q. Now again this movie shook me and made me question my eyes and ears. Tasher Desh has nothing controversial like Gandu but still the story, narration and characters are unlike any other Indian characters you have ever seen.

Tasher Desh, the original play was written by the great Rabindranath Tagore. In an interview Q said, "this is one Tagore story that has fascinated me since I was a child. 'Tasher Desh' is completely different from his oeuvre. He experimented a lot with this play. In fact, critics find it flawed, so it became a children's play but it is not a children's play. It is very political. I think, we did not get it right contextually."

Tasher Desh mixes the elements of fantasy and surrealism in brilliant way. Q just refuses to go by the book to churn up an usual film. As it is being said, this film is literally Tagore on acid. Maybe this is not a film for everyone. But it's worth a watch. You either hate it or love it but you definitely won't be able to ignore it. For someone who isn't interested this can be quite irritating and torturous.

The film follows two parallel story lines. First line follows a writer who carries around a torn copy of Tasher Desh and second, of a prince and his adventures. The two stories are shown in distinct and strikingly different visuals. The writer's sequences are in black and white, symbolizing his dull and barren life while those of the prince are in bright colors.

The prince is bored of his usual and monotonous life. He wants to explore. He takes up his merchant friend along with him to roam and know the world. But they get stranded on a strange island. 

The people on the island live by rules. Everyone is named after the cards. Nothing happens here due to personal desires or wishes. In fact the very words, 'desire', 'progress', 'freedom' are banned from the usage. It is here that the prince instills a sense of dis-order and freedom through a beautiful musical sequence. This creates a kind of awakening on the island. A quest for liberation starts under the lady who is the Ace of Spades.

Meanwhile back in the real world, the writer meets his muse who symbolizes the Ace of Spades for him and this forms the storyline for his parts.

The themes of reality, anti-fascism, chaos, liberation and desires fit at proper places.  

Visually, this film is a treat to the eye. It takes time to grow on you but once it does then the surrealistic treatment by Q works wonders. 

One can take the entire film to be one long dream sequence too. That's the beauty of the story. People can interpret it in their own way. The combination of intoxicating visuals, breath taking sequences and the amazing musical scores works highly in favor of the film.

Yojimbo

Yojimbo (1961) has a sacred status for all Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune fans. The great Japanese director, Kurosawa's direction plus Mifune's epic acting skills makes this movie stand out among lovers of good cinema.

It is a period film. The story is set in the second half of the 19th century after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The movie starts with a samurai (Mifune), who finds himself unemployed. He is left without a master and cause. This forces him to wander around searching for a life and income. And incourse of this journey, the samurai comes across a town.

Now this town is in mess and has become a battle ground between the two rival gangs of Seibei and Ushitora. Turns out that Ushitora once used to work for Sebei. But when Sebei announced that he will pass the crime syndicate to his undeserving and foolish son, Ushitora breaks out and forms his own gang. Ushitora has two brothers. Inokichi a timid and somewhat soft man and Unosuke, a dangerous man. Unosuke is the only person in the town who has a pistol and this makes him even more powerful and dangerous.

The samurai after knowing all these, decides to use this situation in his favour. He believes that eliminating these two gangs would be good for the people of the town as well. The samurai then proves his worth and makes his skills known to these gangs. Now both of the gang leaders lobby hard to make the samurai join their respective gangs so that it will be beneficial for them in the war. But the samurai has different plans.

There are various other characters like a resturant owner, a government officer, a woman who has been exploited by Ushitora, etc.The samurai's intentions and his course of actions, the war between the gangs, the role of Unosuke and his gun in all of these form the rest half of the movie.

There was some controversy when Sergio Leone remade it as A Fistful of Dollars (1964) starring Clint Eastwood. After watching A Fistful Of Dollars, Kurosawa sued Leone and wrote to Sergio Leone that it is, "a fine movie, but it was MY movie.”

Yojimbo holds 97% fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Also it ranks 95 in Empire magazine's list of 500 Greatest Movies Of All Times.

In The Name Of The Father

Jim Sheridan's In The Name Of The Father which released in 1994 is an amazing film. The screenplay was written by Jim Sheridan along with Terry George based on the autobiography Proved Innocent: The Story of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford Four by Gerry Conlon. It starred Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite and Emma Thompson in lead roles.

This film is based on the true story of four people who were falsely convicted for the IRA's Guildford pub bombings. Those four persons were commonly called as Guildford Four.

The film is shown through the life of Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four. At the beginning of the movie, we see him as a rebellious and mischievous young man in Belfast. His family is worried about him. They in turn send him to London so that he can make his life. On the way there he meets his old friend Paul Hill and the two enjoy their time in London without actually doing anything. One night without any place to eat or sleep, they end up robbing. With some money now, Gerry returns back to his home in Belfast.

And the next thing that we see is the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary arrests Gerry. He is brought back to mainland UK. His other friends get arrested too. The police torture and threaten Gerry and his friends for seven days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and wrongly make them confess to those false charges. When Giuseppe Colon travels to England to meet his son he too is arrested along with the family of his sister-in-law, with whom he was staying. These people are termed as Maguire Seven.

The film continues with the trial, punishment and Gerry and his father Giuseppe's life in prison. They share the same cell. The film shows the attempts of a lawyer Gareth Peirce who campaigns for a re-trial and the release of these people and how things go ahead.

One of my personal favorites. It's one of most rightly cast movies ever. The father-son relationship portrayed between Giuseppe and Gerry is one of the best things in the film.

In The Name Of The Father got positive reviews and was received well. It has a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film got seven Academy Award nominations - Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Best Editing, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Daniel Day-Lewis), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Pete Postlethwaite), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Emma Thompson), Best Director and Best Picture.

The Exterminating Angel

The Exterminating Angel, (original Spanish title El ángel exterminador) is a Mexican film released in 1962. It was directed by Luis Buñuel, one of the most significant surrealistic film makers.

It was the second movie of the Buñuel/Alatriste/Pinal film trilogy, written and directed by Luis Buñuel, starring Silvia Pinal, and produced by her then-husband Gustavo Alatriste. Buñuel picked it from an unfinished play his friend José Bergamín was writing at the time. 

If one looks at the basic storyline, it is a story of a few people who have gathered for a dinner party but in some mysterious way they are unable to leave the room after the party.

It's a story which is set in the house of Señor Edmundo Nobile and his wife, Lucia, who host a dinner party. At the start of the party itself the problems build up. All the servants in the house resign from their works and leave the house without any intention or specific reason. Only the head servant is left who looks after the serving of the guests. It is somewhat implied that this has got something to do with the way rats leave the sinking ship. Different people arrive at the party. One thing is common, they all belong to higher class. They have different attitudes, beliefs and characters. They appear to blend in an amicable way but deep down inside they hate each other.

The dinner goes down well. The guests have a good time. After the dinner one of them, Blanca, plays a piano sonata. Everyone enjoys it. But when it gets late and everyone is expected to leave and return to their homes, none of them appears to do so. The men simply remove their jackets, the women loosen their gowns and lie down on the couch or chair or floor and sleep. Edmundo and his wife Lucia find it strange but they too join them. They think that since it's late now, the guests might leave next morning. The morning comes and the head servant brings some breakfast in the room. When the head servant is asked to bring something else, he finds it unable to leave the room and so do many of the guests who want to go back to their houses. They aren't trapped in a physical way but there is some psychological barrier that prevents them from leaving the room. And they realize they are trapped.

The story goes ahead with how these people who are now forced to live in the same room with limited food and water which exhausts soon. Hunger, hysteria, anger and enmity creeps up between the guests and it becomes very hard for them to live together in the same room. An interesting question which can arise in the mind of the viewer is that why can't help arrive from the outside? This is explained. The psychological or mystical barrier which keeps the guests from leaving the room also somehow keeps people from entering the mansion from outside.

It is one of the most brilliantly made movies ever . Every person is free to analyze or interpret it in his own way. Also there is a scope for a different interpretation of the story, every time you see it.

The film sparked controversies upon it's release due to various reasons. Spain and Vatican didn't receive it well and as a result all the negatives of it were ordered to be destroyed. It was banned in Russia because the idea of people not being allowed to "leave a party" was considered offensive and anti-government. But the film was received well by the masses. At the 1961 Cannes Film Festival, the film won the Palme d'Or. Mexican critics rank it as the 16th best film of the Mexican Cinema. The New York Times puts it as one of the best 1000 films ever made.

La Haine

La Haine is a French drama film which was released in 1995. It was written and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz. It stars Vincent Cassel, Huber Kounde and Saiid Taghmaoui as the lead characters. The film was shot in black and white which goes well with the story and narrative of the film.

La Haine is the story of a day in the lives of three friends after a riot, Vinz, Sayid and Hubert. They live in the banlieues of Paris. They come from different backgrounds. Vinz is a Jewish boy who wants everyone to respect him and take him seriously. Sayid is guy who just can't shut his mouth and is a trouble maker. Hubert, an Afro-French boxer is the most wisest of the three.

Their locality witnesses frequent riots and instability. The youth and the cops are very hostile towards each other. The story starts on one day after such riots. During the riots a local boy named Abdel Ichaha gets seriously injured and goes in comma with a very little hope of life. Also during the riots a policeman loses his revolver. The police department and the press take the issue of possibility of the revolver falling in the hands of the wrong person and the dangers it can cause, seriously.

Its shown that Vinz has found out the revolver and plans on shooting a cop if their friend Abdel Ichaha loses his life in the hospital. Hubert who is the most matured of the three tries to calm Vinz down but that goes in vain. Also Sayid has to travel to Paris to collect money from a guy who owes him. The three set out to go and catch a train. Vinz carries his gun with him throughout. Things don't go smooth. Cops arrest them but Vinz manages to run. The cops who have arrested them turn out to be sadistic and humiliate Sayid and Hubert, detaining them for a long time which causes them to miss the last train of that night. Vinz too misses it and meets them on station later. The friends roam around the city.

The story goes on ahead with the friends watching the news about Abdel Ichaha and Vinz thinking upon his earlier words about Abdel dying. Also they encounter a group of other guys at whom they had shouted bitter words earlier, where its upto Vinz to use his revolver and take up a life to save their own. The next morning and the end of the film is unexpected.
The film derives it's title from the words said by Hubert: "La haine attire la haine!", which means "Hatred breeds hatred."
La Haine was successful upon its release. It was recieved very well by the critics too. 

It has a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  
It was also ranked as #32 in Empire States magazine list of 'The100 best movies of world cinema.' Also it received a lot of awards.

The Fountain

The Fountain released in 2006, is a film which mixes the elements of fantasy, history, religion, and science fiction in a love story. It was written and directed by Darren Aronofsky. The movie consists of a story in three different timelines. One in the 16th century, one in present 21st century and one in 26th century. It starred Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz, both of them played different roles in three timelines.

The tree stories in each timeline are shown non linearly. Each story is divided by a gap of around 5oo years. Even the stories aren't told chronologically within their timelines but are told by frequently occurring flashbacks and other recurring visual motifs.

The main theme of the film is the fear and acceptation of mortality. The film takes us on a tour which does not guarantee a clear explanation but nonetheless its a visual treat. Arronfsky's work is very good on the themes and motifs in the story. The performances of Jackman and Weisz are brilliant.

 Jackman as Tomás, the
conquistador

The movie starts with a 16th century timeline. Tomás is shown to be fighting off horde of Mayans to gain entry into a pyramid, where he is attacked by a Mayan priest with a flaming sword. It is revealed through flashbacks that he has been sent by Queen Isabella who is losing her territory to the Inquisition. She has sent her conquistador, Tomás to find The Tree of Life for his Queen. He goes in search of it to the Central American forest in Mayan territory. The priest has some revelation about him and thinks him to be devine. He offers Tomás to kill him. After that Tomás reaches a garden with a large tree but things don't go as he had expected.

Jackman and Weisz as Tommy and Izzi

The main story or the core story of the film is of the 21st century doctor, Thomas, who is working on a cure for cancer using samples of the "Tree of Life", found through exploration in Central America. He loves his wife very much and he is deeply affected by his wife's brain tumor and is determined to find a cure soon so that he can protect her. His wife has written a book but when she realises that she won't live long enough to finish the final chapter, she gives it to Thomas to complete it. Its a story about a 16th century Queen and her conquistador, Tomás.

Jackman as Tom, the space traveller

The third timeline in the film is of the 26th century. It has only one character, Tom. Tom is a space traveler, an astronaut. He is traveling in a spaceship which is enclosed of biosphere and contains in it the Tree of Life. He is traveling to a golden Nebula of Xibalba for a certain event. Its the Nebula, Izzi had mentioned about to Tommy. That they will meet there when the star would die. Many connections are made to the 21st century story here. Like the ink tatoos made by Tommy, certain conversations. It is somehow implied that Izzi is still alive in the tree and can be brought back to life once they reach the Xibabla. Even here things don't go as planned or expected.

If you wouldn't like it, you may shut it within 10-15 minutes but if you would get into it, then it would be an amazing experience, which you may feel to repeat again and again.

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK

People can fall in love at anytime and anyplace. Its said that humans are born to love and to be loved. The world has known many love stories both real and fictional through literature, cinema, plays, theater, etc. So it wouldn't be hard to assume that any person can fall in love at any place. As in the Korean film I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, released in 2006, the love story takes place in a mental asylum. It has been directed by Park Chan-wook. It was written by Park Chan-wook and Seo-Gyeong Jeon.

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, is the story of a young girl Young-goon (Lim Soo-jung),  who is mentally ill since her young age but it has not come to the attention of her mother and so she is not treated from the early stage. Young-goon thinks that she is a cyborg, a robot and not a human being. As a child she was very attached to her grandmother who too suffered mental iilness, her grandmother had a belief that she was rat and used to do weird things. When Young-goon's mother and her uncle-aunt sent her grandmother away to an asylum as she was not mentally fit, Young-goon's condition started to fall. 

She believes that she is cyborg with a cause for existence but she doesn't know the cause yet. According to Young-goon - 'the men in white uniforms' took her grandmother away just before she could tell Young-goon her cause for existence.


Another patient in the mental asylum is Park Il-soon (Rain), who has been hospitalized for anti-social behavior and kleptomania. He thinks he can rob the souls of people.
Park Il-soon because of kleptomania has this tendency to rob things, unnecessary things without feeling any kind of guilt or remorse. He is always accused by the other patients during their group therapy sessions for stealing various things. Of course those patients too are insane. A woman who has trouble with storing memories accuses him of stealing her memory, a patient who loses 5 table tennis matches accuses him for stealing his game skills, etc. Its very hilarious.

When Young-goon learns about him she wants his help. Since she believes the hospital staff to be evil - as they are like the men in white who took away her grandmother, she wants revenge. She wants to kill them. But she feels she cannot do so because she has sympathy in her. She asks Park Il-soon to rob away her sympathy so that she can have her revenge. Thus the story of these two starts.

Also Young-goon's health is deteriorating because she is not eating anything. Since she believes that she is cyborg, she does not eat the food thinking that will destroy her internal machinery. 

She only licks batteries as food. Doctors and other find it hard to convince her but its in vain. Park Il-soon does his best to make her eat. The way he convinces her and makes her eat is awesome. The story couldn't have been better.

The story has much more to offer. The final interpretation of Young-goon about her existence through dreams, dangers from pursuing it, Park Il-soon's efforts to save her without letting her know that he is actually protecting her and the end. What an end! A beautiful, innocent and incorruptible love story between two people who aren't in sanity.

The other characters of fellow patients, doctors and Young-goon's mother and grandmother has been developed and shown well. In terms of performance everyone gave their best. The movie currently holds a 90% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Safety Not Guaranteed

In a time where cinema is dominated with heavy action scenes, huge blasts, car chases, big conspiracies, etc there are films like Safety Not Guaranteed which still remind us what is it that entertains us. At the end a movie is nothing without a good story, without a simple idea that catches your mind.

Safety Not Guaranteed has been directed by Colin Trevorrow and is written by Derek Connolly. Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake M. Johnson, Karan Soni, are the main characters of the story. Its a sci-fi comedy-drama which is a complete fun and happy adventure.

The story centers around Darius (Aubrey Plaza), a college graduate who is working as an intern at a magazine. A writer, Jeff (Jake M. Johnson) who works at the magazine has an idea to investigate and write a article about the man who has posted a strange advertisement in a newspaper classified which reads as : 

"Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed."

Jeff chooses Darius and Arnau (Karan Soni), who is a geeky Biology student working as an intern in the magazine just to diversify his resume. And the three set out to Ocean View, Washington to find this person who has posted the advertisement. After working for a while they find out that it has been posted by Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass) who works at a grocery store. Jeff tries to make a contact but Kenneth who appears paranoid sents him away after getting bad vibes about him. Its left for Darius to go and make a contact and pose as a partner for him in his travel. 

Jeff who is also on this trip for his own personal agenda of meeting back his high school love sets out to meet her. Meanwhile Darius makes a good impression on Kenneth and he agrees upon taking her. But this is not concrete or final. She needs to undergo some training and learning and earn his trust. She does it well. Slowly she starts developing a bond with him.

When Kenneth asks her motive to go back she replies back with that she lost her mother due to her mistake and wants to go back and her prevent her death. When she asks Kenneth about his motives he replies back with the death of his love, Belinda.

But Kenneth's intentions don't seem such straight. Its altogether a different story of Belinda, from what he has told. Also some government agents are following him on suspicion. The movies progresses ahead in a brilliant way. 

Is Kenneth claim of his invention true? What is in store for Darius? Why are the government agents following Kenneth? What happens with Jeff and his ex girlfriend? How does Arnau enjoy his being? All these questions have been answered beautifully. And the end - is a class act. A smile on face along with a feeling of content of watching a good film is guaranteed.

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa

I am not a big fan of love stories but if asked about the ones that I like, then Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa will surely be in top on my list. The title means 'Will you cross the skies and come?' 

It was written and directed by Gautham Menon. Silambarasan T Rajender and Trisha Krishnan starred in it. The music was composed by A R Rehman. The film's score can be said to be as one of the best scores in Rehman's career.

The movie tells the story of a guy, Karthik (Silambarasan) who wants to be a film maker. Due to some renovation work in his house, his family rents a place for sometime in Jessie's (Trisha Krishnan) house. 

As for most of Indian films, Karthik falls for Jessie at the moment he sees her. The story goes ahead in a way which is very usual and predictable for Indian audience but the style of the director in showing the story is magical. It at once makes us glued to it. The parts of Karthik following Jessie or disclosing his feelings to her or even traveling across the state to see her are very shown very beautifully and with the right emotion. The credit for this goes completely to Silambarasan who has done a superb job in portraying Karthik.

Its not hard to guess the main obstacle in Indian love stories - the girl's father. Also Karthik and Jessie belong to different religions but Karthik does everything he can or any human could ever do to get his love. Somehow fate doesn't shine on him and when it does, its very short lived.

With this he gets an idea to bring out his story on screen. He starts to work on a script and just alters the ending as if he has got his love. Also the reappearance of Jessie in his life again, her story and the different turn of the events amazes the viewer.

The basic story although not new has its moments. There are many scenes which make you laugh or cry, happy or sad. Gautham Menon knows exactly how to show a simple story perfectly, which has been seen previously with his works - Vaaranam Aayiram, Minnale, Kaakha Kaakha,Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu.

The movie was shot and released simultaneously along with its Telgu version Ye Maaya Chesave, which starred Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the roles of Karthik and Jessie. It was quite successful too. The movie was re made in Hindi as Ekk Deewana Tha, starring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson by Gautham Menon but somehow the Hindi version failed to strike the chords with the audience.

The Beat That My Heart Skipped

The Beat That My Heart Skipped, original French title De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté, is a French crime-drama film released in 2005. It was directed by Jacques Audiard, a man who knows well how to bring out the internal conflicts within a person on screen. It was a remake of Fingers (1978) but it differed in some ways from the original.

The movie follows the story of Thomas Seyr, played by Romain Duris. Thomas is a real estate broker on the surface but in reality he is a criminal who adopts crooked ways and uses force to make illegal deals in his business. Fabrice (Jonathan Zaccaï) and Sami (Gilles Cohen) are his business partners. Even his father (Niels Arestrup) is involved in a similar line of works and occasionally asks Thomas for his help. Although Thomas cares and tries to protect his father, his father does not exactly has the same approach towards Thomas.

Thomas on the other hand is also a very talented musician. He plays piano very well just like his mother who was a concert pianist. Once he meets his mother's manager who remembers Thomas playing well in earlier years and asks him to audition. Thomas accepts immediately and finds a teacher in Miao Lin, who has just arrived in the country and speaks nothing except Chinese and some broken English.

The story goes ahead in a linear narrative with the day-to day events in the life of Thomas. His criminal activities, piano lessons, preparing for audition, affair with the wife of his business partner, caring about his father who has fallen in danger because of some trouble with the Russian Mafia. And towards the end we see a gradual change in Thomas. Thomas is torn between his two lives - crime and music. The ending is good too. Its very real and amazing.

Overall the movie is a good watch. Musically the film hits its goal perfectly in bringing out the emotions with the right kind of music played by the character in the right moods.

The movie was received well. It won a lot of awards and praise, it received Silver Bear at Berlin Film Festival, Best Film in not English language at BAFTA Awards, Best Film at The French Syndicate of Cinema Critics and a lot of César Awards.

Frankenstein : Two Centuries Of Terror

Mary Shelly

Published in 1818, Frankenstein can be considered to be a milestone in the history of English Literature. Written by Mary Shelly, who started writing it when she was just 18 and published at the age of 21, makes it a matter of huge astonishment.

An early step in science fiction, the book made its mark, making people realize the terrors in the way of pursuing the unknown.

The story starts with Thomas Walton, a sailer who has taken a dangerous voyage to the North Pole. Walton comes across two beings, a huge giant like creature who passes from a distance and later a weak man. Walton saves the man, Victor Frankenstein. The two of them bond really well since they both share a passion of pursuing the unknown. But Frankenstein is very skeptical about this passion, he tells his tale to Walton in order to make him aware of the dangers of wandering out in the unknown.

Victor Frankenstein, born in Geneva, has been extraordinarily genius and very curious from his birth. He is fascinated by the works of ancient philosophers and alchemists. When he goes to the university, some people mock him for having wasted time in that 'useless' knowledge and urge him to sing praises of modern sciences. Still Victor holds his stand and starts to work on his dream project of creating 'life'. Victor works for days and nights, he works like a madman. Leaving no stone unturned, not caring about his health, forgetting everything else except his goal, Victor Frankenstein finally succeeds. He creates a  creature, a living organism. But his happiness is short lived. It turns out to be a disaster. Victor falls ill and takes months to recuperate. The creature runs out from Victor's room at its birth.

After many months Victor is finally cured and he returns home when a bad news grips him - his kid brother has been murdered brutally. On returning he sees his 'creation' appearing before him to show him - that its responsible.

The confrontation of the creature or Frankenstein's monster with Frankenstein is the most interesting part, where the monster tells him how he survived after running away on his night of birth/creation. How did he learn to speak & read and many other things. The monster asks Frankenstein to create a female companion for him because he is alone in the world and no one wants to come near him. He assures Victor Frankenstein that he won't cause any more trouble if he would be given a companion. Victor earlier agrees but later starts having second thoughts on again creating another monster. Thus Frankenstein's monster vows a revenge and a bloody feud begins.

There have many movie adaptations of this great novel. Although not many of them are completely based on the novel, they drew many inspirations and took many cinematic liberties. Here I would like to mention about two such movies.

Frankenstein (1931) is a movie, which is much different then the novel. But it has the same core idea. In this movie even the first names of the lead character in the novel (Victor) has been interchanged with his friend (Henry).
It shapes the story into a simple linear narrative eliminating many inter-stories and characters from the novel.
The role of Frankenstein's monster was played by Boris Karloff, who went on to reprise this role for two sequels later - Bride OF Frankenstein (1935) and Son Of Frankenstein (1939).
The movie took many cinematic liberties to adapt the story into the screen in a time when attempting to make such a movie was very difficult. But still it was fruitful and the audiences then and even now experience the same wonder watching it.

Another movie, Frankenstein (also known as Mary Shelly's Frankenstein) released in 1994 is worth a watch. It was directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played the lead character - Victor Frankenstein. The role of Frankenstein's monster was played by Robert De Niro.
Proper justice was done to the sets and settings, wardrobe, etc to make the flow of the story smooth and understandable.
The film stuck to the novel in many ways but it took some liberties to make the story more interesting and appealing. It followed the structure of the novel and had almost all the characters and settings except for a few eliminations.
Although the critical reviews were mixed, Robert De Niro's portrayal of Frankenstein's monster was appreciated.

A Bronx Tale

A Bronx Tale, released in 1993, marks the directorial debut of the great actor Robert De Niro. It was written by Chazz Palminteri,  based on his one-man-show of the same name. Palminteri had written this one man show which was inspired from his own experiences in childhood. The show was quite succesful and had attracted many studios and producers but Palminteri had a condition before selling out the rights - that he would play the role of Sonny LoSpecchio.

Its the story of a young Italian-American boy, Calogero 'C' Anello who has two important but very much opposite sided father figures in his life. Out of which one is his father, Lorenzo Anello played by Robert De Niro and other, Sonny LoSpecchio played by Chazz Palminteri. The story is set in 1960s in the The Bronx, New York. Lorenzo, the father of Calogero is a simple and honest man who works hard for a living and wants to give his son a better life. On the other hand, Sonny LoSpecchio is the local mafia boss.

Calogero with his father

The story starts with a murder Calogero witnesses, when he is nine years old. It is Sonny who has done it in the broad day light. When the police question Calogero, he keeps quiet. Sonny starts to like the kid with every passing day and hangs out with him. Sonny even offers Lorenzo a better job offering more money which Lorenzo declines. Lorenzo, an honest and law abiding man, wants a peaceful and lawful life and tries to keep his son away from criminals.


Years pass on, Calogerro now a young seventeen year old is still under the influence of Sonny by meeting him secretly without the knowledge of his father. Sonny acts like a father figure to Calogero and brings him up well. Soon, Calogero falls for an African-American girl. They go out on a date, inspite of knowing the tensions between Italians and the Blacks in their area. For the date, Calogero asks for advice from both his father as well as Sonny. Sonny even lets Calogero take his car.  

Grown up Calogero with Sonny

Ahead are some events and turns to the story which make it worth a watch. The end is well executed. A perfect father-son story and a movie which shows the importance of father figures in life.

Robert De Niro showed some impressive skills inspite of this film being his first directorial venture.  The film holds 96% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, calling it "a very funny movie sometimes, and very touching at other times. It is filled with life and colorful characters and great lines of dialogue, and De Niro, in his debut as a director, finds the right notes as he moves from laughter to anger to tears. What's important about the film is that it's about values."

White Heat : A Classic Gangster Movie

White Heat, released in 1949, is a classic gangster film. It is one of the greatest crime thrillers ever made. The movie was directed by Raoul Walsh. The screenplay was written by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts based on a story by Virginia Kellogg. It starred the legendary actor James Cagney.

James Cagney plays the role of Cody Jarrett who is a brutal criminal and very much attached and depended on his mother 'Ma' Jarrett (Margaret Wycherly). In spite of being married to Verna (Virginia Mayo), he doesn't trust her. The other characters are US Treasury Investigator Philip Evans (John Archer) and undercover agent Hank Fallon (Edmond O'Brien) who goes under the name Vic Pardo.

The movie starts with a train robbery scene which has gained quite an appreciation over the years. When police come across during it, Cody fires and injures Philip Evans. Then later to avoid getting caught and being imprisoned for these heavy charges, Cody surrenders and confesses to a smaller crime committed by an associate during the same time, which serves as his alibi to this bigger crime.

Officer Philip Evans, decides to play smart and places Hank Fallon as Cody's cell mate to gain his trust. Philips's main task is to find 'The Trader' , who is a bigger fish and launders Cody's money. Fallon assumes the name of Vic Pardo on this mission. Cody's gang member Big Ed turns out to be dishonest and ambitious and tries to murder Cody in prison by assigning the job to another inmate but Vic's timely intervention saves Cody and thus Vic gains Cody's trust. Cody starts to worry about himself and his mother and thus breaks out of the prison with Vic to deal with Big Ed and continue with his usual robberies.

The story goes ahead in such a way that one cannot help but get glued to the screen. The robberies, the character of trader, the end sequence at the chemical plant with Cody's famous quote, 'Made it, Ma! Top of the world!', just before he gets blown up are shown brilliantly.

The movie was received very well. It is in Time Magazines list of top 100 films of all times. It has a 100 % fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
The American Film Institute (AFI) too has honored it. AFI lists Cody Jarrett as the 26th greatest villain in its list of AFI's 100 years...100 Heroes and Villains. Its also ranks 4th in the AFI's 10 Top 10 list in top ten gangster films. Cody's famous quote, 'Made it, Ma! Top of the world!' ranks at 18th in the list of AFI's 100 years..100 Movie Quotes.

The Dollars Trilogy by Sergio Leone

An admirer of the Western Genre of films would always know how great the contribution of Sergio Leone to this genre was.
If you are fascinated by people who wear Stetson hats, bandannas, spurs, & buckskins and use revolvers or rifles as everyday tools of survival, and ride between dusty towns, then these films are definitely for you.
Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy is an epic one . Clint Eastwood appears as The Man With No Name in these three films.They are some of the finest films of Eastwood's career. The films are realistic and portray real human emotions with the artistic form of Leone's direction. Each film has its distinct story and its setting, our main character, The Man With No Name is generally portrayed as an outsider, a mercenary or a bounty hunter, or even an outlaw. The three films released in this trilogy were A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.


A Fistful Of Dollars was the first movie in the trilogy and introduced the us to this character, the man with no name/stranger. The movie starts with our stranger arriving in a town and befriending an inn-keeper who briefs him about the crime structure in that town.  He learns that there are two families who are constantly in feud to wipe each other out and be the sole controllers of the town.
The man with no name immediately sees this situation as an opportunity to make a fortune for himself. He attempts to get involved in both the families and play them against each other, thus making out a win-win situation for himself.
The movie was executed and presented well and had many other elements to its story which made it more entertaining.


For A Few Dollars More has two main characters - our Stranger and the other Colonel Douglas Mortimer, portrayed as bounty hunters. They are in pursuit of the same fugitive named El Indio ("The Indian"). They both are trying to trace him from place to place and one day come across each other. Initially reluctant, they agree to unite in their quest for El Indio.
They trace him to a town, where is planning a huge bank robbery. Mortimer convinces our Stranger to join Indio's gang and keep a track of him. The robbery, Mortimer's personal anger towards Indio and other things form the latter part.
A rightful successor to the first movie, For A Few Dollars More turned out to be no less then what was expected of it. A complete entertainer which has its moments.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, is in no doubt the best movie in this trilogy. It takes you out on a cinematic adventure. Its the story of three guys - Tuco (Eli Wallach), Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef), Blondie(Clint Eastwood).
Angels Eyes comes to know about a treasure through his weird assignments of killing people for money. Tuco, a bandit is on the flee and a huge bounty is on his head when Blondie captures him and hands him over. But Blondie later frees Tuco and divides the share from the bounty. One day Blondie ends the partnership and leaves Tuco in the middle of a desert, angering him.
When Tuco later tracks Blondie down to kill, something unexpected happens. Through a series of events they come to know about the treasure but in such a way that they both know only the half of secret each and to get it they must work together. So Tuco cannot kill Blondie now.
Later they are captured and come across Angel Eyes who is now in power and thus the three form an alliance. But will this continue? Would it all go well? The answer lies in this great movie. The Mexican Standoff at the end is well executed and this movie would go down in the history of Westerns as one great epic.