RIFLE RANGE BOY

Old Boy (Korean; 2003) Director: Park Chan-wook It looks like we are walking around like hypnotised beings, doing what is taught to us. We were coached to hold specific values close to our hearts because that seems the only correct way to live our lives. Again and again, we are drilled with these ideas to give a sacrosanct feel to it. In a way, we are all zombies walking around doing things expected of us. The funny thing is that nobody knows what is expected from our existence. We are told that, unlike other creations, humans are given that unique sense called consciousness that puts us apart from animals. Hence, there is a need to follow specific rules. Living life by preset man-made rules must be difficult. Failure to conform carries a baggage load of guilt, and the results may not be most welcoming. Anger toward one's own self may cause malady of the mind. Anger towards others will invoke the very primitive primal desires that we kept suppressed as we become more 'civilised...

Fly by Night (Malaysian, 2019) Once a while you get a good Malaysian movie without the usual ridiculing of races or filled with simpleton slap slick comedy. This is it. There are no attempts by the moviemakers to ensure that the characters are overtly different. They are who they are, Malaysians, and they act their roles. They switch between Malay, English and Cantonese seamlessly, with no demarcation of us and them. Every scene springs familiarity as the background has been seen in real life many times before. The settings are authentic, like the back lanes and the interior of a typical working-class Chinese family. The film centres around a band of brothers in a small family business of extortion and trickery. They use their city taxis and the airport terminal as their fronts for their nefarious activities. Their quiet business becomes a mess as their firebrand youngest brash family member spring wings and wants to explore greener pastures. A scorned mistress who is hel...

Badla (Revenge, Hindi, 2019) Dhritarashtra, the blind king of the Kauravas, wanted an up-to-date account of the war. He summoned his charioteer, Sanjaya, who is said to have telepathic powers to describe the events in Kurushetra.  The narration of the battle is from one person's perspective (i.e. Sanjaya). It is told in a version the listener wants to hear, i.e. how his army is doing. The truth is not something so clear cut. It is akin to a blind man describing an elephant, standing at one end of the animal. The understanding of the whole picture depends on where he is coming from.  If Bhagavadgita were told by Draupadi, it would be a description of revenge and justification of violence on the grounds of humiliation and protecting one's dignity. As arbitration to avert war between cousins, the Pandavas and Kauravas, was on-going, Draupadi was all out for a clash to settle the score. Influenced by how one tells his story, his body language, his persuasive skill, and h...

Nocturnal Animal (2016) Screenplay and Direction: Tom Ford Probably, from the time our pre-frontal lobes of the brain started becoming more complex, humankind must have started wondering the meaning of it all, the meaning of our existence, the path for us to follow and the dos and don'ts of life. We must have wondered whether we were made to follow a predestined pathway of life or we are all different beings with different destinations and map to follow. We may have thought that our varied capabilities, capacities and composition are the very essence that makes the world to exist. Hence, we cannot expect every individual to be moulded out to fit into a certain preset prototype in a society. Everyone is different and the society indeed needs variety in its netizens' make up for its continuity. Maybe because we are scared what the future holds for us, we want to follow the path most taken and insist that our loved ones do the same. Unfortunately, not everyone is cut for t...