Showing posts with label Drama. Show all posts
The Judge [2014]: Great content that failed to make a mark
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga
Directed by: David Dobkin
The Judge is the story of a son coming back home after 20 years to attend his mother’s funeral and developing the lost bond he had with his father, while they have a legal situation in hand. However, this is the head plot of the film, it didn't really unravel properly.
This film had a veteran legend [Robert Duvall], a popular star [Robert Downey Jr.], a cameo by an accomplished actor [Billy Bob Thornton] and lots of failed opportunities. A good film maker and screen writer would have pulled out a great father-son tale about reunion in relationships and the wisdom surrounding it. However it became a victim of bad writing with clichéd dialogues and unnecessary plot waywardness.
Robert Downey Jr. seriously needs to come out of that Tony Stark attitude if he really wants people to consider him an actor first. However it isn't completely his fault here, he did try to suppress the flamboyant Tony Stark in him but the character was written like that, which needed him to be a bit flamboyant.
Robert Duvall did a good enough job as Judge Palmer and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
About the family; I could see no real chemistry between Robert Duvall [The Judge] and his three sons, however, the brothers looked really good together. Every time, the trio of the palmer brothers was together, we had a good enough scene.
The courtroom scenes were some of the best scenes; it was an opportunity where they could really score by adding a few more hearings and cutting out the unnecessary plots about his ex and his alleged daughter. Anyway, there were so many sub-plots that the impact of the best scenes was minimal.
The judge had great substance which was handled by amateurs.
PS: Since Movie Geek's Blog is trying to determine the greatest movie ever made as voted by its readers, will you please take a minute to vote for your favorite movie(s) on the right side bar of this blog?
Directed by: David Dobkin
The Judge is the story of a son coming back home after 20 years to attend his mother’s funeral and developing the lost bond he had with his father, while they have a legal situation in hand. However, this is the head plot of the film, it didn't really unravel properly.
Robert Downey Jr. seriously needs to come out of that Tony Stark attitude if he really wants people to consider him an actor first. However it isn't completely his fault here, he did try to suppress the flamboyant Tony Stark in him but the character was written like that, which needed him to be a bit flamboyant.
Robert Duvall did a good enough job as Judge Palmer and received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
About the family; I could see no real chemistry between Robert Duvall [The Judge] and his three sons, however, the brothers looked really good together. Every time, the trio of the palmer brothers was together, we had a good enough scene.
The courtroom scenes were some of the best scenes; it was an opportunity where they could really score by adding a few more hearings and cutting out the unnecessary plots about his ex and his alleged daughter. Anyway, there were so many sub-plots that the impact of the best scenes was minimal.
The judge had great substance which was handled by amateurs.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★½
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PS: Since Movie Geek's Blog is trying to determine the greatest movie ever made as voted by its readers, will you please take a minute to vote for your favorite movie(s) on the right side bar of this blog?
The Lives of Others [2006]: Fall from grace of Berlin wall
Cast: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch
Directed by: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Genre: Drama, Thriller
A Guest Review by Nafees Ahmed
Reviewer's Rating: ★★★★½
The plot of 'The Lives of others' at its outset, may seem very familiar to psychological surveillance drama , "The Conversation" directed by Francis Ford Coppola, where lead protagonist of both the movies sit around the clock with headset clamped over their ears, stone faced, expressionless and surveying a romantic couple. But the similarity ends here, and 'The Lives of Others' slips into psyche of three principle characters who are struggling to live a normal life and honestly peruse their career and aspiration with no restriction, midst of all the chaos during 1984 Cold War, at Berlin Wall.
This dark and gloomy drama about three struggling souls, written and directed by first-timer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, was a deserving winner of 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Lives of others tries to examine the human nature and subtle love that somewhere beneath never blossoms, during the tragic struggling phase of exploiters and exploited people. The Stasi, the GDR's secret police, whose had vast network of informants( 2% of the entire civilian population was on the payroll during 1984), were sinister exploiters who never shy to bug the house of suspects and exploit their personal life.
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| Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others [2006] |
Minister of Culture Bruno Hempf seizes an opportunity to take an undue advantage of vulnerable Actress Christa-Maria Sieland whose Playwright boyfriend Dreyman is under suspicion after he escaped state scrutiny due to his pro-Communist views and international recognition. While Stasi Captain, Gerd Wiesler, starts his surveillance by bugging Dreyman's apartment, sooner he realizes that he himself is a part of more sinister plan that involves personal gain.
Film is about two honest individual who are disillusioned at the way they see their society and their own personal life .One of the focal points here deals with the issue of an honest man who takes his job religiously, but how possibly he reacts to circumstances that ask him to deflect his own path of an honest and righteous being.
But sooner Wiesler sympathizes with Dreyman and Christa's exploited artistic and personal life, and ultimately he jeopardizes his own career. At the other end, handsome Dreyman is passionate about his work and passionately in love with his beautiful girlfriend; oblivious to the fact that his apartment is under surveillance. Character of Dreyman is flawed but good guy who has earned himself name among theater people & GDR, and seeks removal of culpable theatrical colleagues from the blacklist, and who ends up writing a sensational article for the western press.
The Lives Of Others is highly compelling political thriller that horrifically thrives on backdrop of Berlin Wall, East Germany; it is profoundly emotional film that has ability to shatter you. It is powerful film that is perfectly constructed blending human drama, romance and thriller that is devoid of any ho-hums and cliché, twists are unpredictable and never seem forced while climax will definitely give lump in your throat.
The Artist [2011]: Quick Review
Cast: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman
Directed by: Michel Hazanavicius
The Artist works for an audience that have never experienced a silent movie before and is fascinated by knowing the facts that Hollywood was once Hollywood land. The Artist is a fairy tale for people who wonders about silent movies, instead of exploring them.
I have watched more than 200 films from the period of 1900-1930, so I can say, I have a fair understanding of the silent film era and the body language, they used to have, and this film over-stylized the whole environment of the silent era. This is one reason, we love Singin' in the Rain, because it was realistic.
I have watched more than 200 films from the period of 1900-1930, so I can say, I have a fair understanding of the silent film era and the body language, they used to have, and this film over-stylized the whole environment of the silent era. This is one reason, we love Singin' in the Rain, because it was realistic.
I really appreciate their effort and I also have an unsaid soft spot for movies about movies but I was disappointed with this movie.
Jean Dujardin was charming but was extremely one-dimensional. I really wanted to see how different George Valentin is off screen than On-Screen but he was shallow, he was given just one face to wear. On the other hand, Berenice Bejo, was really good at her role, she understood the ascent her character's life taken more than Jean Dujardin's understood his descent. It was definitely a good performance, but he won an undeserving Oscar.
The Artist is a good film, a kind that people remembers from a certain year but winning an Oscar for Best Picture is over rating it. Academy does this every time, they don't give the Oscar to a movie, they give it to a cause. Well then if it was for a cause I support the cause called "The Artist" and another cause "Argo".
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★
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Tag :
2010s,
2011,
Bérénice Bejo,
Comedy,
Drama,
English,
Jean Dujardin,
John Goodman,
Michel Hazanavicius,
Reviews,
Romance
Birdman [2014]: Michael Keaton's "Super-Realistic" Performance of the Year
Cast: Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts
Directed by: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★★
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★★
Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
Spectacular, breathtaking, an exhibition of surrealism and a thousand other things. Birdman is a great piece of Cinema.
Michael Keaton stars as an ageing Riggan Thomson, once popular for playing a superhero called Birdman, a superhero franchise which had its last film in 1992, [which interestingly is also the year Michael Keaton’s 2nd batman film released] and is now desperately looking for a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. It is metaphorically a film on Michael Keaton’s career. [Although Keaton believes that the character Riggan Thomson is the most dissimilar to his real life personality.]
22 years after Tim Burton made his last Batman film with Michael Keaton, who would have thought that the near extinct Keaton will return in such a hauntingly beautiful fashion and deliver the greatest performance of his career. Michael Keaton is also the most deserving candidate for this year's Academy Award for the Best Actor.
I wonder, if director Alejandro González Iñárritu wanted to cast a washed out super hero actor to play the lead character in Birdman or he always wanted to make a film on Michael Keaton’s life after Batman Returns. Whatever the case may be, there is no one I can imagine who could play the leading character in Birdman better than Michael Keaton.
Birdman is a satire on Hollywood and the actors who played these characters. It’s a satire on Michael Keaton because the character’s story does resemble his career and a parody on Edward Norton because like his character, he is also a famously annoying co-star to work with.
As the film starts, we see Riggan Thomson meditating, floating mid air in a lotus pose and we hear a voice saying “how did we end up here?” That voice is Birdman’s which sounds like the famous Batman growl. Right from the first scene, Keaton looked intense and a completely new guy you may never have seen before. It was from that very moment you knew that both Riggan Thomson and Michael Keaton are going to change the saddening reality of their careers.
Riggan Thomson reminds one of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard in a completely different way. Unlike Norma, Riggan doesn't confine himself to a life that doesn't really exist anymore, he has an unpleasant reality but somewhere he is still weaved in that alter ego of his. He wants the voice to shut up but he also embraces the superhero mannerism of Birdman when he puts the television off or moves random objects or opens a door using his mind [or he believes he does all those things]. It is left for how we interpret it individually, like we interpreted differently what the briefcase contained in Pulp Fiction.
Emmanuel Lubezki received the 7th nomination of his career for Best Achievement in Cinematography. He has done another master work and this time he created an illusion that the whole film was shot all in one long take. This is something he mastered in this great scene from Children of Men.
It is one of the best ensemble casts I have seen in many years. Each and everyone played their parts to perfection.
Michael Keaton’s performance was intense and hard hitting as if somewhere in the back of his head he knew that this might be his last big chance to score. Edward Norton as Mike is a self proclaimed perfectionist who plays a mysteriously selfish but there is something really fishy about him that you never totally love or hate him.
Zach Galifianakis was unbelievably good as the producer cum best friend of Keaton’s character; he can really do serious black comedy, bringing out the humor without actually doing a funny scene. There are 4 strong and significant woman characters and one just can’t imagine Birdman without anyone of them. Emma Stones, Naomi Watts, Amy Ryan and Andrea Riseborough play these characters. Each one of them had a different equation with Riggan Thomson. Emma Stones outshines the rest of the 3 and deservingly received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal as the messed up back from rehab daughter.
In an interesting scene, Riggan Thomson tells her ex-wife of an incident:
“The last time I flew here from LA, George Clooney was sitting two seats in front of me. With those cuff links, and that chin. We ended up flying through this really bad storm. The plane started to rattle and shake, and everyone on board was crying and praying. And I just sat there-- Sat there thinking that when Sam opened that paper it was going to be Clooney's face on the front page. Not mine. Did you know that Farrah Fawcett died on the same day as Michael Jackson?”
Ironically both Michael Keaton and George Clooney played Batman and even though we hated Clooney as Batman, we have seen his career flourish but Keaton never graduated from a mediocre filmography. This perhaps justifies the question the voice of Birdman asks Riggan: “how did we end up here”.
Birdman is poetic, hallucinating and extremely illusive. It has an environment that resembles that of an art-house cinema. It is a passionate work of art that leaves you craving for more.
As Riggan Thomson tries to regain his lost stardom, Michael Keaton redeemed himself in the process. Birdman is one of the best films of this decade.
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City Lights [1931]: Charlie Chaplin's Masterpiece gave a Perfect Closure to the Silent Era
After the success of “The Jazz Singer [1927]”, Talkies were no longer a joke to those who laughed upon the idea of the merging of sound and images. Possibilities opened for a long list of young mediocre actors who could speak their dialogues well. In Simple words, there were no limitations in cinema anymore. It was a great development and everyone in the industry had something to benefit from it except the stars of the silent era.
A lot of actors went out of work once the talkies completely took over and no one had more to lose than the biggest star of Hollywood then, Charlie Chaplin. City Lights was his ultimate test and the world was rather curious if he would be able to entertain like before now that dialogues are a viable option.
Charlie Chaplin used sounds in Citylights but not in the way people expected, as the film started, there was a political speech where the characters are saying something, which sounded nothing more than a harsh squeal, this is how Chaplin took a dig on talkies “silently”.
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| Charlie Chaplin and Harry Myers in a scene from Citylights [1931] |
City Lights is the story of a tramp, played by Chaplin who falls for the blind flower girl [Virginia Cherrill]. The blind flower girl mistakes the tramp for a rich man and the tramp promises the girl to pay for her eye operation.
The tramp saved a man who was going to commit suicide; this man turns out to be a millionaire [Harry Myers] and becomes his friend. The millionaire is mostly drunk and has a dual personality; he despises the tramp when he is sober while he becomes a really caring and protective friend of the tramp when he is drunk.
The Tramp was quite a familiar character by then as Chaplin used to play the tramp in most of his films of the 1920s. However this time, Chaplin deepened the character and gave him more meaning and a subtle amount of Fragility. In a time when Talkies was such a rage, Chaplin retained the tramp’s charm by not indulging him in words. Also, Words and Voice limits one’s connect to those who can understand, but it was the silence that gave Chaplin and The Tramp a universal appeal.
Charlie Chaplin used to work with accomplished and beautiful actresses who were equally beautiful; either it is “The Kid” or “Modern Times” or “The City Lights”, the lead actresses were quite a charmer. Virginia Cherrill was brilliant as the blind flower girl, she deliberately underplayed her part showing the right amount of innocence as you’d expect from a poor blind girl and later displayed a little carefree attitude as the circumstances of her life improves.
Citylights is a treasure of classic comedy scenes; the open elevator scene on the streets, the attempted suicide at the canal, the parties with the rich millionaire and of course the boxing scene where Chaplin fights a boxer for money and does everything to avoid being hit. These were some of the greatest scenes in cinema and they were all in one single movie. My favourite is of course the heart wrenching climax, which is perhaps one of my favourite scenes from any Charlie Chaplin film. And I have seen a lot of them.
A great scene after another great scene, that’s how masterpieces look like. These scenes from Chaplin’s career has been imitated in one way or the other by so many film makers that you can easily say that Charlie Chaplin was one of the most influential person in Cinema.
"One night the Piazza San Marco was darkened, and “City Lights” was shown on a vast screen. When the flower girl recognized the Tramp, I heard much snuffling and blowing of noses around me; there wasn't a dry eye in the piazza. Then complete darkness fell, and a spotlight singled out a balcony overlooking the square. Charlie Chaplin walked forward, and bowed. I have seldom heard such cheering." wrote Late Roger Ebert in his review of City Lights.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★★
Maachis [1996]
Cast: Om Puri, Tabu, Chandrachur Singh
Directed by: Gulzar
Maachis is a 1996 film written and directed by Gulzar. Now Gulzar's name is enough to attract anyone to watch this film and this is just what happened in my case.
Directed by: Gulzar
Maachis is a 1996 film written and directed by Gulzar. Now Gulzar's name is enough to attract anyone to watch this film and this is just what happened in my case.
Maachis or matchbox is very apt title for this movie. Let me explain why, just like, to fire a matchstick you have to rub it with the box, a person become an assassin or terrorist when there is a bebasi n bekasi (compulsion and helplessness). But that is not all, once the matchstick is lit; it burns itself and everything that comes in contact with it. Gulzar being the master of words chooses it ably.
Maachis is a journey of a man Kripaal from a caring friend and responsible husband-to-be to a terrorist. He ain’t uneducated, brainwashed religious naïf rather a victim of the corrupted system. After 1984 riots there has been a huge violence against Sikhs, it’s no more a hidden truth. Whose love & care for his friend and soon to be brother-in-law, forces him to revenge the atrocities faced by his friend. In the process of avenging he turns into a terrorist. He shoots Vohra(the inspector responsible for his friend’s misery) in the head and then heads back home only to leave forever and join the group that helped him shoot Vohra. The next mission of this group is a secret but it involves missile launcher and they are waiting for the person who could do that. This person turns out to be Veeran who was Kripaal’s fiancée. What is their mission? Will they succeed in their mission?
Shyam Bengal once said, “It’s this ability of great work to make you see the particular in general and general in particular.” This movie does that, it encapsulates the loopholes within the system, its hypocrisy that provides the breeding ground for people like Sanatan and Bali, also, the turbulent struggle within the hearts and minds of these people along with the physical and emotional struggle of their families. Above all it pose the accountability and sanctity of legislature and their obligation to the people who choose them. It is all of the above and has a soul of Romeo+Juliet.
To add to this great cinematic experience are the songs. "Chhod aye hum wo galiyan" the visuals of this video are as amazing as this melody. I have reasons to believe that while making Highway Imtiaz was searching the place shown in this song. Then there’s Chappa chappa charka chale which is more or less in the similar lines. Paani paani this song is the most melodious of it all, Tabu’s expressions in the song makes it more soulful.
The performances of the actors are cherry on top, Tabu never disappoints, nor does Om puri as far as their acting capabilities are concerned it’s impeccable and unmatched. Chandrachurna singh as the lead Kripaal does his part responsibly, Jasjiet Shergill who I think is Jimmi Shergill shows the signs being of good actor that he is now. The rest of the supporting casts too doesn’t disappoints for a minute.
I’m a nobody to say anything about Gulzaar capabilities other than that I’m in awe with his works, be it the lyrics, writing or direction.
Fear Strikes Out [1957]
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Karl Malden, Norma Moore
Directed by: Robert Mulligan
Fear Strikes out is the directorial début of Robert Mulligan. It is a sport biography of Jimmy Piershall; this film is about the rise, fall and rise of the former American Baseball center fielder.
The film starts with Jimmy as a kid working on his slides for his baseball games, while his father [Karl Malden] helped him with his practice. His father decided that the one and only goal of Jimmy’s life is to make it to the Boston Red Sox team. 10 minutes into the movie and we see a grown up Jimmy [Anthony Perkins] playing a baseball game in a small ground and with a little audience.
He was the best in the game in his small town of Waterbury, Connecticut. Scouts from Boston came down to watch him play, so as to sign him for Boston Red Sox trainings but even then, it was never good enough for his father.
Not that he was a bad father, but he never had it easy. During the practice session in the first sequence of the movie, he was throwing the ball at little Jimmy with such an intensity that it was hurting Jimmy’s hands even though he wore a glove. When every one of his teammates was out celebrating for a game’s victory, Jimmy was not allowed to go as it would ruin his next morning’s practice session.
Once he got selected for training with the Boston Red Sox, he met his future wife, Mary [Norma Moore] and when he proposes her, he is confused and psyched by his own decision, because he knows his father will not appreciate it and make it look like a “mistake which will affect his game”. His confusion and psych was shown in the hotel room scene when he is awaiting a call from Mary and gets angry at his neighbor because they were playing the radio too loud and there was a critical opinion on Piershall’s game on the radio. In my interpretation, it was making him weak to stand by his decision to marry Mary.
The pressure John Piershall puts on his son Jimmy is a lesson for parents of this era, when the world has reached to greater heights of competitiveness. The relentless pressure by Jimmy’s father affected his personality and pushed him on the verge of madness.
Karl Malden as John Piershall, played the role of the obsessively driven father, who is not just working hard for Jim’s Career but literally believes that it’s always a shared dream. Jimmy usually tells “I did it”, but John maintains the ‘we’ part. It is always a Father-Son team for him and that’s why he is constantly pressuring him to improve, even when he actually needs to be acknowledged for the game he played.
Anthony Perkins have given a performance that might have prepared himself very well to play Norman Bates in the Hitchcock classic “Psycho” only 3 years later. He did some very intense scenes, that shown his capability to do dark characters. But the best performance of the film is by Karl Malden who equally shares not just the goals of Jimmy’s Life but this film.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★½
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Tag :
1950s,
1957,
Anthony Perkins,
Biography,
Drama,
English,
Karl Malden,
Norma Moore,
Reviews,
Robert Muligan,
Sport
Grand Hotel [1932]: A great film of its time
Cast: John Barrymore, Greta Garbo, Lionel Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery
Directed by: Edmund Goulding
"Grand Hotel; people come, people go, Nothing ever happens"
This film is not the greatest from the standards of today’s cinema but for the year 1932, it was an innovative step in the then existing line of films. Director Edmund Goulding took an ensemble cast of the superstars of that era and made a creative film of intertwining stories. The cast includes some iconic names of Hollywood, such as Lionel Barrymore and the greatest Greta Garbo; other great names were Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery and John Barrymore.
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Plot: This is the story of multiple characters that spent 2 days in a hotel. Greta Garbo plays a ballerina who misses her country Russia and feels her life being empty and pointless and is saved by the charm of the Baron, played by John Barrymore. The Baron aims to steal her jewels and pay all his debts. Joan Crawford plays the stenographer and is trying to woo the Baron as she believes he is a rich business person. She is employed by the wealthy industrialist played by Wallace Beery; he also employed a dying old man, played by Lionel Barrymore, who is set to live rest of his life experiencing things he missed out till now, he eventually befriends the Baron.
Greta Garbo’s character spent most of her part in isolation. Grand Hotel won the Oscar for the Best Picture at the 5th Academy Awards. It holds the record as the only film in history that won a Best Picture at the Oscars and had no other nominations. This happened because there were so many subplots in the film and it must have been tough to select one of the performances. Overall, the film was pretty interesting with all the subplots mixed and matched perfectly. Some of my favourite films with intertwined stories are Pulp Fiction, Amores Perros and Magnolia, although all of them are very different films in nature.
Movie Geek’s Rating: ★★★½
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Sunrise: A song of Two Humans [1927]: An overlooked masterpiece
Cast: George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor, Margaret Livingston
Directed by: FW Murnau
This is one of the best films of the 1920s. Directed by German filmmaker FW Murnau, who also made classics like "Nosferatu [1922]" and "Faust [1926]" and others.
I don't have any hesitation saying that I love this movie a bit more than I loved watching Metropolis, as it is also a 1927 film.
Sunrise is a collaborative work and not just the lead actors trio but everyone who got a chance to be on the screen even for a single scene did their part exceptionally well and that includes the Dog and the little pig as they got to do one important scene each.
It is one of the earliest silent films I saw where the actors were not intentionally dramatic in their expressions as they used to be in the 1920s. For example: Metropolis and The Passion of Joan of Arc, however that doesn't diminish their value in cinema at all.
Sunrise is the story of the man who plans to kill his wife and run away with this other woman from the city but circumstances change and different shades of human emotions unfold between the characters.
Sunrise won 3 Oscars at first Academy Awards in 1929 including "Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production" Best Actress in a leading role" for Janet Gaynor for the 3 films she did during 1927 and 1928 [7th heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise] and "Best Cinematography"
It is a masterpiece that many of us failed to notice. It is one of the finest piece of cinema I have watched.
Directed by: FW Murnau
This is one of the best films of the 1920s. Directed by German filmmaker FW Murnau, who also made classics like "Nosferatu [1922]" and "Faust [1926]" and others.
I don't have any hesitation saying that I love this movie a bit more than I loved watching Metropolis, as it is also a 1927 film.
Sunrise is a collaborative work and not just the lead actors trio but everyone who got a chance to be on the screen even for a single scene did their part exceptionally well and that includes the Dog and the little pig as they got to do one important scene each.
It is one of the earliest silent films I saw where the actors were not intentionally dramatic in their expressions as they used to be in the 1920s. For example: Metropolis and The Passion of Joan of Arc, however that doesn't diminish their value in cinema at all.
Sunrise is the story of the man who plans to kill his wife and run away with this other woman from the city but circumstances change and different shades of human emotions unfold between the characters.
Sunrise won 3 Oscars at first Academy Awards in 1929 including "Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production" Best Actress in a leading role" for Janet Gaynor for the 3 films she did during 1927 and 1928 [7th heaven, Street Angel and Sunrise] and "Best Cinematography"
It is a masterpiece that many of us failed to notice. It is one of the finest piece of cinema I have watched.
It is available on YouTube. You can also watch it here below.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★★
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PS: Since Movie Geek's Blog is trying to determine the greatest movie ever made as voted by its readers, will you please take a minute to vote for your favorite movie(s) on the right side bar of this blog?
Tag :
1920s,
1927,
Drama,
FW Murnau,
George O'Brien,
Janet Gaynor,
Margaret Livingston,
Romance,
USA
Mardaani [2014]: Movie Review
Cast: Rani Mukherji, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Sanjay Taneja
Directed by: Pradeep Sarkar
Remember 'Taken' ? The 2008 cult action movie which starred Liam Neeson in the lead role. It seems like it is still ruling the minds of film lovers in all corners of the world. Taken portrayed the story of woman trafficking, and it was well received by both critics and audiences alike. Even after six years of its release, many directors are still in its hang over, and they are all trying hard to make a movie just like the Liam Neeson thriller. A recent attempt to make a thriller based on human trafficking is done by Pradeep Sarkar. His recent movie 'Mardaani' which portrays the same old story of sex trafficking has Rani Mukherjee in the lead role. Now let us see whether the movie has lived up to the expectations.
The movie can be described as the lonely fight of a brave heart woman Police Officer against the sex trafficking rackets. Her name is Shivani Roy, and she lives in Mumbai along with her husband and niece. She is deadly daring, and is not at all concerned about the worst outcomes of beating up the baddies. One day, Shivani takes up a case which changes her lifetime. She takes up the case of Pyaari, a young teenage girl who gets kidnapped. Shivani tries to take down the baddies with her full fury, but she has only 30 days to complete the task as she challenges with the mafia kingpin. The ruthless mafia king pin is much powerful, and he has all the measures to tackle the moves of the Police. And from here starts some breathtaking chases and unbelievable stunts.
The proceedings of the movie is just like any other thriller which unveils the mystery in a sequential manner. The director has succeeded in creating some fine moments, but he failed to carry this edge of the seat ambiance throughout the running time. The moment which portrays the challenge of mafia don and Shivani may provide some goosebumps in the initial moments, but later it feels like a kind of sledging. The movie is completely filled with insane language, and there is no surprise that this movie got an A certificate.
Mardaani is an in and out Rani Mukherjee show. She was excellent in the role of the daring Police Officer, and her movements was a real visual treat to watch. She delivered the dialogue with finesse, and stunt scenes were done with perfection. Jisshu Sengupta, who plays Rani’s doctor husband, has nothing much to do, and if my memory is powerful, I remember him uttering less than two dialogues in the movie.
Mardaani is a movie which has good intentions, and the story is racy too. But the weak script derails all the plan, and in most probabilities, you will not rate this movie more than an above average thriller. It is just a one time watchable movie with a fine performance by Rani. 'Go and watch Mardaani only to see the scintillating screen presence of Rani Mukherji'.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★
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Author: Nirmal Narayanan
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PS: Since Movie Geek's Blog is trying to determine the greatest movie ever made as voted by its readers, will you please take a minute to vote for your favorite movie(s) on the right side bar of this blog?
Tag :
2010s,
2014,
Action,
Drama,
India,
Pradeep Sarkar,
Rani Mukherji,
Reviews,
Sanjay Taneja,
Tahir Raj Bhasin,
Thriller
Life of Pi [2012]: A Cinematic Achievement
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Suraj Sharma, Adil Hussain, Tabu
Directed by: Ang lee
Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
So I thought of writing a review this morning, there were back to back conflicts in my mind while selecting the film to review. It happens when you have a young movie blog. You have so many films to write about, you just can’t settle on a particular film. So, I opened my watch list on IMDB and laid my eyes on all those movie posters of the films I have watched, suddenly I saw “Life of Pi” on one side of the web page and instantly all the doubts vanished and I started watching Life of Pi for the 2nd time.
Directed by: Ang lee
Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews
So I thought of writing a review this morning, there were back to back conflicts in my mind while selecting the film to review. It happens when you have a young movie blog. You have so many films to write about, you just can’t settle on a particular film. So, I opened my watch list on IMDB and laid my eyes on all those movie posters of the films I have watched, suddenly I saw “Life of Pi” on one side of the web page and instantly all the doubts vanished and I started watching Life of Pi for the 2nd time.
I don’t like missing the high points of a film when I am going to write about it, so I had to watch every film once again just before I start writing about it. Life of Pi is a tough film to review, as a viewer; one may get carried away by its adventure or the fantasy element or the VFX. But above all, this is an inspirational film on life.
It was one of the best films of 2012, among other greats like “Zero Dark Thirty”, “Argo”, “Lincoln”, "The Master" and others. I haven't watched much of Ang lee's work, Life of Pi is only his 2nd film I watched, the other being “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Just 2 films and I have become an Ang Lee fan.
It was one of the best films of 2012, among other greats like “Zero Dark Thirty”, “Argo”, “Lincoln”, "The Master" and others. I haven't watched much of Ang lee's work, Life of Pi is only his 2nd film I watched, the other being “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. Just 2 films and I have become an Ang Lee fan.
Now coming to the movie right away, the story is being told by the ‘grown up’ Pi Patel, played by Irrfan Khan to a writer played by Rafe Spall, who is looking for a story.
Life of Pi is the story of Pi Patel, played by Suraj Sharma, who is ship wrecked and left alone on a boat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a royal Bengal tiger who is called Richard Parker.
Life of Pi is the story of Pi Patel, played by Suraj Sharma, who is ship wrecked and left alone on a boat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a royal Bengal tiger who is called Richard Parker.
Pi Patel is an Indian boy who lives in Pondicherry and his family owns a zoo with many exotic animals inside. As Pi becomes a teenager, his family decides to move abroad. They left on a cargo ship with their zoo animals for Canada. A deadly storm while the cargo ship was on the Pacific Ocean changes everything.
It is the journey of Pi Patel reaching the coasts of Mexico in more than 200 days on a life boat in the company of the Bengal tiger “Richard Parker.” It shows the friendship which was there all the time but never shown directly. It also show the attention Richard Parker had Pi, so much that he could hardly think of surviving in the sea and was rather worried about the tiger himself.
There were some unexplained fantasy element which the director or the Author of the book leaves for you to interpret. I read some reviews, a few months ago about Life of Pi, which questions the protagonist’s relationship with god, I strongly feel offended with a remark like that. That was a fantasy element, which is not the most important thing this movie is all about.
This movie is about the conversation between Pi and Richard Parker, though this conversation has no words to it, this is about the friendship which is not to be seen but to be understood and this film is about how one can be responsible for saving your life even if he/she was not particularly kind at any moment.
I really loved a quote told by Irrfan Khan later in the film, he said "I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."
This movie is about the conversation between Pi and Richard Parker, though this conversation has no words to it, this is about the friendship which is not to be seen but to be understood and this film is about how one can be responsible for saving your life even if he/she was not particularly kind at any moment.
I really loved a quote told by Irrfan Khan later in the film, he said "I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."
Life of Pi is an achievement in cinema, there are many great films made every year, but some sticks to the timeline of Cinema and when we talk about cinemas of the century or the millenium, a film like this is always remembered.
Movie Geek's Blog Rating: ★★★★
------------------------
Tag :
2010s,
2012,
Adil Hussain,
Adventure,
Ang Lee,
Drama,
Fantasy,
Irrfan Khan,
Reviews,
Suraj Sharma,
Tabu
Locke [2013]: Quick Review
Cast: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott.
Directed by: Steven Knight
Locke is the story of Ivan Locke's 2 hour journey as he drives to London as the woman he "once" slept with is going to deliver a baby. He had a plan to watch the football game with his wife and kids. He also had a historical project at work, the very next morning. But he decides his priorities and plans to be with this "other" woman in London. Not caring about the consequences, he believes that doing the right thing is more important in life.
Here are some important life lessons, we
can learn from Ivan Locke:
- You decide something, you stick to the plan
- You finish what you start. No matter what, you don't run away from your responsibility.
- Your responsibility is sometimes beyond money or any profit.
- You only say the truth.
- You need to be calm, composed and positive.
- There will always be something to look forward and something to upset you, but you can't get carried away either way.
Ivan being a construction director shows at all times his constructive ways to handle life's problems. This is an essential film, every person going through any kind of crisis (or not) must watch.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★
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Milk [2008]: “We will make a change starting now”
Cast: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
"My name is Harvey Milk and I am here to recruit you"
This movie is all about getting intrigued in 125 minutes; I must admit, I am truly awed and zapped at the same time to believe in the infinite connection that Mr. Milk makes throughout the movie. The details, reach, assembles, characters in the movie just doesn't let you get away from them.
It is a biopic about first openly elected gay politician and an activist rising to the horizon by the revolution in the status of homosexuality in the year of 1977 in the US. He changed life of the community and the history of that era all together by sheer hard work and his reach to the heart nature. Watching Academy Award Winner Sean Penn in the lead role of Harvey Milk was a delight. His mannerism, his flow and his presence is something that will not slip from your mind for a long time.
I believe, Director Gus Van Sant did the very right choice of getting Penn play the heart melting role of Milk. The movie initiates with a start of an audio tape marking all the details in the journey of Milk’s life. In a gush of doing something with his life and mind, Milk decides to fight against the wisdom, space and rights of homosexual people. Having said that, this line makes me remember his dialogue: “Forty years old and I haven't done a thing that I'm proud of.”
Deeply in love with Scott Smith (James Franco), he decides to move to San Francisco, and opens a camera shop in the midst of Castro Theater, where large number of homosexual community are down eyed left, right and center by the other group including the police. Campaigning for gay rights, stabilizing the heated crowd and playing very calm yet smart leader, proves the ability of Mr. Harvey Milk. The movie is not about being a hero and changing life of people but about the rightful right of a gay/lesbian citizen of a country. Friends, romance – new or old, rivals, fame all intertwined with each other makes the movie connected to you from the first scene till the last.
Playing the role of Milk as “I am as normal as you are” to “We will make a change starting now”, Penn draws a remarkable perception about his presence in the industry for all better reasons. The screen play and the dialogues either melt your heart or force you to fight against the cause with the characters. Direction and other detailing work are simply flawless. Background score not being in the movie beside the after credit list scene doesn't really itch you much since you are too engrossed with the biopic drama. Supporting actors also do a mind-blowing job proving their particular role to utmost justice.
I recommend this movie to each of those people who understand the true sense of film making and its thought process. Concluding with HARVEY MILK’s best dialogue from the movie – “Without hope, life is not worth living.”
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★½
-------------------------
Author: Deepshikha Deb
Tag :
2000s,
2008,
Biography,
Drama,
Emile Hirsch,
Gus Van Sant,
History,
James Franco,
Josh Brolin,
Reviews,
Sean Penn
Udaan [2010]: A great film by first time director Vikramaditya Motwane
Do you know,
what is it, that Orson Welles, Satyajit Ray, Jim Sheridan, Kevin Costner,
Quentin Tarantino, Brad Bird and Ben Affleck have in common? It is the fact that they all had a great debut as directors. Now I won’t talk
about how they went ahead later in their careers in this post, but certainly
they were all equally great first time directors, they were simply fantastic.
One of the recent addition to this list is Vikramaditya Motwane who made his first film Udaan in
2010.
Udaan is a coming of age story of Rohan, played by Rajat Barmecha, also a
debutant. Rohan is 16, an aspiring writer at heart, expelled from boarding school
and returns to his father’s place in the city of Jamshedpur.
His father, who
he hasn't met in the last 8 years, is not your regular dad, he is strict, he is
authoritarian and he prefers being called “sir” over dad. During these 8 years, when Rohan was in hostel,
he fathered another son, to his 2nd marriage. Rohan’s half brother Arjun [Aayan Boradia] is
merely 6 years old but is living a similar life as Rohan; dictated by their
father, calling him Sir and in the process the two step brothers bond well without much of a
conversation.
Rohan’s father,
Bhairav Singh, played by Ronit Roy is an essentially heartless man. Ronit Roy’s
portrayal as the father is pure evil. Initially, you will like to believe he is
a little unconventionally strict father but as the movie progresses, you will
be shocked at his ruthlessness at different points of time.
Surprisingly Rohan’s
uncle [his dad's brother] supports him, he understands Rohan and wants him to pursue
whatever his heart says. But that never helped him set things right in his
life. Ronit Roy as Bhairav Singh has perhaps done the greatest performance of his
life playing the monstrous father. Rajat Barmecha as Rohan was equally great
doing every bit of his role to perfection, his fractured teenage made him
stronger every new day.
Udaan is
produced by the great Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who often shows traits
of Tarantino and Scorsese in his own works and is known for directing films like
Gulaal, Gangs of Wasseypur, Black Friday and DevD. Vikramaditya Motwane didn’t
let down Anurag in his first film and later he made another good film Lootera
in 2013 produced by Anurag Kashyap.
Udaan means
flight or better say fly high. And certainly Udaan is a high flyer in the
Indian film industry.
Udaan came in
2010 and if you haven’t watched it by now, you must watch it.
Highly
recommended.
Movie Geek’s
Rating: ★★★★
Cast: Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Aayan Boradia, Ram Kapoor
Directed by: Vikramaditya Motwane
-------------------------
Author: Amritt Rukhaiyaar
[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]
Pirates of silicon valley [1999]: that's how you make a film on Steve Jobs
The day I saw the trailer of jOBS, I could sense that something is terribly wrong with it. Yes I am talking about that Ashton Kutcher movie that looked highly commercial and glamorous. The film came and as I expected, it was not appreciated by many including me.
Why did I sensed so? That's because I saw a better film on Steve Jobs and Bill Gates earlier and this was not even close to what I felt while watching Pirates of Silicon Valley.
It was only after
Steve Jobs death, I did some YouTube research on him and in the process I found
this gem. Pirates of Silicon Valley is a biographical drama about the constant rise and rivalry between Apple and Microsoft and before that the way jobs and Gates crossed paths.
The film starts
with the famous 1984 Apple commercial made by Ridley Scott [JG Hertzler], then the film moves to
1997, where Steve Jobs [Noah Wyle] announces his return to Apple and the
company’s deal with Bill Gates’ [Anthony Hall] Microsoft.
The movie then
flashes back to 1971, the time when both Apple and Microsoft were not even
ideas and introduces Steve Wozniak [co-founder of Apple, played by Joey Slotnick].Meanwhile at Harvard,
we come across a couple of nerds and found that they are Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer
and some other Microsoft names we know now.
This is
basically a film on Steve Jobs of which Bill gates was given a large part but
at the end of the day, it remains a film on Jobs. I wish this film could be
more balanced on portraying Gates, but what we witness is Bill Gates practicing
his ruthless tricks to get Microsoft some quick success and actually succeeding
in it.
It shows how
jobs had a spiritual and artistic way to things with which he cannot compromise;
perfectionism was such an obsession for jobs that time and again he had to go
harsh on his employees. On the other hand, Bill Gates is more logical and
negotiable and can be reasoned but showcased more as an opportunist.
Noah Wyle as
Steve Jobs and Anthony Hall as Bill Gates are the two main leads and the two
pillars of this film, both playing their part to perfection. I never saw a
biography where the characters looked this much convincing for the real people
they are portraying.
As far as I went
reading about the credentials of this film, I learnt that many of the
information we came to know from this film were accurate. The Garage where Jobs
and Wozniak started Apple, Xerox not realizing the potential of their creation,
the commercial made by Ridley Scott was all exactly as it were in real life.
Though there
were a few misinformation as well like many events happened at different places
and on different dates but it was all simplified in chronological order, Apple
Lisa was never a successful product and Microsoft stealing from Apple, though
quite true, was shown in a little emphasized way.
But Apart from the
information you learn, I‘d suggest you to watch this movie for the performances
by the actors. Noah Wyle plays Steve Jobs to perfection and even though Jobs
himself disliked the movie; he liked Noah’s portrayal of him.
Jobs called Noah
Wyle after watching Pirates of Silicon Valley.
He told Wyle that while he "hated the movie"
and "hated the script," he thought that "you were good" and
that "you do look like me." Jobs then told Wyle: "Listen, we do this
thing every year called the Macworld convention. It's in New York, at the
Javits Center. There will be about 10,000 people there. And I think it would be
hilarious if you came out on stage dressed as me and did the first five minutes
of my keynote address. Are you interested?" Wyle agreed and later recalled
that.
[Source: Wikipedia]
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★½
Cast: Noah Wyle, Anthony Hall, Joey Slotnick
Directed by: Martyn Burke
-------------------------
Author: Amritt Rukhaiyaar
[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]
Tag :
1990s,
1999,
Anthony Hall,
Biography,
Challenges,
Drama,
Joey Slotnick,
Martyn Burke,
Noah Wyle,
Reviews
Oldboy [2003]: Almost impossible to imitate
Cast: Min-sik Choi, Hye-jeong Kang, Ji-tae Yu
Directed by: Chan-wook Park
A drunken man [Oh Dae-Su] is arrested by the police. His friend bails him out and when this friend was making a telephone call, the man disappears only to wake up in a place that looked like a cheap hotel room. Little did he know that, he will be in that room for the next 15 years, day in, day out?
Oldboy tells the story of that man.
Time and again, a little tune plays and the room is filled with some kind of gas so as to faint him. He wakes up and notices that the room has been cleaned, his clothes have been changed and his hair and beard has been trimmed. This same routine goes for 15 years.
He doesn’t know who imprisoned him and why. There is a TV in the room being the only source of new information for him. There is a desk with a pen and a journal, he writes, finishing journals one after another. Through TV, he finds out that his wife has been murdered and his fingerprints and blood were found at the place of the crime. Thus he has been framed for the murder of her wife. He also found out from TV only that his little daughter is adopted in Sweden.
TV taught him everything, the martial art, the tragedies of the world and the fact that the world is racing ahead at a great pace. And then one day he has been released; he became unconscious after that regular tune and the gas and wakes up in a Red box only to realize that he is not in that room anymore and that the city where he was taken from has become faster than ever.
His abductor left some cash in his court pocket and a cellphone, intentionally leaving him resourced so that he could survive and find; who did it and why?
Now this is half the plot, the other half is even more complex, devastating and shows you the truest colors of revenge and vengeance.
Upon being free, he meets a young woman who he saw on the TV as Korea’s Chef of the year. This young woman is Mido. They talk and she comes to know of all he has gone through, she sympathizes with him, cares for him and falls in love with him.
When Oh Dae-su was abducted, for 15 years, he was only fed pot stickers, which is why its taste was imprinted on his memory. With the help of Mido, he visits every restaurant in the city and orders Pot Stickers so as to recognize the same taste, in order to find a trail to his abductor.
In an important scene, when Oh Dae-Su fights with more than 25 of his previous jailers with just a hammer in his hands. In this scene, more than a two dozen men are blocking his way to get him out of a building and because he is so occupied by revenge, he doesn’t even slow down after somebody injected a knife on his back.
When Oh Dae-su was abducted, for 15 years, he was only fed pot stickers, which is why its taste was imprinted on his memory. With the help of Mido, he visits every restaurant in the city and orders Pot Stickers so as to recognize the same taste, in order to find a trail to his abductor.
In an important scene, when Oh Dae-Su fights with more than 25 of his previous jailers with just a hammer in his hands. In this scene, more than a two dozen men are blocking his way to get him out of a building and because he is so occupied by revenge, he doesn’t even slow down after somebody injected a knife on his back.
In another brilliant scene, Oh went into a restaurant and asks “I want to eat something that is alive.” This shows his starvation is for life and not the food, considering the fact that he has not seen one living person in the last 15 years.
When the film started, Oh Dae-su was a good man who got drunk because he couldn't be with her little daughter on her birthday, and these 15 years made him a hardened vindictive man who reacts weirdly against emotional actions or any other act of kindness towards him.
Once Oh Dae-su finally confronts his abductor, there are some shocking revelations that unfold one after another. These revelations affect the viewers emotionally and mentally. They are shocking and deep.
All the three performances were class apart, the prisoner Oh Dae-Su [Min-sik Choi], the chef Mido [Hye-jeong Kang] and the abductor Woo-jin Lee [Ji-tae Yu].
Oldboy is a harsh film that offers no sympathy, leaves you devastated for what you watched and at the end make you have pity on the characters. This is a film which will be respected even after 50 years from now. Director Chan-wook Park has made something even he will find difficult to imitate.
This is why I hated the idea of its remake, but Spike Lee remade it and failed miserably. Some films should never be remade, tampered or even touched but only be respected for its existence.
Movie Geek’s Rating: ★★★★★
-------------------------
[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]
Tag :
2000s,
2003,
Challenges,
Chan-wook Park,
Drama,
Hye-jeong Kang,
Ji-tae Yu,
Min-sik Choi,
Mystery,
Reviews,
Thriller
Chupke Chupke [1975]: A comedy that deserves to be in your movie library for life
Long before David Dhawan and Priyadarshan started making ordinarily funny films in the name of comedy, there was one man who used to make films that made you feel good about life and laughter, that man was Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His films had a natural humor with the value of family in the background, never ever he tried to make a family look bad together.
Botany professor Parimal Tripathi [Dharmendra] marries Sulekha [Sharmila Tagore] without the presence of the girl’s family members and then plans to introduce himself to them under false pretense. Her wife and few friends support him in this little endeavor and he reaches his in-laws place acting as a driver sent by the professor himself.
The couple thus enjoys the secrecy in their relationship and her family, only consisting of her sister and her brother-in-law [Om Prakash], often finds it offensive seeing Sulekha giggling with the driver, who is actually her husband. This development between Sulekha and the driver grew tension in her brother-in-law and sister’s life and they are worried how professor Parimal will react to this.
Professor Parimal/Driver Pyarelal calls upon his colleague Sukumar [Amitabh Bachchan], who is also like a younger brother to him, to come and act as Sulekha’s husband. The set of events become more laughable once the fake Parimal indulges in a relationship with Vasudha [Jaya Bachchan].
Dharmendra shines as Professor Parimal/Driver Pyarelal and proves that he can do comedy effortlessly and has more shades to his acting skills.
Om Prakash as Ragahvendra plays the 2nd best performance in Chupke Chupke after Dharmendra of course.
Amitabh Bachchan played an extended special appearance in this film, his inability to hold his nerves is brilliantly executed. 1975 was a great year for Amitabh Bachchan because of the back to back hits. Amitabh tasted success with Sholay, Deewaar, Mili and Chupke Chupke all in the same year.
Among others were Sharmila Tagore, Jaya Bachchan, Asrani and Keshto Mukherjee, all playing their roles to perfection. This film has great music by SD Burman and lyrics by Anand Bakshi. This is a proper comedy film a family wants to watch together. Although the film focuses on the urban Indian middle class, the narrative was able to communicate with viewers of all society.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★½
Cast: Dharmendra, Om Prakash, Sharmila Tagore, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan
Directed by: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
-------------------------
Author: Amritt Rukhaiyaar
[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]
Amores Perros [2000]: Loyal dogs, disloyal people
Cast: Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Emilio Echevarría
Amores Perros is a Mexican film released in 2000 with the English title “Love’s a bitch”. This film is often compared to Pulp Fiction because of the non-linear style of storytelling. But let’s not go there; instead we should admire Amores Perros for its own substance; It is director Alejandro González Iñárritu's first film.
It is the story of three people living three totally different lives and how they connect because of a car accident. These characters belong to the rich socialites to the working middle class to the homeless tramps of Mexico City.
There are three different segments in this film that play one after another and all of them have some common elements, which bind the three plots into one.
The first segment is called “Octavio and Susana”. Octavio is having an affair with his brother’s wife Susana. Seeing the way his brother beats teenager Susana, he thought she deserves better and plans to run away with her, but needs money to execute his plans. He indulges in the dog fighting where guys make their dogs fight and make money out of it. One of those fights went too intense and a guy shoots Octavio’s dog Cofi in order to spare a defeat. Octavio ran away from the place in his car and gets into an accident at the intersection of the roads and injures himself badly.
The second segment called “Daniel and Valeria” is about the rich TV people. Daniel, a TV producer abandoned his family and is living with his beautiful girlfriend and young actress Valeria. Daniel rented a new apartment for Valeria where her little dog disappears under the floorboards while chasing a ball into a hole in the floor, only to never return. Later during a car accident Valeria severely injured her legs and is now permanently out of her modelling and acting career. This was the same accident which injured Octavio, only this time we see it from another point of view.
In both of these segments, we come across a tramp El Chivo. El Chivo is who we learn about in the third segment, “El Chivo and Maru.” Although he seems like a beggar by his appearance but he actually is a professional hitman with a revolutionary past that ended on a bad note. He also has an estranged wife and daughter Maru. El Chivo is hired by a man to kill his business partner and when he was about to do the execution, that car accident which affected Octavio and Valeria interrupts him. El chivo steals Octavio’s money and his injured dog Cofi and nurses him.
After the road accident, there come unexpected revelations in the lives of Octavio, Valeria and El Chivo. Perros in English means Dogs and indeed the director has showcased dogs as a significant entity in this film. Dogs are symbols of loyalty and in each of the three stories; there is disloyalty by the characters in it, whether it is Octavio being disloyal to his brother, Daniel to his family or El Chivo's client to his business partner.
It is interesting to see that how one car crash changed the course of time for the three main characters of this film. This film is melodramatic, sensational and violent at different points of the plot. Depicting elements of disloyalty in the company of an animal who is a symbol of loyalty is a notable contrast in Amores Perros.
Amores Perros lost to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the Award for the Best Foreign Film at Academy Awards 2001. It was the first film of director Iñárritu's Death Trilogy; the other two films were 21 grams and Babel.
Movie Geek's Rating: ★★★★
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[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]
