Rio de Janerio - home of the Carnival - a city filled with an unparalleled mystique in one of the most fun-loving large nations of the world. I've never been there (will get to it) and when one is exposed to the City of God (based on an actual neighbourhood in Rio by the name - Cidade de Deus), its a stark reminder that there are two versions to every megacity's story, if not more. Mumbai, New York, Chicago or Tokyo - every city has films based on them - either one that romanticizes the beauty of the city or one that romanticizes the crime. City of God is a hard-hitting, yet wonderfully written and directed, film that does the latter.
The film was so well-acclaimed that it made it to the Oscars a year late since it was overlooked the first time (oh well...that was thanks to the persuasiveness of Harvey Weinstein whose Miramax distributed it). I saw it very early on in 2002 and then on DVD recently, which allowed for the added bonus of watching a documentary that speaks of the reality in Cidade de Deus - the constant balance achieved between drug peddlers, drug buyers and the police along with the corruption and guns that maintain the status quo. It may sound unbelievable, even after seeing the entire film and references to real people in the end credits, that the film is based on that very reality. Within the end credits, there is even the original interview with 'Knockout' Ned, a high-flyer in the film, whose entry into the drug 'industry' is one of many stories that intertwine around that of the protagonist.
Fittingly, the protagonist is a photographer, documenting the mayhem visually as it unfolds. Fernando Meirelles (who made his first English feature this year - 'The Constant Gardner') resorts to non-linear narration that gives us an entertaining history lesson on the development of the favelas (planned slums in the 60's). The most notorious of these, even today, happens to be Cidade de Deus, where gun-totting boys begin hitting the streets and rival gangs as early as age 5!
Li'l Ze (aka Li'l Dice) puts in a delightful performance and so do cool characters such as The Tender Trio (Shaggy, Goose and Clipper), Rocket (the protagonist), Benny (the coolest Hood), Shorty, Steak, Penguin, Angelica, Stringy, Blacky, Carrot , Tuba and Knockout Ned. Other lessons taught to us, as the narrative progresses, are the process of drug packaging for pot and coke, the distinction between Hoods and the Runts whose ages define their place in the hoods' power structure, and the hierarchy of the drug peddling system - 'errand boy' to 'lookout' to 'dealer' to "vapor" to "soldier" to 'manager' to BOSS!
While it seems that the meaningless violence contained in each of these mini-ecosystems (the favelas) can be construed as self-sufficient for these young boys and men to justify their existence and needs, I can't think of a better film that shows the oft-repeated cycle of an eye-for-an-eye, albeit justified by economic ends (the drug trade in this case). The mob films pale when faced by the City of God - suits aren't cut the same way as vests (baniyaans) and slick pistols can't offer a bullet of resistance to the rounds of semi-automatics. Slick and rapidly paced, to the point that the (anti-)heroes rise and fall faster than the tides, its a desperate story - one that shows a strata of youngsters ostracized by society, building a parallel one and thriving in it with no value placed on human life. Emotions, such as love, do surface when the odd gangster is smitten by it but there is no room nor respect for it in the hood. Each kid begins to assume that the rules of the favela are the rules of life. If one is lucky to escape it, they join the rat race outside the favela. If not, they thrive in the rat race within. The characters know fear, and yet, they are fearless since they truly live for the moment and die in a moment.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Film Review (H'wood): Syriana (2005)
The title's catchy - it rolls off the tongue and is clearly suggestive of the Middle Eastern region of Asia. After some attempts at figuring out why it was picked, to tell us a story about oil, a fellow blogger lets us in that it's a seemingly fictional name assigned by certain Washington think-tanks, to a hypothetical construct of the Middle East, after hypothetically applying a coat of 'democracy' paint.
The stars - Matt Damon, George Clooney, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer etc.- will definitely bring in the crowds and just for that, its great to see the big names lend their acting skills to such compelling stories, despite the controversies they get drawn into - these controversies fuelled by the very political interests depicted in the movie. It's the same writer that brought us the film Traffic, centered around the drug trade. This story unfolds in a similar fashion, in the way it is told - a set of tight concurrent sub-plots that are loosely held together to emphasize the central plot - The vicious cycle that has been in motion in the oil industry for several decades now.
What does this cycle mean for governments of the the middle eastern states and the biggest consumer of oil - the US? Is there a dark nexus between industry, government, and the justice system? How does it affect the lives of people who are so embedded in this cycle that they can't simply opt out? Is there a conscience at all in any remote corner? The film doesn't offer clear answers; it lets you decide. For that reason, it has been called a 'complex' film in several reviews. If you've sampled another must-see film of the genre - an at times over-the-top but hard-hitting doc called 'The Corporation', this is a fairly simple film for the viewer. The viewer has then probably mulled over the behavior that drives a profit hungry oil industry. Very simply, it is quite like the opposite of the Google philosophy - Do whatever it takes to deliver profits, evil or not.
The treatment of one sub-plot, that of an average Pakistani immigrant teenager working in the tough vicinity of an oil field, was the only weak link for me. It was driving a sensitive point home and, therefore, didn't take the risks that it needed to convince me of how the oil industry in particular shaped the mental make-up of the teenager. This apart, every element of the intelligence agencies' manipulative stance in foreign policy, special interests around the US capital, and the selfish interests that overpower the best of middle eastern royals are all brilliantly captured. Idealism is quashed with the lure of greed, power and other such simpler-to-understand human motives.
Like the best of political statements made on screen, the audience is asked not to go back home and forget what they just absorbed but is forced to think. Yes - for those who can get past their love for Matt, George and Amanda, its a 'thinking-movie', as a South Asian would say. Is the cost of oil $2.19 at the nearest gas station or $2.22 at the next? Research has shown that a good majority of people will drive a mile to save a few cents per gallon of gas. And yet the real cost of guzzling gas should be measured in actions around the world, taken to bring you that gas profitably - actions that will shape a few more generations. What if we really do start running out of gas, despite drilling the sh*# out of every corner of the world, ecological political correctness notwithstanding? I wonder what the ones in power at that juncture will be driven to do (please refer recent history lessons)! Syriana only offers us a snapshot of the chessboard as it stands today, not knowing the end game. Choices everyone of us makes around consumption of energy and the questions we ask of our governments, for starters, will help us avoid a checkmate on the board......... "Check"!
The stars - Matt Damon, George Clooney, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer etc.- will definitely bring in the crowds and just for that, its great to see the big names lend their acting skills to such compelling stories, despite the controversies they get drawn into - these controversies fuelled by the very political interests depicted in the movie. It's the same writer that brought us the film Traffic, centered around the drug trade. This story unfolds in a similar fashion, in the way it is told - a set of tight concurrent sub-plots that are loosely held together to emphasize the central plot - The vicious cycle that has been in motion in the oil industry for several decades now.
What does this cycle mean for governments of the the middle eastern states and the biggest consumer of oil - the US? Is there a dark nexus between industry, government, and the justice system? How does it affect the lives of people who are so embedded in this cycle that they can't simply opt out? Is there a conscience at all in any remote corner? The film doesn't offer clear answers; it lets you decide. For that reason, it has been called a 'complex' film in several reviews. If you've sampled another must-see film of the genre - an at times over-the-top but hard-hitting doc called 'The Corporation', this is a fairly simple film for the viewer. The viewer has then probably mulled over the behavior that drives a profit hungry oil industry. Very simply, it is quite like the opposite of the Google philosophy - Do whatever it takes to deliver profits, evil or not.
The treatment of one sub-plot, that of an average Pakistani immigrant teenager working in the tough vicinity of an oil field, was the only weak link for me. It was driving a sensitive point home and, therefore, didn't take the risks that it needed to convince me of how the oil industry in particular shaped the mental make-up of the teenager. This apart, every element of the intelligence agencies' manipulative stance in foreign policy, special interests around the US capital, and the selfish interests that overpower the best of middle eastern royals are all brilliantly captured. Idealism is quashed with the lure of greed, power and other such simpler-to-understand human motives.
Like the best of political statements made on screen, the audience is asked not to go back home and forget what they just absorbed but is forced to think. Yes - for those who can get past their love for Matt, George and Amanda, its a 'thinking-movie', as a South Asian would say. Is the cost of oil $2.19 at the nearest gas station or $2.22 at the next? Research has shown that a good majority of people will drive a mile to save a few cents per gallon of gas. And yet the real cost of guzzling gas should be measured in actions around the world, taken to bring you that gas profitably - actions that will shape a few more generations. What if we really do start running out of gas, despite drilling the sh*# out of every corner of the world, ecological political correctness notwithstanding? I wonder what the ones in power at that juncture will be driven to do (please refer recent history lessons)! Syriana only offers us a snapshot of the chessboard as it stands today, not knowing the end game. Choices everyone of us makes around consumption of energy and the questions we ask of our governments, for starters, will help us avoid a checkmate on the board......... "Check"!
Film Review (Short doc): Ladies Special (2003)
Two one-way journeys on the Mumbai local trains every working day are the sole domain of the women commuters of Mumbai. Virar-to-Churchgate in the AM; Churchgate-to-Virar in the PM - 2 'Slow' trains i.e. stop at every local station in between the end points and blend every flavor of the fiesty brand of women that are unique to the megapolis.
I've done the less manic Andheri-Churchgate circuit for the 2 of 3 years that I spent in Mumbai and occassionally wondered about the atmosphere in this one-of-a-kind train ride. Now, Nidhi Tulli allows everyone a glipmse of the life inside - a glimpse that will at least partly satisfy the curiosity of the millions of men who ride the Mumbai trains everyday and are perhaps restricted to a second-hand verbal account of the stories and friendships that sometimes unfold over years of sitting together in the same compartments every day.
30 mins can't capture this lifetime, but they definitely verify that some of the train myths are indeed true - celebrating a fellow passenger's transition to a married life, prayers offered to the rising sun, lyrical feats from Bollywood numbers to bhajans, and the piece-de-resistance...preparation of the vegetables for the evening meal. Its a journey that the passengers seem to cherish as much, if not more, as what awaits them at their destinations - a far cry from the daily solitary car ride shared with the FM radio or with a voice over a mobile phone.
I've done the less manic Andheri-Churchgate circuit for the 2 of 3 years that I spent in Mumbai and occassionally wondered about the atmosphere in this one-of-a-kind train ride. Now, Nidhi Tulli allows everyone a glipmse of the life inside - a glimpse that will at least partly satisfy the curiosity of the millions of men who ride the Mumbai trains everyday and are perhaps restricted to a second-hand verbal account of the stories and friendships that sometimes unfold over years of sitting together in the same compartments every day.
30 mins can't capture this lifetime, but they definitely verify that some of the train myths are indeed true - celebrating a fellow passenger's transition to a married life, prayers offered to the rising sun, lyrical feats from Bollywood numbers to bhajans, and the piece-de-resistance...preparation of the vegetables for the evening meal. Its a journey that the passengers seem to cherish as much, if not more, as what awaits them at their destinations - a far cry from the daily solitary car ride shared with the FM radio or with a voice over a mobile phone.
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