As the festival got over last night, here comes our last post in the daily wrap-up series. Our earlier Mumbai Film Festival posts are here – Day 1, What was Leos Carax smoking, Anup Singh’s Qissa, Day – 2, 3, 4, and on Before Midnight.
And remember, we had put our bet on Qissa winning the top prize. Here’s the complete list of the winners. It got the second prize.
This one has notes by Kartik Krishnan and Varun Grover.
What’s Love Got To Do With It – An interesting documentary about arranged marriages, bharatmatrimony.com and matchmakers (ala that Savitri Bai tvc), men and women who had arranged & love marriages, candid wedding preparation & ceremonies, uncles & aunties performing embarrassingly at the party to Shammi Kapoor Rajesh Khanna romantic songs; nitpick – wish they had covered at least one middle/lower middle class couple’s marriage story.
Another House – An Old man suffering from Alzheimers, the now recovered alcoholic younger son, his musician girlfriend, and the selfish career oriented elder brother. Despite the fact that 60-70% of the action was set in an around the house, the film is visually appealing and the performance by the old man is reason enough to watch this one. I was just wondering as my friend said – What if the old man had been trolling his younger son ?
Vic+Flo Saw A Bear – A lesbian couple’s attempts to lead a reformed life. Could have been much better. Ati random tha. Do you think a flashback would have helped ?
Siddharth – a child is abducted. His father – a zip repairwala Rajesh Tailang (effective) attempts to find him and the toll it takes on the housewife (Tanistha Chatterjee) and their family. Well made and produced (did they actually get to shoot at Malviya Nagar Police Stn Int & Ext?) and deftly directed – this one touches upon a pretty relevant subject. Did you figure out who is the old man at the other end of the phone conversation in the end without reading the closing credits ? And that the kid is credited with 3 roles ?
The Rocket – Ahhh. It was raining ‘bachche as protagonist’ wali filmein this time. What a kickass performance by the boy and the girl. Thoda communism, thoda competition, thoda filmy climax but mazedaar film. Hats off for Uncle Purple and the grandma too. Though as a friend observed later that this Laos-Australian film is similar to the New Zealand film – Whale Rider. Kisi ne dekhi?
Ilo Ilo – Asfghar Farhadi jaisi film minus ‘thrill/mystery’ with some humor and social commentary, set in Singapore. Again, with a performance by the kid which will easily put anyone to shame, and some memorable sequences. MUST MUST WATCH.
Bekas : A modern-day, masala version of Turtles Can Fly. The most fun, light-hearted, uplifting film I saw at MFF this year. Two orphaned Kurdistan kids who want to go to America to meet Superman start on a donkey (with a BMW logo on its head) and face many adventures on the way. Irreverent, full of solid one-liners, super-smart filmy kids, and Iraqi folk music in BGM – this one is a must watch. Out #ykw already.
The Missing Picture : One of the most unusual, inventive documentaries i have seen ever. Very close to a literary graphic novel with its excellent poetic prose as narration over clay toys. With a monk-like calm, the narrator (director of the film), tells the story of how the oppressive Pol Pot regime went about making the leftist utopia in Cambodia. Solid, candid, detached kambal pitaayi of many leftist ideals through this very personal family story of the director. Reminded me of Art Spiegelman’s terrific novel ‘Maus’.
Son of Cain : This had an interesting premise – a father employs a chess player as a psychologist to help counsel his psycho, chess-lover son. But what followed was a passenger train derailing into a stampede caused by a cake-throwing match. Acting that screamed b-grade, plot twists that will make Abbas-Mustan’s white clothes red with shame, and characters (a pony-tailed ex-chess player who makes kids stand on a thin bar on one leg, to teach concentration) so whatthefuckfunny – it did end up being a so bad it’s good zone.
F.i.g.h.t C.l.u.b 