Everyone in the modern world is empty inside!

Air Doll (Japanese, Kūki Ningyō空気人形) 2009

As the world becomes more complicated with gizmos and technology, so does inter personal relationships. Communication between individuals becomes difficult, albeit the availability of plethora of telecommunication devices.  

This drama is a story of such a man, Hideo, who carries on a totally boring life of a salary man in Japan. He rides alone in crowded train on a drizzly nights, shops alone and comes home to a empty house (err.. to his companion, an air inflatable mannequin which acts as his sex doll, Nozomi). He talks to her, bathes her and tugs her to bed.

Actually when Hireo if off to work, she becomes alive (develops a heart), dons a maid's attire and her child like curiosity makes her wonder the streets to explore the world around her.  She meets many characters who seem as empty as her, some losing their life long companion, some empty in character.

Soon Nozomi leads a double life after romantically linked to a guy working in a DVD rental shop - working in the daytime and back home with Hideo at night as his companion.

Then things gets complicated...

Doona Bae

Whilst helping around the shop, Nozomi has a fall and sustains a cut a on her wrist and becomes decompressed as the air in her escapes! The DVD boy, Junichi, inflates her back to life and Nozomi's feelings intensifies and the feeling is mutual.

Nozomi realizes that being a doll was easier, having a 'heart' makes things complex.

She discovers too that Heido (her owner) has a new doll now, after getting 'fed-up' with Nozomi. Nozomi confronts him. The last thing that Heido wanted in his life was'someone' commanding him and nagging him - the main reason he got himself an air doll in the first place! After a few exchange of harsh words, she runs away. 

After some soul searching, she returns to the factory she was 'born'. She realises that even though she does not age and does not develop wrinkles, her kind are still abandoned just like the many mannequins abandoned in the factory. She is just a substitute. Just like a human, she also has a life span (shelf life).
Nozomi and Junichi get intimate but Junichi dies in a freak mishap perpetuated by her. 'Heart broken', Nozomi releases her air from her belly and lies in a heap of garbage for the sanitation workers to pick her up as unburnable trash, just like the doll that a small kid threw into the pile. She tells herself that life was simple when she did not have a heart. The End. 終わり.

Well, it is just an abstract movie where the viewers cannot try to make and sense of logic on how a doll comes to life and adjusts to daily living. Life gets complicated when you think too much....

Things better left to Imagination

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Director:Stanley Kubrik
Phew! That is what I told myself. This film is the perfect example how a good quality film just blows your mind. It is not difficult to understand why such an offering with so much of silence, dearth of dialogue and good old Johann Strauss II's Blue Danube orchestral music goes a long way to have an impact to its audience than all the marvel of pyrotechnics and nonsensical exhibition of flesh can do. This 1968 offering has a cult like following and conspiracy theorist have targeted Kubrik (the director and co-screenplay writer with Arthur C Clark) of having a hand to staging the televised screening of the moon landing that never happened!
This flick is indeed a classic with its cinematography far ahead of its time. The story is divided into 4 parts and for a good part of it is left to our imagination. This epic has been the precursor for many sci-fi movies to come after that, eg. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars and many more.
A good 5 minutes is spent on introducing the now legendary music score which is often used to indicate the climax of an event like the announcement of the winner of a competition, with the picture of the Sun emerging behind Earth as seen from space.
The next 15 minutes show how primates learn skills after holding a bone. They learn to hunt and also fight amongst themselves. They see a monolithic structure which emits a strong vibration and probably gives them wisdom. Soon after this, he learns to use a bone as a tool to attack. He throws the long bone in mid air and we are drawn into the next scene... a space ship (?nuclear warhead).
As if to denote evolution of these creatures, we next we see a space ship cruising in outer space to the soothing sounds of the Blue Danube.

Only after 25 minutes, do we hear speech. A flight stewardess struggles to walk the aisle of a commercial plane set-up like space ship in zero gravity environment. The vehicle then reaches its destination. As the passengers alight the craft, the computer verifies them by voice identification.
A US investigator is sent to the Moon Base to investigate some strange occurrences. After much fanfare, the researches reach again a monolithic structure which emits high frequency sounds. The stone is apparently pointing towards Jupiter. Swish...We are into the third story.
A space ship is enroute to planet Jupiter with 2 astronauts, 3 astronauts in suspended hibernation and a known it all computer HAL 9000. The computer (which may have developed emotions) diagnoses that one of their radar may malfunction, so the astronauts go out to investigate. After finding that there is nothing wrong with the structures, the astronauts were 'lip-read' by HAL that he (the computer) was going to be shut down! HAL severs one of the astronaut's oxygen supply and locks out the other. The life support of the hibernating astronauts are terminated.
The remaining astronaut enters the ship via an emergency entrance and manually shuts down HAL. A pre-recorded message reveals the secret about the monolithic structure found on Moon 18 months previously. We then move on to the last story - Jupiter and Beyond Infinity.
The previous astronaut, Bowman, leaves the mother ship in a space pod towards Jupiter. He enters the atmosphere and is drawn into a dizzying kaleidoscopic journey of psychedelic hues into another dimension. He sees himself growing old progressively in a majestic white room with white piano, regal furniture and the works like the one in John Lennon's white room in the music video of Imagine!
He sees the monolithic structure again and he is transformed into a fetus encapsulated in a bubble gazing into planet Earth. The End.
The dearth of dialogue makes one's imagination go wild with interpretation of what is actually shown on the screen. The monolithic structure reminds us of the shivaling (shivalingam), the black stone that allegedly had fallen from the skies to land in Kailash at the foot of Himalayas which gives wisdom to Man. The evolution of Man is depicted (if you believe in the Theory of Evolution) of how from a brainless hominid, he evolved to gain simple living skills, to create Artificial Intelligence (which in turn controlled him!) and to explore beyond the stars. There is also a suggestion of reincarnation...
Maybe I can catch the sequel and learn more secrets..(2010: The Year We Make Contact)

Be grateful with what you have!

Falling asleep?

Skyfall (2012)
Maybe my expectations were too high. You cannot blame me for that. After all, it is the 'larger than life' film of Bond, James Bond, and in his 50 years of existence after Dr No. Maybe because of his two prior convincing performance as a spy in Her Majesty's service fighting baddies in a swashbuckling never-say-die attitude, I expected more cliff hanging moments from Daniel Craig.
50 years into its inception, Fleming's hero had snowballed the creation many copy cat spy thrillers and heroes and its successors have tried and managed to outdo him. (e.g. Indiana Jones, John MacClane of Die Hard fame)
Skyfall starts on a promising note with no nonsense straight to action scene with its trademark 'cat and mouse' chase in the busy bazaar,streets of Istanbul, the less affluent roof tops of old houses all the way atop a moving train till our hero is ordered to be shot at by a direct command from M (Judi Dench). Our hero is hit, falls deep into the ravine and river and the beginning credits role in...
It was a scene a bumbling spies, failing to recapture a stolen hard disc and fallen agents!
After that its pace got too slow for my weary body, after a long days' work whilst squeezing in a 8km run in between.
MI6 gets bombed, M's job gets into a limbo, Bond manages to meet the man behind the theft of the stolen disc through a few high adrenaline scenes.
Then things quieten down as M and Bond has a final showdown a the manor named 'Skyfall' in Scotland where Bond grew up. M dies in the duel. Bond reinstates his post under a new boss and we discover a new Ms Moneypenny.
Mmmm...through the twilight of semi snooziness state, I managed to get the gist of the movie. Somehow, I had the feeling that I was not engrossed into the movie, just watching from afar. There were a few memorable witty dialogues, however. There were a few jibes at the youthfulness of the new techno-geek Q and age related jokes. And the recurring glass bulldog menagerie in Union Jack colours that survived the bomb blast in MI6!

A full length comedy!

Madras to Pondicherry (Tamil,1966 B/W)

Director: M. Thirumalai

One of the sites I visited recently ranked this Tamil film as #4 in their list of 50 Tamil movies 'to see before you die!'. Not for any particular reason but its unique genre - the road movie category. In fact, I recall watching another film (Thirumalai Thenkumari), where various characters and escapades are depicted while en route to a pilgrimage. Along the way, the divine powers of the Lord are portrayed in a rather melodramatic and melodious manner through the story and devotional songs.

In Hollywood, offhand, one can recall films like 'Boney & Clyde' and 'Easy Rider' which fit this description. In a way, the 60s western TV series 'Have Gun Will Travel' - "¶Paladin, paladin, where do you go?¶" - can be included because it shows someone with a dark past seeking adventure! MTP is a full-length comedy with a minor element of suspense woven into it. It tells the story of the adventures of a bus driver (A. Karunanidhi) and his conductor (Nagesh) as they travel in their rickety bus, which has seen better days, from Madras to Pondicherry.

A lady desperately boards the moving bus in a panic, trying to escape some attackers. As the bus continues, we learn that the lady, Mala, has a dark past. Her story is revealed gradually, interwoven with the antics of the bus passengers and the occasional chaos and even anarchy that erupt inside the bus from time to time. There is a group of three men from a drama troupe, some friends of different religions, a narcoleptic, a bossy mother and daughter, a Brahmin couple - a domineering wife (Manorama), a henpecked husband with their overweight, thumb-sucking child (Pakora Khader, who also appears in many movies with obese jokes), and others.

Mala (Kalpana), an aspiring actress, ran away from her home after falling victim to two conmen who promised her stardom. Their rivalry led to one murdering the other. Mala witnesses this act and goes on the run. Her love interest is Ravichandran (@B.S.Raman, a Malaysian medical student who found acting more rewarding than burning the midnight oil studying Anatomy), who appears mysteriously during her career-boosting efforts.

All in a day's job

Meanwhile, the crooks trail the bus, and one of their accomplices boards it to attempt to gun Mala down. Somehow, Ravichandran also boards the bus. The hero then saves the day. The crooks are arrested. Actually, Ravichandran was the arranged groom for Mala, and their marriage takes place at the end.

All the passengers gather at the wedding, uninvited, and the main message to the audience was not to look at single girls with suspicion and bad intent, as the passengers of the bus were guilty of. They could be just as deserving as anyone else.

I remember watching this film in RRF, but I think there was a massive power failure, and we missed a large part of it. We didn't miss much anyway. The jokes, however, were quite original and were shamelessly copied many times over the years. The songs did not leave a lasting impression, and I have never heard them in my life.

For a full-length comedy, I prefer Nagesh's tour de force, 'Server Sundram', anytime.

Human Sacrifice!

Call me spoilsport. Call me weird. Because folks, the historical white Taj Mahal, sadly does not excite me. If you tell me, it denotes the love of Shah Jehan to his wife, I say bull shit! You say it is a marvel of architecture, I say, at what expense?

Easily the most photographed
building in the world!

It is a symbol of cruelty, of despotism, of one man's crazy dream to build the finest marble mausoleum for a lady succumbing to complications of post partum haemorrhage after delivering her 14th heir to the throne. The lineage to the throne is nothing to shout about anyway. We have all heard how the offspring without skipping a generation have imprisoned their elders, their parents and fought amongst themselves for greed of power.
The mausoleum is a reminder of all the devilish offspring borne by the mother's uteri to be born on Mother Earth for this eternal mother to carry the weight of the sin of their atrocities. It also reminisce the worker force, skilled and otherwise, who lost their dignity, times spent with family, their sight, their limbs (for fear by the king of craftsmen repeating such a feat elsewhere).

Coca chewing slaves toiled here!

I suppose the same can be said of such 'Wonders of the World' - Angkor Wat, Pyramids, Great Wall of China, Mayan Temples, Machu Pichu... 

But then again, some of these mammoth structures may not been men made but rather ancient alien technology infused / imparted, human slaves toiled, self (alien) serving monuments... Food for thought!

Going down...down, down...

Downfall (Der Untergang, German, 2004)

After 60 years of having unpleasant memories of the Third Reich and his atrocities to people of the world over, a film finally came out from Germany to portray the leader whom they elected and would like to forget. Trying to juggle a balance of not hurting the victims of the war, giving a sympathetic face to this leader, telling the history as it is, give a story to just to a few random events in life is not an easy task, but the film managed to put it out just so well.

For a person not very well versed in the nitty-gritty of warfare, it can be very confusing, but a little bit of background will put things in perspective. (especially Alec Guinness' '10 Last 10 days of Hitler' did help, though the latter was more simplified).

The movie starts on a night outside Fuhrer's office in 1942. Candidates are waiting anxiously for an interview for the post of a typist. A mild-mannered Adolf Hitler walks out to greet all of them individually. Somehow, even though she did not shine at typing and dictation, Taudl Hump still got the job. The story that followed is her perspective of what happened in the bunker during the last 10 days of Hitler's war.

Fast forward.. 1945 April 20, Taudl is awoken by artillery shells of the Russian who are just 12km away from Berlin. With this is in the background, we see many things happening over the next few days.

An infuriated Hitler screams in the bunk after hearing Russian artillery fire for not being told about anything.

Himmler, his faithful head of SS and his adjutant Fegelein (also Eva Braun's brother-in-law) try to talk to Hitler to leave Berlin but in vain. Himmler also negotiates with the Russians on the sly.

Hitler with Goebbels' kids 

Hitler birthday is celebrated, and Operation Clausewitz of scorching Berlin of all official documents is progress. Everyone is leaving Berlin.

A father who had lost his arm tries to talk his 12-year-old son of Hitler's Youth Corp to come home. He declines and is told that his platoon would be given the Iron Cross.
The bunker dwellers are given the option to leave. Many leave, but Trudl stays on as she joined the Nazi movement against the advice of her family.

The situation becomes more precarious for Hitler. A disappointed Hitler laments of what good deeds he had done for the Germans, like cleansing the Jewish poison off their soil. At one point, this desperate man becomes delusional hoping for non-existent troops and airplanes to annihilate the Russians. In another instance, he says the German people deserve to die for being weak.
One by one, his General desert him. Some are executed. Many chose suicide.

In the final days, Hitler marries Eva Braun who is portrayed here as a subservient lady to the bully, Hitler.

As Berlin is surrounded in all directions, cyanide capsules are passed around. Blondi, Hitler's German Shepherd, is the first to go. Hitler and Eva die and are cremated as ordered. Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda) and Mrs feed all their six children with cyanide in their sleep in easily the most moving scene of the film. After the act, Mrs Goebbels play solitaire!

Taudl escapes the bunker and the Russians and meets Peter (the youth soldier earlier). They walk holding hands like family, found a bicycle and ride their way to freedom...Das Ende

It is refreshing to see German soldiers from a different perspective after years and years of being depicted as bumbling brainless and emotionless soldiers who are just there to be target practice of the Yankees soldiers in most American war movies.

Kudos to Bruno Ganz for his portrayal of a sinking Adolf Hitler with his labile flair of temper and Parkinsons Disease stricken resting tremors. We also find out that he is not all anger and violence. Hitler has a softer side where he is capable of showing affection to his pet Blondi and is courteous to his secretary, cook and the workers of the bunker.

4/5, only because could not appreciate the dialogue. The film was nominated for the Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.