He lived dangerously?

The Doors (1991)

Director: Oliver Stone

After the death of Val Kilmer, in my mind, Kurt Russell's doppelgänger, I thought it was only natural that I perused some of the movies he acted in. I am familiar with his famous roles in Batman and Top Gun, but his role as Jim Morrison, a member of the 'Club of 27', was new to me. So, I gave it a go.

My friend PS grew up under the influence of Jim Morrison of the Doors in the late '60s. He was so inspired by Morrison that he took up strumming the guitar and was mesmerised by his genius. He was too clever to be caught up in psychedelics and intoxicants like his hero and turned out quite alright. He is now a retired professor enjoying his twilight years and the fruits of his labour throughout his life.

They say the good die young. God takes the good away because He wishes to place them beside Him. They also claim there is an unceasing flow of harp music and revelry around the clock due to the Club of 27 and the many great performers who departed long before their prime over the years.

Jim Morrison of 'The Doors'

The fact is that all these people had it coming all along. No, they did sell their souls to the devil for that fleeting fame and fortune. Their lifestyles were anything but exemplary. Living in the fast lane, making hay while the sun shone, they knew of their limited shelf life. Within that window of opportunity, they had to leave their mark. Speeding from venue to venue to please demanding fans quite literally disrupted their biological clocks. In their desire to extract every last drop of creativity, they faced the Hobson's choice of resorting to psychedelics and other stimulants, the same substances that Hitler's Army employed in their blitzkrieg as they swept across Western Europe in record time.

The film recounts the story of Jim Morrison's brief life in the late 1960s and the 1970s during the tumultuous times of the Vietnam protests, the flower power counterculture movement, and the upheaval against the social order led by the Silent Generation (those born between 1928 and 1945). People were popping pills left, right, and centre to sleep, to stay awake, for recreation, and for inspiration. Social taboos were shattered. Brassieres, the defining symbol of femininity, were burned in bonfires. Contraceptive pills granted them sexual freedom, and rock and roll transformed them into philosophers.

Kurt Rusell and Val Kilmer

In essence, Morrison's life was convoluted, marked by a constant flow of alcohol, LSD, cigarettes, and cocaine. His judgment must have been hazy, as his mind was perpetually immersed in these thoughts and behaviour-altering chemicals. The creative juices kept flowing, no doubt, but his decadent lifestyle eventually caught up with him. He began arriving late for performances. His lewd behaviour at his concerts brought him to the attention of justice, and he was incarcerated. His father, whom he had repeatedly told the press was dead, appeared in defence of his son. His relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Pamela Courson, faced its ups and downs due to his unpredictable behaviour. Jim Morrison manifested the typical Jekyll and Hyde persona before and after losing sobriety with intoxicants.

Even though he must have contemplated starting anew in Paris with Courson after all the legal entanglements, Morrison likely succumbed to the weakness of the flesh. He had a liaison with heroin in Paris, which proved to be his coup de grâce.

 

When one dabbles with the forbidden, one must be ready to confront the consequences!

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All in bad taste!

The Apprentice (2024)
Director: Ali Abbasi

youtube clip

There used to be something called decorum, a set of behaviours that everyone agreed upon, accepted as social mores and considered good manners. For example, one does not speak loudly in a library or crack a joke at a funeral. 

Now, it seems that all of this is a relic of a distant past. Nothing is taboo anymore.  

That was what went through my mind as I sat down to watch this film about the early rise of the current two-time President of the USA, Donald Trump. Narrating anyone's biopic inevitably includes some unsavoury details. With so much information available, much of it questionable in authenticity, how are we truly going to tell someone's story, warts and all, without hurting the sentiments of the person occupying the august seat, or at the very least, without tainting the highest office in the land?  

Here we have a film released about the early life of the very person who eventually won the elections to become President. In fact, he had previously served as President, a term before the current one. In America, there is a tradition. The past President is still addressed as ‘Mr President', not 'Mr Ex-President', implying the honour attached to the position. Similarly, a retired Ambassador is still referred to as Mr/Madam Ambassador. Somehow, all that goes out of the window when it comes to Trump. Rules do not apply.  

It recounts the early years of Donald Trump as a novice property dealer grappling with legal challenges stemming from accusations of racial discrimination against his black tenants. Trump endures a difficult existence, overshadowed by a domineering father, a mother who consistently hovers over him, and an alcoholic brother. He seeks assistance from a ruthless, high-powered lawyer, Roy Cohn. The name Roy Cohn emerged during the McCarthy era, when he served as the prosecutor who played a key role in sending the Rosenberg couple to the electric chair for espionage.

With Cohn's ruthless methods and Trump's foresight, the Trump brand fills the skyline of 1980s New York. The film proceeds to illustrate how Trump woos his first wife, Ivana, his infidelities, his use of amphetamines, hair transplants, liposuction, spousal abuse, betrayal of his old friend Cohn, and everything else to depict what type of self-serving man he is. I find it all in poor taste.

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We strive...

Better Man (2024)
Director: Michael Gracey

The main character, who roams about in a chimpanzee suit, is the first aspect that captures your attention. The other characters do not make a fuss about this. They simply talk, hug, and interact with him as if he were one of their own. The reason is never disclosed, even at the end of the film. We only learn from newspaper interviews later that there is a hidden philosophy behind the setup.

As the title suggests, the film's protagonist is inspired by the life and times of Robbie Williams from Take That. For the uninformed—including many in the intended audience—namely, the non-British—the recurring question is: "Robbie, who?" This same factor contributed to the film's lack of success at the box office.

Anthropomorphically speaking, we have evolved from primates. As we transition from chimpanzees to Homo sapiens, we technically become a 'better man.' Over time, as we move into the future, we aspire to be better than the generation before us. But what do we mean by being a better man? Here is a piece of advice: do not ask your respective spouses. They could provide an endless list of all your shortcomings and how you might improve as a person. 

We can begin by taking responsibility for our actions, behaviours, and words. This is an effective strategy for expressing ourselves and improving our communication skills. It is believed that suppressing negative emotions can lead to frequent violent outbursts or destructive behaviours.

This biopic portrays Robbie Williams as a CG-animated chimpanzee, reflecting his feeling of being less evolved than others. This may have stemmed from the self-destructive behaviours he engaged in and the pain he caused to his loved ones. It illustrates how a nobody from a small town was chosen to be part of a boyband. It recounts his struggles growing up with an absent father and his efforts to fit in with the other band members. After enduring a life beset by a whirlwind of drugs and alcohol and causing suffering to those close to him, he ultimately became a better man. He turned his life around and made amends.

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Another Martyr...

Amaran (Immortal; Tamil, 2024)

Director: Rajkumar Periasamy

A Tamil movie of the same name was made in 1992. It was a full-scale gangster movie that was initially banned from Malaysian theatres but finally screened after the censors went on a snipping spree. It was deemed too violent. The film ended suddenly as the final showdown between the hero (Karthik) and the baddies had too much gore. The Malaysian Censor Board butchered it so much that I watched a movie that was left hanging with an abrupt end, and the hall lights turned on, much to the audience's confusion about whether there was an emergency of sorts.

This time around, there was violence, gore and death, but it is a legitimate form of ending one's life; that is the government's sanction war against ideologies which are hellbent on destroying peace. We call this patriotism, not turf war.

I think one particular scene in the movie highlights the whole business of war and the use of religion in justifying war. An Indian soldier of the Muslim faith is captured by Islamic terrorists in the stone-pelting areas of Kashmir. The soldier is kneeling, with hands tied behind and head bent, waiting to be beheaded. He is chanting Holy Quranic verses. Holding a sword above the soldier's neck is a young jihadi who is cheered by a mob reciting the Islamic verses too. Which God are they fighting for anyway? If there is one up there, God will have a hard time choosing sides.

Maj Mukund Varadarajan

As a movie, it is produced in a very high-quality way. It narrates the life and times of now deceased Major Mukund Varadarajan of the Indian Army's Rajput Regiment. He fell during a counterterrorism operation in Jammu-Kashmir in April 2014. He posthumously received the Ashok Chakra award. His widow, Indhu Rebecca Varghese, tells the story, depicting their initial meeting at college, marriage, and long-distance relationship through his services in the Indian Army. It is a compelling movie which would definitely raise the spirit of any Indian worth his salt. 

There was nothing terrible about the movie. The chemistry between the actors Sivakarthikeyaan and Sai Pallavi, who portray Mukund and Indhu, is spot on. Watching the film without subtitles, one realises that the message gets clear and crisp, even when speaking Tamil and the other Malayalam. It is a truly Indian film, as Hindi, English, Tamil, and Malayalam are spoken within the same verse without causing any confusion. 

Detractors found nothing to complain about the movie. So they stooped so slow to complain that the film went beyond the call of duty to portray Muslims as the bad guys. Hello, the Kashmir issue has been initiated by a country that carved itself out of India on religious terms. Then, they complained that Major Mukund's caste did not get any prominence in the story as the filmmakers showed his family and the wedding celebration. It was an understanding between the family and the producers not to highlight their Brahmin caste.

This good Diwali movie will wet the eyes of those with sensitive souls. It is based on the book series India's Most Fearless: True Stories of Modern Military Heroes by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh.

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Love overcomes?

May December (2023)
Director: Todd Haynes

A May-December marriage is between two people with a wide age gap. May refers to the proverbial spring (of life), while December refers to late autumn or winter.

The story is based on the 1997 infamous case of Mary Kay Letourneau, an elementary school teacher in Washington, aged 34, who had sexual relations with her 12-year-old student, Villi Fualaau. She was charged with rape. She delivered a love child during the trials. She was later imprisoned for breaking a plea agreement. After her release, the teacher and student married in 2005 and went on to have a set of twins. Mary already had four children when she was teaching Villi. She was having troubles in her marriage and was diagnosed as having bipolar disease. Both Villi and Mary justified their actions as acts of love.

This film revisits the Mary Kay-Fualaau family in 2015. The timeline is out here. The couple has three kids, including a pair of twins. An actress, Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), who is to play Mary's part (Gracie in the film, Julianne Moore), drops in the household to get a feel of things to play the role. At the end of the day, the viewers get more than what they bargained for. It tries to dive into the family dynamics as their second born (the twins) graduates from high school. Elizabeth tries to do more than is needed. She tries to interview Gracie's immediate family and ex-husband to get a composite picture of what made Gracie and Joe (Villi's part) get together. She also tries to evaluate the family dynamics.

What we gather is a domineering, control-freak kind of a wife who wants to have the final say in everything. She creates an aura of calmness and a business-as-usual atmosphere at home. In reality, at best, she is passive-aggressive in getting things done. She is disliked by many and is a registered sex offender. She continues receiving hate mail. People boycott her. Joe, on the other hand, appears unsure about everything. He is a passive member of the family. It seems like he has had arrested development, missing all the late teenager's years of exposure. If we remember, he was burdened with father's duty at 13. As the movie progresses, we can see that Joe has second thoughts about the arrangement but lingers on for the children's sake, not wanting to be the cause of their psychological well-being. In real life, Villi and Mary Kay divorced in 2019.

The actress Elizabeth, on the other hand, is no saint either. She uses her unique position and feminine charm to extract all she needs from people around here, including bedding Joe, for her career advancement.

An interview with a Tamil actor still at the height of his career and has a late teenage son comes to mind. When asked about the pros of marrying early, he replied that one's life is more malleable when young. Marrying young gets one to mould himself to fit the demands of the new family. Delaying one's marriage to a later makes one develop routines and idiosyncrasies that are challenging to shake off, quickly creating friction. I disagree with that statement. Getting committed at a tender age to the whims and fancies of the raging hormones, ill-prepared for the challenges of family life can be disastrous, too. The appreciation of the wedding institution and the willingness to uphold it at all expense would ensure success. 

Bending the minds towards one particular narrative would ensure the continuity of the status quo. Some call this 'Peace on Earth'; others call it the domination of the elitists. When the mind becomes inquisitive and screams to break free, they call it a revolution, which can be 'Hell on Earth'!

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Not all so chirpy!

Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Director: Charles Vidor

The world remembers Doris Day as the chirpy, bright, toothy blonde who would brighten up anyone's morning. The pose that strikes most people is her rendition of the song 'Que Sera Sera' in Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'. However, in real life, hers was not all sunshine and blue skies.

Growing up from 10 with her single mother, after her father walked on them, Doris Day wanted to be a dancer. After a car accident and a broken leg, she had to abandon her dream. During convalescence, she taught herself to sing. Seeing much potential, her mother sent her to singing classes. Doris soon got singing gigs on the radio and at dinners.

At 20, she delivered her only child. Her husband turned out to be a violent schizophrenic who committed suicide. She had four marriages altogether. Her third husband got her deeply into debt. Her son went on to become a famous record producer and almost signed up Marilyn Manson, the eccentric killer.

In this movie, Doris Day plays the role of Ruth Etting, a famous singer of the swinging twenties. Etting's life story is equally stormy. Starting as a dancing girl, with the help of a mobster, Snyder, she gained fame and fortune as a singer at the prestigious Ziegfeld Follies. She acted in a few short talkies. Even though Etting's love interest is her pianist, she marries Synder out of fear. Synder's frequent anger outbursts and paranoia finally led him to shoot the pianist.

Etting later divorces Snyder and leaves the music scene.

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Beware of glitz of the limelight!

Blonde (2022)
Director: Andrew Dominic

Films are just that - Maya, all illusions. All of us are lured to the charm of Maya. Some lose time and focus on it. Others even lose their health, future and life in the celluloid make-believe world. The Mafia that controls Hollywood (or Bollywood, for that matter) has had its hands almost since its inception. The Mafia-controlled group of moviemakers and studio owners, Walt Disney included) dictated which stories the world should consume. They started controlling the narrative on what is deemed justice, what is evil and even what is morality.

The paymasters also micro-manage the lives of actors and actresses. They exert a monopoly over film production and distribution of movies by buying movie theatres. 

The private lives of movie players, as they were referred to in the early years of movies, were not confidential. In the early years, viewers were not keen to know about actors. It was the stories that mattered. They were the domain of these very same people. They decided who should remain in the minds of the gullible public and who is sellable. They send paparazzi to eateries they arranged to create a buzz when there were none. 

Many actors were married off to boost their careers, not because of love. Ironically, the whole dream of films is based on love, but they mock the entire thing. Some were even caught in sham marriages when the actors were gay.

So it is unsurprising that Hollywood absorbed a mentally unstable person like Marilyn Monroe to build a dreamgirl persona around her. At least, this is what this new film about Monroe seems to propagate.

With the liberty of licence of creativity, the filmmakers have made Marilyn not only a dumb blonde but a highly mentally unstable prima donna with a drug problem at that. In most scenes, a dazed Marilyn sails through life under the influence of booze or barbiturates. 

Brought up by a single schizophrenic mother, Norma Jean Mortenson is seen to be exposed to many life-threatening situations. Her mother tried to drown her once. During a raging forest fire, her mother is seen driving towards the fire in search of a non-existent Marilyn's father.

The 7-Year Itch

Marilyn was cared for by her mother's friend but later went into foster care when child sexual molestation was discovered. At 16, she got into a marriage which ended disastrously fast. Throughout her childhood, Marilyn was fed with the idea that her father was a wealthy movie star whose identity could not be revealed for some reason. Her fixation with wanting to connect with her father continues to adulthood. She marries much older men and calls them daddy in search of a father figure she never had.

As an adult, Marilyn knows she is the product of an unwanted pregnancy from an affair. The thought that she may have been aborted even before birth haunts her. During her own multiple induced abortion and an inevitable miscarriage, she hallucinates being in communication with her fetuses. We are made aware that her agents arranged her many terminations of pregnancy. 

To drive home the idea that this whole movie is mainly a figment of the author's imagination is the account of a pervasive sexual threesome between Marilyn and the sons of Charlie Chaplin and Edward G Robinson. In real life, they may just have been passing acquaintances. For the record, there were no such exposê in the tabloids. Neither sons of these dozens were reported to be homosexuals. 

We all know about Marilyn's rendition of the 'Happy Birthday, Mr President' song to JFK. They were rumoured to be engaged in a raunchy prolonged love affair, which resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. Here, it is depicted like a doe-eyed call girl - tyrannical master dynamics. Critics of this movie were quick to point this out amongst the bent truths in this movie.

In all accounts, this NC-17 certificate offering is nothing more than eye candy bordering on pornography. There are way too many scenes involving full nudity than the storyline demands. An emotional outpour will drive home the sadness irrespective of whether the player is fully attired or is the full monty. 

Being a Netflix film, I wonder how consumers will enforce the NC-17 rule. Perhaps, the wokes who determine what is suitable for human entertainment consumption assume That watching porn is wholesome family entertainment. Thumbs down 👎

The movie probably painted Marilyn Monroe in a terrible light. She is portrayed as an immature girl with severe developmental issues going through life on a leash, looking for love and compassion in all the wrong places, muttering 'daddy, daddy...!' Her achievements are unfortunately lost in translation.

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Problem with biopics...

Thalavii (தலைவி,  Female Leader, Tamil, 2021)

That is the problem with biopics, primarily if the script covers a big chunk of their lifetimes. In the desire to capture as much of the story as possible, the filmmakers will lose much and not do justice to the legacy they intended to show in the first place. It may end up as a documentary instead. So many things keep happening that it appears like a speeding bus. We notice neither the destination of the bus nor the passengers seated it. 

No one is saying, but it is as plain as day that this biography is of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalitha. This is also another problem in Tamil Nadu, where people are equally maniacal about their movie stars as they are with their political leaders. Hence, the scriptwriters walk on eggshells to ensure the storyline does not hurt the sentiments of viewers at the expense of messy court cases and the burning of screening halls. They are careful not to delve too deeply into something too controversial. 

The movie starts on a suspenseful note. It recollects an unpleasant event that happened in the Tamil Nadu State Assembly in 1989. During a heated argument between the ruling and opposition, a melee broke out. It ended with Jaya, the opposition leader, being humiliated and disrobed of her saree. Humiliated, she vowed never to enter the august house unless and until she had been elected as the ruling leader. Quoting the scene in Mahabharata where Draupadi had the same fate, Jaya reminded her enemies of the outcome of the Kaurava clan. She challenged them that she is indeed Draupadi who will rise from the ashes.

From then on, the camera rolls back to 1965 when Jaya is just a doe-eyed young cocky reluctant actress who just entered the studio at her mother's insistence. In comes the larger than life MJR (who is none other than MGR). The story's first half is about their romantic liaison but is careful not to portray Jaya as a home-wrecker. They wanted to cover so much ground that everything becomes wishy-washy, all touch and go, lacking depth. 

After much drama, in which MGR supporters complain that their leader was a lame duck and Jaya initiated everything, we see Jaya playing politics in Delhi, with Indra Gandhi and Rajeev Gandhi. Karunanidhi (portrayed as Karuna) is painted as a greedy, power-hungry leader whose only redeeming point is his oratory skills. 

The producers skillfully ended the story by 1991 when Jaya stepped into the Tamil Nadu State Assembly again as the Chief Minister. They probably did not want to stir the multiple corruption allegations, court cases and imprisonment that came later on.

One cannot help but compare this movie to the miniseries 'Queen', which tells the life and times of Jayalalitha. Perhaps that is how biopics should be narrated in multiple episodes miniseries. If one wants to make a movie instead, it should focus on a particularly momentous event in the life of so and so and delve deep into the crannies. Only then we would do justice to the icon and impress upon the viewer his legacy.

The main actors gave impressive impressions of MGR (Arvind Swamy), Jayalalitha (Kangana Ranaut), Karunanithi (Naseer) and Veerapa (MGR's PA, acted by Samudrakani). Of course, the whole film is about Ranaut and her zest to picturise a lady leader who made Indian ladies proud and convinced the average Indian lady that they are no pushovers in a male-dominated field.

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