Against the grain

Sister Midnight (Hindi; 2024)

Written & Directed: Karan Kandhari

This is a peculiar film. Peculiar in a way that feels intriguing. It is a dark comedy, but it keeps viewers unsure about where the story will go. With minimal dialogue in most scenes, we often see the actors simply staring at each other in many shots. These awkward moments heighten the comedy. Then, suddenly, a rock song blares in the background—not in Hindi, the film's spoken language, but a psychedelic Cambodian tune.

A mismatched couple, married through arranged means, moved into the not-so-affluent, or rather, slum area of Mumbai. The groom, a painfully timid man, failed to fulfil his conjugal desires for his newlywed bride. In fact, he does not even come close to her. He even leaves the room when she is changing clothes. Being a good wife, the bride just waits for her husband to do what is needed. On her part, she is clueless about what to do at home. She neither knows how to cook nor manage the household. Her neighbours do not seem so unapproachable either. The husband leaves early in the morning, takes care of his meals, and returns late, often drunk. His reason for not telling her before leaving is that he is afraid of waking her.

The story continues with the bored housewife taking a job as a cleaner, experiencing fainting spells, developing a taste for eating live birds, and having vivid hallucinations. When the couple finally makes love, the husband suffers a heart attack and dies during the act. Interestingly, the wife simply keeps the husband in the house without arranging a funeral.

While watching this film, I was reminded of quirky classic comedies like Stephen Chow's 'Kung Fu Hustle' - nonsensical yet entertaining. This debutante director suddenly decided to include a clip from Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai', where a ronin (a masterless samurai) roams aimlessly, trying to do the right thing. In 'Sister Midnight', the protagonist is trapped in a similar situation—in her case, a marriage—and must explore the correct path with a future lying ahead. Symbolically, this reflects the story of life. We are parachuted into this existence, given some survival tools, and expected to forge a future—rightly or wrongly. We must discover ourselves, chart a course, and rebel against the currents to make it work.

That, my friend, is the profound take-home message from this strange movie.

Good show, 4.5/5.

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Every little thing is magic?

Parthenope (Italian; 2024)
Written and Directed by: Paolo Sorrentino

https://iicbuenosaires.esteri.it/it/gli_eventi/calendario/
parthenope-di-paolo-sorrentino-avant-premier/

What is anthropology? This question is dangled in front of the audience throughout the film. In simple terms, anthropology refers to the study of what makes us human. It examines how we, as a species, alter our behaviours, interpret our environment, and seek purpose in our existence here on Earth. In other words, it is the straightforward act of observing and learning. 

We see in the spring of youth, but are too distracted to learn. We are too busy playing our biological roles, as hormones and our physical strength cloud our purpose. We are too busy savouring the essence of existence. Gradually, the hard knocks of life set in. We become wiser, yet remain too engrossed, striving to choose the best experiences. We do not wish to miss out.

We learn and grow wiser about the turns of events, of cause and effect. Our expectations also rise, and we become complacent in our comfort zones. 

Then comes a sort of desperation when mortality confronts us directly. We understand that our time on Earth is finite. We yearn to achieve the things we want to do, yet we feel we are already out of our depth.

Still, all the while we have been doing something. The call of duty for which we have sacrificed time and space has not been wasted. That has been the legacy we helped to establish. It has been our contribution to mankind. No, life is not wasted. Like the gentle waves that form after a tiny pebble drops into a serene lake, the little things we do will have spiralling effects across time and distances after the act.

In a rather indirect manner, this film attempts to convey a similar message. The placement of attractive individuals in a Mediterranean setting, with enviable bodies adorned in garments that leave very little to the imagination, must have significantly drawn the attention of film critics. It ultimately received mixed reviews, as the message seems rather cryptic. A smiling face and an appealing body can only take one so far. 

https://americananthro.org/learn-teach/what-is-anthropology/

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https://workmancolon.com/hp7ccn9yi?key=1f8ba034b833363f3829b042ca303097

Felix, the philosophical cat!

Just the other day, a visitor to my home made a remark. She observed that my cat, Felix, was staring into the horizon while sitting by the glass window. Felix seemed unfazed by the activities within the house, instead focusing his gaze on the neighbour's gate. In front of the neighbour's compound stood a few stray cats, returning his stare. It resembled a kind of staring competition.

https://borderlessjournal.com/2025/04/14/felix-the-philosophical-cat/

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The reality of addiction

Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Director: Darren Aronofsky

The President of India, a rocket scientist and an overall good soul, once told his audience, "Dream is not that which you see while you sleep, but is that something that does not allow you to sleep." Don't jump about it; put it in action!

They also discuss the American dream, which states everyone has equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.

Yes, we can convince ourselves that we can do it. We should go for it, putting our minds and souls into it. However, the fact is that people win and people lose. Only some people are cut for it. A thin line exists between having the mojo to do it and not. One should recognise their shortcomings and jump on to Plan B, not forever flogging a dead horse.

Worse still, when one fails to pick up the telltale signs, one buries oneself deeper and deeper into a cesspool of self-defeating habits, hoping for a miracle to happen. When the going gets tough, one should know when it is time to get the tough going, when to retreat and live to fight another day. Failure to discern will spell disaster.

But how do we know our capability if we do not know ourselves to the limit? How do we know our breaking point unless we are stretched to the limit? The telltale sign must be when pharmacological agents get involved. Where does the concoction of ayahuasca with active ingredients like DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) and MAOIs (Monoamine oxidase inhibitors) fit in? Ayahuasca is a potent hallucinogen used to open portals inaccessible to human minds to explore one's true potential. Many ultra-marathoners in the desert of Mexico consume it to push their bodies to the possible human limits. 

Some have labelled this movie as one of the most disturbing films ever produced. It is not so much of the gore factor at play here; it is much the depiction of hopelessness one experiences when one is trapped in an addiction.

Loneliness, depersonalisation and self-prescribing are the greatest bane of modern living. Human interaction is so superficial. 

A widow, Sara, lives alone in her apartment. Her young adult son, a drug addict, occasionally goes AWOL, only to sell off his mother's goods for a bit of cash and a quick fix. The mother's constant companion is a TV, and her fixation with a particular game show keeps her going. Her only other human contact is when her neighbours sunbathe along the walkway.

One day, Sara receives a call that she will be a guest in a game show. She and her friends are all so excited. Sara plans to appear in a dashing red dress that she appeared in during her prom. For that, she goes on a diet spree and later gets prescription drugs. Sara loses weight, albeit slowly. So, she increases her dosage on her own, causing hallucinations and insomnia. She is finally institutionalised. 

Sara's son, Harry, tries to make money by reselling heroin at an inflated cost. He and his girlfriend have big plans of starting a boutique. Things do not go as planned. Harry, his girlfriend and his business partner are all heroin addicts. They decided to test out the merchandise that they sell. Things go spiralling down from then on. Harry even pimps his girlfriend to make ends meet.

A compelling story on the reality of addiction. 

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Nothing is important?

About Dry Grasses (Turkish, 2023)

Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

According to the movie, that is what we are: the dry grasses seen paving the hillside over Eastern Turkey as the frost melts at the start of spring. They look lovely, adding a hue to the mundane colour of nature. Walking over the hill, we step over the grass as they give us a grip on the ground. We do not bother about the grass. They are insignificant. They serve a purpose to their existence, which is not apparent to us. The dry die only to be replaced by the next generation only to whither away, yet again.

Is that symbolism of human existence here on Earth? We think very highly of ourselves, that we are indispensable, that our existence means a lot, or perhaps we are God's answer to mankind's problems. We fail to understand that, like the dry grass on the hill, our presence is temporary. Like many before us, we will disappear away one day, often forgotten by annals of time. All the seemingly big problems we are embroiled in are insignificant in the greater scheme of things. All the jealousy, ill feelings, shame, power balance and intellectual mediocrity that bog down our day-to-day living will all disappear one day.

What, then, is the purpose of all these? That is the question humans have been asking since time immemorial.

This Turkish slow movie narrates just that in a convoluted way that lasts three hours, but not in a draggy way. The protagonist gets embroiled in many life indecisions, troubles, animosities, and hardships, but all appear not so crucial later in his life.

The film is set in the remote and coldest part of East Turkey in the height of winter. If the teeth-chattering cold is not bad enough, there is a lack of economic activity and disturbances from the Kurd rebels.

Samet, who considers himself a dedicated school teacher, drags himself grudgingly back to school in the thick snow. He cannot wait to return to Istanbul after completing his compulsory rural posting.

Where's the line between care and inappropriate?

He is an art teacher who takes great care of the welfare of his adolescent students, unlike the other teachers in the school who run down their students, or so he thought. In the movie, we can see that Samet is quite pally with his students, perhaps too pally and touchy sometimes, bordering on a teacher's inappropriate behaviour. 

 All that came crashing down one day when the headmaster did a classroom spot-check and discovered a love letter in one of a female student's schoolbags. Samet tries to save the day by intercepting the letter. He thought he was doing something good for the student, but instead, the student accused him and his roommate of inappropriate behaviour of the teacher.

The movie is not so much about the high psychological drama of addressing the issue of teacher burnout or paedophilia. The complaint is tackled amicably by the school. Nevertheless, Samet is devastated. He and his roommate start questioning their whole life purpose, dedication, and hardships they have endured throughout life. At the same time, Samet is introduced to a young, pretty schoolteacher. She has her sad story, surviving a terrorist's bomb blast but losing her leg. However, she is optimistic about life and lives on her own terms. Samet introduces her to his roommate, thinking he would find her fascinating. Samet starts developing feelings for the teacher when he sees them romantically linked.

The rest of the movie is about these three people resolving their issues as Samet prepares to get his transfer out of the school back to the big town.

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You left a trail…

Meiyazhagan (மெய்யழகன், Tamil; 2024)
Written & Directed by: C Prem Kumar

How often have you been caught in a situation where someone catches you at a party and goes on a rant? They seem to know everything about you. They would tell you about your parents and obscure personal details of your childhood. The trouble is that you don't know him from Adam. You would not have the slightest clue who he is but too embarrassed to ask him. You would not want to offend the other person and appear haughty. More so when you return to your hometown, doing better than where you came from whilst the other person is still stuck in your hometown. 

You slowly try to pick a cue from his sentences. You try to look deep into his eyes, perhaps to pick up any identifying features. Negative. You try politely asking people behind his back, but it proves difficult as everyone assumes both seem engaged in a conversation so deep that we are blood brothers. 

You become desperate as the other person sticks on to you like a leech that does not drop off. You reach the point of no return when he says he worshipped you and owes it to you for being such a motivating icon in his life. You give up when he says he owes everything to you and insists on having a meal with you.

The protagonist, Arul, feels this as he returns to an estranged family wedding near his ancestral home. Twenty-two years previously, Arul's family had to leave the ancestral home after a family feud. Arul, a teenager when all this was going on, remembers it as a painful event in his life. So, returning to meet the same people engaged in the showdown was cumbersome for Arul.

He planned to make a lightning trip there, bless the newlyweds, and return on the last bus back to Chennai. All that came to nought when Arul bumped into this chatty, nameless chap who would not go away.

Arul simply could not place him anywhere in his life, but according to the chap, they spent a momentous summer in 1994. He clings on and on, refusing to leave his sight. Things become more problematic when Arul misses the last bus out and has to stay the night there. With no acceptable lodgings available, left to Hobson's choice, he takes the chap's generous offer to stay at his abode. Even his wife knows Arul well. He is mesmerised by the hospitality. After a few drinks, things become emotional, and the chap confesses that he would name his soon-to-be-born child with Arul's gender-neutral name, Arulmozhi.

Arul feels ashamed and leaves the chap's home without telling him. As in all 'feel good' Indian movies, resolution comes via a phone call and long-deserved confession. 

It's an engaging movie minus all the masalas associated with Kollywood. As expected from a film produced by Sivakumar's family, devoted to developing Tamil and Tamilness, the film is smattered with iconography closely related to Tamil culture and Dravidian politics. 

From the word go, the opening credits are written in Tamil only. Then, the viewers see Jallikattu and an Indian Kongu bull dragged into a story that is more about human relationships than the importance of the continuation of Jallikattu. Then, the framed photo of EV Ramasamy appears now and then. The spoken dialogue is recommendable for it avoids corruption with Madras basha. Tamil is relatively pristine. Tamil pride can be felt when the characters talk about their ancestors fighting for the Cholas, the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils in their civil war and the Thootukodi massacre, where Tamil citizens got killed for standing up against an allegedly polluting copper smelting plant.

Arvind Swamy and Karthi's acting is recommendable. Their chemistry, bromance, and characterisation of their roles are excellent. It's a good movie. 4.5/5.

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The pain equally painful!

Rain Town (Cantonese, English; 2024)
Director: Tunku Mona Riza 

Our needs, dreams, ambitions, and desires to ensure the best for our children and peace in the family are universal. We all yearn for the same thing. 

The most exciting thing about the movie is that it was produced and directed by two Malaysian Malays, but there was a single inkling of Malayness in its setting, spoken dialogue and props. It went on to premiere at the Silk Road International Film Festival in Fuzhou, China. 

Set in the wettest town in Malaysia, Taiping, hence the title Rain Town, it is a favourite pastime for the local retirees to bet on whether it would rain that day. It follows one of the betters, a proud Mr Choo, to his home. He is a disciplinarian, a domineering figure who runs his home like an army regiment. 

He is a father of 3 adult kids, two men and a lady. His wife, a former Ms Taiping, an Anglo-Chinese, had fitted into the family as a docile, all-embracing mother who is the stabilising figure snugged nicely between the silently rebelling children and the all-knowing father. Mr Choo scared the daughter’s suitor away because he was ill-qualified. The girl finds solace in baking cookies and selling them. The elder son is doing his medical internship and struggling to cope with a vocation that his father forced him into. His real love, however, is music. He resorts to recreational drugs to keep on going. The second son has not really settled on what he wants to do in life, but Mr Choo does not hesitate to tell him the obvious. In Mr Choo’s vocabulary, life is a race and the fast wins.

In the midst of all these, Mrs Choo is diagnosed with breast cancer. She keeps it away from the family and tries to handle it herself. Meanwhile, the elder son is expelled from work for stealing drugs. The family has to get together, put aside their differences and solve the problems at hand.

It does not matter who directs the movie or who acts in it. Cultural misappropriation may not be relevant at all. The dynamics of a family can be observed. The pain felt, the frustrations endured, the struggles fought, and the dreams shattered feel pretty equally devastating.

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What Do People want?

 

From Berita MMA, September 2024.

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