Shotgun Stories

I recently happened to check out the works of Jeff Nichols. He has made three films so far – Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011) and Mud (2012) and I loved all of them. It seems that he is here to make his mark and stay for a long time.

Here in this post I would like to cover Shotgun Stories (2007) which was written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Shotgun Stories stars Michael Shannon, Douglas Ligon, Barlow Jacobs and others. Its the story of feud between two sets of half brothers after the demise of their father. 

The background of the story can be described through the angle of Mr. Hayes (the father, whom we never see in the film). Mr. Hayes had married twice. He had three kids from his first wife. He never cared about his first wife and his children through her. 

Meanwhile he had also married another woman and had four children through her. Over the course of time he abandoned his first wife and three children. The three children by the first wife - Son, Boy and Kid are the ones around whom the film centers.

Son Hayes is married to Annie and has a child Carter. He is a normal man except for his addiction to gambling. Because of this his wife leaves along with their son and now Son is alone. He asks his brothers, Boy Hayes, a basketball coach and Kid Hayes to move in his house.

One night they are visited by their mother who tells them that their father is dead. Son Hayes and his brothers go to attend the funeral. Present at the funeral is the second family of Mr. Hayes - his second wife and the other four children - Michael, Mark, Stephen and John.  

At the funeral, Son Hayes can't control himself when everyone around is praising the late Mr. Hayes while completely neglecting the fact that he had abandoned and left his first family on streets. So Son speaks some very harsh words and spits on the grave. Mark Hayes, the more violent in the second family retorts to physical measures. Although the dispute is broken by others, it is clear that a war has started.

From left to right : Son, Kid and Boy Hayes.

The film goes ahead with the war. It also deals with the costs that each of the family has to pay for their actions. 

Jeff's Nichols' direction is amazing. It is hard to accept that this is his first feature film. You see his brilliance in almost every frame and with every dialogue that he has written . Along with that one has to applaud the makers for their perfect casting. Everyone on screen does a perfect job and leaves you no space to complain or get bored.

It feels good to know that the film had got its due appreciation. Late film critic Roger Ebert named it as one of the best films of the year 2008. Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer named it as the best film of the year 2008. Philip Martin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and  David Edelstein of New York magazine named it 3rd and the 8th best film of 2008 respectively. The film currently holds 91% fresh ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Seventh Seal - Can You Cheat Death?

Released in 1957, The Seventh Seal (original title Det Sjunde Inseglet ), a Swedish film is worth a watch. Directed by Ingmar Bergman, a brilliant director, the film was based on a play written by himself for the acting students.

The film starts with two men returning to Sweden after fighting in the crusades. The  knight Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) and his squire Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand) seem to be good and brave people. Antonius Block is a clever chess player and is very intelligent. One day while they are resting, Antonius as usual starts to play chess alone. It is there that he encounters Death. Death(Bengt Ekerot) is dressed in black cowl and has a monk like appearance. Antonius is unafraid of dying but he still has some unanswered questions about life and wants to seek their answers before he can die. He somehow thinks that if he can challenge Death into playing chess with him, he can delay his death. Death agrees and thus the great game starts.

Also in the film are many characters who somehow get connected to Antonius Block and Jöns as they continue their journey ahead. Death keeps appearing in middle to play its chance and then goes off.

Nomadic actors , Jof (Nils Poppe) and his wife Mia (Bibi Andersson), with their baby son, Mikael, and their actor-manager, Skat(Erik Strandmark), who perform from village to village join Antonius on his way. Skat during a particular show charms a black smith wife and manages to run away with her. The blacksmith joins the Antonius and actors only to find his wife returning to him and Skat tricking him and running away.

The fate of these people now is in the hands of Antonius now, as the visits of Death are increasing and at the same time Antonius knows he cannot defeat it. The movie continues further with the journey of these group of people as they go to Antonius' castle to be safe from the plague which is spreading and people are dying like insects. Antonius knows the plague sooner or later will take their life by coming in the form of Death.

In spite of Death cheating Antonius to give out his strategy , Antonius manages to stay in the game and later cheats once. Things like Antonius quests for finding the truth of life, the actor Jof's strange visions, a woman who is to be burnt as she is accused of being a witch, the Dance of Death at the end, etc enrich the film's story.

A completely awesome movie where language forms no barrier, is certainly a movie which I would recommend as a must watch for you all mortals who are reading this.

Nosferatu : A Symphony of Horror

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, a German film released in 1922 was an epic movie. It was directed by F.W. Murnau and it's screenplay was written by Henrik Galeen. It was roughly based on Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Nosferatu tells us the story of Count Orlok, the evil creature.
The protagonist Hutter lives with his wife Ellen in the fictitious German city of Wisborg. Hutter's employer, Knock sends him to to Transylvania to visit a new client named Count Orlok, who is interested in buying a property in Wisborg from Hutter's office.

Things go fine till then. Hutter soon leaves for Transylvania and then the real trouble starts. A small inn near Transylvania where Hutter stops for dinner is the turning point in the film where just by the mere mention of Orlok's name the locals get scared. But that does not discourage Hutter. Next day after finally overcoming the obstacles, Hutter reaches the castle of Count Orlok. He reaches there by night where Count Orlok himself welcomes him.

While having dinner at the place Hutter accidentally cuts his finger and Orlok looking at it, finds himself unable to resist.  Orlok even attempts to suck the blood but Hutter pushes him away. Orlok offers him a seat where Hutter sleeps. The next morning Hutter gets up alone and enjoys his time around the castle

That night while signing the necessary documents Orlok happens to see a picture of Ellen. He praises her with his words "has a lovely neck" which makes Hutter uneasy.

Along all this events there is this book, Book Of Vampyres which Hutter had found. He begins to read and slowly starts to suspect that Orlock is Nosferatu, the "Bird Of Death". At that night when Hutter looks outside the door, he sees Orlok at the hallway looming. Hutter unsuccessfully tries to close the door and hide but Orlok comes in.

At the very same moment Ellen who has been missing her husband and worrying about him gets a bad feeling. She cries, which Orlok hears inexplicably. He leaves Hutter and sets out a journey to Wisborg to get her. Thus Hutter runs behind him too to save her.

Now who will reach Wisborg first? Will Hutter be able to save his wife? What will be Orlok's end like? What is the strange plague that Orlok is spreading through the rats?
Find your answers in this great movie which in spite of being a silent film speaks highly when you watch it.

The Vengeance Trilogy by Park Chan-wook

Park Chan-wook

The Vengeance Trilogy by Park Chan-wook consists of three films viz. Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003) and Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005). Originally these three films were not planned as a trilogy but the two films(OldBoy and Sympathy For Lady Vengeance) followed Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance as spiritual successors. Themes of revenge, violence and salvation are found commonly in these three films.
These three are Korean films but were well received and appreciated all over the world.

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (2002), was the first film in the trilogy.  It dealt with the kidnapping of a small girl of a wealthy businessman by a deaf-mute man, Ryu. Ryu does this with the help of his girlfriend, Yeong-mi, a radial anarchist. Ryu does this to help his ailing sister who is in desperate need for a kidney transplant. During Ryu's earlier attempt to raise money he is conned by a gang who steal his own kidney and loot him. Ryu swears for a revenge on them and later kills them.
Also the kidnapping goes wrong and the small girl is killed. Meanwhile Ryu's sister dies too. The girl's father swears a revenge on Ryu and his girlfriend and thus his quest for vengeance begins.


OldBoy (2003), the second movie in the trilogy was an epic in the history of Korean cinema.
The movie starts with a common man Oh Dae-su, who is kidnapped one night and held captive in a small motel room for the next fifteen years without letting him know the reason for it. After releasing him, he is set free to live. He meets a young chef Mi-do and things spark out between the two. Oh Dae-su is then told to find out why he was captured for fifteen years or else his new love interest will be killed.
And now Oh Dae-su begins to unravel his past at the same time killing off the people who have caused him misery all these years.The strange past and the more shocking present when merges up at the end gives a gruesome picture to the viewer and makes one to think.


Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005), the third film in the trilogy deals with a woman who has been in prison for murdering a school boy. She was innocent and framed by the real killer who had kidnapped her newly born daughter. After she comes out all she is wants is to get reunited with her daughter and kill the real killer, Mr. Baek. The plot she plans to kill him with the help of others she can trust and her daughter role's in it is simply awesome.
Her quest for vengeance becomes difficult when Mr. Baek learns of it. He becomes more aware and treacherous. He goes on to become so dangerous that he kills his own wife on learning that she is involved in the plot against him.
The ending of the film is so greatly done and the explanation of purity touches heart.


These three are some of the finest Korean films and a must watch for lovers of thriller genre. Language will not be a barrier when you watch it because the films are executed and portrayed so well that just subtitles would do the job. Certainly not for the people with a soft or weak heart. The violence and the quest for vengeance depicted is gruesome, realistic and breath-taking.