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 sweet smell of freedom

Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil (Malayalam, Freedom at Night; 2018)

In terms of world cinema, this movie not score high on the scale of creativity. As far as Indian cinema is concerned, at least one given to minute details to the storyline, this would be number one.

Like Papillon and Shawshank Redemption, this film centres around the planning and the execution of a jailbreak.  The first quarter of the movie shows the circumstances upon which the hero gets imprisoned. In prison, he plots his prison break after recruiting his accomplices. There is not a dull moment as the storyteller managed to fill up the story with characters with compelling backstories. The props look real, and the actors are made scruffy and muscular enough to fit the bill of hardcore criminals. The fights look authentic and short enough to get the message. The music suits the situation, and the escape plan appears believable enough. There are a few failures and sudden changes of plan to hold the suspense. 

The inmates' plan is to dig their way out of their bunks to get to the outside of the prison complex and subsequently escape by boarding the midnight train, hence the title 'Freedom at midnight'. The only thing that kind of defies logic is how they managed to wash that amount of sand and dirt down their tiny toilet. Indeed it would have clogged up in no time.

Besides that tiny faux pas, it was a good attempt at procedural drama. 3.5/5.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Truth, stranger than fiction?

Usual suspects (1995)

In this time and age, many conspiracy theorists are having a field day. They come up with so many mind-bending and mind-boggling explanations to drive home their point of why a particular event happened the way it did. Their story may sound incredulous, but they sure have an appropriate answer for the turn of events. 

Take the example of the genesis of Covid-19. One camp will insist that it was a Chinese bioweapon that went wrong. To support their assertion, they would show 'proof' of the Chinese Communist Party's secret laboratory in Wuhan and how a diseased bat landed in their market-place. 

Then the opposing party will say that the virus is actually US-made. To arrest China's seemingly unstoppable ascent for emerging as the world's largest economy, the US had to resort to such dirty tactics. A third party would then appear to insist that the virus was just a natural mutation, a sort of Nature's fight back to reclaim its territories.

When you turn around and tell them that their tall stories are too unbelievable to be accurate, they would turn around and tell you, "Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction!"

Then there is the New World, the Illuminati, the Cabal of Bankers with the Rothschilds, the Mossad and the list goes on who really controls all the wars, the economy and even tsunami and climate change.

'The Usual Suspects' has a sort of cult following. It is often quoted as a pop culture reference in many American shows including 'Saturday Night Live' and 'Family Guy'. The convoluted storyline told by a convict of an elusive mobster and twist at the end of the movie is a classic for many movie buffs. It also boasts of many memorable lines reminiscent of any good noir movie of the 50s.

As the signature of the film says, 'the greatest stunt that devil pulled was that he never existed' is precisely how the hidden forces of the controlling powers work. Work is done by proxies. The right-hand whacks, whilst the left applies the soothing liniment. The arms that break also embrace. That is the art of deception.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The iconic ending scene (not to give anything away) via GIPHY

Rebirth to resume unfinished business?

Dora (Tamil, 2017)

Most Hindus believe that our physical bodies are just vessels for the Atma (soul). The Atma is eternal. It moves from births to births to finish unfinished business and to re-pay unsettled dues. Everything happens for a reason, and the reason is this. Nothing happens by mere chance or at random for nothing. Every flutter of a butterfly wing and every whiff of the wind that regenerates takes place in a pre-determined fashion. But then that would nullify the role of free will in deciding the course of our lives or it our free will also pre-determined. I think Avicenna incurred the ire of his contemporaries when he posited that God is too great to be worried about the nitty-gritty details of things that happen but decides on things seen at a higher level.

This must be the basis of this movie. The soul of a dog (Dora) goes into a car to avenge the death of its owner. Nayanthara is the kick-ass protagonist which unknowingly becomes the owner of a second-hand car which becomes alive with her touch. Nayanthara (as Pavalakodi) is the recipient of the dog owner's heart (heart transplantation).

The story seems far out. A self-thinking car with the ability to self-drive and auto repair itself, including re-materialising broken windscreen and headlamps in a jiffy is laughable. The story is predictable. It seems that nowadays, abusing parents and ridiculing them constitutes comedy. 2/5.

A Tamil whodunnit!

Nadu Iravil (Tamil, In the middle of the night;1965)
Director: S Balachander

Another obscure film from the annals of the not-so-popular list of old Tamil movies is Nadu Iravil, directed by a multi-talented director, S Balachander, a talented veena player who also acts in this thriller drama. This flick is based on Agatha Christie's 1939 novel 'And then there were none' (a.k.a Ten Little Niggers).

Initially shunned by distributors for its unique storyline and the dearth of melodious songs, which was typical of blockbusters those days, the reels were in cold storage for about five years before Balachander financed and distributed it himself to astounding success!

In the typical whodunnit fashion, the story's setting is in a big isolated bungalow on a remote island, entirely cut-off from civilisation. On the island lived an old couple, Dayanandham and his mentally challenged wife (probably PTSD), Pandari Bai, in recluse, with his comical butler (Cho) and a reliable bald-headed handyman. A doctor (Dr Saravana, S Balachander himself) visits them periodically to give them medical consultations. On one of his visits, Dr Saravana tells Dayanandham that he (Daya) is inflicted with a lethal form of leukaemia. Against Daya's insistence, the good doctor decides to bring in Daya's relatives for a weekend retreat at the island. Apparently, Daya had settled down on the island after an ugly encounter with them. His wife's condition may somehow be related to their behaviour. As Daya's days are numbered, the doctor thought it would be wise to get the whole family together; his brothers, sisters, and dependents.

The whole plan turned to be a disastrous one. It became a shouting match with Daya telling his relatives off that his monies will not go to them despite their admission of past mistakes. On top of that, one by one, people start dying like flies, being murdered in cold blood.

The premise of the movie is to track down the killer on the prowl! In the midst of all these, the elderly couple finds a gem in the form of their niece, Raagini (Sowkar Janaki).

A suspense infused family drama

Papanasam (2015)

After dabbling in many larger than life multiple roles to international appeal, Kamalhaasan has decided to quieten things a little and settle down to earth with this new film. It carries a strong story plot and points to ponder about familial bonds.

After over 20 years, we see Kamalhaasan (Suyambulingam) and Gauthami (Rani) acting together again. Of course, this time, with passage of age and agility, they are more sedate in acting as loving husband and wife with two daughters in a small village town in Tirunelveli. Suyambulingam is self made cable operator, a primary school dropout and a movie buff. He self educates himself from the things he see on his movies - legal, mystery, murder dramas and in many languages too. He is proud of his achievement and has no qualms of showing it to his more 'educated' wife and the crowd at the local eatery that he frequents. Suyambulingam, an orphan, had made a killing for himself, owning a thriving business, a house, a home, some shophouses and a piece of agricultural land. He is a lovable chap by all except a corrupt policeman, Perumal, whose incessant bullying of the uneducated is often chided upon by the protagonist.

His elder daughter goes for a nature camp. A bad hat takes images of her showering with a hidden camera and threatens to post it online in return for sexual favours. A scuffle ensues when her mother, Rani, comes to the scene. The daughter hits the perpetrator at the back of the head in self defence but it proved fatal. Unable to contact Suyambulingam, the mother and daughter decide to bury the corpse in a hole dug earlier for compost purposes.

When Suyambu returns, he is told of the turn of events. After a brief expression of emotion, he puts on his thinking cap. With all the knowledge gained from watching movies especially of murders and police procedural, he tried to clear the evidence and create a solid alibi for himself and the family. The rest of the film is a cat and mouse story of a 4th grade drop-out who outwits the parents of the perpetrator who just happen to be, of all people, the IGP!

Papanasam, is the name of the town the story is set. It is actually a remake of a Malayalam movie, Drishyam, acted by Mohanlal and Meena in the main cast. One cannot help but to compare the two movies. I actually managed to view both. Both are equally good, the main stars and the rest of the cast, i.e. The director, the same in both, managed to hold the suspense and interest of the audience by carefully mapping the story without any obvious discernible loop hole. Very rarely one would find such a story in Indian cinema.

The theme of the film is show just far a father would go to protect his family. For everyone, their flesh and blood is important. Just as much as how the IGP, also a mother, value her son in spite of him being wayward in his behaviour and perspective of life. That is life. For everyone, their views and belongings are precious. And they are selfish to protect that at all cost. That is an inborn human trait.

A classic Korean horror!

Hanyo (Housemaid, Korean; 1960)

Back in RRF, my sister and I used to enjoy Hong Kong drama black and white films of the 1960s with modern story-line of suspense, crime and murder.

Well, this one reminded me of one of those, with its characters donning 1960s Western attire and hairstyles, loud background music infused with electric guitar and percussion and a whiff of melodramatic overacting.
This 1960s Korean classic was recently rediscovered, and a remake was made in 2010, although the storyline is somehow altered.

Here, the suspense component is kept very much alive throughout the movie without overtly being gory. The characters kept their attire intact but still allured their appeal!

Kim is a happily married family man who is conducting a singing class for factory girls. He is quite a hit with the girls despite his serious external appearance. A young girl, Kwak, actually went into depression and subsequently died when she was humiliated for writing a love letter to him.
In his home front, Kim has two children - an older girl with polio and a younger boy. His wife is a hardworking housewife who does a lot of sewing to supplement their income.

As they move into their bigger extended house, Kim, despite his cash-strapped condition, decides to take in a maid to ease his wife's burden. She was pregnant.

Through his student, Ms Cho, who also eventually confessed to liking him, he got a maid. The maid became infatuated with her boss and tried to seduce him. At his moment of weakness, he caved in.

That started an avalanche. She became over-possessive. She tried to take over the household. The conundrum of whether she is going to poison the family members forms a central plot in the story. Along the way, the maid gets pregnant. Kim confesses to his wife, and they both try to induce an abortion. 

The cat-and-mouse game goes on to the point of insanity. A good suspense-filled flick.
Of course, you should not be asking questions like why the rat poison is in the same kitchen cabinet as the spice. And we are talking about a time when children are allowed to heckle their handicapped sibling with derogatory terms. It was politically okay then.

N.B. A remake was made in 1971 with the same theme with the title 'Woman on Fire'. Remade again in 1982 under the name 'Woman on Fire 82'.

Suspense before heist

Sexy Beast (2000)

This film is not your usual heist movie where the character spend a lifetime to pull it through. Even though the plot is thin, it makes up by the ability to maintain and keeping you on your toes trying to figure out how the movie would progress. Being a Spanish-English joint venture, there is a lot of sunbathing and cockney accent to lace the show.

Gal is a ex-bank robber who is retired from his trade and nicely leading a quiet life in his Spanish hacienda with his ex-porn star wife, Deedee, friend and his wife, Jackie.

The seemingly idyllic life is shattered by the arrival of a sociopath ex-colleague, Logan (Ben Kingsley).

Logan recruits and he want Gal for a massive heist in London. Logan, being the sociopath that he is, just does not want to take no for an answer. He uses his devious methods and blackmails to this end. Jackie, the friend's wife, apparently had had a fling with Logan.

This forms the crux of the story rather than  the heist itself.

Something happens in the final showdown and we are left to wonder when Gal is in London meeting with the crime bosses. They tunnel into a bank vault through a neighbouring steam bath shop.

We later find that Logan is buried under the house swimming pool!

Quite a gripping story, able to hold the suspense!

Sexy Beast (Urban Dictionary)

An irresistible man's man who seduces women with his witticisms and more notably with his extraordinarily handsome yet bestial looks. This beast-like man is the envy of all other men and the desire of all women and lives solely for hedonistic pleasure only.

Spy vs. Spy

Prestige 2006

This is a very interesting Christopher Nolan movie set at the end of the 20th century with his trademark twisting story-telling which goes freely into the future and back as well as dabbles with a bit of history of the epic rivalry between Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison over AC current.

It tells a story of two rival illusionists from London who would go to great lengths to outdo the other. Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) starts together as apprentices not in best cordial of relationships. They become arch rivals when Angier's wife dies during an escapist's trick and  Borden is blamed for tying the wrong knot. 

David Bowie as Tesla

Actually the film is told in a non linear narration form and the viewer can make sense of the story as the story progresses. The story starts with Bolden in jail accused of killing Angier and is to be hung. 

Both remain bitter rivals. When Borden  perform an impossible trick where he appears through another door almost as instantaneous as he enters one 20 feet away, Angier is perplexed. He sends his girlfriend/assistant Olivia (Scarlett Johansen) to spy on his foe. 

Angier is told to visit Nicola Tesla (David Bowie) in Colorado Springs to get his inspiration. The disgruntled scientist, whom has his own issues with Thomas Alva Edison (Just like Borden and Angier), runs some research for him. The work is hijacked by Edison's men but he manages to discover a duplicating machine!

Angier and his faithful mastermind (Michael Caine) perform their new trick to a roaring audience. 

Be prepared for a surprise ending!
It is a philosophical comparison between masters of illusion and masters of science to illustrate what lengths they would go to seek fame and fortunes - Angier and Borden vs. Tesla and Edison!