Film Review (Int'l): Blow Up (1966)

Inviting sprawls of lush greens, quirky British lanes, crisp colors, glossy prints, surreal light, a vintage open-top Rolls, a sensual wood propellor, the stillness of image accelerated by simply the sound of wind through blades of grass, the lead actor framed tightly by two blow-ups of photographs shot by him, a young Vanessa Redgrave - all of these and more wrapped into one of the most pristine visual exhibitions built around a plot that otherwise questions everything but beauty itself.

My first Michelangelo Antonioni film! (Red Desert will be next.) Blow Up(1966) is one of his much acclaimed classics. The man has made films for over 60 years now - and another generation of film lovers is just about waking up to his films. When it comes to the legendary directors, I prefer to let ignorance be bliss and will restrict my comments on just the film.

Adapted from a Julio Cortazar story, Blow Up is more compelling as a visual spectacle than as a hard story line. It feels like a series of portraits on a clearly frustrated creative genius and his existence. In a little over a day in this photographer's life (played by a young intense David Hemmings), we are witness to the zeitgeist of the 60's - design, fashion, installation, space, depth, color, nature, freedom and beauty. Hemmings plays the part convincingly and his seems a quest to filter out everything around himself but beauty.

The story begins with a bunch of noisy travelling performers and one wonders about their intrusion in the film until we're reintroduced to a different perspective on them in the closing sequence. The protagonist is spending a 'typical day in his life' and captures evidence of a murder while seemingly shooting innocent snapshots of an affectionate couple in the park. He takes the film roll home, and is pursued by the woman in the pictures - a version of Ms.Redgrave that few of us in this generation would have seen - who wants the roll to be destroyed, for reasons obvious to her at that point. The director explores the nervous moments of intimacy between this pair with a subtlety that leaves you sighing. Hemmings fakes the surrender of the film roll to the woman and then proceeds to BLOW UP the photos to study the dynamics of the couple. Along with the photographer, the viewer traverses the mysterious build-up through each iteration of the Blow Ups and it leads to many revelations - a body on the distant grass, a camouflaged human form and some hints of a devious plot. Hemmings is shown to have suddenly found purpose as he sets out to solve this mystery. We take the thrill ride, only to be led to an anti-climax and the refuge of sensing that one is not alone in having the odd day spent in searching for answers.

In the pursuit of beauty, every other seems listless. In the pursuit of answers, every question assumes more importance. In the pursuit of good film, Antonioni has stayed true to the art form.

Film Review (Indie): Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003)

"A Thousand Such Dreams" is what the title of this multi-award winning film literally translates to. In a fine example of what's to come from the stable of Indies, from India (though this was backed by PNC, Pritish Nandy's venture), the title is self-fulfilling. Using film as a medium to portray a moving story of 3 protagonists, their complex relationships and their dreams in a turbulent period in post-independence India, we partake in the fulfillment of the director's dream. [I've only seen one other Sudhir Mishra film - 'Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin' (1997) - a gripping story that runs from dusk to the next dawn, and brought 3 other interesting actors of that generation to the fore. Those 3 actors disappeared over time, but I sure hope these 3 stick around for a while. I had not kept track since but it seems that I'll have to dig up his other films now - Chameli, Calcutta Mail etc.]

A story set in pre-emergency India and using the backdrop of the socialist movement along with the evolution of multi-party politics and culminating with the emergency, it follows three college friends through about a decade of their lives.

Siddharth (Kaykay Menon) and Geeta (Chitrangada Singh) love each other immensely but Geeta always seems to come a distant second to Siddharth's 'socialist India' dream. Siddharth fits the stereotype of the disillusioned kid amongst the English educated elite - a legacy of the British Raj. He finds his purpose in rebelling against the zamindari system and finding justice for poor farmers, and joins the naxal movement. Geeta discovers that running away from Siddharth and his ideals is no cure for her shattered dreams of living her life with him. She struggles with her choices initially but comes to believe that love is the only absolute. The wild card is Vikram (Shiny Ahuja) - born to a Gandhian father, he is frustrated with the lack of progress in the political thinking of the time and quickly grasps the nuances of making the system work for his dreams of riches. He always loved Geeta but his dreams were not good enough for her. Their paths cross often and reality constantly seeks to dampen their dreams but not their spirits. The director uses the passage of time to play with the viewers' relationship with each of these dreamers. Each character evokes a multitude of feelings as the story reaches its culmination. A macabre turn of events creates an unforgettable climactic setting where once and for all, your feelings to each protagonist are finally resolved. This emotional roller coaster ride is what makes it a great film. The excesses in the film are necessary at times and are used in the right places - the lack of make-up and props leave you with raw surroundings, earthy colors and beautiful actors (for example, Ms.Singh is far more beautiful as Geeta than she is at the film's premiere)... and the regret of missing it on big screen.

The music is a must-own, reflecting genres of classical strains that are distinctly 'Hindustani', a tradition that is centuries old and has been distilled through many eras of Indian history. Shubha Mudgal and Swanand Kirkire lend their inimitable voices to Ghalib's poetry. Adopting the more non-intrusive style of background tracks, the music and the lyrics are both used deftly to tie into the narrative of the story and the character transformations in the film. There is a line from Ghalib, which is Urdu poetry, and which I shall humbly try to translate into the language of the masses -
"Such are these Thousand Dreams, (that)
Gladly would I give my last breath to fulfill each"

It's once again a reflection of the distribution bias towards Bollywood that this film was barely released anywhere in North America. It was a 2003 release that we are discussing in 2005. If you haven't seen it, its worth the effort in getting to a copy (no - Netflix doesn't carry it, as yet). In a story that is about love, politics, ideals, and friendship, there is something for every idealist and every story-lover in this film. As the titles roll by, I ask myself of, not a thousand but, one such dream. Our grandparents had independence and our parents' misguided youth is well represented by this film (at least the ones who didn't emigrate). Is our generation simply cursed - not to be entitled to such dreams? Or do we hide under the cloak of 'reality' and not dare to dream?