End of the line...

Le Cercle Rouge (French, The Red Circle; 1970)
Written & Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville

The 'Red Circle' referenced in the title is from a fabricated quotation allegedly uttered by Siddhartha Gautama. The Buddha had apparently drawn a circle with a piece of red chalk and said: "When men, even unknowingly, are to meet one day, whatever may befall each, whatever the diverging paths, on the said day, they will inevitably come together in the red circle." 

That red circle is where we will all converge to be judged after all our shenanigans here on Earth. We can aggrandise ourselves all we want, follow the path that we think is true, pray to the God we believe is the true God, and label others as lost causes. When we reach the end of the line, it will all be the same.

This French heist film is set in Paris and boasts an intense, suspense-filled, nearly 30-minute silent heist sequence that is the climax. Silence and intense focus create a riveting experience. 

Most people revisited this film after its leading actor, Alain Delon, passed away recently. Delon was a prolific French actor who acted in over 100 films. He became the symbol of the French New Wave movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Director John Woo was inspired by this film.

It is the story of a petty thief who is tipped off of a jewellery shop he could rob after his release from prison. At the same time, a prisoner escapes police custody and joins the thief. Together with a crooked cop, they plan the jewel theft. Hot on their trail is a dedicated police officer. A good cat-and-mouse movie. We know what will happen in the end - all will sprawl in the red circle.

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Life... shades of greyness...

Roma (Mexican, Spanish; 2018)
Written, Produced and Directed by Alfonso Cuarón.

At first impulse, it looked like it was going to be draggy long-paused 'arty' movie. Set in the tumultuous times of the early 1970s Mexico, the story is shown in black and white against a background akin to a neorealist style with long takes and long pauses.

It looks like a reminder that history has a bad habit of repeating itself. If now, we have a citizen elected President peaceful ejected by his own in Venezuela, maybe soon to be replaced by a US back figurehead, in the late 60s and 70s Mexico, the situation was about the same. In Mexico, however, the US supported President was hated by his people. The opposing peasants and university students were labelled as communists and were systematically killed by the ruling government. 

The family who eats together stays together.

This film, however, has nothing to do with political injustice or revenge of the bygone era.

The story starts telling about the life of a maid, Cleo, an indigenous woman, who works in the middle-class household in the small town of Roma in Mexico. 

In the first quarter, in a slow build up, it dawns upon us that everything is not right between the man and woman of the family. Antonio, a doctor, the husband, is leaving the wife, Sofia, and their four kids for his mistress. Cleo gets pregnant after being introduced to her fellow worker's relative.

What builds up slowly eventually morphs into a fountain of genius in storytelling and cinematography.       

                                                                                                                           

In the second half of the movie, the storyteller tells us how Sofia, Cleo and the kids build an everlasting relationship that lasts a lifetime. Cleo loses her child, in the midst of the chaos that is happening in the country and the household. In spite of all the adversities, the family comes out strong with Cleo becoming like a second mother to the children. 4.8/5

In one frame, poetically, much is told about marriage - which is nothing than just a declaration of private intentions. On the left is a happy couple celebrating their wedding with much pomp and splendour. What waits in their future, nobody knows. In the centre, just below the pincer of the giant crab statue, is Cleo, an indigenous housemaid who had an unwanted pregnancy from casual contact with a  date who refuse to take responsibly. In the end, as if like Nature making what seems like the best decision for her, Cleo delivers a stillborn. She never wanted the baby anyway. Then on the right is Sofia with her four children. Her marriage ended when her husband walked out on her, for another lady. Sofia and Cleo end up bringing up the four kids. Is the storyteller telling us that you do not need a man to bring up a family? It was semi-autobiography about his childhood anyway. That is a reality.

There are biological differences between the genders. Everyone is fitted to perform specific biological duties. Each gender should complement the other; not compete with the other.

[N.B. Is it a coincidence that a film with Mexico in the plot and an indigenous Mexican actor in lead role is nominated for 10 Academy Awards at a time when the government services have shut down in anticipation of building a wall against the caravans at the Mexican border? It is the highest foreign with the most top nomination since 2000's 'Hidden Dragon Crouching Tiger']


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Easier to go with the flow...

The Conformist (Italian, 1970)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

With rhetoric like "you're either with us or against us!", there is a pressure for most of us to conform. The daily bombardment of an overdose of information in the social media puts its followers in a quandary. The urgency to submit to the flavour of the moment and to be on the right side of history is quite confusing.   

No man is an island. Living in a society, we are all interdependent. When one's own survival is dependent on goodwill and patronage of the others,  he would not want to offend the others' sensitivity; he would just conform or at least appear to. 

In the current world climate and the country's political scenario, the need to follow the majority is very real. Merely following the tide is, of course, less tiring. Fighting back and arguing your stand may sometimes be an act of futility. Arguing with stupid and zombies is never easy. It takes a certain kind of resilient to debate with people who set with their beliefs and are not ready to accept other opinions. Perhaps, they are fearful of losing the favour of the majority. 

Go with the flow...

This timepiece flick from 1970 is set in the trying times of the 1930s Italy when Benito Mussolini and his Fascist Party members were overrunning the country. It tells of a disturbed man from the upper crust of society trying to be 'normal' in society. He tries to conform to the trend of the times without for a moment, taking a step back to ponder whether the action that he is about to do is the right thing to do. 

As in the observation of Plato in the Cave Allegory, people create their own perception of the world and are hellbent on living on that conviction. They resist any challenge to that belief because reassessing their stand merely is too taxing. It is easier to go with the flow...

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