Vicky Cristina Barcelona

It has been months since I watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona. But it has failed to get away from me. It still leaves me in knots, cerebrating about the characters and their realities. Seriously it is not such a thought-provoking movie, as has been taken in by me. It is rather landscape-filled, laidback-storied, amorously-laced, emotionally-turbulent tale of a philander and two swooning ladies over him. But the whole idea is very alien to me, may be, the reason why I am still disturbed by the movie.

I should get to the point straightaway. I despise all the characters in the movie, just for their casual and heretic outlook to love and sex in particular, and life in general. How can true love, if that is depicted in the movie, be so loosely attached to sex? Getting laid is not a part, but the be and end of love, as shown in the movie. An old lady, Judy (Patricia Clarkson) has been married with Mark (Kevin Dunn) for last 30 years, but is still shown osculating around with a younger guy. Reason: Mark has proved to be a dunce in emotionally charged love all these years. Vicky (Rebecca Hall) has been in love with Doug (Chris Messina) for the last few years and are about to get married, but one single sexual encounter with Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) has made her question her earlier love and crave for that uninhibited fanciful love so greatly exhibited during that fling. And what to say about Cristina (Scarlet Johansson) who is not sure of her love and partners, and better say, life, and keeps offering them to everyone. Juan Antonio, for me, is the real despicable guy, treating women as bed spreads, and her wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) is a true amazon, if you know what this word means. Oh God! They are so messed up and confused. Life can’t be so byzantine, surely.

Yet, I am telling you this, I covet them all. If I have to choose a character that I resemble most, it is Doug then- a simplified, straight-going, reason-believer lad who takes life on face value. But watching the movie also made me wonder about the other side. The uninhibited love is unsure but also unbound. I have not ever delved in an uncontrolled emotional flow, so I can’t fathom what it feels to be like. Isn’t life also or only about exploration and experimentation, of love, sex, life …. What piece of monotone is a straitjacketed life then, even if intellectual, idealistic and pious! It is not an easy question to answer, and has lingered on since man discovered himself. Probably, reason wins more often, but then is also constantly taunted and questioned, intermittently, by the charms of gay abandon.

And I believe, that is what Woody Allen wanted to show, overall, more so at the end, when all the characters moved in their directions in life, as if Barcelona never happened at all. Finally the realities of life hit them, and it was back to square one. What transpired in those flirtatious weeks of Barcelona was not just an occasional holiday sojourn, but a direct Q&A of our ‘mind and heart’s’ ever dueling propensities.

A surely, between the scenes, movie. And I know I won’t be able to stop wondering about it, soon.

A sabbatical of sorts

There could be nothing more frustrating or annoying than giving up on your one-of-the-most likened things. For the last 5-6 months, my blogging had to endure a test of wait amidst all the frentic and sapping schedule of my life. Even after putting a resolve every now and then to get back to it, I was unable to devote much or rather any time to it. And sorrily, I won’t be able to give any time in future too, for at least 4-5 months.

It is all for a greater cause only; but I hope, I will come back more learned, energized and focused then.

So, it is an official sabbatical till then. Hope life continues to cherish all of us!

3 Idiots to My Name is Khan

Oops! Such a long time. The hiatus owed to a lot to the recent activity in my life. So much so that I could watch just one movie in the last two months. Unsurprisingly, it was 3 idiots.

I need not sing hosannas how good the movie is. It has already been hawked to the stale limit now. But one aspect of the movie that has gone unmentioned is how the movie has elucidated the topic of education in such great and aesthetic detail. Earlier the heroes of the movies were all backbenchers and study-loathers, as if mocking studies imparted them the macho to attract the pretty damsels of the class. Nowhere there was an emphasis on how good education creates suave human beings. But 3 Idiots paints this with an added philosophy of how that good education should be like. It is an unfettered ride, evoking some wonderful moments of college life. Only Raju could have made such a film, and only Aamir could have enacted such a rule. Hallelujah.

Moving on, I believe ‘My Name is Khan’ is going to be the next stop. And what a delight it would be to watch it in a theatre in India again. It has been a bloody long time since I watched a Hindi movie on the big silver screen, with the augmented aura of grand landscape suffused with melodious songs. The movie percolates with the environs too inside you. Undoubtedly the movie will have that same bigger-than-life SRK rendition to sprout all feel-good vibes inside you.

The awe and answer of Saw

A great fan of Saw series! I am. Conspicuous it is, as there is an avowed pledge by me of not watching gore and pessimism. But Saw is an exception, and I solicit pardon here.

This infringement though has its roots from the germane fascination that Saw-I had cast on me. That single factor keeps me glued to the next versions. A great thriller Saw-I was, never mind its trend-setting portrayal of death contraptions and methods. I have always related, or tried to relate, the subsequent Saw movies with the first one. Because …. I believe the Saw series will end only by tying with the first movie.

My belied is shaken though as I watch the irrelevant plots in the sequels. Saw VI, in point, added nothing to the story, except extending the series by one more part. It was enjoyable, but certainly you expect more in the storyline.

I am not deflated though. I still believe the missing doctor, who had left the cell with one leg cut in Saw-I, holds definitive answers to the mystery of the story.