MAMI 2013: The Final Day

Heli
Language: Spanish
Director: Amat Escalante

"Heli' was the most disturbing & depressing film I saw at the fest, but that in turn only reminded me of the power of cinema to sometimes make us sit through experiences that shake us up.

An innocent family gets embroiled in a drug trafficking case in the outskirts of Mexico. This results in the local paramilitary force picking them up from their house & what follows then is an extensive torture set piece both physical & cerebral. Instead of trapping the audience in a torture chambers & making it a 'torture porn' flick the film explores the aftermath of this horrific incident & how it changes the lives of the scarred individuals probably forever.

The harsh sun-parched rocky terrain of the region seem to be mirroring the turmoil of the characters.

This was the perennial film festival mindfuck for me.

Don Jon
Language: English
Director: Joseph Gordon Levitt

Well made, smart & funny but ultimately a predictable film. I felt there was a better movie in there somewhere.  Levitt shows a deft hand at handling the material he's working with & for the most part I kept hoping the film would go beyond where it was intended to but it was not to be. 

Johannson looks gorgeous but I felt was a strange choice for this role, Julianne Moore on the other hand is a treat. My favourite though were Tony Danza & Glenn Headley as Jon's parents. 

Despite it's cliche ridden ending I enjoyed watching it, was just expecting something more.

On My Way (Elle S'en Va)
Language: French
Director: Emmanuelle Bercott

For the first 15 minutes it seemed like this would be a woman-dealing-with-mid-life-crisis film like 'Gloria' but then it picked up & turned into a road movie-cum-family dramedy that follows the events occuring in the 48 odd hours in the life of Bettie, an ex-beauty queen of an era gone by where she makes amends with her daughter and connects with a grandson she never knew. Filled with humour & pathos this was a pleasant surprise. Sweet film












Brave Miss World
Language: Hebrew & English
Director: Cecilia Peck

A former Miss World Linor Abargil turns to activism & her Jewish heritage to overcome the trauma of rape in this documentary by Cecilia Peck. 

Dealing with a serious issue like rape & sexual harassment that occur the world over the film has to be commended for giving a voice & platform to previously silent victims to expose the horrors they have gone through & in some cases continue to go through. That said however there seemed to be a tad excess of self-praise & the sections dealing with Abargail's family life mirrored a reality show. Mixed feelings about this one. Serious issue but an obtuse portrayal.  








Amen
Language: English
Director: Costa Gavras

As a part of the Costa Gavras retrospective I chose to watch this 2002 flick on the big screen as I am fascinated by films based on Nazi Germany.

Based on real events & (partly) real characters 'Amen' plays out like a tense thriller about the lengths to which  two individuals, one a Nazi army officer & the other a Jesuit priest went in order to reach out to the Pope to let the world know about the atrocities being committed on the Jews.  Alas! to no avail.

This may not rank very high in the pantheon of WWII movies but is still riveting nonetheless.

2012: A year end list

2012 was not an ideal year for me as far as movie watching went. As opposed to last year no major film festivals were attended by me & neither was I able to completely engross myself in the passionate fervour of dedicated film watching. Other things came calling in life & sadly this one aspect got left behind a bit. My bad. I'll try & make up for it in the year to come.

Never the less, here are the films that made a resounding impact on my heart & mind & made 2012 a much more tolerable year. They're in no particular order really, because again, my list isn't as meticulously worked out as they have been in previous years.

Looper

Time travel is one of my favourite genres & Looper is as good a time travel film as they come. Avoiding all the frivolous razzle-dazzle & complicated time-space continuum collisions that are often associated with time travel stories, director Rian Johnson's film primarily concentrated on the character of Joe Simmons, a hired assassin who is faced with the daunting task of killing a futuristic version of himself.

Looper forces us to think about the predicaments of whether we would really like a see what becomes of us in the future? How the machinations of life turn us into something we never thought we would become, & how does a man stick to his job when his entire being is held into account. Aided by some cleverly executed action sequences Looper proved you don't need to spend a gazillion dollars to make a good, potent sci-fi film.




To Rome With Love

I don't believe there's any such thing as a "bad" Woody Allen film, & although I admit TRWL might not be as spectacular as last year's 'Midnight in Paris' it still had enough gumption within itself to make me fall in love (yeah I know) with it.

Following 4 interspersed yet unrelated story lines TRWL gives you characters that live in your imagination long after the end credits roll out. The film has its fair share of comedic misunderstandings, magical realist meanderings. & a sense of uninhibited pleasure. Not to mention a dream cast for a Woody Allen film if there ever was one. This film was such a delight for the sheer quirky Woody Allen-ness of it all.







The Hobbit

For anyone who has seen even one of the 'Lord Of The RIngs' films (& if you reside on planet earth & have even a fleeting interest in the world of cinema it's highly unlikely that you haven't) it is no secret that director Peter Jackson likes to remain religiously faithful to the source material. Hence it was no surprise to know that Jackson would be splitting up the much loved prequel to LOTR into another trilogy. What one did wonder though was if he'd be able to recreate the same magic?

The good news is yes, he does. So off we went once again into this glorious, larger than life, grand world of Tolkein's middle earth, met some familiar faces & got introduced to plenty of new ones & an unforgettable adventure was had. Never mind the slightly bloated mid section & the slightly overplayed climax, for it's all forgiven because of the sheer magnificence of it, Hey, YOU look at that awe-inspiring waterfall in the city of Rivendell & tell me you weren't spell bound.


21 Jump Street

Hands down the funniest film of the year for me. 21 Jump Street is the ideal screwball comedy that's as funny on repeated viewings as it was on the first one. Mad props to Jonah Hill & Channing Tatum for pulling off this hilarious feat.

The film had the ideal comedic premise of 2 police officers who're forced to relive high school as they go undercover for a case, & by exploiting this premise from every nook & corner directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller gave birth to this laugh-a-minute gem. Equal parts raunchy, loud, affectionate & satirical 21 Jump Street was an absolute rib-tickler.









Prometheus

Though it polarized audiences across the board I for one simply loved Prometheus. Maybe it's just the affection I have for stories that end with an open interpretation, that DON'T answer all the questions raised through the tale that made me appreciate Prometheus all the more. Or maybe it was scribe Damon Lindelof's treatment of the script, after all Lindelof was the head writer on the TV show 'Lost' which remains my most  favourite show of all time.

At face value Prometheus is brilliaint science fiction. Space ships, aliens, mystery, horror it's got it all. But then there's a slightly deeper more introverted aspect of the film which begs to ask us where exactly we came from, & where do we go? It's a seamless blend of story, special effects & pitch perfect casting. I honestly believe Michael Fassbender's performance as the android David was one of the most compelling performances of the year. In my view Sir Ridley Scott's return to science fiction was a winner all the way & I cannot wait for the sequel.

The Dark Knight Rises

Let's be fair. Probably no movie ever would've been able to live up to the hype that TDKR had to live up to. No other film this year elicited a response from fanboys across the globe as TDKR did. And despite such huge expectations the average fanboy/movie lover/film enthusiast/Nolan-worshipper came out of the movie halls fairly satisfied. Now I would count that as an achievement.

I personally though see TDKR as the "anti-Batman" movie, and here's why- for a major chunk in the middle of the film Batman is absent. The running theme throughout is how things would be WITHOUT the Batman, that's the starting point & that also turns out to be the end point of the film. Hence it makes Batman's character all the more relevant & heroic.

The most challenging task faced was probably by the bad guys as they were filling up the mighty shoes left behind by Heath Ledger's iconic portrayal of the Joker, & though Tom Hardy did a fairly good job as Bane the surprise package was Anne Hathaway's Machiavellian turn as Catwoman. And of course not to mention Joseph Gordon Levitt's pleasantly surprising kick in the side (apologies for the horrible pun). 

The best super hero trilogy ever made. Period.

The Avengers

I love comic books. I love super heroes. I love popcorn flicks. And I love Joss Whedon. So how in the blue hell can I not bestow my unconditional love upon The Avengers?

Eeeverything fell RIGHT into place with The Avengers. Rarely does one come across an instance where a film gives everything you expected out of it & then some. 

Heck, this movie is the definition of pure unadulterated FUN! It completely does justice to all the characters who've come to life from the vibrant action packed panels of comic books bursting on to the screen, you get 6 superheroes (+ 1 Nick Fury) in one single movie, you get a giant ass ship in the sky going BOOM! you get flying inter dimensional beings taken out like pithy tin soldiers by a big green monster. OMG WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE??? 

The 2 key elements to take away though are the humour, unlike TDKR The Avengers celebrates the fact that it doesn't take itself very seriously almost holding up that quality like a shield & the other of course is balance, where each hero's voice is so distinct that it stands out in a crowd.  

Yes, The Avengers is every comic book geek's wet dream come to life.

Argo

Argo was by far the most gripping film I saw all year. No other film kept me at the edge of my seat like Argo did. Tense, thrilling, nail biting, Argo's one of those rare films that's so good that you're energized after watching it. 

In order to extract six fugitive American diplomat personnel out of revolutionary Iran CIA agent Tony Mendez (played excellently by Ben Affleck who also directed the film) goes in with the cover of making a fake science fiction movie called 'Argo'. Yes, the movie is based on a real life incident which blows my mind even further.

There is never a dull moment & the film is both spellbinding & at certain instances rip-roaringly funny. The supporting cast is pure gold. The tale is wonderfully woven & told through the language of cinema. I especially loved the prologue which is played out in the form of a motion comic & how real life images have been recreated in detail to give the film the gritty realistic look it deserves.

It's fairly convenient to incorporate gunfire & chase sequences to give shape to a thriller, but to manufacture a thriller out of such exquisite craft is a tremendous achievement. Kudos Ben Affleck, you're one ace director. 

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So that was that. Here's hoping 2013 will bring another bagful of interesting films along with it. Till then have fun & Happy New Year!