Winds From The East

(World Cinema has finally reached our shores) I had grand plans for visiting Paris this February, and paying my homage to Henri Langlois and spending time at the Cinematheque Francis, but luck would have it, the French Authorities decided to give my Visa a slip, and your humble blogger as Alex would narrate in "A Clock Work Orange", is sitting in his holy room surrounded by books, movies and dreaming about empty scripts- Perhaps Fate seems to be indicating Leo Carax, Boy Meets Girl. Sometimes, I feel like Jean Pierre Leaud form Jean Estuache, Masterpiece, "The Mother and The Whore" leaving aside all sexual freedom and hegemony, but keeping up with the tradition of speaking about the things you like day and night, no matter where things are headed or with whom you seem to be with - free, vocal, never afraid to say anything. A week back, I met a guy at the local DVD shop, who narrated me an incident that really worried me abou...

Osiris 83 … but not in that familiar Yellow Submarine. Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields forever. Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out. It doesn’t matter much to me. - Strawberry Fields Forever; written by John Lennon; performed by The Beatles. Jude Feeny (Jim Sturgess) is a Liverpudlian working as a ship builder. Yeah, Liverpool can be a lonely place on a Saturday night, and this is only Wednesday evening, yikes. So, he travels to the United States of America in search of his father, Wes Huber (Robert Clohessy), who works as a janitor (workman) at Princeton. He has never met his father and his father doesn’t even know about his existence.At Princeton, Jude meets Max Carrigan (Joe Anderson). Max is a young and obstinate chap who also has a cool accent. Max has a sister, Lucy Carrigan (Evan Rachel Wood), she is a l...

I do not fall under the genesis of a very pious person, but somewhere deep inside the mysticism continues to stick and sail through likes a dusty whirlwind sandstorm. I wonder, is it worth pretending that I am happy. I was wondering what had really struck. I still could not believe that modern day Tokyo had turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. In addition, the cliché of fight between good and evil could be true. I, for one, felt a revolt going inside my head and the kick-heal-guts had left me had left me cold hard by now. I wanted to, but could not help feel unctuous, as if my reflection had a sudden makeover. I felt the tendrils of hope drying up. The canoe of life had sunk in the falling darkness. My fear of Nyctophobia allowed my conscious to play mind games with my soul. Is it the “Fear of Darkness” which is getting me, or am I suffering from a phobia of an internal soul reader. I could never come up with a logical explanation. So, what Yuko had said where true (that t...

I was working on a short film when my eyes fell on this book. Even though I was not well acquainted with Kurosawa san films, as my attention mainly lay on Yasujiri Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi, however, something about this book attracted me a lot, a certain kind of force. Eventually few days later my girlfriend (a big time cinephile) gifted me this book, thanks to her, my interest in Kurosawa san then grew. Everyday after the pack up, the only thing I ever looked forward to was reading the book. The day I completed the book I felt very close to the maestro, as if he gave us a sneak peak to his life. The book not only gave a glimpse of the great director formidable years, but provided a rare account on his aesthetical and his cinematic upbringing. The loss of his brother, the fencing classes, how Toshire Mifune got his break and much more, before keeping down the pen with the release of Rashoman. One of the interesting elements I read in the book was how much Kurosawa san put an e...

When Guru Dutt in Kagez Ke Phool comes to meet the Producers who wants him to make movies their way- and refuses, the scene, the light, the camera, the emotion and the acting lifts and arrest a person to an enchanted level, not only the emotions can be felt in the throat, but also in the mind and soul, this is the power which the Indian Cinema possessed. And now we severe lack. Turn on any movie from last year, and sit throw them and not one image would be enchanting as it used to be, they will appear just an image, like any other, no purpose, no weight just their to act as filler. All camera movement will be the same, from one director to the next, it does not matter who is the director, after all in India anyone can direct a film, actually everyone is directing a film this days, and it’s another rich man’s option. Everyone is a filmmaker, but not one of them understands the power of creation. Cinema today stands for Storytelling; a notion largely popularized by Hollywood and...

MOJO RISIN A review of Killer-7 On the stroke of midnight, I had a real hangover. It was headstrong; it hurt my head hard. I got up, put down the controller, and removed the Killer -7 disc from my console. I had been playing this game continuously for more than three days. I had an inner calling or desire to finish this game, I really did. What did I get from spending three nights playing one of the most fun- idiotic- psychotic- headstrong-frustrating, which slaps you, hard in the face game? Challenge. It stimulated an inner zeal, and I had a sudden urge to accomplish the impossible (Yeah, playing through the game seemed like an uphill task). Mind you people, I really was not having an emotional connection, and if some of you really experienced an emotional connection with those cold-blooded- hard-hitting assassin. It could be called a “Fairy Tale”. It is only after completing the game one does realize the true greatness of this game. Hideo Kojima says that a “videogame story” is ...

Underground. Directed- Emir Kusturica The two times Palm D Or’ winner quipped, “I always hope that I’m not so bad”, at the party held after the remarkable screening of the film, at the Cannes Film Festival, and the Serbian flair of trumpet, horns and songs played while the crew and well wisher danced to the tune; the movie had ended with a standing ovation. Underground is unlike any other film I have seen, it’s got the humor and flair present in movies like Life is Beautiful and Dr Strangelove, and at the same time it’s got a mix of documentary and fiction like none other movies based on the horror of war, it’s a cross between tragedy and comedy, basically the movie is a tragicomic satire. Where Life is Beauitful and Dr Strangelove fails the movie succeeds, what movies like Saving Private Ryan, Schindler List wanted to achieve this movie achieves, and where Communism and Capitalism clash this movie deals. Underground is a tale about two friends, and their journey through World ...