Archive for the ‘Mumbai Film Festival’ Category

POTD : Filmmaker Leos Carax at Mumbai Film Festival, 2013

Posted: October 18, 2013 by moifightclub in Mumbai Film Festival, POTD
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Is he Woody Allen’s agent of protest? What else can you make out from this picture. Have a look.

Leos Carax

On the red carpet, with a cigarette in his hand, and a strange expression on his face. It can’t get better than this. While others are posing for the shutterbugs, Mister Carax is staring at the circus. This seems like a surreal scene straight out of his film Holy Motors.

At a time when Woody Allen refused to release his latest film Blue Jasmine in India because he didn’t want any anti-smoking messages on his film’s copy, and it made headlines worldwide, there can’t be a better pic to laugh at the weird scenario and guidelines set by the Health Ministry. I know we are reading too much into it, but what’s the harm. And at least this much fun is expected from the enfant terrible of French cinema.

Filmmaker Dev Benegal also spotted him at the fest party later on and tweeted another pic, which also seems to be strange. Read his embedded tweets.

And one more – Photobombing Mihir‘s pic with Asghar Farhadi by not giving any fuck.

Leos Carax3

Pic courtesy – Pinkvilla, Dev Benegal

Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 – What to watch

Posted: October 17, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Movie Recco, Mumbai Film Festival
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The Great Beauty

It’s that time of the year again. Mumbai Film Festival is about to start and here’s our recco list for the fest.

At first glance this year’s selection doesn’t look as strong as last year’s. After much research and googling, here’ what we recommend.

MUST WATCH

1. Inside Llewyn Davis – Coen Brothers. Great reviews. New York’s folk music scene in the 60s. And a cat. Yes, a cat.

2. Blue Is The Warmest Colour – The film that the world is talking about. Bagged the Palme D’Or at Cannes, got unanimously superb reviews, the lead actors hate the director, and is in news for explicit lesbian sex scene. Plus, you can’t say the name of the director and both the lead actors name in one go. If you can, spot me at the fest and ask for a 5 star.

3. The Past – Asghar Farhadi’s latest one after The Separation. Not a clean winner like the last but still a solid film. Farhadi peels the story slowly as you keep wondering who is the culprit.

4. Mood Indigo – Michel Gondry goes on another fantastic visual journey. Everything is deliciously crazy in this one. Every frame is packed so much, you blink and you will miss some elements.

5. The Great Beauty – Peter Bradshaw initially gave it 4 stars and then made it full 5 after watching it again. He described it as a swooning love letter to Roman decadence, La Grande Bellezza is the Paolo Sorrentino’s greatest film yet. We trust what Unkle Peter says.

6. Ilo Ilo – brims with love, humor and heartbreak. 15 minutes standing ovation at Cannes (for real, not what Indian media says about desi films at every fest) and the prestigious Camera d’Or prize. TRAILER.

7. All Is Lost – One-man-stuck-in-one-place cinema. Chandor’s film has been getting great rave reviews since it premiered at Cannes. Robert Redford’s one man show.

8. Before Midnight – Linklater’s last film in the trilogy in which he blows up every notion of ideal love that he sets in the first two parts.

9. The Missing Picture – Won the Un Certain Regard prize at this year’s Cannes. This film uses handmade clay figurines and detailed dioramas to recount the ravages that Pol Pot’s regime visited upon the people of Cambodia following the communist victory in 1975.

10. Heli – Amat Escalante bagged the Best Director’s award at Cannes. Drugs, violence, corruption, and Mexican.

11. Parde (Close Curtain) – Panahi. Naam hi kaafi hai. It premiered at Berlin Fest. Panahi won the Silver Bear for Best Script. The film was shot secretly at Panahi’s own beachfront villa.

12. The Act Of Killing – One word – Terrific. Our previous recco post is here.

13. Fandry – If the film is as good as its soothing 30 second teaser, it should be fine. Looks like Shala redux. And just when we were wondering about it, Nikhil Mahajan, director of Pune 52, came to our rescue. He tweeted, straight up there with Vihir. An immensely, immensely powerful film.

14. Taak Jhaank (Sunglass) – Rituparno Ghosh’s film which is yet to get a release and we are not even sure when it will. “When she wears her sunglasses, Chitra can picture what the other person is thinking”, knowing that it’s Ghosh’s film, that line in the synopsis was suffice. Add to that the strong acting talents like Jaya Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah and Konkona Sen Sharma in the lead.

15. Katiyabaaz – The docu of a desi and unique superhero that you probably haven’t heard about. After Berlin, Tribeca and Berlin, it comes to Mumbai. The trailer is good enough to sell the film. Go here.

MOOD INDIGO

If you like to take a chance and experiment a little at film fests, this list is for you. These films can swing either way – from offbeat, non-mainstream and meditative to outrageously experimental. Go with some patience.

1. Halley – Contemporary Gothic story with an unusual twist. A disturbingly stylish and surrealistic drama, Sebastian Hofman’s impressive Halley is hard to define and very much a niche sale, but it could well attract critical support given its strangely compelling story, impressive performances and strange sense of the grotesque – SD. Got it? More – a zombie film without the horror of the zombies and, but its core story of physical decay and deathly illness would fit into any perverse horror film, with the film’s ‘hero’ essentially one of the walking dead. And TRAILER.

2. Matterhorn – Absurd Dry Humour. A strict old man has lost his wife and son. Gets an unexpcted guest. TRAILER

3. The Selfish Giant – The Telegraph gave it 5 stars and called it Clio Barnard’s brilliant, sour-scouring fable about growing up in Britain today. TRAILER.

4. Qissa – A film based on partition, in Punjabi, starring Irrfan and Tillotama Shome and Rasika Duggal and Tisca Chopra! I was already sold. And though it deals with partition in a more symbolic, metaphoric, allegorical way – I was moved immensely by it. Many friends had issues with the logic and amount of suspension of disbelief it demands (basic premise of a father who brings up his daughter as a son without letting anybody else know is a bit of a stretch, yes) – but it still managed to disturb and involve me probably because of the magic realism zone it enters in the 2nd half. And also because of Rasika and Tillotama’s terrific performances. Probably it’s only me but I think the film gives a solid theory on why Punjab has the maximum cases of female foeticide/infanticide. (Qissa won the NETPAC Award at TIFF) – Varun Grover’s recco post.

5. Stray Dogs (Jiayou) – Tsai Ming-Liang bagged the Grand Jury Prize at Venice Film Festival. TIFF described it as “Imbued with mystery, sly humour, and an enormous heart, the latest film from visionary director Tsai Ming-liang links together a series of sumptuously composed scenes that tell the story of a broken family living on the margins of Taipei society.”

6. A Touch Of Sin – Bagged the Best Screenplay Award at Cannes Film Festival. Based on four shocking true events that examines the current fabric of Chinese society. TRAILER

7. Tom At The Farm – That talented kid at the world cinema scene keeps on making movies. The latest one is on same tangent. Xavier Dolan’s film was in competition at Venice Fest. A grief-stricken young ad copywriter who visits his dead lover’s parents — only to get drawn into a savage game rooted in the rural family’s dark past.

8. Shield Of Straw – Takashi Miike’s latest one. Naam hi kaafi hai.

9. Faith Connections – Pan Nalin goes to Kumbh and gets all the exotic sights and sounds. Again, the Trailer is good enough to sell the film.

10. Locke – Another one-man-stuck-in-one-place cinema. This one belongs to Tom Hardy as he takes the driver’s seat. Premiered at Venice Fest. Minimal in approach.

11. For Those In Peril – The strikingly original maritime fable examines the aftermath of a fishing accident – THR. Mark Kermode has given it 4 stars. Was at Cannes Critics Week. Trailer is here.

12. Mamay Umeng – In a quaint provincial town, an elderly man awaits his inevitable fate – death. If you love posters, here. TRAILER.

13. The Voice of The Voiceless (La voz de los silenciados) – Seems scary and interesting. Based on a true story of a modern day slavery. Trailer.

14. The Strange Little Cat – Loosely inspired by Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, this enchanting, minimalist gem by first-time feature director Ramon Zurcher has won admiring comparisons to the work of such masters as Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson and Chantal Akerman – TIFF. Click here for its very strange and very funny trailer.

15. The Japanese Dog – A satisfying, unexpectedly upbeat film, superbly played, in which hope is always just about visible through the tragedy – THR. And trailer looks interesting. Gentle and charming.

50/50

And then there are few more which looks interesting. But either we are not completely sure how good they are, or they have  been getting mixed reactions.

1. The Rocket – It got Best debut film at Berlin and Audience Award at Tribeca. A kid is cursed for everything that goes wrong, and then he claims it all back. Rite-of-passage film

2. The Immigrant – The film has been getting some extreme reviews. But with Joaquin Phoenix and Marion Cotillard in the lead, hopefully they might be worth the time.

3. La jaula de oro – Powerful yet unsentimental thriller keeps audiences guessing as four Central American kids head to the U.S. by train – Variety. Was at Cannes Un certain regard. In Sin Nombre space.

4. Autumn Blood – Quiet. Serene. Young brother and sister in the mountains. And then things go wrong. Trailer

5. Liar’s Dice – Rajeev Ravi’s wife Geetu Mohandas goes behind the camera. About a young mother and her 3-year old daughter’s journey to find her missing husband. Has Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Geetanjali Thapa in the lead.

6. The Only Real Game – Heard about baseball in Manipur? No? Here you go. Aseem Chhabra’s column on this one.

7. Siddharth – Richie Mehta’s film was at Toronto and Venice. More about the film here.

8. Suleimani Keeda – Desi slacker comedy involving two bollywood screenwriters. More about it here.

9. The Armstrong Lie – What was Armstrong thinking? The film tries to tackle that million dollar question.

If you have seen anything interesting and would like to recco it, do let us know in the comments.

First Look : Sushrut Jain’s documentary ‘Beyond All Boundaries’ on country’s cricket mania

Posted: October 14, 2013 by moifightclub in Documentary, film, Film Festival, first look, Indie, Mumbai Film Festival, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Trailer
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A documentary film titled ‘Beyond All Boundaries’ directed by Sushrut Jain will have its Indian premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival this year. The film is produced by Kunal Nayyar (of Big Bang Theory fame) who also helped Sushrut raise funds for the project.

TRAILER

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
This 98 minute documentary tells three true life stories of cricket lovers and fanatics who gave up everything to pursue their passion. Woven through the tale of India’s progress in the 2011 World Cup are three separate story arcs that speak of the roles cricket can play in the lives of ordinary Indians, for whom the game becomes a source of aspiration, desperation and devotion.
BABPosterFinalsmallDETAILS
Beyond All Boundaries takes a look at the life of three people
1. Sudhir Kumar Gautam, the well known Indian cricket fan who loves his team, his stars, and at the heart of it, eventually the game.  He is India’s most recognizable fan who turns up at matches, his torso and face painted in the colours of the Indian flag, and “Tendulkar” and the number 10 on his back.
2. Prithvi Shaw, a 12-year-old batting prodigy from one of Mumbai’s distant suburbs, whose life and career are driven by the prototype sporting parent – a single father obsessed with turning his son into a professional cricketer.
3.  Akshaya Surve, an 18-year-old girl trying out for the Mumbai Under-19 team. Cricket is the centre of her existence and a potential exit for her and her mother, trapped in a single room in one of Mumbai’s many narrow bylanes.
– To know more about the film, click here for its website

Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 – Date wise schedule

Posted: October 14, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, News
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The schedule of this year’s Mumbai Film Festival is out. Click here to access it. But like every year the organisers didn’t release the date-wise schedule of the fest which is the best thing when you plan to watch movies all through the day. And so like every year, good ol’ Kartik Krishnan spent hours and did it for us.

Have embedded both the schedules on the post. You can download them from here. To directly donwload and in better format, click here for Metro and Liberty’s datewise schedule, and click here to get the Cinemax one. And say thanks to KK.

Metro and Liberty

IC: International Competition     ATC: Above The Cut    WC: World Cinema    IG: India Gold 2012    RDV: Rendez-vous with French Cinema    CSC: Celebration of Spanish Cinema    NF: New Faces    SC: Spotlight on Cambodia    CA: Celebrate Age    FIW: Film India Worldwide   TRR: The Real Reel    RC: Restored Classics    KF: Kabul Fresh 2013    NSC: New Spanish Cinema   LC: Leos Carax Films    CG: Costa Gavras

– Films Schedule is subject to change. Persons below 18 years are not allowed

– For the complete lineup of the fest, click here.

– To know more about the fest, click here for its FB page and click here for its Twitter account.

– For registration, you can go to its official website here.

First Look : Amit V Masurkar’s Sulemani Keeda (Poster, synopsis)

Posted: October 12, 2013 by moifightclub in bollywood, cast & crew, film, first look, Indie, Mumbai Film Festival, News, Posters, Story / Plot / Synopsis
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(click to start the slide show. Right click to open in a new page)

The much awaited Versova Indie (coined by the director, not us), SULEMANI KEEDA will have its premier at Mumbai Film Festival this year. It’s shown in the ‘New Faces of Indian Cinema’ section. This is a film about writers, star writers, is directed by a writer, and produced by guys who manage writers.

SYNOPSIS:

Mainak (Mayank Tewari), an optimistic hustler, and Dulal (Naveen Kasturia, the new Vodafone guy whose mom keeps calling him), a brooding poet, are writing partners who are struggling in Bollywood with their screenplay which no one bothers to read.

Perennially hungry and horny, they lie around, drink, smoke weed, name drop, lurk in bookshops and attend poetry readings to cling on to unsuspecting women.

They see a ray of hope in Gonzo Kapoor (Karan Mirchandani), the industry’s oldest new comer and son of a famous B movie producer who is not only interested in their work but also wants them to write a European style dark and sexually explicit art house script for his launch film.

But a witty and beautiful photographer, Ruma (Aditi Vasudev) enters Dulal’s life and Mainak is not too pleased by his friend’s new distraction.

This is a slacker comedy about three days in the lives of Mainak and Dulal which test their friendship and make them re-valuate their life plans. Besides exploring the world of migrant writers in the city’s western suburbs, the film also talks about their hopes and ontological anxieties in a brutally commercial world.

Sulemani Keeda (International Title: Writers)

CAST AND CREW :

Writer & Director: Amit V Masurkar

Countries : India, USA

Year : 2013

Language : Hindi

Runtime : 90 minutes

Producers : Datta Dave, Chaitanya Hegde

Associate Producers : Deepa Tracy, Sailesh Dave, Suresh Mhatre

Production company : Tulsea Pictures in association with Mantra/Runaway Entertainment

Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Mayank Tewari, Aditi Vasudev, Karan Mirchandani, Krishna Bisht, Rukshana Tabassum.

Cinematography: Surjodeep Ghosh

Editor: Khushboo Agarwal Raj

Sound Design: Niraj Gera

Music: Arfaaz-Anurag

Location Sound: Shailesh Sharma

Line Producers: Deepak Arora, Arvinder Gill, Rakesh Singh, Navit Dutt

First Assistant Director: Omar Nissar Paul

Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar’s docu “Katiyabaaz” gets a new trailer

Posted: October 7, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, Documentary, film, Film Festival, first look, Indie, Mumbai Film Festival, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Trailer
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slide4

Fahad Mustafa and Deepti Kakkar’s documentary Katiyabaaz (Powerless) was selected for Berlin and Tribeca Film Festival. The film will have its screening at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival. Ahead of the fest, it has got a new trailer. Have a look.

The song in the trailer is sung by Indian Ocean and is written by Varun Grover who is also a regular contributor to this blog.

About the film :

In Kanpur, India, Loha Singh is the local robin-hood, stealing electricity so that homes and businesses could function normally in the face of day-long power-cuts. Meanwhile, the first female chief of the electricity supply company has vowed to rid the town of illegal connections and increase supply. In a summer of crisis, sparks will fly.

Description :

Powerless is a documentary film about the electrical supply shortage in an industrial suburb of Kanpur, India. The story unfurls along miles of tangled copper wires which mirror the diabolical complexity which unfolds in several towns and cities across the country. A picture emerges of a modern dystopia encompassing urban decay and desperation due to the lack of electricity. Underlying the localized crisis in Kanpur is the glaring energy poverty in India, where a third of the population is often without power and the rest grapple with frequent power-cuts that dictate their own terms. Powerless points to the universal need for dependable electrical power while exploring this theme in one of the world’s most ascendant economies.

– To know more about the film, click here to go to its official website.

– To read the Hollywood Reporter’s review of the film from Berlin fest, click here.

Mumbai Film Festival, 2013 unveils its complete lineup

Posted: September 25, 2013 by moifightclub in cinema, film, Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival, News
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528185_574243075956739_144188067_nThe 15th Mumbai Film Festival has just announced its lineup for this year.  The fest will screen over 200 films from 65 countries. Costa-Gavras and Kamal Hassan will be given the Lifetime Achievement Awards at the fest. Among the filmmakers, Asghar Farhadi and Leos Carax are expected to attend.

The fest will also have spotlight on Spanish, Cambodian and Afghan cinema alongwith retrospective of Costa Gravas and a special tribute to Leos Carax.

Dates – 17-24 October 2013

Venues – Liberty Cinema, Metro Big Cinema, Marine Lines are the main festival venues and Cinemax, Versova  as the satellite venue.

– To know more about the fest, click here for its FB page and click here for its Twitter account.

– For registration, you can go to its official website here.

Here’s the complete lineup of the festival

Opening Film

The Butler Dir.: Lee Daniels (USA / 2013 / Col. / 132’)

International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors

The Rocket Dir.: Kim Mordaunt (Australia-Laos-Thailand / 2013 / Col. / 96’)

La jaula de oro Dir.: Diego Quemada-Díez(Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 102′)

Ilo Ilo Dir.: Anthony Chen (Singapore / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Mamay Umeng Dir.: Dwein Baltazar (Philippines / 2012 / Col. / 75′)

For Those in Peril Dir.: Paul Wright (UK / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

The Japanese Dog (Cainele Japonez) Dir.: Tudor Cristian Jurgiu (Romania / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

The Plague (La Plaga) Dir.: Neus Ballús (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

The Strange Little Cat (Das merkwürdige Kätzchen) Dir.: Ramon Zürcher (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 72′)

Another House (L’autre maison) Dir.: Mathieu Roy (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

Medeas Dir.: Andrea Pallaoro (Italy-Mexico-USA / 2013 / Col. / 98′)

The Voice of The Voiceless (La voz de los silenciados) Dir.: Maximón Monihan (Guatemala-USA / 2013 / Col. / 92′)

Don Jon Dir.: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (USA / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Fandry Dir.: Nagraj Manjule (India (Marathi) / 2013 / Col. / 103′)

Above The Cut

The Weight of Elephants Dir.: Daniel Joseph Borgman (Denmark-New Zealand-Germany-France / 2013 / Col. / 83′)

A Fold in My Blanket (Chemi sabnis naketsi) Dir.: Zaza Rusadze (Georgia / 2013 / Col. / 75′)

Giraffada Dir.: Rani Massalha (France-Austria-Germany-Italy / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

The Selfish Giant Dir.: Clio Barnard (UK / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

Five Years (Fünf Jahre Leben) Dir.: Stefan Schaller (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

Diego Star Dir.: Frédérick Pelletier (Canada-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 91′) The

Amazing Cat Fish (Los insólitos peces gato) Dir.: Claudia Sainte-Luce (Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 88′)

Matterhorn Dir.: Diederik Ebbinge (Netherlands / 2013 / Col. / 87’)

Halley Dir.: Sebastian Hofmann (Mexico-Netherlands / 2012-Nov. / B&W-Col. / 83’)

Autumn Blood Dir.: Markus Blunder (Austria-USA / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

Burned Wings Dir.: Zheng Kuo (China / 2013 / Col. / 105′)

World Cinema

Closed Curtains Dir.: Jafar Panahi, Kamboziya Partovi (Iran / 2013 / Col. / 106’)

Shield Of Straw (Wara No Tate) Dir.: Takashi Miike (Japan / 2013 / Col. / 124’)

On My Way (Elle s’en va) Dir.: Emmanuelle Bercot (France / 2013 / Col. / 116′)

All Is Lost Dir.: J.C Chandor (USA / 2013 / Col. / 106’)

A Long and Happy Life (Dolgaya schastlivaya zhizn) Dir.: Boris Khlebnikov (Russia / 2013 / Col. / 80′)

Vic+Flo Saw a Bear (Vic et Flo ont vu un ours) Dir.: Denis Côté (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

A Castle in Italy (Un château en Italie) Dir.: Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (France / 2013 / Col. / 104’)

The Great Beauty (La grande bellezza) Dir.: Paolo Sorrentino (Italy / 2013 / Col. / 142’)

Mood Indigo (L’écume des jours) Dir.: Michel Gondry (France-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 125’)

The Nun (La religieuse) Dir.: Guillaume Nicloux (France, Germany, Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 114’)

Michael Kohlhaas Dir.: Arnaud des PALLIÈRES (France-Germany / 2013 / Col. / 122′)

Grigris Dir.: Mahamat-Saleh HAROUN (France / 2013 / Col. / 101′)

Heli Dir.: Amat Escalante (Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 105’)

In The Name of (W imie…) Dir.: Malgoska Szumowska (Poland / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

A Touch Of Sin (Tian Zhu ding) Dir.: JIA zhangke (China-Japan / 2013 / Col. / 133’)

Gold Dir.: Thomas Arslan (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 101’)

Layla Fourie Dir.: Pia Marais (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 105’)

Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie) Dir.: François Ozon (France / 2013 / Col. / 95’)

Blue Is The Warmest Color (La Vie D’adele – Chapitre 1 Et 2) Dir.: Abdellatif Kechiche (France / 2013 / Col. / 179’)

The Spirit of ’45 Dir.: Ken Loach (UK / 2013 / Col. / 94′)

Inside Llewyn Davis Dir.: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (USA / 2013 / Col. / 105’)

The Immigrant Dir.: James Gray (USA / 2013 / Col. / 120’)

Only God Forgives Dir.: Nicolas Winding Refn (Denmark / 2013 / Col. / 90’)

The Face Of Love Dir.: Arie Posin (USA / 2013 / Col. / 92’)

Before Midnight Dir.: Richard Linklater (USA / 2013 / Col. / 109′)

Le Passé (The Past) Dir.: Asghar Farhadi (France / 2013 / Col. / 130’)

Bekas Dir.: Karzan Kader (Sweden-Finland-Iraq / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

The Canyons Dir.: Paul Schrader (USA / 2013 / Col. / 99’)

Short Term 12 Dir.: Destin Cretton (USA / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Saving General Yang Dir.: Ronny Yu (Hong Kong-China / 2013 / Col. / 102′)

Killer Toon (Deo Web-toon: Ye-go Sal-in) Dir.: Yong-gyun Kim (South Korea / 2013 / Col. / 104′)

3x3D Dir.: Jean-Luc Godard, Peter Greenaway, Edgar Pêra (France-Portugal / 2013 / Col. / 70′)

Sunlight, Moonlight, Earth (Aftab, Mahtab, Zamin) Dir.: Ali Ghavitan (Iran / 2013 / Col. / 80′)

Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) Dir.: Xavier Dolan (Canada-France / 2013 / Col. / 105′)

The Circle Within (Içimdeki Çember) Dir.: Deniz Çınar (Turkey / 2013 / Col. / 72′)

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) Dir.: Barmak Akram (Afghanistan-France / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

Le démantèlement Dir.: Sebastien Pilote (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 111′)

Bad Hair (Pelo Malo) Dir.: Mariana Rondon (Venezuela / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

The Major Dir.: Yury Bykov (Russia / 2013 / Col. / 99′)

Stray Dogs (Jiao You) Dir.: Ming-liang Tsai (Taiwan / 2013 / Col. / 138′)

The Mute (El mudo) Dir.: Daniel Vega, Diego Vega (Peru-France-Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 86′)

Jealousy (La jalousie) Dir.: Philippe Garrel (France-Germany / 2013 / Col. / 77′)

Mr. Morgan’s Last Love Dir.: Sandra Nettelbeck (Germany-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 116′)

Hush…(Suti) Dir.: Lukas Nola (Croatia / 2013 / Col. / 86′)

Burning Bush (Horící ker) Dir.: Agnieszka Holland (Czech Republic / 2013 / Col. / 240′)

The Fifth Estate Dir.: Bill Condon (USA-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 124′)

Miss and The Doctors (Tirez la langue, mademoiselle) Dir.: Axelle Ropert (France / 2013 / Col. / 95′)

Locke Dir.: Steven Knight (USA-UK / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

Brahmin Bulls Dir.: Mahesh Pailoor (USA / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Village of Hope Dir.: Boonsong Nakphoo (Thailand / 2013 / Col. / 72′)

The Armstrong Lie Dir.: Alex Gibney (USA / 2013 / Col. / 122′)

The Keeper of Lost Causes (Kvinden i buret) Dir.: Mikkel Nørgaard (Denmark-Germany-Sweden / 2013 / Col. / 97’)

Dallas Buyers Club Dir.: Jean-Marc Vallée (USA / 2013 / Col. / 155′)

New Spanish Cinema

Son of Cain (Hijo de Cain) Dir.: Jesús Monllaó (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 91′)

Picasso’s Gang (La banda Picasso) Dir.: Fernando Colomo (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

Combustión Dir.: Daniel Calparsoro (Spain / 2013 / Col. / 103′)

The Liberator (Libertador) Dir.: Alberto Arvelo (Venezuela-Spain / 2013 / Col. / 119’)

Celebration of Spanish Cinema

Viridiana Dir.: Luis Buñuel (Spain-Mexico / 1961 / B&W / 90′)

El verdugo Dir.: Luis García Berlanga (Spain-Italy / 1963 / B&W / 91′)

The Hunt (La caza) Dir.: Carlos Saura (Spain / 1966 / Col. / 91′)

The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena) Dir.: Víctor Erice (Spain / 1973 / Col. / 97′)

Seven Days in January (Siete días de enero) Dir.: Juan Antonio Bardem (Spain-France / 1979 / Col. / 180′)

Volver a empezar Dir.: José Luis Garci (Spain / 1982 / Col. / 87′)

Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Los amantes del Círculo Polar) Dir.: Julio Medem (Spain-France / 1998 / Col. / 112′)

Your Next Life (La vida que te espera) Dir.: Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (Spain / 2004 / Col. / 100′)

Welcome Mr. Marshall (Bienvenido Mister Marshall) Dir.: Luis García Berlanga (Spain / 1953 / B&W / 78′)

El barbero de Sevilla Dir.: Benito Perojo (Germany-Spain / 1938 / B&W / 90′)

An Andalusian Dog (Un Chien Andalou) Dir.: Luis Buñuel (France / 1929 / B&W)

Carmen (la de Triana) Dir.: Florian Rey (Germany-Spain / 1938 / B&W / 110′)

The Real Reel

Beyond All Boundaries Dir.: Sushrut Jain (USA-India / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

Brave Miss World Dir.: Cecilia Peck (USA-Israel-Italy-South Africa / 2013 / Col. / 97′)

Blackfish Dir.: Gabriela Cowperthwaite (USA / 2013 / Col. / 82′)

Who is Dayani Cristal Dir.: Marc Silver (UK-USA-Mexico / 2013 / Col. / 80′)

For I Know My Weakness Dir.: John Dentino (USA / 2012 / Col. / 100′)

Fatal Assistance (Assistance mortelle) Dir.: Raoul Peck (France-Haiti-USA-Belgium / 2013 / Col. / 99′)

Stop Over (L’escale) Dir.: Kaveh Bakhtiari (Switzerland-France / 2013 / Col. / 104′)

In the Shadow of the Sun Dir.: Harry Freeland (Tanzania-UK / 2012 / Col. / 84′)

Tales from the Organ Trade Dir.: Ric Esther Bienstock (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 82′)

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer Dir.: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin (Russia-UK / 2013 / Col. / 88′)

The Only Real Game Dir.: Mirra Bank (USA-India / 2012 / Col. / 82′)

Little big People Dir.: Khalid Mohamed (India (English-Hindi-Marathi) / 2013 / Col. / 52′)

The Act of Killing Dir.: Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark-Norway-UK / 2012 / Col. / 115′)

What’s Love Got to Do with It? Dir.: Rohena Gera (India / 2013 / Col. / 84′)

Salinger Dir.: Shane Salerno (USA / 2013 / 120′)

Celebrate Age

60 going on 12 (12 ans d’âge) Dir.: Frédéric Proust (France / 2013 / Col. / 89’)

Seventh Cat Dir.: Hiroshi Toda (Japan / 2013 / Col. / 77′)

Good to Go (Srecen za umret) Dir.: Matevz Luzar (Slovenia-Croatia / 2013 / Col. / 100′)

At the Crossroads Nondon Bagchi Life and living Dir.: Rajdeep Paul, Sarmistha Maiti (India (English-Bengali) / 2013 / Col. / 70’)

Barefoot To Goa Dir.: Praveen Morchhale (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 80’)

I’m watching over you (Je veille sur vous) Dir.: Elodie Fiabane (France / 2013 / Col. / 19′)

Arefi, the shepherd (Arefi, der Hirte) Dir.: Daniel Asadi Faezi (Iran-Germany / 2013 / Col. / 9’)

Oh, How I Long Dir.: Riyad Deis (Palenstine / 2013 / Col. / 39′)

Road to Disneyland Dir.: Jamil Hendi (Germany-Romania / 2013 / Col. / 33′)

Mohan Kaka Dir.: Aditya Gowtham (India / 2013 / Col. / 22′)

Shuruaat Dir.: Suresh Shelar (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 16′)

By Way of the Mountains (Par les montagnes) Dir.: Frédéric Aspisi (Fiji / 2012 / Col. / 44′)

Late Shift – Gunter Grass working on etching for “Dog Years” Dir.: Sigrun Matthiesen (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 20’)

Spotlight on Cambodia

Golden Slumbers (Le sommeil d’or) Dir.: Davy Chou (France-Cambodia / 2011 / Col. / 96′)

A River Changes Course Dir.: Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia / 2013 / Col. / 83′)

The Missing Picture (L’image manquante) Dir.: Rithy Panh (Cambodia-France / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Red Wedding Dir.: Guillaume Suon, Lida Chan (Cambodia-France / 2012 / Col. / 58′)

Where I Go Dir.: Neang Kavich (Cambodia / 2012 / Col. / 55′)

Two Girls Against The Rain (Bopha Pitorng Chhomnas Tekpleang) Dir.: Sao Sopheak (Cambodia / 2012 / Col. / 11’)

Film India Worldwide

Jadoo Dir.: Amit Gupta (UK / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Good Morning Karachi Dir.: Sabiha Sumar (Pakistan / 2013 / Col. / 85′)

Red Monsoon Dir.: Eelum Dixit (Nepal / 2013 / Col. / 88′)

Siddharth Dir.: Richie Mehta (Canada / 2013 / Col. / 96′)

Faith Connections Dir.: Pan Nalin (India-France / 2013 / Col. / 115′)

LEOS CARAX FILMS

Bad Blood (Mauvais sang) Dir.: Leos Carax (France / 1986 / Col. / 116′)

The Lovers on the Bridge (Les amants du Pont-Neuf) Dir.: Leos Carax (France / 1999 / Col. / 125′)

Holy Motors Dir.: Leos Carax (France / 2012 / Col. / 115′)

COSTA GAVRAS FILMS

Z Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Algeria / 1969 / Col. / 127′)

State of Siege Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Italy-Germany / 1972 / Col. / 120′)

Amen Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Germany-Romania / 2002 / Col. / 132′)

The Ax Dir.: Costa Gavras (Belgium-France-Spain / 2005 / Col. / 122’)

Eden is West (Eden à l’Ouest) Dir.: Costa Gavras (France-Greece-Italy / 2009 / Col. / 110′)

Capital (Le capital) Dir.: Costa Gavras (France / 2012 / Col. / 114′)

Restored Classics

The Floorwalker Dir.: Charles Chaplin (USA / 1916 / B&W / 30′)

Blackmail Dir.: Alfred Hitchcock (UK / 1929 / B&W / 85′)

The King of Comedy Dir.: Martin Scorsese (USA / 1982 / 109′)

Downpour (Ragbar) Dir.: Bahram Beizai (Iran / 1972 / 128′)

Tokyo Story Dir.: Yasujirô Ozu (Japan / 1953 / B&W / 136′)

Time to live and Time to Die (Tong nien wang shi) Dir.: Hsiao-hsien Hou (Taiwan / 1985 / 138′)

All About Eve Dir.: Joseph L. Mankiewicz (USA / 1950 / B&W / 138′)

Experimental Films

A+ Dir.: NobuAdilman (Canada / 2012 / Col. / 6’)

Days of Future Past Dir.: Joe Hambleton (Canada / 2012 / Col. / 7’)

Pulse Dir.: Anuradha Chandra (India / 2012 / Col. / 23’)

Burning Star Dir.: Joshua Gen Solondz (USA / 2011 / Col. / 4’)

Serious Ladies Dir.: Susanne Sachsse (Germany / 2013 / Col. / 21’)

Play Life Series Dir.: Ella Raidel (Austria / 2012 / Col. / 11’)

Item Number Dir.: Oliver Husain (Canada-India / 2012 / Col. / 16’)

Artists Films

Nayi Kheti Dir.: Pallavi Paul (India / 2013 / Col. / 12′)

Iceboat Dir.: Neha Choksi (USA / 2013 / Col. / 10′)

To Dance like your Dad Dir.: Hetain Patel (UK / 2009 / Col. / 6′)

Narcissicon Dir.: Kiran Subbaiah (India / 2009 / Col. / 43′)

Forerunner Dir.: Sahej Rahal (India / 2013 / Col. / 13′)

People to be Resembling Dir.: The Otolith Group (UK / Col. / 22′)

Kabul Fresh 2013

Eye witness Dir.: Rafi Behroozian & Alka Sadat (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 12′)

Driving Test Dir.: Mahbouba Ebrahimi (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 26′)

A Time Called Oldness Dir.: Hamed Alizadeh (Afghanistan / 2013 / 22′)

End of Love Dir.: Ghafar Azad (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 13′)

Life Imprisonment Dir.: Gholamreza Majedi (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 4′)

One Wish Dir.: Mohamed (Aref) Abedin (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 4′)

The Glasses Dir.: S Hussein Mousavi (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 11′)

Kabul Ambulance Dir.: Taj Mohammad Bakhtari (Afghanistan / 2011 / Col. / 26′)

Amir and Sara Dir.: Jalal Hussaini (Afghanistan / 2013 / Col. / 16′)

India Gold 2013

Liar’s Dice Dir.: Geethu Mohandas (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 104′)

Crossing Bridges Dir.: Sange Dorjee Thongdok (India (Sherdukpen) / 2013 / Col. / 102′)

The World of Goopi and Bagha (Goopy gawaiya bagha bajaiya) Dir.: Shilpa Ranade (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 78′)

Virgin Talkies (Kanyaka Talkies) Dir.: K R Manoj (India (Malayalam) / 2013 / Col. / 115′)

A Silent Way (Ko: Yad) Dir.: Manju Borah (India / 2012 / Col. / 90′)

Monologue (Maunraag) Dir.: Vaibhav Abnave (India (Marathi) / 2013 / Col. / 92′)

Invincible (Ajeyo) Dir.: Jahnu Barua (India (Assamese) / 2013 / Col. / 116′)

Powerless (Katiyabaaz) Dir.: Fahad Mustafa, Deepti Kakkar (India-USA / 2013 / Col. / 84′)

Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost Dir.: Anup Singh (India (Panjabi) / 2013 / Col. / 109′)

Oonga Dir.: Devashish Makhija (India / 2013 / Col. / 98′)

Sunglass (Taak Jhaank) Dir.: Rituparno Ghosh (India / 2013 / Col.)

Mastram Dir.: Akhilesh Jaiswal (India / 2013 / Col.)

New Faces in Indian Cinema

Bakrapur (The Goat Vote) Dir.: Janaki Vishwanathan (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 82′)

Wild Berries (Kaphal) Dir.: Batul Mukhtiar (India (Hindi) / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Sulemani Keeda Dir.: Amit V Masurkar (India-USA / 2013 / Col. / 90′)

Munsif Dir.: Umashankar Swamy (India (Kannada) / 2012 / Col. / 106′)

Dimensions Mumbai

Seat Down Dir.: Sachin Sanjay Kadam Share

Dir.: Abhiraj Rajadhyaksha

Monsoon Drive Dir.: Mohit Modi

The Zero Mile Storm Dir.: Jehanin Pajnigar,

Radhika Boontra Raah (Path) Dir.: Dhruv Dilip Datar

…Till Debt Do Us Part Dir.: Kenneth.A.Lawrence

To you both Dir.: Ridhesh Seipal

Jaun Kahaan Dir.: Ankita Mishra

Kabutarkhana Dir.: Markand Bhaskar Sawant

Jashn-E-Dawaat Dir.: Karan Asnani

The Handicapped Colony Dir.: Sameer Nerkar

In This City Dir.: Keyur Kajavadara S.

Crab Catchers Dir.: Prem Hessenkamp

Rickshaw Roko Mitra Mandal Dir.: Sristi Jain

Shukriya Mumbai (Thank You Mumbai) Dir.: NIkhil Gupta

Mumbai Cha Vadapav Dir.: Akshay S. Dhanavale

1992 Negative Dir.: Dixit Parkar

Mascara Dir.: Daria Gaikalova

Matryoshka Dir.: Mayank singh Addiction Dir.: Bhaumik Mevada

*Subject to change before the festival*

Mumbai Film Festival, 2012 – Varun Grover’s Diary (Day 3 & 4)

Posted: October 23, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, film, Film Festival, film review, Movie Recco, movie reviews, Mumbai Film Festival, reviews
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To know more about Varun Grover and to read his Day 1 report, click here, and Day 2 report is here.

One thing I realized this time, thanks to the daily commute of roughly 4-hours to and from the festival venue. Watching a film festival is as much a measure  of your love for cinema as it is a test of your fitness. Running down the railway station stairs to catch Virar-Churchgate fast that is arriving in 1-minute, keeping your senses alert and combative till a seat is found in the crowded train (generally happens after initial 30-minutes of standing at the optimum place – somewhere in the middle of two rows so that you have double the probability of getting a seat), taking the 2-3 kilometer walks from Churchgate station to the venue, and of course keeping your legs folded and hands tied for the duration of the films. That’s why, people who look so enthusiastic on day 1 or 2 of the festival start dropping out by 3rd/4th day. Or start looking like one of the characters from depressing European cinema they are watching.

That’s why, if you don’t sleep mid-screening at least once, you aren’t doing a film festival right.

Digression done.

Shameless/2012/Filip Marczewski/Poland: 

Festival’s centerpiece film Michael Haneke’s ‘Amour’ was cancelled in the morning. Theories abound – they couldn’t find the password to open the disk (apparently, password is sent just one hour before the screening to avoid piracy etc.), the file format they sent was unreadable, that they had a special screening for Tina Ambani and friends the previous night and didn’t realize the password is valid for one screening only. (Thankfully, Amour is screening today afternoon finally.)

So in the slot emptied by ‘Amour’, we headed for ‘Shameless’. And why not? The trailer and synopsis made it read like a juicy piece on a sex-filled drama about a brother and sister. In many ways, it can be thought of as a prequel to Steve Mcqueen’s ‘Shame’, again about a brother and sister having problems due to their unusual sexual ‘conditions’. The ‘troubled place’ Carey Mulligan’s Sissy talks about but is never shown in the film could be imagined as vaguely similar to this. But that’s the only good I could extract out of this film with so many coincidences, thin sub-plots, and sexually charged but never lighting up  mood. Ending, in true European cinema fashion, was abrupt and frustrating. So was most of the film too.

The Taste of Money/2012/Sang-soo Im/South Korea: 

This reminded me, above all, of DD afternoon show ‘Swabhimaan’ (the one with Rohit Roy, Kittu Gidwani, Manoj Bajpayi et al). A family drama about rich, perverted, crazy for power and sex people. Had a few moments of brilliance, but overall was quite self-serious and  at places, hilariously ridiculous. The worst watch in this festival for me. P.S. – It was the kind of film where in an emotional scene, it starts raining heavily.

Sunrise/1927/F.W. Murnau/USA: 

Hadn’t seen any film by this master of silent cinema – Murnau, and thanks to this rare opportunity by MFF, I got to see one of his best. So much visual experimentation in a 1927 film, and so original humor and slice-of-life moments (the two toughest things to write in my opinion). And Liberty Cinema, with its red carpeted staircase and red-leather finish chairs in balcony was just the perfect venue for this chicken-soup of a film.

Kauwboy/2012/Boudewijn Koole/Netherlands: 

The last film of the day was an easy watch. Jojo finds a chick Jackdaw fallen out of its nest, carries it home and pets it, while his always-angry-and-cruel single-father learns to love his son over the course of the film. It was that simple a plot, told with lots of humor, emotion, music, and slice-of-life moments. Very little could have gone wrong with this, and very little did.

(Am tempted to add – It should do well in close-knit-family oriented territories of Central and Northern India. First weekend collections should be good. The Jackdaw bird does a satisfactory job but could have done better in emotional scenes. Music was as per the need, and editing was good, but another 10-minutes shorter and it would have crossed 20-crores in 1st weekend.)

DAY 4

Holy Motors/2012/Leos Carax/France-Germany:  

How does one begin writing about this film? A film that is trying to break every convention, burn every book, and shake every belief about cinema in particular and philosophy of life and living in general. It starts with a dream-like sequence of a man breaking a wall to enter the balcony of a cinema hall, where people are watching a film while a naked baby and huge bull-dogs parade the aisles. And from here on, it gets more bizarre. But it’s the variety of bizarre that keeps you completely engaged (I had donated my senses and soul to the film completely, within initial 15-minutes), asking you to stay alert and try piecing together the information, and in return giving you visuals and events of such ambition that your brain’s g-spot is constantly in a rub.

Though for the best experience, I’d suggest you go for it without reading ANYTHING about the film or its plot (as I did) because most of the reviews do give out the philosophical connotations the film is hinting at. And that means some of the awe of discovering it for the first time is gone.

It reminded me of many things, from Hindu mythology to  reptile-race-aliens based science-fiction to Freud’s ‘On Dreams’ to this short film to one of my all-time favorite films, Charlie Kaufman’s ‘Synecdoche, New York’ – another crazy, inventive journey into trying to point out the loopholes in the normal understanding of why/how we exist. And in spite of all this apparent depth, the film is never heavy. In fact, it’s comical at quite a few places, and musical at quite a few others. Will write a detailed piece after the fest is done, and after I’ve watched it one more time when it’s out online.

The Hunt/2012/Thomas Vinterberg/Denmark: 

Ideally, nothing should have been watched after the high of Holy Motors, but the greedy festival junkies we are, chucking a film as hyped as The Hunt would have been out of character. Going with the image of Scandinavian cinema, this one too had a cold and dark feel to it. A man, accused of a sex-offense by a kindergarten kid, faces the witch-hunt from a small hunting-crazy town of Denmark. The film gets heavier and intense as it proceeds, but in spite of all its finesse (in almost every department), it failed to impress me much. May be I was still in Holy Motors zone, or may be it worked on too predictable lines of persecution and silence – I found it quite a middling, safe attempt. The last section and the epilogue are terrific though. Good enough to redeem the depressing-frustrating middle.

Something in the Air/2012/Olivier Assayas/France:

Ghanta kuchh samajh nahin aaya. French version of ‘Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi’. Set in 70′s France, featuring a group of students learning and unlearning the neo-communist movement. Bas itna hi samajh mein aaya. Rest of it was oppression-repression-dissolution-subaltern-minimalistic-bourgeoisie-mumbojumbovadapaav. Excellent production design, a couple of sex-scenes, and evocation of an era gone by were the only redeeming factors. I even stopped reading subtitles after the 1st hour and just spent time looking at the props and recreation of the 70′s France.

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To read Varun Grover’s blog, click here.

Mumbai Film Festival, 2012 – Varun Grover’s Diary (Day 2)

Posted: October 22, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, film, Film Festival, film review, Movie Recco, movie reviews, Mumbai Film Festival
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To know more about Varun Grover and to read his Day 1 report, click here.

Disclaimer: I don’t think I’ve turned into that post-1990-born creature that thinks, reads, and writes only in English but since am short of time, decided to file this entry in English today. Not because I think (faster) in English, but because English typing is faster and as a related brain function, when you type faster, crisper words come to you. (Or so I think.)

Also, quick notes today. (‘Amour’ calls tomorrow morning.)

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry/2012/Alison Klayman/USA:

– Behind the iron curtain, there is an artist struggling to retain his freedom, and in the process turns his protest into art, and curtain into an art-installation.

– A very ‘upbeat’ documentary (mainly ‘cos so many frames are full of his artistic creations, and his calm, about-to-smile face) about  a very angry but very optimistic man that took a few years in the making, and hence capturing Ai Weiwei at very crucial moments in China’s recent history. (The 2009 Earthquakes, Nobel for Liu Xiaobo, post-Olympic demolition of his studio over his criticism of Chinese government).

– Hope they put it out online for free distribution because that goes totally with the spirit of Ai Weiwei.

– After seeing this and Michael Moore’s ‘Bowling for Columbine’, I started loving India more. See both of these to know what words like freedom, liberty, human rights, angst, and censorship may mean in different contexts, countries, and times.

– Also, the best advertisement ever for Twitter. They should just sponsor it and show it to the world. Ai Weiwei uses twitter like Gandhi used Satyagraha, and to great results. “Don’t retreat. Retweet.”

– Can your cat open the latch door? If yes, are you fascinated by it?

The Bay/2012/Barry Levinson/USA: 

– Another ‘found footage’ film with elements of creature-based horror and zombie.

– Goes on for too long after having made the point.

– Not a fan of found footage genre anyway. Also the most difficult genre I guess. Stripped of visual grandness, technical finesse, and controlled-environment drama (and most of the background score), Cinema is tough to please.

– More creepy and gory than chilling.

Rust and Bone/2012/Jacques Audiard/France-Belgium: 

– 2nd watch hence less satisfying but still, so many terrific moments created and captured so well.

– Marion Cotillard is that rare female – thinking man’s sex symbol as well as non-thinking man’s sex symbol too. She’s in top form in this, and is on top too in one scene.

– Audiard’s previous one ‘A Prophet’ was more gritty, more abstract and complicated too, but this one is fairly straightforward, on the verge of feelgood, and dealing with a less complex world/character(s). So yes, slightly less ambitious, but never mind, he still makes high-cinema out of the material at hand. Some of the best romantic repartee in a world of non-romantics is here, and in a way, this could be called Audiard’s attempt at interpreting a ‘romance drama’.

– Just like in ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’, lots of shadows and light-play, another subtle ‘homage’ to Malick may be?

Mumbai Film Festival, 2012 – Varun Grover’s Diary (Day 1)

Posted: October 21, 2012 by moifightclub in cinema, film, Film Festival, film review, Movie Recco, movie reviews, Mumbai Film Festival, News
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Writer, observer, cynic – That’s how Varun Grover  defines himself in his twitter bio. If you have been following this blog for a long time, you obviously know him. If not, he’s the multi-talented man behind the terrific lyrics of Gangs Of Wasseypur and is also a well known stand-up comic.

Like last year, Varun is writing his Mumbai Film Festival diary this year too.

यह निरा रोमांटिक सा आइडिया है, डायरियाँ लिखना. और मैं अब ३० पार करने के बाद ख़ासा रोमांटिक रहा नहीं. पर डायरी लिखना समय को पकड़ने की एक कोशिश भी है, जो लोग ३० पार करने के बाद ज्यादा करने लगते हैं. तो यह वो वाली डायरी है जो खुद को भरोसा दिलाना चाहती है कि इसकी असली value आज नहीं, आज से ५० साल बाद होगी जब हम ना होंगे, जब कोई इसे मुड़ के खोलेगा और इसे antique वाली इज्ज़त देगा.

इस ब्लॉग पर आखिरी पोस्ट पिछले साल के मुम्बई फिल्म फेस्टिवल की डायरी से ही है. साल बीता, लोग बिगड़े, देश पर और गर्त चढ़ी, और फिल्म फेस्टिवल वापस आया. आज सुबह तक सोचा था इस साल डायरी नहीं लिखूँगा क्योंकि इस बार फेस्टिवल का venue घर से बहुत दूर है…आने जाने में ही हर रोज़ साढ़े तीन घंटे बर्बाद हो रहे हैं तो लिखने के लिए अलग से समय कैसे निकले? लेकिन अभी अभी बस, १० मिनट पहले सोचा, कि समय तो उतना धीरे चलता है जितना तेज़ आप टाइप कर सकें. तो सिर्फ कोशिश है….जो आज है, कल हो सकता है ना हो.

Stories We Tell/2012/Sarah Polley/Canada : कम से कम एक उम्र में सबको लगता है कि उनका परिवार weird है. जिनको बचपन में लगता है, उनको बड़े होकर नहीं लगता (क्योंकि शायद वो खुद वैसे हो जाते हैं), और जिनको बचपन में नहीं लगता, उनको बड़े होकर लगता है. Sarah Polley ने अपने बिखरे से (महा-weird) परिवार को जोड़ने की कोशिश की है, अपने परिवार के हर सदस्य को एक ही कहानी अपने अपने निजी point-of-view से सुनाने को कहकर. Documentary और drama का इतना शानदार मिश्रण मैंने पहले तो कभी नहीं देखा. Sarah Polley और उनके पिता Michael Polley (जिनकी आँखें बहुत उदास लेकिन आवाज़ बहुत खनक वाली है) एक साउंड-स्टूडियो में हैं जहां Michael Sarah की दी हुयी एक स्क्रिप्ट अपनी आवाज़ में रिकार्ड कर रहे हैं. कैमरा चल रहा है, माइकल जो कहानी कह रहे हैं वो बाप-बेटी दोनों की है. लेकिन माइकल भी उसे ऐसे कह रहे हैं जैसे वो किसी तीसरे की हो. लेकिन धीरे धीरे और किरदार जुड़ते हैं, सब Sarah को Sarah की ही कहानी सुनाते हैं (“मुझे वो भी बताओ जो मुझे पता है, और ऐसे बताओ जैसे मैंने कभी नहीं सुना”, Sarah शुरू में ही यह निर्देश देती है), और आगे बढ़ते बढ़ते फिल्म memories, love, और closure पर एक अद्भुत व्याख्यान बन जाती है.

Beasts of the Southern Wild/2012/Benh Zeitlin/USA: बहुत चर्चे थे इस फिल्म के. Cannes फिल्म फेस्टिवल में Camera d’Or के अलावा ३ और अवार्ड जीते हैं और Sundance में Grand Jury Prize जीता है. मतलब जैसे कोई नामी पहलवान रिंग में आता है, वैसे यह फिल्म जमशेद भाभा थियेटर में आई. और शुरू के पाँच मिनट में ही पूरा मुकाबला जीत लिया. शुद्ध पॉपुलर सिनेमा की आत्मा (uplifting, underdog story), उसपर art cinema की तकनीक का चोगा (imaginative, allegorical, भयानक sound design और music), और चोगे में Indie Cinema की छोटी-छोटी जेबें. पत्थर जैसे बाप और 6 साल की, खुद को प्राग-ऐतेहासिक जीव मानने वाली बेटी की कहानी (हालांकि बहुत देर में पता चला कि वो बेटी है, बेटा नहीं) – जो उनके छोटे से टापू पर आये तूफ़ान के बाद का struggle ऐसे दिखाती है जैसे कविता कह रही हो. अगर थियेटर वाले बत्तियां जल्दी नहीं जलाते तो मैं अंत में और देर तक रोता.

Throw of Dice/1929/Franz Austen/India-Germany: यह वाली सिर्फ इसलिए देखी क्योंकि Germany से एक Orchestra आया था जो इस silent फिल्म के साथ live music बजा रहा था. यह अनोखा अनुभव फिर कहाँ मिलेगा यह सोच कर हंसल मेहता की ‘शाहिद’ आज कुर्बान करनी पड़ी. और जितना सोचा था, उससे कहीं ज्यादा मज़ा आया. फिल्म अपने आप में बहुत सरल, और काफी मायनों में मसाला थी. जर्मन निर्देशक को हिन्दुस्तानी exotica बेचना था शायद…गाँव की गोरी बनी हिरोइन को अपने पल्लू का भी सहूर नहीं था (क्योंकि वो कोई एंग्लो-इन्डियन ऐक्ट्रेस थी), हाथी, सपेरे, आग खाने वाले कलाबाज़ वगैरह बड़ी देर तक कैमरे के आगे रहे,  राजा निरे ऐय्याश और प्रजा निरी stockholm complex की मारी. लेकिन असली खेल Orchestra का ही था. सिर्फ ८-१० तरह के trumpets, २ तरह के drums, और चिमटा-घंटी से उन्होंने जो समां बाँधा वो out-worldly था. एक तरह से फिल्म को कई जगहों पर reinterpret कर दिया उन्होंने. जहां सीन बहुत self-serious था, वहाँ orchestra ने ‘मेरे हाथों में नौ-नौ चूड़ियाँ हैं’ का एक version बजा कर परदे की कहानी को एक अलग layer दे दी.

और फिल्म ख़तम होने पर मिली तालियों से musicians इतने खुश हुए कि उन्होंने जाते-जाते एक ऐसी धमाल धुन बजाई कि १००० लोगों से भरा auditorium खड़े होकर साथ-साथ लगातार ताली बजाता रहा. पहले दिन का आखिरी अलौकिक राग!

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कल क्या देखना है?: Ai Wei-Wei पर एक documentary है, Jacques Audiard की Rust and Bone है (जिसमें खूब भीड़ होने की पूरी संभावना है), और Takeshi Kitano की कान में पेचकस घुसा के मारने वाली Outrage:Beyond है.

(This was first posted on Varun Grover’s blog.)

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