Showing posts with label Drama. Show all posts

Movie Review: Hit-List (2009)



Old wine in a new bottle, but watch out for the perks!

A storyline admittedly inspired by the film noirs of the 'Dark days' of 'The American Dream', one which Hollywood still cashes in with occasional presentations like 'The Black Dahlia' and 'Sin City', one is left wondering 'What' Mr. Ray meant by his 'inspiration'. The film is devoid of any dark connotations associated with Film Noirs and the vague, stretched resemblances it has with the format is limited to its theme of a planned crime, retribution and the presence of a larger-than-life 'Detective'; albeit the one played by Dhritiman Chatterjee is without the trademark dark boots, felt hat, overcoat and that oh-so-Feluda(ish) habit of smoking an unhealthy cigar(ette). But Mr. Chatterjee, at an admitted age of 63 ('It's actually the age of his character', my co-watcher reminds me), does have that gait and panache to distinguish himself from the crime-solvers of our generation.
The plot of the movie is surprisingly simple, which primarily revolves around the death of the creative director of an ad agency, played by noted TV actor Subhrajit Dutta. There are other deaths as well, of course (After all, what is a Sandip Ray thriller without a few final moments?), and the movie begins with a rather Feluda-ish hangover with the murder of Subhrajit's colleague, played by singer-turned-actor Babul Supriyo.

The acting 'crew' is headed impeccably by a brooding Koyel Mullick essaying a marked departure from the roles Bengali viewers are used to seeing her portray. My co-watcher points out how it's an absolute wonder to note her improvement from the shaky days of 'Nater Guru'. If she was good in 'Saat Paake Bandha', she has surpassed all expectations with her 'Anindita Chatterjee' act in Ray's Hit-List. Also noteworthy is Tota Roy Choudhury in a role that is quite unlike his 'good-guy-saving-the-day' acts. Apart from Dhritiman, who is (let's put it simply) great as ex-homicide cop Prabhat Chatterjee, Saheb Chatterjee brings up the rear with another unlikely character portrayed impressively. Sudipta is good, but this is definitely not one of her noteworthy performances.

If the acting is what makes the movie worth the dough, its drawbacks are pretty 'list-able' as well. Its Feluda-hangover at the start remains a minus point as far as Yours Truly is concerned. The plot, as a whole, is too simple at the end of the day. Admittedly the execution (Ray's direction) of the psychological aspects of the characters in question is great, the expectations generated by his 'film-noir' claims dampens the experience somehow. The ending is more than predictable. Dhritiman's act as a retired cop, even with his singular charisma, fails to convince viewers that this is 'NOT' an older version of our beloved Feluda.

But even so... the Ray story-telling, the believable characters, that Ray-family atmosphere over the whole film with the presence of Dhritiman and Tinnu Anand makes the movie a must-watch in its own right. After all, as my co-watcher points out, its not easy to pass up the allure of watching two Topshe's (Siddhartha Chatterjee of Sonar Kella & Joy Baba Felunath and Saswata Chatterjee of the Feluda telefilms) of separate generations sharing screen space at the same time... especially in a Ray flick!

Film Review: Coco Avant Chanel (2009)


A Fashionable Biopic

Film: Coco Avant Chanel (Trans. 'Coco Before Chanel')
Released (Belgium): April 22, 2009
Language: French
Direction and Screenplay: Anne Fontaine
Based on the book by: Edmonde Charles-Roux
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola

A biopic about the most prominent female fashion icon of the 20th century isn't the type of movie that you will generally catch me watching. But thanks to all the hype generated in (not just) the fashion circles and the fact that it featured Audrey Tautou, the most prolific French actress of her generation, I finally decided to give Coco Before Chanel a shot.

The film, in its entirety, is a treat to watch. Albeit it's dragging in places, but these sequences are well-compensated by well-constructed witty repartees ("Which weren't very enjoyable thanks to the awful subtitles" my co-watcher adds. "Learn French then!" I ask him!) The cinematography is excellent, with the occasional doses of French countryside dotted into a fairly indoorsy setting. The expensive chateaus are examples of some fine set-designing and the costume designed by Catherine Leterrier (with films such as Joan of Arc and Gorillas in the Mist to her credit) contributes to the early-20th Century feel which is so essential to the story.

A biopic of Coco Chanel would have always been a rather hard thing to achieve. With her tendency of colorfully fabricating her history to alleviate the stigma brought forth by poverty, illegitimacy and orphanhood in late-19th, early 20-th century France, it was left to the biography of Coco authored by Edmonde Charles-Roux to supply the source materials ("Which it somewhat sticks to" my co-watcher asserts. I wouldn't know about that!) for the movie.


Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel (Audrey Tautou) takes up a tailoring job after spending nearly her entire childhood with her sister Adrienne (Marie Gillain) at an orphanage in Aubazine, with her father out at work nearly the entire year. At 18, she takes up work at a local tailor's and the two sisters become cabaret singers at night. It is in the bar where the two sisters meet French billionaire Étienne Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde), who is neck-deep in race horses and women. Coco and Balsan start having an affair of course, and simultaneously begins her quest of liberating women's fashion from 'fit for male gaze' to 'comfort'. However, Balsan's friend, Arthur 'Boy' Capel (Alessandro Nivola) comes into the picture and Coco falls head-over-heels for him.


Audrey Tautou is fabulous as Coco Chanel. Her slightly subdued act with the occasional bursts of energy and determination artfully hints of the underlying woman who would go on to be the only person from the fashion circles to be included in Time Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. ("Coco Chanel was known for her flamboyance and devil-may-care attitude, which the film mostly missed, don't you think?" my co-watcher asserts. I don't know what he's talking about!) Among the male leads, Benoît Poelvoorde steals the show with his 'Balsam' act. His cocktail of lechery, jealousy, kindness and love is an act that will be etched in the viewer's minds for a long time indeed. Nivola is not bad as Capel, but the extreme downplaying of his portrayal fails to pack a punch. ("Both Tautou and Nivola were so downplayed, they were bound to fall for each other!" my co-watcher jokes) Finally, Anne Fontaine mostly impresses as the director and writer. Taking up a story with so many morally gray aspects, cross-dressing agendas and a name as big as the fashion industry itself is an immensely challenging task! And it's safe to say, Anne Fontaine achieves quite a bit in her attempt.

Rating: 7/10

Signing Off,
-Jagannath (Jesse)

Food4Thought: The Tragic Hero of 'The Departed' (2006)



(SPOILER ALERT)
I never get tired of watching some films… on that selective list must come “A few good men”, “Titanic”, "Citade de Deus", "El Laberinto del Fauno", “Love Actually”, “Tropic Thunder” and most importantly, “The Departed”. Easily, it has to go down in sweet celluloid history as Martin Scorsese’s greatest directorial venture (Yes, I have the audacity to say that even with 'Goodfellas' in my DVD rack. For once, I agree with the Academy). Even though Leo Di Caprio (in his Billy Costigan avatar) was the show-stealer of this one, which of us did not connect (for want of a better term: sympathize) with the character of Matt Damon (Sergeant Colin Sullivan) in this film? Yes, Costigan has a disturbing past, was welcomed into the police department in the worst manner imaginable by Dignam (Mark Wahlberg), sent off to be a police informant in Frank Costello's (Jack Nicholson) Irish mafia gang, with only Dignam and Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) knowing the true identity of Billy. Whilst Matt Damon was simply the fairer side of the coin. He was “supposed” to have a disturbing childhood as well, which he dodged thanks to the generosity of bad-man Frank Costello; Frank prepped him to be a son, an accomplice and finally a pawn in the police department in the long run.

Evaluating the two scenarios, my co-watcher didn't waste a moment to start hating Damon, even though she practically drooled over him in Ocean's Twelve and the Bourne movies. But I felt differently... Colin Sullivan was just a puppet… a puppet in the hands of Costello. He was a cop, sure, but how could he perform his sergeant-duties with the debt of gratitude he owed Mafia-Nicholson? Would he have preferred being the good cop had he been given a choice? But ironically for him, Colin Sullivan showed unwavering loyalty towards a person who never trusted him, which was evident from the fact that Costello left Costigan (DeCaprio) in possession of tapes that could give Sullivan’s true identity (Of being the Mafia's mole in the Department) away. Costello trusted the rat in his gang (DiCaprio) to his protégé Colin. Sullivan shot Costello himself when he became aware than the Mafia boss was also a valuable FBI informant. But couldn't you see that Costello only got killed since he was slow enough to pull the trigger in time, and not because he hesitated to kill his somewhat 'son'?

Here, my co-watcher interjects. "Come on, dude, didn't you see how Costello pleaded 'Colin, you're like my son?' And Bourne still shot the poor guy!"

"Imagine Jack to be The Joker if you are feeling bad for 'Bourne' killing 'Costello'!" I shot back! "Costello didn't mean it. He was just using the sense of gratitude of Colin Sullivan!"

On a personal level, Colin’s would-be wife Madolyn (Vera Farmiga) fell for Costigan (Who else could it be, eh?) and (probably... it was evident!) got pregnant with Costigan’s child. Sullivan never got a clue about the affair, as he blankly asks Madolyn near the end of the movie, “What about the baby?” You feel for Colin Sullivan… at least I did... so what if my co-watcher was mourning DiCaprio's on-screen death!

Well, Costigan finally got wind of the true identity of Sullivan in the end. And he cornered Sullivan, of course (The Classic Climax!) until a bizarre twist of events left Costigan being killed by another (former) informant of Mafia Don Nicholson in the police department… Costigan’s pal Brown (Anthony Anderson) becomes collateral damage… and Sullivan finishing off the former mafia informant… making sure his true identity remained hidden forever. "That is one heinous act," my co-watcher interjects, "heinous as hell (but necessary), just like the act of erasing Costigan’s files from the police database (which Sullivan did out of pure panic)", but all those acts were acts of self-defense… we all know the lengths people can go to hide something from their life-partners, like a past affair or something… and this was a matter of life and death.

In the end, I guess my co-watcher would've hatched a plan to kill Scorsese had Sullivan survived all this. But as it turned out, Dignam (Mark Wahlberg) killed Sullivan, having found out the truth since Costigan made sure his lover (Again, the irony: Sullivan's ex-fiance) sent the tapes to Dignam if "something" happened to him. And wasn't it a conscious decision? Of course it was... and now my co-watcher fumbles!

It is a tragic death… a lonesome Sullivan was returning from the grocery store back to his apartment. His pregnant girlfriend had left him after knowing the truth; even the world seemed to hate him like a piece of scum. Coming into the apartment, Matt tried to cuddle a neighbor’s dog who dodged his hands… was it with a little help from his owner?

Even with a plethora of negative points about this character, Sullivan recommended an order of merit for Costigan, the man who had almost turned him in. It could’ve been an 'act' to convince his superiors… but I'd like to think otherwise (My co-watcher sniggers)… Maybe Sullivan appreciated the sacrifice that Costigan made for the Police department, one he never got a chance to do.

Every time I watch the movie, I find Sullivan's to be the most lonesome character in the entire film. He himself is always in the dark… he trusts people, but people do not (ever) trust him back… he trusted Costello blindly. And yet, Costello trusted the rat (Costigan) more. He trusted his girlfriend, never even showing any signs that he was capable of cheating on her. But then, he got conned by his girlfriend, too. ('Just what he deserved', my co-watcher chirps in; she's unbelievable!)

So if there is anyone out there who agrees with my co-watcher, do watch the movie one more time, and think about it! Didn't Sullivan dream of joining a law school and leaving Boston for ever with his cheating girlfriend? Well, of course you don't remember the scene, so Happy Watching!
-Signing off,
Jagannath (Jesse)
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