Movie recall…

Crash
“It’s the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We’re always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.”

With these intriguing lines the movie opens on the scene of a traffic jam in post-9/11 Los Angeles and runs through a very insightful, engaging sequence of events in the lives of the people who are part of this scene. It is a movie that speaks of prejudices revolving around racial discrimination, how people develop the feelings due to the circumstances they find themselves in and how by a twist of fate the prejudices come undone giving them a chance to heal themselves the hard way. The movie describes how normal socially tolerant people overcome by the air of general mistrust, reveal an ugly side to themselves when they vent out frustration and misplaced anger on the innocent.

It is a fantastic script, amazing intertwining of plots that keep the viewer engaged and put them through an entire range of emotions. You hate a character one moment and feel for them the next. Some of the scenes are so involving and kindle such strong emotions that you thank god for being safe and secure in your own country atleast for now! A beautiful movie that takes an empathetic view of human emotions.

Mystery Men
A funny narrative of a bunch of wannabe superheros who eventually find themselves in a situation where they can make their dreams come true. Funny, laugh out loud, lines dot the entire movie. The use of “fork” by blue Raja (Hank Azaria) in his British accent coated dialogues, the bowler daughter and father exchange, Mr. Furious’s (Ben Stiller) expressions and pick up lines he uses to win a date with his sweetheart, the Invisible boy’s concept of invisibility, Spleen’s flatulence ( a gypsy’s curse) etc., is hilarious and fits in nicely with the script.

Captain Amazing who is considered the beloved superhero of Champion City suddenly finds that he has wiped the city of all the crime and therefore does not have a job to do. He realizes that he is losing out on his sponsorship and notices himself slipping into oblivion. He decides to rectify the situation by releasing some of the anti-social elements including the worst villain of all Casanova Frankenstein. His attempt back fires and he finds himself captured by CF. This is where the wannabe superheros hatch a plan to save Captain Amazing ending up in an interesting situation, which they have created and must undo to save Champion City.

The funny script that spoofs a variety of situations and all kinds of superheroes, the comical presentation and a nice cast form the crux of the hilarity.

Sin City
The first thing that strikes you about this movie is the uncanny resemblance of reading a comic and at the same time feeling overwhelmed by the difference the medium can create to your viewing experience. For eg., In one of the batman movies you realize that the character is saying aloud whatever is expressed in thought bubbles within a comic strip and find it laborious and artificial. In Sin City you find the camera work, heavy use of black and white with distinct reds, and behind the scenes technology that tries to create the comic strip feel in the characters and background, simply striking.

The movie dwells on the dark side involving crime, deception and cold blooded psycho criminals of Basin city. It is collection of stories intertwined and narrated in a spiral of events, which emerge into clear storylines when the plot thickens and unfolds. Bruce Willis and his sexy voice lend a certain quality to the visual presentation and the background music adds to the eerie feeling that the movie imparts. The movie is said to borrow influences from the Film Noir period (1940s-1950s) with heavy drama, lots of flashbacks with voice over narratives, femme fatale situations that are characteristic of this genre. A thriller which grips the user in an engaging story telling experience.

Life is beautiful

An endearing movie that moved me to tears. The movie starts out with the charming, effervescent Guido (Roberto Benigni) wooing school teacher Dora (Nicoletta Braschi). The romance is a delight to watch with Guido’s innate humour, and his affectionate way of addressing Dora as his “Principessa”. They get married and have a son and we get glimpses of the very happy life they lead together. Set in 1930s the characters become victims of the war situation, when Germany invades Italy and takes Guido, who is jewish, to the concentration camp.

The family is separated and find themselves in different zones of the camp. Guido makes a valiant effort to keep his family together, communicating with his son and making him believe it is all a big game where you get to win a real tank for a prize . It is so heart warming to watch him help his son cope with the situation as he explains three ways to lose points in the game, one is being a crybaby, two is asking for his mommy and three is saying he is hungry and asking for something to eat. Your heart goes out to the father and son duo during the closing scenes. The conversations Guido has with his son and wife always manage to make the viewer very happy or very sad. They are delightful during the happy times and torturous during the sad.

Not wanting to make his son witness the ugly face of racial discrimination when they come across a board that says “Jews and dogs not allowed”, the delightful manner in which Guido talks to his son about his trip to another store with a Kangaroo who was not allowed brings a lightheartedness to the whole situation, which is what Guido strives to accomplish at every critical instance to keep hope alive. This is what the movie is all about. Eternal optimism, keeping hope alive to win a moral victory in adverse conditions.