Mumbai film fest: Day 2

So on day 2 of MFF I saw a sweet-as-a-candy romantic drama, a marathi satirical dramedy & an insipid German film.

Restless

Language: English

Year: 2011

Director: Gus Van Sant

I was drawn to Gus Van Sant's Restless like a nail to a magnet.

16 year old Enoch (Henry Hopper) is a funeral crasher. Needless to say this implies that he is in some weird manner obsessed with the idea of death. At one such funeral he bumps into Annabelle (Mia Wasikowska). Sparks fly & the two of them get acquainted & crash some funerals together until Enoch comes to know that Annabelle herself is a cancer patient & has just 3 more months to live

The subject sounds grim & morose no doubt but it is handled with a deft hand by the director. At no point is Annabelle's condition used to extract sympathy out of you. Because death is so near her, Annabelle simply decides to ignore it & wants to live out & experience as much life & romance as she can in the time remaining. Instead of gloom what we get is efflorescence. Wasikowska is splendid as the Manic pixie dream girl Annabelle (This is her 2nd bright performance of the year after Cary Joji Fukunaga's British adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'). The cinematography by Harris Savides is noteworthy as it paints an ideal canvas of beauty & pain.

On the downside though the pace of the movie is pretty slow & can give a turtle a run for its money in the 2nd half. The role of Hiroshi, Enoch's english speaking Japanese ghost buddy who serves as his sub-conscious & voice of reason is never really convincing & one wonders if it was required at all.

Yet all of that aside I completely loved losing myself in this beautiful world of 'Restless'. It gave me a feeling akin to listening to a Pink Floyd album, or meeting an old friend, or a late evening by the sea. It made me realize why I fell in love with the movies in the first place.

I for one can't wait to watch it again & again.

Deool (The Temple)

Language: Marathi

Year; 2011

Director: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni

Deool is 1 story finely divided into 3 acts. The first act will remind you of the stories of R.K.Narayan with its simple and unpretentious element of humour focused on ordinary villagers. The 2nd act sees the transformation of human psyche & behavior once wealth & social status are acquired & the 3rd is the introspective one which asks questions about the soul, religion & existence of God.

A farmer while searching for his cow finds her near a tree. Exhausted, he takes a nap under the tree & dreams of the 3 headed hindu lord datta. Unable to keep this to himself he tells the whole village. News spreads like wild fire & the tree site is considered holy.

This is the basic premise for the entire film. There's humour, politics, philosophy, & a mirror is held up against the hype & hooplah infested times that we live in today.

Just like 'Adieu Gary' which I blogged about yesterday even Deool beleives in creating a universe of characters unto itself. There are too many to name here but each makes a noteworthy contribution. But where Adieu Gary was small & intimate. Deool is grand & ambitious.

The acting is fantastic all around & why not, the cast boasts of the who's who of the Marathi film, television & stage industry, Nana Patekar, Dilip Prabhawallkar ( 'Gandhiji' from Lage Raho Munnbhai who seems to be in every Marathi film nowadays & also is ironically nicknamed "Anna" here!), Girish Kulkarni, Sonali Kulkarni, Kishor Kadam, Vaibhavi Deshpande just to name a few, and also a sprightly cameo by Naseeruddin Shah himself.

There aren't many faults to find here really. Everything from the script (Girish Kulkarni) to dialogue to background music to cinematography is splendid. Only aspect I didn't like was a glossy dance number which was completely out of place, & probably the length of the film could've been a bit shorter.

But these are just minute hindrances in what is a fabulous all round endeavor. It's an entertaining crowdpleaser that's also reflective & thoughtful. Leave the Ra-One's, Rascals & Bodyguards behind & watch this instead.

Uber uns das all (Above us only sky)

Language: German

Year: 2011

Director: Jan Schomburg

After watching 2 films that I was entirely engrossed in, I have to say Above us... turned out to be quite underwhelming.

Martha Sabel (Sandra Huller) is an English teacher who's in a happy relationship with Paul Sabel (Felix Knopp), a medical student. Paul gets a job in Marseille & they decide to move there. Paul leaves & Martha is supposed to join him a week later. But 2 days after his departure cops turn up at Martha's place to inform her that Paul has been found dead in his car. He committed suicide.

Sounds damn interesting doesn't it? Well, it's actually not.

Reading the synopsis above you would expect the film to follow a certain trajectory, which to be frank it does for most of the first half. But just as I was getting excited at the prospect of watching a neo-noir murder mystery the film takes a turn & sadly it's for the worse.

While probing Paul's mysterious death Martha comes across Alexander (Georg Friedrich) & falls for her as he reminds her of Paul. Hereonwards the movie focuses on whether Alexander will be able to take Paul's place in Martha's life or not.

The pace of the film is lethargic & the plot takes its own sweet (bitter?) time to unravel. Conflicts emerge & drop for no reason, & the story failed to keep me captivated. To give credit where it's due though Sandra Huller is fine as the troubled Martha. The subdued agitation & depression in her eyes is stark.

I'm not saying Above us... is a bad film, but I felt it could've been a better one. It ends up being a bore which is a pity. But then that's just my opinion.