So here is My pick of my 5 favourite movies in the style of the Hindu - "My Five" Column.
1. The God Father 1 & 2 - Francis Ford Coppola - Generally when i evaluate a movie, these are the criteria i use to evaluate them - 1. They should potray, events close to reality (this may be done through fictitious characters). 2. They should have a great miriad of human emotions and must stay true them. 3. The Film must have great technical competence (cinematography, Lighting, Casting, Set Design, Music and so on.). In the process of spelling out the criteria, i have effectively described the God Father 1 and 2 for you. A Gripping and realistic account of the Underworld of the early and mid twentieth century america. Francis Ford Coppola gripping screen play and Marlon Brando's and Di Nero's performances and the intense screenplay and scenes which stay in your memory long, are worth a special mention.
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - Peter Jackson - This movie is every fantasy guzzler's ultimate movie. Backed by a strong fantasy of Middle Earth by J R R Tolkien, which "scream out to take its place with the greatest of mythologies in any language", deft screen play by Peter Jackson and company, this movie will have you engrossed by its mere story content - an account of the histories of the middle earth, wound around the Central theme of the "War of the Ring".The characters of the story are its greatest asset - they are characters which you can relate to, inspire you and will stay with you for long. The Film making tools adopted to bring to life the world of Middle Earth, has never been matched and in all probability will never be. The stunning visuals of the City of Guard (Gondor) (watch out for this one) and The Golden Hall of Meduseld (Rohan) and the Shire are worth a special mention, so is the make up and the Music by Howard Shore. Performances by Viggo Mortensen, Ian Mackellen, and the stunning potrayal of Gollum by Andy Serkis (The Oscars would look in retrospect with shame, for not having a category to award this guy) are also worth a special mention.
3. The Matrix - The Wachowski Brothers - This film is every philosophy geek's ultimate delight. The film is an allegory depicting principally, the principle of Hindu Advaita. The World of the Matrix represents the world our senses perceive, and Zion the Real world. How Neo perceives the Real World and how he saves it from the Machines which have taken it over forms the Crux of the Movie. The Dialogues of this movie are not only witty, but puts you deep in thought and makes us question a lot of things that we take for granted. They actually make you wonder as to whether this movie is in fact the province of fiction. Both the worlds of the matrix have been clearly distinguished using smart techniques and the film per se is not quite difficult to understand. It is what you infer from the movie that counts. So are you going to take the red pill and go back to who you were or are you going to take the blue one and see how deep the Rabbit hole (As in Alice in Wonderland) goes? The Action sequences and the Dialogues are worth a special mention.
4. The Bourne Identity - Paul Greengass - One of the most aesthetically appealing movies i have seen. The story is based on Ludlums book The Bourne Identity, which tracks the journey of a renegade CIA Operative, who mysteriously looses his memory, and who tries to discover his true identity afterwards. This movie scores very high on the criterias of 1. Integrity to reality. 2. Integrity to emotions and 3. Technical competence. The stunning visuals and the soundtrack of the movie stay with you long after the movie is over and compels us to watch it over and over again. The story is very simple, the Screen play crisp, and illustrates the concept of relativity - was that 1 hour and 40 minutes? Matt Damon s performance as the Renegade CIA Operative, with partial memory loss is compelling viewing.
5. Sherlock Holmes - Guy Ritchie - The First thing that strikes you about this movie, is the detail included in every scene, each shot is teases the senses, containing huge amounts of information, to perceive. The Movie is based loosely on the story of the Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle, though it can be called as a distinct Sherlock Holmes mystery in itself. The instant story involves Sherlock Holmes attempts to thwart Lord Blackwood's attempt to take over England, through his seemingly supernatural powers. How Holmes manages to achieve this in the end and in the salvages the face of Reason, Science and Justice form the crux of the story. How manages to pick up and put together minute details in the scenes, which most of the viewers fail to do will fail to do is the Director's personal testimony to the Brilliance of the Character. The Stunning Sets, the haunting music by Hans Zimmers and Guy Ritchie's exemplary attention to detail and storytelling make for one mesmerising Experience.
Those that almost made it -
1. Inglorious Basterds - Quintin Tarantino
2. Pulp Fiction - Quintin Tarantino
3. The Sixth Sense - Manoj NIGHT Shyamalan
4. Other Guy Ritchie movies - Rock n Rolla, Snatch and Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels
5. Bad Boys - Michael Bay
6. Casablanca - Michael Curtiz
7. To Kill a Mockingbird - Robert Mulligan
So what are your inputs on the above? And what are your favourite movies?
Great choice!
ReplyDeleteHave managed to watch Matrix Part One atlast. And I have to admit, it was fab. Haven't watched the other parts yet. Haven't watched Sherlock Holmes either. But am sure, they should also be impressive.
And yes, my pick of the lot (from your collection) would be Godfather Part II and Lord of the Rings (for Viggo Mortensen, more than anything wlse). You have surely made me think about my fav five. I would post my five in a separate post.
Any specific reason why only English movies? Or is post intended for your favourite five english movies?
Cheers!
Hi Sir,
ReplyDeleteActually these are the movies that come to my mind when i think of movies in general. These movies have been pathbreaking in some way or the other.
Now that i think more on tamil movies, they have shown that they can be pathbreaking in one aspect of film making - Screenplay / Story. My pick from last year tamil movies which show this would be KO and Endhiran! Other films which come to my mind also exhibit greatness only in the Story / Screenplay aspect. But movie making surely involves other aspects also!
No other tamil movie comes to my mind, which exhibit greatness otherwise. That may be due to the fact that i v partly disconnected myself from tamil movies due a series of bad experiences. I have watched a lot of tamil films, but not so much recently. May be when you list out your favourite movies, i will be able to recollect some good tamil movies, which exhibit greatness in other areas!
MSP
DeleteTwo of the biggest downsides that I see in most Tamil (or Indian Movies) are these - (a) Improper / Inadequate Budget; and (b) Lack of Research (for Screenplay).
On the first front, we cannot surely match the Hollywood style of movie making. It requires moolah in truckloads. Their post production activity alone runs for almost a year! Almost all the technical / technological stuff is taken care in those time periods.
Most Indian movies cannot afford such an amount. That is one of the reason why our stunts / graphics are often not visually impressive. Things have improved, but still it is not a patch on what Hollywood offers.
On the Story / Screenplay / Dialogues, mostly it is lack of efforts. There is little or no research in most movies. There is very little attention to details. Most movies are just done to show off the lead player's mass appeal and are jingoistic in nature. Often the stories are also plain jane. No multi layer interpretations. [Notable Exception that I can think of: Madhavan's Evano Oruvan].
Cheers!
Sai Sir
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the budget! But i think that is about to undergo a paradigm shift, with large corporates having already entered! I think the real test for Indian Films and audience is in the coming two years! (@Indian Audience: Stop following your heroes and start following good movies). I can already see some QUALITY movies coming out last year - 1. ko 2. Endhiran 3. 7 am arivu, (in the order of quality). If a few director's like those of these movies can sustain the quality and good talent is retained then i surely can see world class movies coming out in the near future!