Skip to main content

The leaders and the led...

I wanna hold your hand (1978)
Director: Robert Zemeckis (debut)

 I remember growing up watching many of Zemeckis directed movies. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I came across this film which was set in 1964 New York when the Beatles visited New York to appear at the Ed Sullivan's Show.

 At one look, it appears like the director is trying to recreate the atmosphere and the mania associated with the arrival of the Liverpool lads at the Big Apple. Looking at the bigger picture, he seems to be ridiculing the younger generation's eccentricity, if not fetishism to pop culture.

 It tells the tale of a group of youngsters who make a trip to New York to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four. Each of them has a different agenda; to watch the Ed Sullivan Show, to snap pictures of Beatles, to partake in anti-Beatles' rally, to impress a girl and so on.

 In no way was the film a groundbreaking feat. All you throughout the offering are screaming and shrieking bevvy of girls before and during the Beatles' show. Even though the setting is supposed to the mid-sixties, one cannot help but have an 80s feel to throughout the film.

 It is interesting how the storyteller managed to make a movie about the Beatles without actually making them appear on the screen. The 'appearances' are restricted to their 'voices' in the background and their songs. 

 We are all so easily suggestible. We are easily swayed by the consensus of the masses. Some of us are spineless. We walk around like zombies following the scent of the herd. Sometimes, our senses get all entangled. We cannot comprehend whether our likes are related to our nostalgia, our simple cravings for the unattainable, our biological need or is a way to satisfy our sexual pervasions. Our fetish is further fanned by the wind of mass media and commercialisation. Every day a new 'want' is created. And many lose sleep to achieve it. At least it gives them something to forward to in their otherwise mundane life. They have overcome many major hurdles establishing themselves as the ruler of the world that they are trying to find the fine prints to perfect it. Paradoxically, it only brings them down. Or maybe, it has always been like this - the victors or elitists writing and re-writing the course of history whilst the weak majority just trail along, sometimes paying with their lives.




Labels:
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gory historic details or gore fest?

Razakar:  The Silent Genocide Of Hyderabad  (Telegu, 2024) Director:  Yata Satyanarayana In her last major speech before her disposition, Sheikh Hasina accused those who opposed her rule in Bangladesh of being Razakars. The opposition took offence to this term and soon widespread mob throughout the land. Of course, it is not that that single incident brought down an elected government but a culmination of joblessness and unjust reservations for a select population group. In the Bengali psyche, Razakar is a pejorative term meaning traitor or Judas. It was first used during the 1971 Pakistan Civil War. The paramilitary group who were against the then-East Pakistani leader, Majibur Rehman, were pro-West Pakistan. After establishing independence in Bangladesh, Razakars were disbanded, and many ran off to Pakistan. Around the time of Indian independence, turmoil brewed in the princely state of Hyderabad, which had been a province deputed by the Mughals from 1794. The rule of N...
Post a Comment
Read more

The products of a romantic star of the yesteryear!

Now you see all the children of Gemini Ganesan (of four wives, at least) posing gleefully for the camera after coming from different corners of the world to see the ailing father on his deathbed. They seem to found peace with the contributor of their half of their 46 chromosomes. Sure, growing up must have been hell seeing their respective mothers shedding tears, indulgence in unhealthy activities with one of them falling prey to the curse of the black dog, hating the sight of each step sibling, their respective heartaches all because of the evil done by one man who could not put his raging testesterones under check! Perhaps,the flashing lights and his dizzying heights that his career took clouded his judgement. After all, he was only human... Gems of Gemini Ganesan L-R: Dr Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesan, Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Rekha, Vijaya Chamundeswari   and Dr Jaya Shreedhar.  ( Abs:  Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan) Seeing six of Ge...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chicken's Invite? (Ajak-ajak ayam)

In the Malay lingo, the phrase 'ajak-ajak ayam' refers to an insincere invitation. Of course, many of us invite for courtesy's sake, but then the invitee may think that the invitation is for real! How does anyone know? Inviters and invitees must be smart enough to take the cue that one party may have gatecrashed with ulterior motives, or the other may not want him to join in the first place! Easily twenty years ago, my family was invited to a toddler's birthday party. As my children were toddlers, too, we were requested to come early so that my kids could run around and play in their big compound. And that the host said she would arrange a series of games for them to enjoy. So there we were in the early evening at a house that resembled very little of one immersed in joy and celebration. Instead, we were greeted by a house devoid of activities and no guests. The host was still out shopping her last-minute list, and her helper was knee-deep in her preparations to ...
2 comments
Read more