THE BERLIN FILE (KOREAN) (2013)

The protagonist, a North Korean agent (Pyo) stationed in Berlin is involved in an illegal arms with a Russian arms broker and an Arab buyer. Thanks to a double-crossing within the North Korean embassy & the government, their meeting is compromised and he is forced to go on the run. He is hounded by several predators who are baying for his head on the chopping block.  He is considered a traitor by his own Government which despatches a lethal operative (Dong) to capture or liquidate him. He is also chased by his South Korean counterpart (Jung) who is hot on his heels after he misses capturing Pyo at the initial deal. Added to this, he is faced with grounds to suspect that his wife (Ryun) who is working as a translator in the embassy is also part of the larger conspiracy involving illegal arms trade, secret bank accounts as well as requests for asylum by defectors in high offices. This brings an emotional angle to the narrative as although Pyo & Ryun share a cold relationship, he is still protective of her and finds it hard to belive that she is part of the conspiracy. 

This latest thriller from South Korea is a nostalgic throwback to the yesteryear espionage thrillers of cold war era and transports the familiar North-South Korean espionage conflicts to international terrain. The movie sets a brisk pace right from the first frame, thanks to a tense score, grey/blue tones and some electric editing. 

On the downside, this movie suffers a tad from its convoluted plot which is populated by too many characters to keep track off and also that the less-than-convincing emotional connect between the leads. 

Nevertheless, the movie excels in its exciting action set pieces which have been captured in an engrossing manner which do make up for it's flaws.

Technically brilliant, taut and energetic, this movie is already a blockbuster in Korea and is, indeed, an enjoyable action thriller !

THE KING AND THE CLOWN (WANG-UI NAMJA) (KOREAN) (2005)

"All the world is a stage."

This famous line of Shakespeare comes alive through this beautiful period movie from Korea which is a moving drama in the garb of a comedy.

The movie is set in the early 1500s when the Chosun dynasty ruled Korea. Two tight rope walking male clowns - the senior and confident Jangsaeng and much younger, stunning, yet effeminate Gong-gil - earn their living by performing in public with a troupe of performers. Jangsaeng and Gong-gil are the leading stars of the troupe and share a special relationship where Jangsaeng is very protective of Gong-gil. When the manager of the troupe tries to offer the attractive Gong-gil to wealthy clients to fulfill their carnal pleasures, Jangsaeng resists and is forced to flee with Gong-gil to Seoul. On reaching Seoul, they join a group of the performers and conduct successful performances which are crowd pleasers. In one such performance, they mock the king and his favourite concubine in full public glare and are duly apprehended by the palace guards. 

Facing certain death for their blasphemous satire, they are however provided a glimmer of hope in the form of a challenge, wherein their lives could be spared if they can make the king himself laugh, by performing their doomed satire in open court. However, when they arrive at the open court to perform their satire, they almost freeze to stone out of their heightened fear of the consequences. Yet, they somehow manage to surmount this arduous ordeal despite a clunky performance, thanks largely to some last minute theatrics of the resourceful Gong-gil. In what comes as a further surprise, the king, Yeonsan is so amused by them, that he orders them to be part of the court by decreeing them to court jesters. 

Yeonsan is a tyrannical king who reigns over Korea with utter ruthlessness and is considered an insensitive and cruel ruler. The people as well as his ministers bear the brunt of his unpredictable behaviour mainly because of the ancient faith of the king being revered as anointed by heaven. Yet, several of the ministers in his court are corrupt and continue to remain loyal to the former king . They try to wield an undue influence on the decisions of the king whom they consider incompetent and unstable.

Yeonsan takes a special liking to Gong-gil and spends more and more time with Gong-gil in the private confines of his room where he makes Gong-gil conduct puppet plays and skits for him. Soon, Gong-gil begins to sympathise with the king when he finds that the outwardly cruel emperor has a soft core and his cruelty stems from the trauma of seeing his mother die as a kid when she was forced to drink a cup of poison, thanks to the conspiracy of some jealous concubines of his father, the former king. Meanwhile, the hitherto protective Jangsaeng appears possessive too and is becoming very uneasy at the long hours spent by Gong-gil with king. He suspects that the king is bored of his concubines and has taken to abusing Gong-gil. He makes several futile efforts to leave the palace with Gong-gil at the earliest, but Gong-gil refuses. At the other end, the royal concubine too feels ignored and is envious of Gong-gil whom she feels receives excessive attention of the king. The ministers too are miffed at the importance given by their king to the troupe of jesters and are further irked whe


n the king arranges for the jesters to stage a performance mocking them in an open court for their incompetence and corruption. What follows is an intriguing set of dynamics between the king, the two clowns, the ministers and the favorite concubine of the king.

This movie is far removed from the long line of  bold, gripping and  bloody action thrillers which are seen as regular fare churned out of Korea. It attempts a fine blend of comedy and drama and succeeds to a great extent. The acting of the leads, especially Kam Wu-seong who plays Jangseang and Jung Jin-young who plays king Yeonsan, are exceptional.

Director Lee Jun-ik presents narrates a fine story of love and power in a beautiful period setting which is accentuated by a fine score and resplendent cinematography. Lee has sketched fine characters and has captured the intense relationships between the three leads with just the right amount of grey shades and tension. He has also ensured that this drama is also finely paced and taut. The film  showcases the ancient culture of Korea through excellent art direction and also the several performances of the troupes. While the performances of the clowns may appear irreverent and crass, i guess the director has made a deliberate choice here, keeping in view the requirements of the .

Is it a triangular love story with a twist..? Or, is it just a drama based on court conspiracies..? The movie leaves it for the audience to arrive at this conclusion. As for me, I found it to be a story of great love, beautifully told, sans the melodrama.

A VERY GOOD WATCH !!

LITTLE RED FLOWERS (KAN SHANG QU HEN MEI) (CHINESE) (2006)

The movie begins with a cute four year old boy - Fan Qiang Qiang - being admitted by his father in a boarding kindergarten since both the parents are working at different places and are not in a position to care for him. 

The kindergaten is strict in enforcing discipline and expects all students to comply with a set of regulations which extend to an extensive gamut of activities from dressing/undressing by oneself, cleanliness, cordial communciaton to others, respect to elders, maintaining order and even to timely pooping (not to forget the washing of hands thereafter). Every successful compliance by the students is rewarded  with the titular little red flower which are diplayed on a scoreboard against their names and any subversion results in forfeit of a flower earned earlier.

Qiang is a free spirit by nature and finds it difficult to comply with the strict routines of the school. He is unable to dress/undress himself and does not play with other children. He is also unable to get over the habit of wetting his bed which results in him being ridiculed as "the king of bedwetting" by other students. Consequently, he is unable to earn any little red flower which is so coveted. When his repeated attempts to conform and fit into his desginated role & behaviour fail, Qiang feels enormous frustration which pushes him down the road of being an aggressive rebel. The rest of the movie narrates how this conflict between a rebellious Qiang and the disciplinarian kindergarten unfolds.

This is a simple movie which, on the face of it, successfully captures the lives of the tiny tots in a rich canvas sparkling with laughter, fun, frolic, tensions, frustrations, helplesness, sadness as experienced by these cute little toddlers.  At a deeper and not-so-subtle level, this movie represents a metaphor for the state of Chinese society under the Communist regime. It portrays the simmering conflict in the society between the innate tendency of every citizen to seek to establish their individuality and the efforts of a seemingly kind, yet oppressive state, which tries to micro-monitor as well as manage the affairs of individuals, through a defined regimen, for what it feels is for a loftier goal of collective order and resultant peace. In the process, any expressions of individuality are construed as a subversion of the carefully engineered public order and is brutally subjugated & crushed.

Through the struggles of his charming little protaganist, Qiang, the director, Zhang Yuan, has successfully captured this continuing conflict between conformity and individuality which permeats the Chinese society. He must also be commended for eliciting such authentic and believable performances (if one can call them so, for they appear so natural) from his cute little cast, especially the adorable and expressive Dong Bowen who plays the young Qiang.

The open-ended finale of the movie is apt for it throws several unanswered questions at the protaganist as well as the viewer and initaites a train of thought on the central conflict portrayed in the movie.

Clocking just about ninety minutes, this movie is short, subtle, highly engaging and raises several questions for the viewer on the merits of conformity, group mentality, need for individuality, the conflict between a society steeped on confirmity & group mentality when faced with expressions of individual freedom as well as the effects of such conflicts on individual members of such society.

A VERY GOOD WATCH !!

P.S. - You can catch this gem on UTV WORLD MOVIES channel which airs it frequently !

BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG (HINDI) (2013)

It is an undeniable truth that every life is an unfolding story with a fair share of twists and turns, highs and lows, delights & disappointments. Yet, not every life becomes a story that is told & more importantly listened to & passed on, for most are mired in the miasma of banality of daily living. It is in this key denominator, that the life stories of heroes and superheroes differ significantly.For these are the people who have confronted their crippling challenges and have managed to overcome them. In doing so, they remain a beacon of hope and inspiration to the millions of others who are confronted with challenges of their own.

In Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, noted filmmaker Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra (Aks, Rang De Basanti & Delhi - 6) brings to the silver screen, the life of  independent India's earliest sporting hero, Milkha Singh aka the Flying Sikh.

Bio-pics are an uncommon genre among typical Bollywood fare, more so, when they involve sporting heroes. Bio-pics aren't easy to make either. It is one thing to identify the story to be told and quite another to bring a real life story to screen. Added to this, is the herculean challenge of presenting it in an entertaining package which would draw in the audience and keep them engrossed in these times of fleeting attention spans.

Perhaps, it was only fitting that the story of one of India's greatest sporting talents was to be helmed by a maker of the calibre of Mehra, who had earlier successfully brought to screen, the life of Bhagath Singh & his comrades, in a very contemporary take that had struck a chord among viewers across the country in his RDB.

Milkha Singh is that rare Indian sporting legend who rose to fame despite not being associated with cricket - the great opiate of the teeming masses of this least sporting of populace. Now, when Bollywood - the other  & perhaps, greater opiate of the teeming masses - chronicles his lifestory, it is, in a way, a form of poetic justice. 

For a nation of a billion plus individuals, it remains a travesty that we rarely ever produce athletes who shine in individual events internationally. Milkha Singh was one such rare talent who proved his mettle in the international arena and rose to great heights in an era when media coverage merely meant an occasional live relay over All India Radio or BBC and sports column of various dailies unlike these days of 24*7 media and instant stardom. It is, but a sad truth that, if not for this movie, his name would've remained unfamiliar with most citizenry of this nation. 

Born in pre-independent India, in what is now Pakisthan, Milkha Singh is forced to witness the slaughter of almost his entire family in a carnage that followed the Partition and is forced to escape to Delhi as a refugee. He is deeply scarred and suffers the pain from these wounds which fester long after he becomes an international athlete of repute. He is supported by his doting elder sister and her abusive husband. After an initial fling as a petty thief to scrounge for a living, he enlists in the army where he is identified as a born athlete by his first coach who trains him and nurtures his ambition of representing India. The rest of the story narrates the several challenges, faced by him, enroute to acheiving sporting glory and how he overcomes them by his sheer hardwork and determination.

Farhan Akthar plays Milkha Singh with a rare dedication seen on Indian screen and appears to have undertaken this assignment with all the seriousness of a saintly penance seeking salvation. He is utterly convincing in every frame and brings in an effortless charm to the part. His well toned muscular physique and the manner in which he sprints like a man possessed, speak volumes on the meticulousness of his preparation for the part which one normally associates with a Daniel Day Lewis or to some extent, with Kamal Hassan. I sincerely hope such hard work receives all the credit/laurels/awards, it so richly deserves.

There is also an able supporting cast in the form of ever-dependable Divya Dutta, Pawan Malhotra and Prakash Raj. It is a sad travesty of our Indian cinema that such rich talents like Divya Dutta and Pawan Malhotra get a meaty role so rarely that one feels that such occasions need to be celebrated like some festival. The three leading ladies, if you can call them that, Sonam Kapoor, Rebecca Breeds and Meesha Shafi do not have much to do except adorn the screen for a few fleeting moments. Dalip Tahil plays, nay, hams the part of Nehru with a clunky accent.

The music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is pretty good, especially the energetic 'Zinda' and the romantic 'Mere Yaar'. Yet, being an ardent Rahman fan, I wonder why Mehra had to settle for someone other than Rahman for this film, especially given the fact that Rahman has given some of his best albums for Mehra's earlier movies (RDB & Delhi-6) which added a nuanced dimension to them and lifted them to another level.

Despite being earnest to a good measure, the film suffers in moments when it tries too hard to manipulate as in the sequence where a badly injured Milkha runs in a race with heavily bandaged barefeet with the bandages coming undone before the finish line. I felt such scenes belonged more in a eighties tear-jerker. The film could also have benifitted from some crisper editing which could've whittled the length by a good 15-20 minutes.   

Overall, despite its flaws, this movie remains a good attempt and worth watching, principally for the outstanding performance by Farhan Akthar who has poured his heart and soul into his part, in bringing to life the inspiring story of one of India's greatest sporting legends - an unsung hero.

A MUST WATCH ! 

PACIFIC RIM (2013)

In Pacific Rim, director Guillermo Del Toro (Hellboy & Pan's Labyrinth) presents us a Godzilla meets Transformers flick of monumental proportions.

In the not-too-distant future, a race of monstrous aliens called Kaiju (Japanese for monster) attack earth through an underwater portal in the depths of the Pacific ocean. They wreak havoc on several coastal cities across the globe laying persons & property to waste in the typical Hollywood style assited with a good dose of CGI. After finding that the conventional weapons are futile against these monsters which appear evolving into ever more dangerous creatures, humans respond by building their own combat force of monstrous robots called Jaegers (German for Hunters). Every Jagger is required to be piloted by two humans since a single human is incapable -mentally & physically - of controlling this colossal machine.  The brains of the two pilots are connected through a technology called neutral drift which in turn operates as a singular command unit controlling the Jaeger.

What follows is a series of visceral action set pieces in which the Jaegers take on the Kaijus on land, water and even air through traditional combat styles that includes fisticuffs, swords and some heavy duty artillery. The success of these movies depend a lot on the level of visual mastery which could make the viewer go WOW. The story and the characters are at best props that aid in unravelling the carefully planned action set-pieces though Del Toro does try valiantly to build certain emotional depth to each of the characters.

While Del Toro is no Cameron or Whedon here, it helps that he is definitely not Michael Bay either. He definitely knows the quality of output that is required to engage the viewer without making a mere noisy mangled mess of the visual effects through stunts where one never knows who is fighting whom to what effect. The action here, while loud (which puts me off personally) is well designed, executed with panache and captured well which engages the viewer (especially in IMAX 3D). A rousing score accentuates the action on screen though, at times, it gets drowned in the melee of the wreckage around.

It may not score big on the front of story or characters that touch your heart or a plot that engages your grey matter. It is designed to be and remains a delectable eye-candy for action junkies who prefer some well executed action setpieces on some CGI wizardry and to that extent, is very satisfying and fun watch. Guilty pleasure, if one may prefer to call it so ....

A GOOD ONE-TIME WATCH !

LOOTERA (HINDI) (2013)

Lootera is the second directorial venture of director Vikramaditya Motwane after his brilliant debut in Udaan which was a coming-of-age tale set in the small town of Jamshedpur. In Lootera, he captures an intense, yet tender romance set in the early years of independence.

The story - an adaptation from O. Henry's short story "The Last Leaf" - starts unfolding in rural Bengal in a place called Manikpur where Paki (Sonakshi Sinha) is the daughter of an affluent zamindar who dotes on her. Pakhi is a spunky independent spirit and nurtures ambitions of becoming a writer. We are also introduced to Varun (Ranveer Singh)  who enters the zamindar's household as an archeologist interested in the site around a local temple. Soon enough, we see them getting attracted to each other in moments which are captured in beautiful frames of mirth, subtlety, saturated silences and some sparkling background score. Although, the zamindar who is an adoring father agrees to their union at once, the lovers are forced to confront some overwhelming odds which push them apart. The rest of the movie narrates the choices they make and their consequences. While the first half of the movie is set in rural Bengal, the second half moves to the snowy locales of Dalhousie.

Lootera takes us back to a long forgotten terrains of an old-world romance and charms it's way into the hearts of the viewers effortlessly, makes them feel deeply for the leads and gradually grows on the unsuspecting viewers much like an overnight beard. This comes as such a welcome whiff of fresh breeze after the routine and inane drivel which passes off as eternal romance in Bollywood.

Sonakshi Sinha lights up the screen and carries the various shades of Pakhi beautifully while Ranveer Singh is brilliant in a part that requires him to be soft-spoken, subtle and intense. Both have given their best-ever performances and consequently, their characters become very real, relatable and hook the viewers to their journey ahead. They are amply supported by a competent supporting cast.

Amit Trivedi has provided the movie with wonderful sounds and a brilliant background score which is almost a breathing character as any in the movie.

This is a work of art that is flawlessly crafted in all its exquisite details just like the sculptures populating our temples of yore & is near perfect in its execution. Vikramaditya Motwane, in only his second film, comes across as an assured auteur in full command of his medium and art. He has spawn a masterpiece by brilliantly combining the best of all the elements, be it top-notch performances from his leads as well as supporting cast, captivating cinematography which captures the landscapes with a natural flourish, lilting songs and a winning background score.

Take a bow Vikramaditya Motwane.. If Udaan was his take-off, here he is soaring to great heights of excellence.

Lootera is a wonderful journey into a long-lost world suffused with subtle sensibilities, sparkling romance, undying love, mirth, chivalry, intriguing dilemmas and searing pain. It is journey that would stay with us long after we are back from it.

This movie is a delectable treat for every cinephile and deserves being treasured for times to come ! One can only hope and pray that it achieves commercial success too which will encourage more such attempts by auteurs of the ilk of Vikramaditya Motwane. May his tribe multiply and flourish .... AMEN !

NOT TO BE MISSED ...MUST WATCH !

BARAN (FARSI) (2001)

The story is set in contemporary Iran which plays an unwanted host to millions of Afghan refugees who've fled their homeland to escape the atrocities of a rising Taliban. The protagonist here is Lateef, an Iranian construction worker in his late teens. He works at the construction site supervised by Memar who is a friend of his dad. This puts him in a privileged position of light labour involving purchase of groceries, managing the site kitchen and serving tea to the workers. He is lazy, selfish, haughty and hot-headed. The site also employs several Afghans who do the heavy lifting, albeit for much lower pay, thanks to laws which forbid employing Afghan refugees.

Early into the movie, we get to know that Najaf, an Afghan worker at the site, has met with an accident and has broken his leg which leaves him unable to continue working at the site. However, Najaf is the only earning member of his family and his income from the site is absolutely essential to support his five kids. The next day, Soltan, a fellow Afghan worker at the site, brings along a young kid and introduces him as Rahmat, Najaf's son and requests Memar to allow the kid to work in place of the injured Najaf. Though Memar is skeptical about the apparently slender Rahmat's capacity to cope with the hard labour at the site, he eventually agrees to test him out. When Memar's initial doubts are confirmed by Rahmat's inability to cope with rigours of the work, he swaps the tasks of Rahmat with Lateef. Lateef is frustrated with this turn of events and sees Rahmat as the source of his misery. He makes several attempts to get back at Rahmat with little effect. One day, Lateef accidentally discovers that Rahmat is actually a girl in the guise of a boy and it is her pressing need to support her family after Najaf's accident which has forced her to resort to such desperate means. This realisation brings a paradigm shift in the mindset of Lateef and thus, begins a transformation which sees his persona turn into one filled with compassion, altruism and above all LOVE ! The rest of the movie captures this transformation in all its poetic splendour and is best experienced by the viewer in person.

Baran means Rain in Farsi and it is no coincidence that the female lead is also named Baran (which we get to know towards the end of the movie). She doesn't utter a single word in the entire course of the movie. Yet, it is her silences, punctuated by her pregnant gazes, an almost not-there smile and even a footprint of her shoe being filled by the downpour captured beautifully in the final moments of the movie, which convey volumes that the best written words would've failed to convey.

Baran is a movie that works at many levels. At the most apparent level, it paints an exquisite portrait of a tender romance through the most subtle of brush strokes. At another level, it is a coming-of-age tale where we witness the gentle blooming of a beautiful persona rich in empathy, compassion, sacrifice and love from what was once a coarse and gritty seed which was  self-serving, vain and egotistical. I find the transformation of the protagonist here resonates significantly with similar changes in Pieta (Korean) and Tsotsi (Afrikaans) (both reviewed earlier). As in the other two, once again, a tender love is what heralds the beautiful transformation here.

At yet another level, this movie captures the plight of the refugees effectively even as it brings out the difficulties confronting a forced host. I found, Memar, the site supervisor here also represents the dilemma of country like Iran which is forced to bear the burden of millions of refugees even as it struggles to cope with its own problems which are by no measure, small. Memar may be a hard taskmaster and also pays the Afghan refugees lesser pay than their Persian counterparts. But he is also empathetic to them and recognises that their hard work deserves much more, which he cannot pay for he is  constrained by his own resources as well as the law which forbids employing any refugees.

The director Majid Majidi is a noted filmmaker from Iran and has captured the movie with a minimalist colour palette which is in complete harmony with a movie pregnant with several subtleties.

Halfway through the movie, a cobbler makes the following philosophical observation for the protagonist's (& perhaps for us too) RUMI(?)nation -

"From the hot fire of being apart, 
Comes the flame that burns the heart."

This meditative movie is at once, very real, poignant, lyrical, bittersweet and a deeply personal experience.

This movie, in the best traditions of meditative practices, gradually grows on the viewer only to strike deep roots and lingers on for a very long time after the viewing. 

BRILLIANT .. MUST WATCH !!




P.S. - You can catch this movie on UTV WORLD MOVIES channel where it is telecast regularly.

TSOTSI (AFRIKAANS) (2005)

Tsotsi is the moving story of transformation of a young African thug who leads a small gang of ruthless, amoral and cold blooded looters who don't wince twice to kill anybody in their daily pursuit of looting for living.

On one such occasion, Tsotsi, operating alone, shoots a lady and steals her car only to find her three year old in the back seat. A befuddled Tsotsi brings the kid back to his shack and thus, begins his transformative journey culminating in a self-discovery of, the hitherto unknown, better sensibilities within him.

The transformation of Tsotsi, while not dramatic, is deep and reminds one of the more recent Korean movie Pieta which captures a similar transformation. The movie is highly effective, thanks to authentic portrayals by the cast.

This gripping and deeply engaging movie was the winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language movie in 2005 and one tends to agree that it is indeed a deserving winner.

A MUST WATCH !