Psychological noir thriller!

Level Cross (Malayalam; 2024)
Director: Arfaz Ayub

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27328373/

Thanks, SD, again, for the recommendation. 

This time around, it is a mind-bending psychological noir thriller quite atypical of what is often seen in most Indian movies. Minus the psychedelic multiple eye-catching costumes, ornaments and landscape, we land ourselves in a monochromatic desert-like location. It is set in a God-forsaken train crossing quite far from human civilisation. The gate at the crossing is manned by a single individual who stays in his quarters just by its side. There is no human contact for miles and miles away. His only conversation with the outside world is the phone call announcing the passing of the next train. Conversations on the telephone can only be made one way. The only excitement around there was the sound of the speeding train.

One day, he finds a pretty unconscious woman in the form of Amala Paul stranded near the crossing, apparently after falling off a moving train. So starts a human interaction for this gatekeeper in years. He carries the lady to his quarters. She comes around to narrate her sob story. She used to be a psychiatrist who fell in love with her patient. After marriage, she found him to be a cocaine-snorting abusive husband who had killed his first wife. According to her, she jumped off the train to escape her husband's tyranny.

The sympathetic guard promises to protect her. When a call announces the next train, the lady forbids him from asking someone to help her reach civilisation.

The lady then discovers, while cleaning the quarters, some newspaper clippings of a mass murderer and another railway ID card with the guard's name but a different face. The lady puts two and two together and concludes that the guard is the mass murderer and has assumed the name of the real guard that he must have killed. She suddenly starts seeing him from the angle that she could be his next victim.  

femme fatale in red hue?

The following day, as the lady sets off to fetch water from a distant well, the husband appears at the doorstep, inquiring about his missing wife. He provides a contradictory account of the earlier story. The wife is the one suffering from mental illness, exhibiting violent behaviour and battling drug addiction. He is simply taking her to another town for treatment. 

The guard tries to get rid of the husband but fails. The husband sees his wife's garment.

Next is a three-way showdown to determine who will come out on top. It was 'game theory' on full display. Who is telling the truth, and who are the mad killer(s)?

This tense, high-strung thriller is reminiscent of a western film where life is cheap, or a scene in 'The Deer Hunter’ where American prisoners are forced to play Russian roulette. A good film, sans masala, draws the audience to the edge of their seats.

P.S. The movie was shot in Tunisia, hence the desert-like background in the movie, not Rajasthan.

Best film quote:  "God doesn't care about us anymore!"

The lonely road to success?

Le Samourai (The Samurai; 1967)

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

The film title card starts with a fabricated quote from Bushido, the moral code of the samurai. It says, "There is no greater solitude than that of the samurai, unless it is that of the tiger in the jungle… perhaps". Miyamoto Musashi, probably Japan's foremost samurai swordsman of the late 16th century, is said to have said this, among other things. He describes the solitary path to success as being filled with loneliness. Solitude accompanies the path to success. He further goes on to say, in one of the books that he had written, that solitude shapes, moulds, and builds character all along our journey to success.

Does this go against the grain of what we have been taught? We had been told that we are social animals and that a man is not an island. Social interaction is essential for mental health, and a child turns out to be developmentally stunted without the tactile stimulation of his loved ones.

On the other hand, we know how lousy companies and wrong associations often derail our ambitions to attain greater heights. There is a reason why high-level athletes and sportsmen train in isolation before a major event. In the same vein, I suppose seekers of greater knowledge should focus on the quest rather than be swayed by the white noise surrounding them. Is this the detachment Buddha mentions in his teachings, with attachment being the root of all misery?

In the Samurai code, there are guidelines that they have to follow. Their allegiance and loyalty are laid out clearly. His loyalty to his Lord is paramount. But when a samurai loses his master, he drifts around aimlessly like a leaf on moving water, swaying at random to forces of nature. Yet, he is still alone but without any direction in life, clutching on straws for direction and strength. 

'Le Samourai' is a classic French noir that stood the test of time. Combining the elements of art in filmmaking while maintaining its suspense in storytelling, it narrates the tale of a paid assassin who works alone. He laboriously details his every job to perfection. His last job, even though successful, hits a snag. He had been targeted as a possible suspect by the French police. The hiring party, naturally, gets hot under their collar. 

The assassin now has to run to save his own skin, not only from the police who want to pin him down but also from his hirers, who would rather have him eliminated than squeal to the police for their involvement. The assassin, now no longer a samurai but a ronin, has to use his survival skills and judgement to be alive. The silver lining of all is that there is a pretty pianist who was an eyewitness to the murder and can identify the killer but prefers to stay mum. 

It's a good watch—4.3/5—and one of Alain Delon's best movies, which skyrocketed him to the international market.

P.S. Freud and Nietzsche found wisdom through silence found in nature walks and roaming the wilderness. Hardcore criminals are placed in solitary confinement, hoping that they will find meaning of life through self-reflection. Unfortunately, this approach of living in a silo may not be applicable to all. Men of the robe have to flaunt the gift of their gab to showcase themselves as the saviours of mankind. Politicians meet an audience to cheat them blind. Businessmen need people interaction to patronise their premises. Solitude brings these people nothing.

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It's Christmas time!

Merry Christmas (Hindi/Tamil versions; 2024)
Director: Sriram Raghavan

This film has it all: a little Hitchcockian, a tinge of noir, and a hefty dose of female fatale. Set in the urban setting of Bombay at Christmas, the storytellers thought it was all right to cast modern-thinking characters with modern values as protagonists. Otherwise, it would not be believable that a seemingly single mother would send flirting vibes and respond to the advances of a random hunk at the movie theatre. 

That is what happened in this movie. It is Christmas Eve. While everyone is in a celebratory mood, a recently released murderer, Albert, returns to his mother's home. As old memories haunt him, he goes out for a stroll. He meets Maria, who is wandering around with her young daughter, first at a restaurant and then at the cinema hall. They strike up a conversation, and she walks her home. After having a nightcap and leaving the sleeping child at home, they go for another walkabout. Upon their return, they discover Maria's husband slouched on a settee, dead, after apparently shooting himself. 

Albert, as a recently released convict, is sceptical about being involved in a death investigation. She instructs Maria to inform the police while he wipes out evidence of his presence at her apartment. 

Hours later, curious about the turns of events, Albert returns to Maria's apartment. There is no hullabaloo of a crime scene. Instead, he finds her in the company of another gentleman, going up to her place. He follows them to find no dead body there!

The rest of the movie is predictable, not because it is poorly done but because we have seen it all too many times in various combinations. The original story is from a 1962 French movie, Paris Pick-Up @ Le Monte-charge. The French version was more precise, shorter and straight to the point. In the Indian versions, however, there are additional characters. One cannot help but wonder whether other little nuggets are inserted between scenes to imply anything. I, for one, was left wondering whether the purpose of Albert's uncle naming his home-brewed moonshine 'Yadhoom' (Scandivanian for 'reason of existence'; why we love for) carried any obscure philosophical connotation to the whole story. 

Nevertheless, it is a refreshing movie with a retro 1970s feel, fuelled by a liberal display of neon lights to give it its noir background. Kudos to Vijay Sethupathi, Katrina Kaif and Sanjay Kapoor (in the Hindi version) for their commendable performances. In the authentic Hitchcockian way, it ends with a twist.

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movies

The state of a state

Kohrra (Fog, Punjabi-Hindi; 2023
Miniseries S1E1-6.

Shrouded in fog, that is how it is. It used to be the food basket of India and the provider of the country's most significant tax returns from its businesses and income earners. Punjab used to be prosperous. People of the diaspora have been instantly recognised worldwide for their resilience, entrepreneurial skills, confidence and ability to adapt and integrate. 

Sadly, the situation in their home state now is a far cry from what it used to be in its pre-independence days. The downward spiral started when a large chunk of the State was sliced away amid bloody butchering to satisfy specific political ambitions. Just as they recoiled back to health with the erection of a dam and the introduction of Green Revolution initiatives, they were the envy of many, including their poor Eastern cousins, Haryana. 

Religiosio-linguistic politics dictated that Hindi-speaking Hindu Himachal Pradesh and Haryana be cut off from the predominantly Sikh Punjabi province in a way that contributed to the tumultuous, violent sectarian politics of Akali Dal, Bindrawale and Operation Blue Star. After that, it was downhill all the way. The Punjabis missed the bus that brought various revolutions: IT, automobile manufacturing, biotechnology and retail. Haryana went places.

20th century Punjab sees an average Punjabi dying to get out of Punjab to get a green card in Canada. Hardy, hardworking Sadarjis are replaced by drug-peddling, gun-wielding gangsters who glorify female objection in their music videos. Then there is a constant external pressure to demand an independent country of Khalistan where Gurmukhi is the script, and Sikh is the national religion, which will be in harmony with their neighbour, Pakistan, so they believe. 

Interestingly, Chandigarh is the common
capital of Punjab and Haryana.

This miniseries, a compelling six-episode first season, brings the audience to the daily dealings of two small-town police officers. It paints an unsettling township where the police have too much power and too much on their plate. Police brutality is the norm, and it seems justified in wanting to mete justice to the grieving family. Opulence is the game the wealthy display to claim their societal role. Family pride takes precedence over everything else. 

Life is cheap, and people can be knocked off for a song. Truth somehow gets buried somewhere in the chaos of things, much like how the splendour of the Saraswati river and its civilisation disappeared into annal of times. 

At least, this is what I, as a non-resident of Punjab, take home after watching this miniseries. It starts with the death of a soon-to-be-married NRI groom found dead in the field with his pants down. The investigating police officer teases out in piecemeal all the undercurrents behind the death. The officer himself has a complicated back story. Losing his wife to depression, he cannot see eye to eye with his adult daughter. His daughter, married with a young child, hates her husband and has an affair. 

Meanwhile, the bride to the deceased groom has a morbidly clingy musician boyfriend who tries everything to regain his beau. But the boyfriend also has a side chick. The dead groom's boyfriend, who came from the UK, is also missing. Now, where is he?

With everyone breathing down his neck, the grieving groom's family, the anxious UK mother, and the aggressive groom's father handling his family issues and pressure from his superiors, sub-inspector Balbir Singh has to tie all the loose knots and close the case. Forgot to mention that Balbir Singh also fancies the widow of a former informant whom he killed!

With such a bizarre storyline, there is no guessing what will happen next. It all makes sense in the end, like most things in life. Nothing is really so straightforward. Nothing is black or white.

P/S. It would appear on the surface that emigration improves one's standard of living to emulate the citizens of their host, to grow and be part of the nation. Wrong! It is true what the migrants want is a peaceful existence, the ability to prove one's purpose of existence, to impart wisdom to the next generation and a final seamless transition to the Otherside with the least morbidity. The host country believes it can assist with resources; in return, the arrivals should blend into the system. Integration, the newcomers will not do for they are convinced their hosts are inferior for the arrivals brought in with them the real civilisation, which is superior and time tested. This is evident in this miniseries. Despite being an NRI, whom one would perceive to have progressive thoughts in sync with the Western world, here the father is showing none of those. Even though he left his home country because it was not good enough to nurture his family, he still brings his old ancient belief systems. 

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Dharma is doing what is necessary

Aaranya Kaandam (ஆரண்ய காண்டம், Tamil, Jungle Chapter; 2011)
Story and Direction: Thyagarajan Kumaraja

The Jungle Chapter refers to the third chapter in the epic Ramayana where Raavana deceptively uses a deer into tricking and kidnapping Sita. Here, the storyteller uses characters with animal names to symbolically represent our animal-like behaviours in a world that has jungle rules. 

It starts with a purported dialogue between Chanakya, the Mauryan master strategist, a kind of ancient Machiavelli, and a student in 400 BC.

Student: "What is dharma?"
Chanakya: "Dharma is doing what is necessary."

With that one line, I was hooked. The film is a gangster fare, but not the usual gory senseless machete-branding South Indian style. It is the characterisation and storytelling that kills. It is labelled as the first neo-noir Tamil film.

In life, we are faced with many obstacles. What is the determinant that decides the right course of action? Do we use society-determined code of conduct as the yardstick? Is it about survival and self-interest? As it is a noir movie where poetic justice takes a backseat, the story is quite revolutionary, and the ending is entirely unexpected.

People follow the rules not because it is a noble thing to do. They do it because of the shame of being caught. Given a choice, people want to be left to their own devices. Jungle law will take over. The mighty, the brave, the cunning and the heartless would prevail. This must be the hidden message behind the movie -the jungle as the title and how the character names resemble that of animals. (Singaperumal-lion, Pasupathy-cow, Gajendran-elephant, Subbu-fox, Sappai-rat, Kasturi-deer). Guilt is momentary and forgotten when they experience pleasure. The end-results justify the means.

The Lion and the Rat

The plot revolves around an insecure ageing don, Singaperumal (Jackie Shroff), whose erectile dysfunction is an open secret. His lieutenant, Pasupathy, is itching for a lucrative but dangerous cocaine deal despite the boss' disapproval. Don tries to trap him and kidnap his wife. In an error of chaos, the cocaine gets into the hand of a destitute and his precocious son. He tries to blackmail Don for the return of stash.

Don's abused young mistress has an affair with Don's helper boy whom everyone thinks is an idiot. In reality, he is bedding the mistress and plans to elope with her.

Things get really complicated with everybody killing everybody either through brute violence and through wit. There is no right or wrong. The correct thing to do seem to be one that benefits oneself at the point of reference. One cannot shed off the idea the director must be a Tarantino fan. Nobody else uses a piece of merry Spanish music as background score as two rivals rush towards each other brandishing machetes. Again in a pure noir finishing the characters engage in soliloquy and a femme fatale rides into the sunset as the final victor. In this film, Subbu turns up as the winner. She utters, "the best thing about being a woman is that it is a man's world." She had outwitted the dumb helper, killed him and was the final benefactor of the loot. The Don was shot dead by Sappai. In her last dialogue, she said, "Sappai was, after all, a man, and all men are Sapppai."

Sappai also could mean limp/impotent. Hence, denoting that Men, despite the machoism that they seem to portray, are actually weak and can be manipulated by the fairer sex with wit and their sexuality.

The film had to undergo 52 cuts for profanity and unPC jokes about Kamal Haasan and Rajnikanth.

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A rewarding job?

Kavaludaari (Policeman, Kannada; 2019)
Amazon Prime.

Most Indian movies stereotype policemen as either corrupt or a superhero who would singlehandedly beat the living daylights of gangsters twice his size, with his bare knuckles. This rare neo-noir movie coming from the state of Karnataka puts things right in perspective. As in many things in life, there is no happy ending in police work. The Universe does not offer poetic justice. Is it our job to right the wrong? Should we just leave it to the divine powers to mete out justice in the afterlife or next birth? Should we use the whole length and breadth of the man-made justice system to punish the perpetrators? Are we justified to use the system to correct the mistakes when the system that we put up to provide justice fails? Can we, like Nadhuram Godse, in his last speech at his trial, justify our violence by quoting Man's history and scriptures which are anything but peaceful. 

Doing the right thing may not be easy. In retrospect, one's action may be just, but in the breath, a person with persuasion can paint an ugly picture of the act.

Not to give too much away, this film starts with a man lying in a pool of blood, an open and empty safe with a well-dressed man leaving the premises desperately. In the next scene, we see a traffic cop going out of his way to stick his head in a criminal case. In a highway construction site, old remains of three bodies are found. The gist of the story is tying up the cop and his obsession with the discovery of the corpses.

An exciting movie which breaks the mould of a typical swashbuckling and over-the-top ridiculous stories that are constantly churned out from the sub-continent. Of late, the industry seems to be going places.

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It comes around eventually!

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

They say that there is no such thing as the perfect crime. Even when a seemingly seamless crime is committed, somehow, something would go awry. A slight oversight, a chance DNA evidence or worse still when it involves two or more partners in crime, mutual suspicion and fear of double-crossing would spur one of them to act silly to arouse suspicion of the unsuspecting. The criminals occasionally appear at the crime scene to look at his 'trophy'.

Nature has its own way of punishing the perpetrator. Even though its fixing of things may not appear clear-cut, one can feel that poetic justice is served at the end of the day. Nature has a wicked sense of humour and warped amusement standards. Balance is maintained, nevertheless.

This classic film noir, made in 1946 and acted by John Garfield and the vivacious and sultry Lana Turner, grasps your attention from the word go. The first-person background narration and loud background music add to the suspense and the unpredictability of both characters on their next move. It starts with a rolling stone, Frank Chambers, stopping at a diner to work as a helping hand. There is an instant attraction to the owner's young and flirtatious wife, Cora. One thing leads to another, and a plot to murder the filling station owner - husband, is hatched and executed successfully in a planned accident.

After this, the plot becomes twisted where the members of the legal profession try to confuse Cora and Chambers. Frank hears about an insurance policy bought under the husband's name for the first time. Here, the story attempts to take a jab at the legal profession. It shows how the court makes a charade of the charge, admission of guilt and leniency.

The ensuing tension between Frank and Cora is illustrated beautifully in the rest of the movie to give real meaning to the film's title. Just like how we always hear the postman's second ring of the doorbell, fate has a sure way to trap us in our mistakes. We cannot run away from our wrongdoings.

Life is full of 'what if's!

Dhuruvangal Pathnaaru (16 Extremes)

Back in the 90s, my sisters suggested that I should watch a revolutionarily new Tamil with a new format, 'Puthu Puthu Arthangal' (New Meanings). A then new to the Tamil cinema, Rahman was the star. Later, he acted in 'Sangamam', another milestone depicting the clash between classical Indian music and the folk music. Rahman was rarely seen after that till I saw him in this rare neo-noir Tamil crime drama film. The years have been kind to this lanky star. His appearance has not changed much over the years.

It was quite engaging to watch this flick. From the word go, I was hooked. Initially starting with the cliche and cute philosophical lines, I was keen to know how it would progress. The curiosity increased as the narration flip-flopped between the present and five years into the future. A retired police officer has a chat with a chap whom he mistakenly thinks is his subordinate's son. Thinking that the visitor ('the son') is a keen follower of his last unsuccessful case, they discuss details of it at great lengths. The storytelling is so compelling. The police procedures are discussed quite meticulously with no chance for holes. I thought that this film who also follow what most Tamil films do - make the story quite complicated and end it with the most ridiculous impossible explanations just to tie the loose ends. Luckily, it did not end that way here.

One has to watch till the end to appreciate the twist at the end and then suddenly all the profound voice-overs by the narrator would start to make perfect sense.

Life is full of possibilities. Whenever something does not turn out in our favour, we always ask ourselves 'what if', 'what if'. What if I had pursued another career path? What if I had married my first girlfriend? What if I had stayed single? What if I had not answered the phone when I was driving? What if I had not been mean to the stray dog? Life is full of unanswered questions. I am pretty sure I would be asking the same questions if I had taken the alternate path.

A story as told by one person may put him as the protagonist, the hero. To another person, this same story would be narrated as if the first person is the villain. It is all one's perspective. A surprisingly cerebral film from a 22-year-old debutante. Way to go!

A philosophical sci-fi

Blade Runner (1982)

I remember watching this movie during the carefree days of post-STPM examinations. It was one of the films that my friends and I managed to watch through a then-new contraption called VCR using VHS tapes.

One thing that struck me then was the rampant use of Chinese in the film's billboards and the hawker food stalls. It was, however, set in Los Angeles.Was it a subtle message that the Chinese culture would prevail in the year 2019? The world is an Orwellian type of dark, wet and chaotic world where pandemonium ruled, and police are kings whilst the big corporations rule. Clones of men called replicants are used to do menial and dangerous works, especially those that involve work in outer space. They are outlawed to be on Earth. Blade Runners are law enforcement officers specific to apprehend them.

Four replicants made it back and pose a threat. Basically, they came back to get their makers to extend their lifespan. You see, they are only made to serve for four years, and every replicant has a shelf life. That is where our hero, Rick Deckard ( Harrison Ford) comes in. He is the best-known Blade Runner but left the force because he could not stomach all those killing. So starts the cat and mouse hunt for the replicants. In the process, there is also a new generation clone Nexus 6 replicant which has more human qualities and becomes the hero's love interest. This sci-fi offering is quite a cerebral offering with questions regarding the purpose of life and issues about death. The dialogue is quite philosophical giving the whole film a noir feel.

Memorable quote:

Roy (Replicant): I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain. Time to die.

Deckard: [voiceover] I don't know why he saved my life. Maybe in those last moments he loved life more than he ever had before. Not just his life... anybody's life... my life. All he'd wanted was the same answers the rest of us want. Where do I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got? All I could do is sit there and watch him die.

Love among the common people!

They drive by night (1940)
This old noir has Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role. In fact towards the later part of the movie he goes missing.
This obscure film is the story of 2 brothers who struggle through life as truck drivers. Their job is tedious involving long hours fighting sleepy eyes, earning measly sum from truck companies from their goods, running away from creditors who were out to repossess their truck and generally feeling miserable. They have to meet short deadlines and on top of that have to bear the inconvenience of road accidents.
The early part of the shows one such trip where they swerve to avoid a speeding car and damaged their tyre.
The brothers, Joe and Paul Fibrini, each their own set of problems. Joe is single and wants to come up in life but the going is getting harder by the day. Paul is married and has to make do with leaving his lonely alone at home. They have decided to delay stating a family until things are stable. Of course, all cannot to wait to work regular hours and avoiding the danger stretches of highway and constantly endangering their lives.

The Widow, femme fatale!

They meet a waitress in one highway eatery. She later joins them on their trip after she absconded from her job when her boss made some improper advances on her.
Joe eventually falls for the waitress, Cassie.
During one of their trip, Paul sleeps at the wheel and they have a
nasty accident as their truck skids of the road. Joe escaped unscathed but Paul loses his arm. The truck is a complete write off.
Paul is depressed and Joe volunteers to pay for the medical expenses. Wandering aimlessly, Joe is offered to work for his friend, Mr Carlson who is a self made truck owner.
Trouble comes to Joe in the form of a young Mrs Carlson who once had the hots for Joe. Bored with her senile but naive husband, she tries to seduce Joe in vain.
One night at the spur of the moment, she intentionally leaves her stuporous husband in the car with a running engine in the confines of a closed garage. Mr Carlson's death is certified as accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Joe is invited to be the partner of the company by the widow, Mrs Carlson. After repeating failures at wooing Joe, Mrs Carlson finally reveals to Joe her selfless efforts of murdering her husband just to be with him. It still did not work as Joe was already about to marry Cassie!
When the police comes to the picture, she changes her story - that she was the victim who was forced into the crime by Joe. Luckily, when the case comes to the courts, the pressure of the turn of events proved too overwhelming for Mrs Carlson. She cracked under pressure, talking irrationally to be labelled as raving lunatic. Joe goes scot free.
At the end, all ends well. Joe decides to continue working as the boss, get married and Paul becomes a father! A B-noir with a happy ending? If only life was so easy, with a happy ending and eternal bliss!