American Graffiti: A night of cruising in 1960s Modesto

Every generation believes they are the best that ever lived upon the Earth and will continue to be the best when rated against future generations. It is but human nature. But in doing so, we tend to forget previous cultures and the importance they held in developing our current culture. Sometimes a period film can give you a glimpse into the past but perhaps no other film has ever managed to celebrate the culture of a particular era as was done with the film American Graffiti.

Steve and Curt are long-time friends who have recently graduated from high school. They meet one evening, scheduled to leave for college the next day, with Steve adamant to get out of town for a new experience and Curt needing some coaxing to get on the flight to head out to college. They decide to enjoy their last night in their town and figure out their lives before hopping onto the flight. They meet Terry and John at the famous Mel’s Drive-In to make plans for the night. Steve and Curt, accompanied by Curt’s sister and Steve’s girlfriend Laurie, decide to go to a dance organised by their high school. Terry and John decide to drive around town and see where things go from there. The night carries on with unforeseen situations befalling all 5 friends while they run into each other and several other people before sunrise.

The film was written and directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. It was released in the year 1973. It stars Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, and Cindy Williams. Actors in supporting roles include Harrison Ford, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and former radio personality Wolfman Jack.

The film is set in 1962 in the town of Modesto in California. The location of the film is pivotal in its style since a major amount of the film consists of vehicles cruising on strips which Modesto was well known for at the time. Radio also plays an important role in the film as a famous radio personality is one of the characters in the film and the other characters are constantly listening to the radio. This was typical behaviour of youngsters during the timeframe the film is set in. Songs are ever present during the course of the film which was the case when young men and women got into their cars to drive around town leisurely. The soundtrack of the film consists of songs from the 50s and early 60s. The dialogues of the characters also reflect the parlance of the time. The women wearing dresses and men in trousers and short-sleeved shirts with slick back hair, the sock hop dances and meeting at drive-ins are also reminders of the time which are reflected in the film. The film also features greasers who were the local hoodlums present in most localities during the time.

The film isn’t very difficult to understand. It is a coming-of-age tale of a group of friends told over one night in their lives. During the course of the film, it is shown that one night can drastically change a person with headstrong characters modifying their previous resolve and confident characters doubting their self belief. The flaws in the film are that it becomes difficult to identify any one character as the protagonist and the film does not seem to have a typical plotline. However, these can be seen as a benchmark in cinema since it is a great film despite it not fulfilling the need for a protagonist or a plot consisting of a straightforward storyline. It was once said that a film should have a beginning, middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order. This film is probably the best example to prove that quote right. It is also an excellent insight into the culture of the 1950s and 1960s with incredible detailing that only a person who lived and experienced such a time would be able to produce on celluloid.

The film is a little out of the way from what we are used to seeing. Since it is a period film, it would be expected to be different but the identity of culture that it provides the audience is what makes it a film worth seeing.

Noel: 5 stories with no Christmas connection

December brings in an excellent spirit of cheerfulness and joy because of the impending end of the year and the merry festival of Christmas. It is a festival that is probably celebrated all over the world with the belief that people forgive and forget during the festive season to spread happiness and good tidings. Hollywood follows suit during the festive season with films about Christmas always having a sense of happiness and warmth to share with its audience.

Rose is a middle-aged woman who lives alone spare for her hospitalised mother. She is a divorcee who moved into her mother’s house after her marriage ended followed by the death of her father and her mother being struck with Alzheimer’s disease. She is about to spend Christmas Eve by herself but is invited to dinner by a young and handsome colleague from her workplace. Despite being attracted to him, she refuses his advances later in the night and decides to bring in Christmas by her mother’s bedside. She meets a young Hispanic girl named Nina who is having her own trouble with her jealous fiancé Mike while doubts of pregnancy loom in her head. Mike in turn is followed around by an old waiter named Artie who believes that Mike is the reincarnation of his dead wife. Lastly, Jules is a young man who is ready to cause harm to himself in the hope that he will be admitted to the hospital Rose’s mother is in because it was the location for his fondest Christmas memory ever.

Noel was written by David Hubbard and directed by Chazz Palminteri. It is a drama film with the theme of Christmas which was released in the year 2004 and stars Susan Sarandon, Penelope Cruz, Paul Walker, Alan Arkin and Marcus Thomas. An important supporting role is performed by Robin Williams.

For a Christmas-themed film, it is uncharacteristically depressing. The filmmakers opted to make a film with reality forming the core. The characters and the situations were meant to feel real and not come across as made up stories. However, a Christmas film is expected to have a cheerful spirit. This film has none of it. It is expected to give the audience a warm and fuzzy feeling and provide them with hope. Unfortunately this film lacks that panache. In fact, even the attempt to make a realistic film can be considered a fail. For one, it is difficult to believe a person is so delusional as to think of young men as his reincarnated wife every Christmas and hope that they would forgive him for his mistakes. Secondly, the character of a young Charlie is meant to come across as Rose’s figment of imagination at the end of the film. It would be impossible for Rose to be able to picture Charlie in his youthful avatar considering she has never seen him before even as his present aged self. If she does know what Charlie looks like presently, she should have been surprised to have met him as a young man considering he appears to be her age in her imagination when he is in fact decades older than her.

The storyline has no ebbs and surges. There are multiple stories which are forcefully woven together to find a connection when there isn’t one. Most of the stories have a beginning, but no conflict, followed by an inconsequential ending. This film is not good; especially if one is looking to get into the Christmas spirit.

In Bruges: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory or Bruges

If made well, a dark comedy can be very enjoyable for an audience watching it in good humour. It isn’t good enough to have an audience that will tolerate the film making fun of usually serious topics, the film has to hold its own when bringing out the humour in grave situations in a respectable manner. Death, rape, war and drugs are usually selected as the subjects of dark comedies which require a certain level of respect when making fun of these topics so it is not misconstrued as being disrespectful.

Ray is a rookie Irish hitman who messes up on his first assignment. During the course of eliminating his target, a priest, Ray accidentally kills a young boy in a church in London. Under strict instructions from his boss Harry, Ray and his handler Ken go to live in a hotel in Bruges to hideout until given further instructions. While Ken is excited to sightsee Bruges’ historical brilliance, Ray couldn’t care less for its heritage. He is also guilt-stricken from having taken the life of a young boy and finds it difficult to sit cooped up in his hotel room while waiting for Harry’s phone call. Finally convincing Ken to visit a pub, Ray manages to meet a beautiful Belgian girl named Chloe and an American dwarf actor named Jimmy on a film set. Ray gets a date with Chloe and goes out while Ken stays back at the hotel to await Harry’s instructions. When Harry finally connects with Ken, there is bad news that may result in a few more lives being taken than Ken originally anticipated.

In Bruges was written and directed by Martin McDonagh and was released in 2008. The film stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Clemence Poesy and Ralph Fiennes. The film is a dark comedy that plays around with the ideas of life and death. The protagonist is a young hitman who has been exiled as a way of keeping him out of trouble for a mistake he has made. There are many jokes involving death, racism, dwarfs, war, nationalities and sexuality.

One of the constant fixes in the film is the protagonist abusing Bruges and cursing the fact that he is forced to be in the city. He goes as far as to compare Bruges with hell or purgatory where people would be sent to live in the city for their sins, which is quite a similar situation to his own since he has been exiled to the city for murdering a boy. The irony is the protagonist constantly complaining about the city but the director showing the audience the beauty of the city with plenty of shots of the city’s architecture, art and culture. Certain scenes in the film are quite hilarious, one in particular when two hitmen are about to have a shootout but cannot go through with it because a pregnant lady in the room refuses to leave the premises.

The dark tone of the film coupled with comedy makes it endearing for the audience. The use of a score that was especially composed for the film is something that isn’t seen too often in recent films and is a refreshing change. The film score has one particular track which is repeated throughout the film and becomes easily identifiable as it conveys the despair, guilt and shame the characters in the film are experiencing. Since the characters are Irish, they have a strong Irish accent which makes it difficult to follow the dialogues but also adds to the comedic effect since it helps with the timing and the delivery of the dialogues. The idea of introducing a film-within-the-film was quite clever on the part of the director especially since the characters speak about paying homage which is what is done in this film as well.

Overall, the film is quite funny once you get accustomed to the accent and dialogue delivery. It has a slow pace so it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it is excellently executed for a dark comedy.

Up: Expressionistic cinema at its very best

Expressionistic cinema is always interesting since it manages to extend the boundaries of human imagination. Not only does it allow us to imagine our deepest wishes but also watch them as they are portrayed on the big screen. It also provides a simple breakaway from the monotonies of day-to-day life. Up is a film which joins the league of excellent expressionistic films. Being an animated film with an exception it manages to form a class of its own.

When an old man becomes a widower with the recent demise of his wife, he stumbles upon some of her photographs and is reminded of a promise he made to her in their youth. Acknowledging that he wasn’t able to fulfil her only wish during her life, he immediately takes it upon himself to fulfil his promise to her. Just as a demolition team arrives to take down his house he successfully gets the house airborne by tying it with innumerable balloons. His plan is to land the house upon a waterfall where his wife’s idol had once landed a hot air balloon. But the old man is unaware that there is a boy scout on board as the house takes off. Realising that the old man and his house are journeying to South America, the boy voices his opinion of wishing to see a rare creature which lives in the jungles there. The tale ensues as the old man and the boy try to fulfil their wishes while stumbling across many hurdles, helping each other out and finally succeeding in their missions.

The film was directed by Pete Docter and released in the year 2009. It was a production under the Pixar banner and features the brilliant animation they are known to have. The personification of the animated characters comes through perfectly which is something that has come to be expected of Pixar.

The storyline of the film is extraordinary since the key points in the plot are interesting events that are unimaginable without the right context. It is impossible to understand how an old man would be able to carry a house on his back or how the entire house could be lifted off its foundations in the first place, the film has dealt with it superbly by keeping a light-hearted tone throughout. The imagination which has gone into the making of the film clearly shows since the film is bursting with creative ideas.

The use of vibrant colours and many shades was very visually appealing. The most appealing element of the film is the innocence with which the characters are portrayed. Since it is a drama-comedy film and most of the characters come across as being fairly honest and innocent, the humour comes forth in the form of simplicity of the characters mostly. Being a film for family audiences it has been executed simply with no major need for a complicated story or execution.

It is a splendid animated film which sets a landmark for other animations since it has a simple story with an excellent portrayal. On the whole, Up is a fascinating film which has made use of light-hearted humour to portray relationships and imagination. It set a standard for a new way of thinking.

Apocalypse Now: A crude wartime reality

War brings out the best and the worst in men. It is when they are put under high stress situations that arise due to war that men show their true nature in terms of courage, compassion and humanity. The stigma of war lies in the inevitability of death and destruction that comes along with it but few people believe there are positive takeaways in terms of loyalty and valour on the battlefield. Francis Ford Coppola has experimented with these ideologies in his epic war film titled Apocalypse Now.

Captain Willard is a veteran of a special operations division in the United States Army deployed during the height of the Vietnam War. He was discharged and returned to America but decided to join back in the war efforts after finding rudimentary life not attuned to his liking anymore. He is summoned by a General in the army and tasked with finding and assassinating a rogue Colonel of the Special Forces. He is informed that the man in question is Colonel Kurtz, a brilliant soldier who went astray and has started murdering without orders after having set himself up in a local tribe as a God. Willard is informed that the mission is top-secret and does not exist – nor will it ever exist. As he joins a small US Navy crew, he studies the dossier on Kurtz and starts to grow in awe of the rogue soldier who may just be the most decorated officer in the US Army. Along the way Willard is assisted by other army officers and fights enemy troops as he travels up the Nung River in his efforts to finally reach the liar of Colonel Kurtz.

The film was directed by legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and released in the year 1979. It is a period film set during the Vietnam War. The screenplay was written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr and was roughly based on a novella titled Heart of Darkness written by Joseph Conrad. The film stars Martin Sheen in the role of the protagonist and Marlon Brando as the antagonist. Other actors in the film include Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne and Dennis Hopper.

The film stars a morally ambiguous war veteran with symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder who has gotten addicted to war and returns to Vietnam after normal life gets too boring for him. The character shows glimpses of a dark side which has resulted due to his exposure to killing in the war as he himself confesses to having murdered many people, 6 of whom were close enough to breathe their last into his face. The character is a hardened war veteran who is called in to hunt down a compatriot and agrees on the pretext that the man has gone completely insane as reported to him by his superiors. He shows loyalty towards his country, his superiors and his mission by not asking too many questions and safeguarding the secrets which are entrusted to him under classified information. He is well aware of the crimes committed by the man he is sent out to kill but slowly learns more about him as he studies his career during his journey to find him. In the end, the protagonist is both at awe and repulsed by the antagonist before he has had the chance to face him.

The film is a direct reflection of the effects of war on men. Coppola was aiming to lay out the horrible truths of war in his film and has accomplished the feat he set out for. Through actions and dialogues from the characters, Coppola has shown just how brutal war can be and how terribly nerve-wracking the effects can be on a normal human being. One of the most shocking dialogues comes from Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore who says “I love the smell of napalm in the morning” as a village is air bombed in the background which clearly depicts the level of insensitivity during war. In the same battle, Kilgore orders his troops to play Ride of the Valkyries on the helicopter loudspeakers as they fly into battle and invade a village to instil fear into the hearts of their enemies and announce their arrival on the battlefield. Another instance shows a woman being brutally murdered when she runs to protect a puppy as a squadron opens fire on her. Although not as grave, there are few other shocking moments in the film as well, one of which has a Colonel ordering his men to surf or be shot by his hand as a battle ensues in the background and a second when a squadron of soldiers travelling on a river in the middle of a warzone decide to take time to surf while starving locals look on in amazement.

Brutality is one of the key components of the film. Being set in a warzone, it can be expected that multiple killings would take place. But the manner in which they are depicted show what director Coppola was aiming to convey to his audience in his criticism of war. One particular scene actually has a television crew recording on the shore of a beach as a battle takes place and telling soldiers to act naturally, not look at the camera and get on with the war. In another scene, a commanding officer demands that an injured prisoner of war be treated well and attempts to give him water from his own flask but loses focuses as soon as he is informed that a celebrity surfer has joined his platoon and drops the injured man from his arms to greet the celebrity. Some of the soldiers in the film take pleasure in being able to kill their enemies even if it is uncalled for. Although informed that a particular area is a hotspot for enemy troops and advised to divert paths, a platoon leader decides to take the route via the enemy hotspot just to be able to eliminate the enemy soldiers and claim the area for his own army.

The film shows a contrast in what is seen as being sane during war but would otherwise be considered insane in times of peace. The film uses the antagonist to depict this perfectly. The antagonist is shown to have gone mental and defected from his own army when in fact he has realised that the commands he previously received were to kill unnecessarily and he decides to conduct his own operations. In one scene, the antagonist reveals that the news broadcast about the war claims that it is under control with minimum deaths and that peace will be restored soon; however the truth is that soldiers are continuously ordered to carry out innumerable attacks which are unknown to the rest of the world. In the end, there is sympathy towards the antagonist because although partially insane, he still comes across as fairly rational.

The film has narration by the protagonist which comes through well in the raspy voice of Martin Sheen. It is a brilliant film which is aesthetically pleasing; one particular scene where Marlon Brando is first revealed as the antagonist as he speaks in a deep, commanding voice through the shadows but only the glint in his eyes is clearly visible. It is an excellent film which can be summed up in the last dialogue as Marlon Brando exclaims “The horror, the horror”.

A Prophet (Un Prophete): Behind the Prison Walls

The hidden secrets of a prison are known only to the people within its four walls. While there are rumours of what happens within the confines of a prison, the truth is probably never what is revealed to the general audience. But French filmmaker Jacques Audiard attempted to display the dark secrets of prison life in his 2009 film A Prophet.

Malik is a young adult sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for his crimes. It is the first time he will ever step behind bars and is unsure what to expect during his time there but he is immediately introduced to a dramatic world of gang wars and mafias. At first he abstains from the hooliganism, however circumstances force him to work for the Corsican gang who loathe the other clan, the Muslims. In spite of being a Muslim, Malik is forced to commit crimes against his brothers in religion, for whom he feels no affinity. He begins to carve his own existence, with the help of friends, in and outside the prison. Slowly as his tenure comes to a close, Malik gains power, ultimately winning the favour of the Corsican boss, the Muslims, the prison guards and a few others outside the prison walls. With the end of his imprisonment, he manages to turn over a new leaf thanks to his notorious life in the prison.

A Prophet was released in the year 2009 and was directed by Jacques Audiard who also contributed to the writing of the screenplay. The language of the film is French. It is a French film with the locations for the shoot being in France mostly, the cast and crew being French and the premise of the story being a particularly French topic with the involvement of Arabs, Algeria and French mobsters. However, the film has an international appeal overall.

The film deals with harsh realities and shows them in a graphic light. One particular scene has the protagonist attempting to commit a murder using a blade clenched between his teeth. Failing at the first attempt, he grabs the blade in his fingers and wrestles the man onto a bed. He finally manages to slice a vein in the man’s neck and bleeds him to death. The protagonist then calmly washes away the blood from his clothes and leaves the crime scene as though nothing happened. The pace of the film is quick except for scenes involving conversation and when the storyline evolves radically. The colour palette has dark shades and has plenty of use of shadows which brings the feeling of captivity out on the screen.

The acting in the film is worthy of praise. A stunning performance from the lead actor successfully portrays the harsh reality in a prison. The brilliant light work, for the indoor cinematography, also aids the scenario of deep, dark crime within the prison setting. In spite of being primarily located in a prison, the film ventures outdoors to follow the exploits of the protagonist. Within the setting of the prison, the lighting, cinematography and blatant sound effects maintains the genre of thriller-horror-drama which ensues through most of the film. Even while deviating from the depths of the prison and venturing into the daylight, the genre is maintained as the protagonist is constantly reminded of restrictions on his freedom. The use of makeup and props is also commendable since it has been successful in adding to the quality of the film.

With various levels of excitement and scenes of meaningful importance, A Prophet manages to keep the viewer guessing what could be the next move. The character of the protagonist suits the tone of the film - both are mysterious and constantly evolving.

Drive: Multiple personas of an unnamed driver

Action movies have a typical script supplemented by lots of combat sequences, car chases and explosions taking place every few minutes in the film. The plot is always predictable and the norm for action flicks is – the bigger the budget, the better the film. This has become the standard to expect from Hollywood films over the past few decades, especially for blockbuster action films. A film that wouldn’t follow this norm is expected to fail in the box office but director Nicolas Winding Refn took a chance and made a unique film with the release of Drive.

An unnamed driver moves into an apartment in a building in Los Angeles. He works as a stunt driver for Hollywood films on a part-time basis and is employed on a full-time basis as a mechanic in a garage. His deep, dark secret is that he also moonlights as a getaway driver for anyone who wants to hire him for criminal activities. His new neighbour is a young mother named Irene, and her son Benicio, with the family patriarch absent because of a prison sentence. The driver is attracted to the beautiful young woman and aids her with routine tasks to spend time with her. Irene is also seemingly attracted to him and allows him to hang around with her son as they bond together. Just as their relationship seems to be moving forward, Irene’s husband is released from prison and comes back to his family while bringing his troubles along.

Drive was released in the year 2011. It was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and stars Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan in the lead roles. The screenplay for the film is adapted from a novel of the same name which was written by James Sallis. The film is unique especially because it does not fit entirely into one particular genre. There are elements of an action film with car chases which forms an important part of the film while there is drama and crime running through the main plot with a parallel story of romance. The use of multiple genres is what makes it most interesting.

The film has been made simply. There are no deep undertones which divert too far from the main plot. The storyline moves quickly and the main plot twist comes as soon as the characters and the story is established. From then on the characters are pulled and pushed in different directions based on their morality and how they will react to certain situations. One particular scene which shows the director’s intent with playing around with his characters is when the driver and Irene are isolated in an elevator with a hitman. The driver pulls Irene to a corner and kisses her passionately for the first time which is shown with the lights dimming, the shot being slowed down in time and slow romantic music being used for the background score. The driver then pushes Irene to safety as the hitman reaches for his gun; the driver beats up the hitman, throws him to the ground and keeps kicking his head till it caves in. After this, the driver looks up to see Irene outside the elevator, staring at him while the elevator doors close. The scene could translate into Irene completely falling in love with the driver but then witnessing a new side of him which shocks her with the closing elevator doors being an allegory for the end of their relationship. There is also a depth in the character of the unnamed driver which remains unexplained. He seems to be reserved and uses limited speech but turns into a figure of command when behind the wheel of a car. His persona changes when he is driving and the actors he doubles for as stunt actor become the inspiration for his violence as he dons their mask in one of the scenes where he sets out to take revenge. Even his sense of dressing is a reflection of the characters he plays on screen while his obsession with chewing on a toothpick pick and wearing gloves every now and then remain unexplained.

The film is a fresh take to Hollywood’s regular styles. The infusion of drama, crime, romance and action together is probably the main highlight. It is a good film; worth a watch.

A Clockwork Orange: A little bit of the ‘ultra-violence’

There are few films that keep the audience hooked from start to finish. There are fewer yet that manage to keep the audience constantly guessing as to what will happen next in the story. When a film manages to captivate its audience in such a way, it is usually expected that such a film would be highly rated. Such is the case of the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange which was directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Alex is a teenager who enjoys getting into trouble. His past run-ins have lead to several warnings and he is on the brink of being locked away in a cell, but his violent nature will not allow him to reform himself of his own account. He is joined by a group of three friends who share his penchant for violent and abusive behaviour. Together they go about vandalising property, engaging in fights, assaulting peace-loving citizens and sexually abusing anyone they fancy. With time, Alex becomes a dictator-like head of the group and frustrates the others into a mutiny. Stifled by Alex’s aggression, the others hitch a plan to get him locked away by putting him in a situation where he will lose all calm and commit a horrible act of aggression that will ultimately change the rest of his life.

A Clockwork Orange was directed by Stanley Kubrick who also wrote the screenplay based on a novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess. The story uses extremely unpleasant behaviour from the main characters to depict the traits of juvenile sociopaths. It is an exaggerated social commentary on the thoughts of adolescent young men. The main highlights of the film are the subjects of rape, ‘ultra-violence’ and an obsession with classical music which provides the protagonist with a belief that he is better than other delinquents because of his refined tastes.

The film employs first-person narration by the protagonist to emphasis the story. He narrates the emotions that run through his head which would be difficult for the audience to understand since his actions are mostly unexpected. The narration also helps piece together sections of the film which seem to be missing and provide a link as the story skips several months in the timeline. Instead of using track shots, the director opted to use the zoom technique in quite a few shots; particularly in the opening sequences. The first shot of the film itself is a zoom shot which begins with a close-up of the protagonist’s face and then gradually zooms out to establish a large room which he is sitting in. Use of narration and zoom shots are usually considered faux-pas in filmmaking, but the use in this film may be considered an exception since they are used well on occasion. Other techniques utilised include use of classical music in the background score since it forms a key part of the story.

What is most astonishing about the story is that the audience never really comes to grips with what is happen and the guessing game extends from trying to predict what will happen next in the story to what the character is actually thinking. Trying to understand the protagonist becomes important for the audience member since his actions are not easily explained by rational decisions. The language in the film is not easy to decipher since it involves plenty of Cockney slang and made-up words by the protagonist. The character and his idiosyncrasies were created with the intention of the throwing the audience off and to keep them constantly guessing.

The film starts off quick and establishes the character early. From there it moves into his daily life routine which is part amusing and part shocking for the audience. A conflict is then introduced in the storyline which changes the routine life of the protagonist for the rest of the film. Unfortunately, the film moves quickly and is interesting until this point but tends to move slowly and becomes illogical after the conflict is introduced.

The film has its moments and some sections of it are truly iconic. However, it does drag on towards the latter half. All the same, it is quite a good film especially with the interesting use of faux-pas techniques and since it captivates the audience and keeps them guessing.

The Dreamers: A tribute film that questions

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Now while it isn’t possible to imitate every time one wishes to pay a compliment, it is easier to do so in subtle tributes in one’s one work. The Dreamers, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, is one such film that tributes many great films and directors that inspired Bertolucci over the course of his career to become one of the most reputed directors in the world.

Matthew is an American studying in a university in Paris on the eve of the student riots that rocked the city in the year 1968. Being a cinephile, he loves visiting film screenings at the Cinémathèque Française as often as possible. He happens to cross paths with a brother and sister who share his love for cinema. The siblings are intrigued by Matthew and invite him to their house for dinner to introduce him to their parents. Mildly shocked and positively surprised by their openness and comfort levels, Matthew accepts the invitation for dinner and also the later invitation to move into their house once their parents move away for a month. His time in the family home is spent in amicable arguments with the brother and uncomfortable moments with the sister as he hides his affection for her in an unfolding story with the backdrop of the May 1968 riots of Paris.

The Dreamers comes across as a tribute to great directors and films from the past. It was released in the year 2003 and was directed by Bernarndo Bertolucci. The film is based on a novel written by Gilbert Adair who also wrote the screenplay for the film. The film has various references to films of the past which are probably considered by the director and writer to be the best films ever made. The references are always affirmative with characters discussing and making positive remarks about the films or wearing similar costumes as were used in the films or performing similar actions as were done by characters in those films. There are also visible references in the form of props and auditory references with music from the films being used. The tributes are not restricted to the world of cinema alone, there is praise of musical greats in the film as well.

There are various undertones in the film which are touched upon particularly in terms of what defines art. There is a struggle between a father and son in the film over who is the greater artist, the one that voices his opinion or the one that only witnesses calmly to reflect and ponder. There are insinuations of incest and questions asked about whether it should actually be considered a sin or if it can be accepted as a parallel way of thinking. The film also depicts a political struggle between administrators and workers along with a documentation of how the elite class stay aloft from political struggles since they are comfortable in their own lives.

The Dreamers probably has a niche audience that would thoroughly appreciate it. It is a good film for someone who enjoys films that revolve around lengthy conversations on topics covering political and social implications.

Before Midnight: The cherry on the icing on the cake

Romance is always seen in a unidirectional format. It always has a predefined formula of where a boy and girl meet and fall in love, maybe have a few hardships and their love triumphs all in the end. It has a treatment which is tried and tested; close up shots of the lovers with low-key lighting around them but with the couple in focus set to soft romantic music as the background score. There are very few films that dare to break this norm but the trilogy culminating in the 2013 film Before Midnight does have a different style and treatment although still falling under the genre of romance.

Picking up from the story of the first two films, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, Celine and Jesse are living together in Paris. They are unmarried with twin daughters and are currently vacationing in Greece upon invitation from one of Jesse’s literary friends named Patrick who owns a villa. Jesse also has a son from his previous marriage who loves with his mother in Chicago but visits Jesse in Greece for the vacation. After dropping him off at the airport, Jesse and Celine drive back to Patrick’s villa and discuss raising their daughters and Celine’s career prospects. At the villa, they discuss their ideas and thoughts about life with their friends over lunch. Another couple with them, Stefanos and Ariadni, decide to get them a hotel room for a night and agree to take care of their daughters in order for them to get some time alone. While walking to the hotel they talk about their future and plans to live together. On reaching the hotel room, they’re discussion turns into an argument and they are faced with the reality that their relationship isn’t perfect and have to decide how to deal with the immediate future.

Before Sunrise saw the introduction of the two protagonists – Jesse, an American tourist travelling through Europe, and Celine, a French student returning to university – who make a decision to roam through a city they have never been to before and spend a night together without the hope of ever seeing each other again. Before Sunset is the sequel after 9 years where Jesse has written a book about his meeting with Celine and is visiting France to promote the book when Celine tracks him down and they spend a few hours together before he must continue with the responsibilities of his book tour. Before Midnight is the third part of the series which is a follow up after 9 years with Jesse and Celine now living together as a couple with twin daughters with the knowledge that they love each other but not entirely sure how long their relationship will last if in fact it has an expiration date attached to it.

The film was written and directed by Richard Linklater and stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. As is the case with the other films in the trilogy, this film is mostly marked with long conversations between the protagonists and quite a few track shots as the characters are followed around while they walk about. Both the lead actors do a splendid job in their respective roles which helps make the film believable and real.

The character of Celine is amiable. She has matured emotionally with time and motherhood takes a toll on her especially since she admits that she lacks maternal instincts in spite of having twins. The French-American accent works perfectly since she is born and raised in France but spends a considerable amount of time in the United States. The character of Jesse is still a daydreamer and a child at heart. His ideologies seem to be along the same lines as the previous films but he has matured as a person especially since he accepts the responsibilities of being a father. He has also grown professionally since he is living his dream of being an author after having a few of his books published and also taking the opportunity of his vacation to write another novel and discuss his ideas with other literary persons. The conversations between the two characters are still the highlight of the film although this film also brings in a few more characters in the form of friends of the protagonists. The conversations with the friends are mostly existential in nature while the protagonists themselves speak on a variety of topics especially those concerning their own lives, those of their children and the immediate future.

The film appears to be a day taken out of the life of a couple. It does not have many elements of being a staged film. The use of ambient sound and mostly natural light lend a very real feel to it. The treatment, as was the case with the previous films, is to have two characters speak casually to each other without the need for added dramatic elements or much of a background score either. The film is about a couple who have known each other for years but are still exploring one another’s minds by putting ideas back and forth between each other. There is no essence of the film being pretentious in spite of the constant philosophical discussions taking place. The brilliance is in the simplicity.

Before Midnight is the best in the series. Each scene is lengthy and runs between 10 minutes to half an hour but moves at a decent pace and does not get boring at any point of time. It has the audience’s attention all the time and is a splendid film.

Candy: Drugs and a broken relationship

In most cultures, drugs are looked upon as being morally wrong. Through popular culture it is evident that civilised and well respected people are not associated with drug users who are seen in the light of being rundown and hopeless. The effects of drugs have been chronicled in a few films by showing hard-hitting consequences due to drug consumption. One of the few that took up the topic was the 2006 film Candy which starred Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish.

Dan and Candy are deeply in love. Dan is a poet and Candy is an artist but neither has produced any work for an extended period of time because of their addiction to heroin. From the beginning it is evident that Dan is a user and initiates Candy into drug use which becomes the base of their relationship. They do whatever is required to gain hold of enough money to buy heroin just so they can have their regular fix. As time progresses their addiction grows stronger and borrowing money does not cut it; soon they resort to stealing which later gives way to prostitution. They realise they have spiralled out of control and try quitting to no avail. In the hope of leaving their past behind them and starting a new life, they move to the country side and try leaving the world of drugs behind. But their past life and dependence on drugs catches up to them when Candy’s parents come to visit for a Sunday lunch. Dan realises that he brought Candy into this mess and watches helplessly in the hope that they can finally change their life.

Candy was the feature film debut for Neil Armfield in the directorial role. Apart from his directorial contribution, Armfield also wrote the screenplay for the film which was adapted from a novel by Luke Davies titled Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction. There aren’t too many standout points in terms of direction which is simple and realistic. One of the most important scenes in the film is when Dan and Candy isolate themselves after moving to a countryside bungalow in the hope of permanently quitting drugs. This scene was both shot and directed well as a continuous overhead shot was maintained over a three day time lapse in the film which depicted the pain the characters were undergoing at the time. The performances of the lead actors were quite good through most of the film as well. They were able to get into the skin of the character to display the emotion and physical agony which would be expected from someone who is detoxing from drugs.

The highlight of the film comes in the breakdown of the story. Most of the story is told from the perspective of the protagonist Dan who even narrates a few scenes. After the establishment of the relationship between the two lead characters, the plot is broken down into three main segments which is the course of their relationship and drug addiction. The three segments of the film are Heaven, Earth and Hell. In the segment called Heaven, the lives of the protagonists are comfortable. They are able to fend for themselves by borrowing and stealing money to take care of their drug addiction which is at a level of elation since they have plenty of drugs to manage their cravings. In the segment called Earth, they are faced with problems that an adult couple would normally face. They have stronger cravings for heroin and not enough money to satiate themselves which leads to the need for prostitution. The lack of money sees them losing their house and strains develop in their relationship. In the segment titled Hell, they find each other’s company and habits to be annoying. They are not able to stay at peace with their relatives and friends and find the need to ignore them for extended periods of time. Their drug problems are escalated here since they are attempting to give it up forever and find violent physical manifestations developing during their detox period.

The film has a stronger human angle than most other drug related movies. It shows real problems and human interactions which are caused due to drug problems. It proves that storytelling does not require shock value in order to be effective.

I.D.: Football hooliganism and the loss of identity

Everyone has their own unique identity. It is something that defines each one of us and makes us stand out from everyone around us. It stems from what we like, love and hate, the culture we were raised in, the people we interact with and much more than that. Every breathing moment our identity changes minutely because of what we experience and this ultimately defines the person that we are and the person that we will become.

England in the 1980s has tremendous problems when it comes to hooliganism; particularly football hooliganism which stems from jingoistic support for favourite clubs and results in violence and uncouth behaviour on the streets. In the Shadwell district, police officer John and his team is assigned to infiltrate the firm (gang of football hooligans) of the local football club Shadwell FC to bring down the top dogs of the group and put an end to the violence. In order to do so, John and his three colleagues are required to go undercover and win over the trust of some of the most aggressive men from the district. Somehow they manage to join the firm but in his attempts to bring down the perpetrators, John begins to empathise with the villains. He faces a big challenge when he is close to completing his mission but actually losing himself in the bargain.

I.D. was commissioned by BBC Films to showcase football hooliganism. It is a period film set in the 1980s and was directed by Philip Davis for a release in 1995. While the film shows the darker side of supporting the beautiful game of football, it really is about a person losing his own identity in one that he has made up for himself. It involves no mental condition or disorientation of any sort, it is purely about a police officer getting too close to his case and adopting his undercover persona for himself as he starts to empathise with the criminals. Unfortunately he loses out on his regular personal life as his wife and friends abandon him when they are unable to understand the change in his personality and he refuses to listen to reason as they try to connect with him. Eventually, he indulges his character so far that he crosses the line and has to face the repercussions.

Football hooliganism has been documented in many films in different forms. Some films focus on the passion of the supporters while others highlight the fact that hooliganism stems from the need for them to do something with their lives to make it less monotonous. This film touches upon the fact that hooliganism grows out of a mutual hatred for rivals which either first starts in the game and then lands up on the streets or the other way around where social hatred results in hooliganism and ultimately courses through every part of their lives including football. Unfortunately, most of the films and documentaries that focus on football and football hooliganism do not attain mainstream commercial success in spite of the popularity of the game. Likewise, this film did not receive much praise when indeed it should have.

Instead of focusing solely on the sport and the passion for it, this film focuses on the individuals that love the sport. It is more of a character story and appeals to a wide audience.

Silver Linings Playbook: A rom-com tale of a bipolar man

Rarely do films depicting mental illness manage to do justice to real life situations that a mentally unstable person would go through. The norm in films when it comes to portraying a mentally challenged individual is to show them constantly upset, overreacting to simple situations with anger and attempts to show what the character is going through by use of graphic visuals which are meant to represent disorientation. Few films really fair well when it comes to handling characters with mental stability problems.

After spending eight months in a mental asylum to be treated for his bipolar disorder, Pat Solitano is released under condition that his parents will tend to his every need and keep him out of harm’s way. Having dedicated the better part of the eight months on losing weight and shaping up, Pat decides to carry on his workout routine outside the asylum in the hope that his wife would take him back on his release. Unfortunately, a violent incident prior to his hospitalisation resulted in his wife getting a restraining order against him and moving away from the neighbourhood in his absence. He reconciles with his best friend Ronnie and is invited over for dinner where he meets Tiffany. The widow of a recently deceased cop, Tiffany has some mental problems of her own which forms the basis of her friendship with Pat. They soon strike up a deal where Pat will partner Tiffany in a dance competition for her help in communicating with his wife in the hope that she will take him back.

Silver Linings Playbook was adapted from a novel titled The Silver Linings Playbook which draws its name from the protagonist mentioning the silver lining on every dark cloud every time he is faced with a challenging situation and his discussions with his therapist who insists he start making a playbook by which to live his life. It was written for screen as well as directed by David O. Russell. The film is mostly a drama which borders on the edges of a romantic-comedy.

The protagonist is established as a mentally ill person from the beginning. Unfortunately this paves the way for recurring aggressive behaviour throughout the film on his part. Although he is shown to have bipolar disorder he shows very few traits of the disorder itself; he does not seem to have constant mood swings between depression and happiness. Instead he seems to have violent outbreaks when things don’t go his way. Another unnecessary feature is the love interest of the protagonist also having a mental condition. The film seems to propagate a belief that mentally unstable people can only get along with other mentally disturbed people.

The story is easy to predict from the first instance that protagonist Pat meets his future love interest Tiffany. Unfortunately the story doesn’t gradually progress in the direction of the obvious. Pat is seen to be deeply in love with his wife the entire time that he is rehearsing for a dance competition with Tiffany. At the end of the film we suddenly find that Pat, who has been obsessing over his wife the whole film, realises that he isn’t really in love with her in a convenient climax.

The film doesn’t have too many ebbs and surges in the plot. It is mostly a drama with very few instances of dry wit humour. The only refreshing point of the film is the humour which is sparse unfortunately. That aside, the film is quite dry and depicts mentally unstable people far too stereotypically.

Dreamgirls: The emerging music business of Detroit through the eyes of one group

Looking back to when the popularity of recorded music was picking up steam in the 1950s and 1960s, there are many amazing stories that can be told based on the lives of the musicians who made it big as well as those who tried but failed for numerous reasons. In the strife of racial hate at the time, it was very difficult for African American (Black) musicians to establish themselves; yet, the ones that did were quite remarkably talented and paved the way for others besides giving the world amazing music and new ideals to live by. Hence, it only makes sense that the lives of one such set of musicians should be celebrated in a musical-drama film as was done in the 2006 movie Dreamgirls.

While struggling to get some form of recognition in the early 1960s through small talent shows, Effie White, Deena Jones and Lorell Robinson are signed by car salesman turned artist manager Curtis Taylor Jr. as a girl group called The Dreamettes to be the backing act of R&B singer James ‘Thunder’ Early. The Dreamettes gain fame and recognition and go on to be a successful act by themselves when James Early’s career fizzles out. Lead singer Effie falls in love with Curtis but both her personal and professional life take a hit when Curtis decides to appoint sexier looking Deena as the lead singer of the group. Effie quits the group and wallows in misery as The Dreamettes go on to make a bigger name for themselves completely unaware of the condition that their former best friend and partner is now living in.

The film, directed by Bill Condon, is an adaptation of a musical of the same name which ran on Broadway in the 1980s. The film uses fiction to chronicle the lives of various people in the music business in Detroit from 1950 until 1980. The story is a direct nod to the R&B group called The Supremes which was headed by Diana Ross. Certain record artworks which are shown in the film were similarly crafted to resemble those released by The Supremes. Other supporting characters in the film are also representational of real-life musicians who performed for the top R&B label Motown started by Berry Gordy Jr in 1959 which is directly represented by Rainbow records started by Curtis Taylor Jr. in the film.

Being a musical, it would be expected that the soundtrack of the film would be exceptional; and it is. Employing the voices of Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson for most of the songs, the soundtrack of the film is a heavenly experience for anyone who enjoys R&B and soul music. Other personnel who have lent their talents to the making of the soundtrack have also done a fabulous job to tie up an excellent musical experience for the viewer.

The movie is a fictional account of true events that occurred in the music business in America’s 1950s, particularly for African American musicians who had a difficult life. The plot and music are the standout points for the film which is the best one can hope for from a drama-musical.

Crazy, Stupid, Love: A funny new way of looking at love

Over the past few years, the number of divorces that have ripped families apart has been on the rise. A view of family life has shifted from the necessity of the husband and wife to stick together towards a belief that everyone should do whatever it takes to be happy. Divorce was always looked at with a scorn that is reserved for something that is hated. It has always been a matter of serious consequence; but what if it triggers the start of many comical incidents?

Cal and Emily were a happily married couple, or at least that seemed to be the case until Emily decided to ask for a divorce while Cal was deciding what to have for dessert when they were enjoying dinner in a restaurant. Evidently Cal is in shock but decides to move out of the house where he lived with his wife and children as he mops in private by drinking heavily at a local bar. As Cal proceeds to recite to anyone who will listen about his wife’s affair and request for a divorce, Jacob, a suave and handsome young man, overhears his willowing and pities him. Jacob decides to teach Cal his ways and help him pick up women at the bar so Cal can get over his wife and move on with his life. The ensuing training brings out many hilarious moments as Jacob teaches Cal the ways of bachelorhood while he himself falls in love with a young woman who he wants to settle down with. At the same time, Cal and Emily struggle with getting their children to accept their impending divorce and how to deal with their beloved Nana.

By taking a serious topic like divorce and twisting it around in a hilarious way, directors Glen Ficarra and John Requa have allowed the audience an opportunity to laugh at some of life’s miserable moments. Although it can be quite serious at instances, divorce isn’t as grave a subject as death, murder, genocide and the like which fall under the genre of dark humour.

The plot itself stems from quite an original idea where a to-be-divorced husband is befriended by a younger man who has to initiate him into bachelorhood, something that the husband has never really experienced previously. Writer Dan Fogelman has put in some great ideas and parallel stories in the plot which makes it fresh and interesting when watching the film. The small twist in the plot and the minor confusion that it creates is a great addition that brings the stories together. In addition, the film provides a slightly askew but unique view of what love has become in the modern age.

The film has Steve Carell’s unique style of comedy balanced with Ryan Gosling’s smouldering good looks. It is a very good film that balances comedy, drama and romance.

A Single Man: The last hours before a planned suicide

What goes through the mind of a person committing suicide? Actually if the act was planned what goes through their mind from the time they decide to do it till the time that they perform the act of actually ending their life? Do they experience fear, anxiety, anger or any other emotion? Do they go about their normal day? A Single Man is the story of the day that protagonist George Falconer plans to commit suicide.

Eight months prior to the present day, 30th November 1962, the closest person in George Falconer's life, his partner Jim, died of a car accident while visiting his family. To add to the grief of the loss, George was barely even informed of Jim's death let alone be allowed a last glimpse of the love of his life at the funeral. Today George is saturated with the grief that follows him day in and day out and has decided to end his life with his revolver. But before he draws his final breath, he goes about his final day by setting his perspectives right and also those of others around him, all the while he must remind himself to take his pills regularly which are a requirement after having suffered a heart attack months before. The story follows his interactions with his regular friends and others; Charley, his old friend who accompanied him from England to America; Alba, his maid who takes care of his house; Kenny, a student of his English class who is stalking him; Carlos, a Spanish prostitute who he runs into. The day unfolds for George with some routine activities and some unexpected events as he reminisces the past.

With the use of the time period the film is set in, director Tom Ford was able to depict anxiety in his characters through the political unrest which was prevalent in the United States at the time. The impeding Cold War which is a topic of discussion in the film allows the director to not only place questions on the need for war but also on the discrimination against homosexuality which is another focal point of the film.

Director Tom Ford made use of a desaturated colour scheme for most of the film to establish the fact that it is a period film set in the 1960’s, but he has also used bright colours to fill the screen whenever the protagonist finds hope in his despondent life which is a reminder of the pain that he is going through emotionally. The use of colours in the cinematography is a constant reminder for the audience that the protagonist is constantly depressed but is able to find happiness for at least a few moments, even on what he has planned to be his final day. The storyline has a few twists and turns, especially a final outcome which most audiences would not foresee. Colin Firth in the role of protagonist George Falconer does a brilliant job to bring the viewer into his own shoes.

For his directorial debut, Tom Ford has definitely done a brilliant job. It is a splendid film for anyone who enjoys films with a strong focus on human emotions and social standings.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off: A day in the life of a mischievous teenager

The saying ‘Boys will be boys’ usually goes to say that adolescent boys are always up to mischief and will continue to do so because it is in their nature. It is a justification for young men to talk and behave the way they do while the rest of society chooses to accept them as they are, provided they do not cross the bounds of the societal norms. The same phrase would be most apt to describe the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, if it were to be explained in a single sentence.

Ferris Bueller is a mischievous school kid who is loved by everyone. His classmates and the rest of the school think he is a sweetheart and his gullible parents think that an angel like him could do no wrong. But unknown to them, Ferris always as some tricks up his sleeve and decides to skip school one day. He fakes an illness in front of his parents and claims to stay in bed the whole day. Instead he rings up his best friend Cameron and convinces him to take out his father’s Ferrari in order to rescue his girlfriend Sloane from the clutches of the school and have a day out on the town. They visit all the places they can think of and even manage to involve themselves in a parade. All the while, Ferris’ sister is aware of his sly ideas and vows to expose him before the day is done as does the dean at his school, Ed Rooney.

Written and directed by John Hughes and released in 1986, the film has gone down over the years as a cult classic. It is one among many films based on teenagers and specifically focuses on their school life. In its true essence, the film is all about a young man trying to fulfil his wishes to have a good time and wanting to stay away from responsibilities which are imposed on him. Thus the film reiterates the belief about young men being slack and that ‘boys will be boys’.

The most interesting technique adopted in this film is definitely the breaking of the fourth wall. Time and again the protagonist Ferris Buller, portrayed by Matthew Broderick, will step away from the normal proceedings of the story to speak to the audience and occasionally explain why he does what he does. In a way the film has an infomercial style to it with the protagonist giving the audience a list of do’s and don’ts, the text of which flashes on the screen as he recites it. On other occasions, he simply starts speaking to the audience about what he thinks and feels so as to make it easier for them to understand.

As mentioned before, the film is a cult classic. It follows a mildly dramatic plot and is infused with comedy at appropriate intervals. It is a good one-time watch.

Chronicle: The human behind the super power

Although many people would love to have superpowers and would dream about it plenty of times, it is very difficult to predict exactly how most of us would behave if our wishes came true and we did attain some superhuman abilities. The answer of whether we would use them for the right reasons and help other people, as is shown with most popular superheroes, or if we would use it for our own selfish gain and eventually end up misusing those powers can only be answered if we are actually placed in such a hypothetical situation. But that seems to be what the 2012 action movie Chronicle has touched upon.

Andrew is a teenager with a creative mind and asocial tendencies. He is terribly introverted as he goes through his high school life with a camera by his side and no friends but his cousin to hang out with occasionally. His cousin Matt tries to convince him to get along with more people by taking him to a party at a barn and introducing him around. Eventually, Andrew, Matt and Matt’s friend Steve wind up in the middle of a field where they discover a hole leading to an underground cave. Andrew reluctantly agrees to follow Matt and Steve into the cave where they discover a glowing stone embedded into the ground. After an unfortunate mishap, the three friends narrowly manage to survive but later discover that they have received telekinetic powers. They agree to keep it a secret and use their powers sparingly but Andrews’s fragile self esteem and longing to make something of himself lead to rifts in their friendship and more problems than they can handle with their powers alone.

The feature film directorial debut of Josh Trank, Chronicle follows the unique style of a handheld camera that is a part of the storyline. By establishing that the protagonist carries around a camera at all times, the film was then told through the eyes of the camera that plays a part in the film. Although utilised previously in a few other films, this style still manages to strike a chord with its audience for being a more creative style of filmmaking.

Although the character of the introverted Andrew is the protagonist in the film, he is in fact an anti-hero. The film follows most of his perspective which makes him the protagonist, however the actions he takes leads to horrible outcomes for everyone around him which throws him into the negative light.

The film does employ a bit of a creative style, but it’s nothing extraordinary that hasn’t been seen before. The film tries to portray the human side of exceptional beings but ends up succumbing to the grotesque use of visual effects and action packed scenes which can be seen in any superhero movie. While certain scenes of the film do have a visual appeal, like when one of the characters splits a spider into pieces by pulling each of its legs apart at the same time or by crushing a car into a ball just by making a fist, it’s disappointing that the potential for a good script would be sacrificed just for a more appealing visual production. Maybe that is what Hollywood has come down to, but it’s quite disappointing.

In the end, it is a cool-looking movie, but that shouldn’t be the only reason to watch a film. It could have been something special but as it is, it is just another Hollywood action flick.

Bombay Talkies: Four short films in one celebration of Indian cinema

100 years of cinema in India and we should be glad to have hit such a great milestone. In comparison to the rest of the arts, film is the youngest having been invented a little more than a century ago. But the potential that a single film can have to change an entire life and make its mark upon the world is something which cannot be short-lived. Even the advancements that have taken place over the past century in film are amazing. Indian cinema too has witnessed many changes and many legends in its ranks over 100 years which are celebrated in the film Bombay Talkies.

The film is a collection of four vignettes, each created by a different director and a different cast. The first short film, directed by Karan Johar, revolves around the life of an openly homosexual man who has moved out of his father’s house when he is not accepted by his family. He works in a tabloid newspaper where he forms a close bond with his boss and affects the lives of both her and her husband. The second short film, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, follows a single day in the life of a failed actor as he comes to terms with his failed career and the need to revamp his life in his own surrealistic environment. The third short film, directed by Zoya Akhtar, is about a pre-adolescent boy’s passion for dance and need to accomplish his dream as opposed to his father’s plans of bringing him up as a rugged man. The fourth short film, directed by Anurag Kashyap, follows a man from a small town who comes to the city of Mumbai to fulfil his father’s last wish of having shared a piece of pickle with Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan. The end of the film also features a short celebration of the past years of Indian cinema with a montage of past films followed by a title song which brings together many contemporary Bollywood stars.

It becomes difficult to categorise and critique the entire film seeing as it has multiple directors in multiple sections but the overall film does have a consistent theme with constant references to past Bollywood movies and the effect of cinema over daily lives of people in India. Each director has left his or her own touch on their respective film which thus leaves Bombay Talkies to be a film with multiple styles of execution; from long shots depicting anguish in one of the short films to close ups depicting the same emotion in another; from a surrealistic character revelation in one film to a more humanistic angle in another film with a conversation between a father and son. Each film follows its own plot and own execution style.

Unfortunately, the film isn’t really a celebration of cinema in India. It is just a celebration of Bollywood and its impact. The references in the film only mark box office Bollywood hits of the recent past years with no mention of regional or artistic cinema nor does it have a single mention of language films other than Hindi. The song at the end of the film features many contemporary Bollywood actors with references of their most popular box office appearances with no directors, composers or other members of crews being visible. The song does not feature past actors either which just goes to reiterate the fact that cinema in India is synonymous with Bollywood and that in turn Bollywood only cares about the people that rake in the big bucks and those that mass audiences can relate to.

On the whole, the film is quite good as it touches upon decent topics with each of four directors bringing their own originality to the table. But the guise of being a celebration of 100 years of Indian cinema is just a selling point for the film and nothing else.