He had some dreams!

Dreams (Japanese, 1990)
Director & Story: Akira Kurosawa

Of all of Kurosawa's films that I have watched so far, this is one that I found least connected to. It is supposed to narrate a few of the director's dreams. I suppose he is also working in his sleep.

It is a series of 8 sequence of dreams. There is minimal dialogue but more of depiction of Japanese cultures and beliefs.

In the first, 'Sunshine through the rain', it highlights the folklore that believes that when the sun shines through a heavy downpour, the fox is getting married. People are expected to stay indoors. Failure of complying may prove fatal, as the young protagonist soon discovers.

'The Peach Orchard' displays the importance of peach in the Japanese culture. The Dolls which are the pillars of the peach festival are upset with the boy who chopped his peach tree.

In 'The Blizzard', the spirit of the mountain in the form of a beautiful woman, saves 4 dispirited mountaineers who were caught in a bad blizzard to reach the summit of their destination.

'The Tunnel' narrates the frustrations and the guilt of a commander in WW2 who was captured by enemy whilst his whole platoon including his anti-tank dogs perished.

'Crows' is a psychedelic presentation with CGI input from George Lucas. A painter is transported into Van Gogh's painting and he travels through the landscape, which uses Van Gogh's paintings as theme, in search of Vincent. Martin Scorsese gives a cameo appearance as the ear sliced near lunatic painter. This is the only snippet where English is spoken.

The last three segments ('Mount Fuji in Red', 'The Weeping Demon'  and 'Village of the Watermills') highlight the danger of nuclear reaction, its devastation, its danger of fauna and flora and finally the yearn of people to reject modernity and to go back to the pre-modernisation era. It ends like the starting scene from Tarkovsky's 'Solaris' with a serene view of stream with hypnotising sounds of flowing water and the restlessly swaying water weeds in it!

Blurry haze of psychedelia

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1990)
Written by: Hunter S Thompson
This is a weird film which has a kind of cult following based on the book written by the eccentric but prolific journalist cum author, Hunter S Thompson. Rumour has it that he is related to the famed Scottish surgeon Dr James Hunter on his maternal side, hence his first name! Thompson has an illustrious life to boast. Serving in the US Air Force and honourably discharged, he wore many hats, leaving a trail of angry superiors - as a security officer, a journalist, an author and even as a member of the Hell's Angels for about a year. Even, the Hell's Angels were upset with him thinking that they thought that he was using their association to monetise their life through his book. They demanded a portion as his earnings.
Thompson is said to be the pioneer of the Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting as a first person rather than as a bystander. A member of the counter culture movement, he experimented with many hallucinogenic substances. Many of his books are based on his life experiences. He has no qualms about showing his opposition to the Vietnam War and his dislike to Nixon. He strongly believed in the 4th amendment to bear arms.  His addictions haunted him in his later stages of life. He missed the 1974 Ali-Frazier 'Rumble in Jungle' as he was intoxicated even though he was sent to write on the bout!
He shot himself intentionally at the age of 67 (Right to bear arm?).

Hunter S Thompson

Coming back to the movie, it is very difficult to follow. It is no joy watching two grown men waddling along throughout the whole show, hallucinating, puking, talking gibberish and displaying all the intoxicants known to man. There is no respect to human, private and public properties. The characters of the Raoul Duke, a reporter (Johnny Depp in another indistinguishable role) and Dr Gonzo, an attorney (Benicio Del Toro) seem to get away with anything as they arrived stashed in Las Vegas to cover a off road dirt bike race and a US attorney conference.
The ruckus they create in the hotel whilst under the influence of hallucinogens is the crux of the story. They continue doing meaningless acts in their state of drug induced paranoia. It seem meaningless to watch their actions on and on until you realise at the end of the movie when the main character explains in his soliloquy.
The gurus of the mid 60s who introduced mind altering drugs as a means of exploring the true inner self have showed a path of self destruction. It does not discover anything new and had let us nowhere. It was a failed experiment. Boy, it is a very torturous and tortuous way of driving the point across.

(N.B. Not to be confused with Jim Thompson, the wealthy businessman, an ex-CIA man who went missing in Cameron Highlands and never to be found till date. Just like MH370, his liaison with the CIA regenerated many conspiracy theories.)

What is right anymore?

As we wobble along in our vessels in the sea of uncertainties, we make our rules as we sail along perhaps with strong conviction that we indeed have the right formula to reach our destination in one piece. Not only reach our destination in person but to finish strong and be respectable in our finish. Some have dogmatic views on how the journey should be done whilst others are contend being followers, following the path oft taken by others, the path of least resistance assured of success barring untoward misadventure.

I was thinking of our friendly debate of recent. What initially started on the merits and demerits of students squealing on the misdeeds of their teachers developed into something more profound.
What constitutes whistleblowing and what is being an obedient subservient servant of the system? Are the rules different for the adult and the minors? We are told to have self respect, fight the good fight against tyranny and injustices and follow the path of righteousness. Is the playing field different for the young minds?
A child complained to the Principal about the teacher who had had used what was in the student's vocabulary a foul sounding word and one thing leads to another and the teacher is reprimanded.

Is that a good move on the student's part that hails salutation and felicitation or is that setting a precedence for many more unhappy encounters with the authorities to come in the future?

No doubt, some rules border on ludicracy and have not evolved in tandem with the change of the times. If one were not to obey rules set by the powers that be, there is bound to be anarchy. Growing and maturing generally involves following regulations to ensure everyone gets a place in the sun. 

How is the process of learning going to take place if the awe and respect is not accorded to the guru. The master forms like a mould upon which students try to emulate and try to garner knowledge. No one is perfect, but if children are allowed to constantly ponder upon shortcomings of the master, I do not the transfer of knowledge can take place, suspicion on the side of the recipient and apathy on the side provider. Just a thought, not a formula.

Best swords are kept in their sheaths

Sanjûrô (椿三十郎, Japanese; 1962)
Director: Akira Kurosawa

This film is actually a sequel to Kurosawa's 1961 release of Yojimbo. In fact, this one is more entertaining than the former. It is not as violent, and the samurais here use wits and trickery to outbid their opponents rather than brute force. It also showcases many meaningful dialogues like the one stated above - that the best swords are the ones kept in their sheaths.
After watching this offering do you understand why samurai movies were so popular back in the days?

The story is basically about 9 young hot-blooded samurais who are disgruntled with their chief (lord chamberlain) who did not entertain their petition on organised crimes. They think that he may be corrupt. Whilst discussing their predicament, one of them informed that their Superintendent will look into it. Out of nowhere, a rōnin appears at their rendezvous suggesting that it may be the Superintendent who is the corrupt one after all. The rōnin (a samurai without a master), a 30 something who just coins a name for himself (Tsubaki Sanjûrô, after noticing Camellia flowers in the garden; meaning thirty-year-old camellias!)

The young ones were not convinced of his suggestion until they were surrounded. The following story is how these 10 warriors rescue the kidnapped lord chamberlain from the mighty Superintendent and his mighty band of warriors, using wits and dodges rather than might, mostly!
An entertaining flick.

A peak into Year Zero

Missing Picture (Documentary, 2013)

Another award winning documentary showcasing the evil that men do to each other in the name trying to save his country from the clutches of the enemy. Or is it a wrong choice of strategy (ideology) that blew right on the face? In order to right the wrong, the 'liberators' dug themselves deeper and deeper into their own grave.
At a time when the world was paranoid with the threat of a new ideology sweeping over the newly independent nations of South East Asia, Big Brother, as the self appointed saviour of mankind, tried against old odds to maintain their capitalistic brand of freedom in Indo China. The retreating communist rebels who fled into Cambodia were heavily bombarded by American bombs. The collateral damage on the side of the innocent peasants were too much, prompting them to fall prey to the promises of Pol Pot. After being enslaved for generations from the reign of the Chola kingdom all through to the French colonial masters, the people had enough. When the stomach growls and famine was an imminent threat, it was easy for them to be suckered into the promise of a new dawn where they would be masters of their own land. Equality was promised and classes were to be abolished.
Unfortunately, new Phnom Penh Government was defeated by Khmer Rouge on 17th April 1975 and Year Zero started, people realised that they had been taken for a ride. They had entered a dark era in the history of their civilisation.
This film is an interesting presentation by a survivor of 'The Killing Fields' who decide to tell his side of the story with the help of old propaganda films and clay dolls to reenact a time before 1975 when life in Phnom Penh was a bustling happy town. He fills up the 'missing pictures' in the era by remodelling dolls to create the happy times before his family members perished.
The Cambodians, like their predecessors in China during the Cultural Revolution, were hoodwinked into believing that they were self sufficient. Modern medicine and modern technology was bad. They had all it took to be a progressive nation. All of them had to toil day and night in the fields, exposed to elements of nature with little to go around. Paranoia and torture was the flavour of the times.

Some still believed in the promise but others re-live the living hell even to date. The believers seem to be hopeful of finding the eternal equality and truth for all mankind. They do not mind the human and social experiments all in the name of national pride. They just fail to accept that their doctrine had failed.
Quite many a time, the narrator reminisce the happier times when people were happy, people were singing, music was heard in Phnom Penh. Laughter seem to be something from the distant past. The moral guardians of the Revolution had not only abandoned education for masses, they had also outlawed musical instruments. Food rationing was taken to the limit that people found with 'luxury' items like mangoes and fresh fish were reprimanded severely. As the revolution believed that the land has the ability to feed man, everyone was forcibly worked in the fields, irrespective of their qualifications.
A sad presentation that reminds us of the mistakes that we had done to each other all in the name of national pride and defence of a piece of cloth and ideology!

Don't tell me to go anywhere; this is my home!

The Perfect Gentleman; Imran Ahmad (2012)

This is one book that most boys who grew up in a community where they are a minority can relate to. Here a Pakistani Muslim family moves to the UK in the 70s for better life and here is the description of the young boy who saw the world from his lenses. On one hand, he feels he feels very part of the country yet his fellow neighbours and everyday people who come in contact with him insist that he is different.
He narrates the uneasy times when he was heckled for being a 'Paki', almost missed his footing on a bus when the bus driver decided that he had enough with foreigners in the country especially when the economy was bad in the mid 70s.
Throughout his life he had an identity crisis with what is considered as norm in his family and what is practised in the country on the whole. He has a constant struggle with his religious belief taught by his parents and that of the one thought in the missionary and grammar schools. The recurring theme in his life is who is the real God, is it Allah, Jesus or Father of Jesus? What if he chose the wrong God and be eternally damned in the afterlife?
But then, I do wonder too, whilst reading through the book, why being in the 'correct' religion is a constant nag in people's life. Some people just accept the religion they are born into and do best with what they have. Religions with many names can never replace God with no name!

The ultraconservative religious groups (both Christian and Islamic) are of no help but confuse his standings. He wonders if animals have souls or are they just soulless automated vessels!

Growing in a predominantly White community, his likes and dislikes mirror that of his peers. Dressing like his idols, Simon Templar and James Bond (tall, dark, handsome with a longish nose), he daydreams of blondes falling flat at his feet. 

His conservative upbringing and religious convictions, however, makes him meek when it comes to things related to interactions between sexes. He just dreams on about the girls (mostly whites) who came in his life. They eventually went on their own ways. 

After reading all about his escapades and near misses in his academic life and later in his working life with Unilever and General Electric, we read that he finally met his life partner through matchmaking. Unfortunately, we are also made to understand that it did not quite work out. He, probably to respect the parties involved, decided not to dwell much into his post engagement life. It stops short just before the the matrimonial plans.

The book aptly ends with the answers to most of the questions that riddled in his mind throughout his life. The heartaches, hard knocks, death (of his cat, Star) managed to enlighten him on many things in life. At the end he accepts many inputs from other religions of the world as no one is superior to the other. There are many good things and bad things in all cultures. 

I could not understand why some people are so fixated with finding 'The Truth' and why do they the Truth is a single truth via a single path. Why can't they accept that 'all roads lead to Rome' and the truth is fragmented as whatever is told to us is heresy and we all know how some people is so insistent and cocksure about somethings as if they had an audience with God himself!

They failed to make a killing!

The Killing (1956)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
This is a film noir directed by Kubrick. Even though, it is of high quality and the story is quite fresh, it failed to make a killing at the box office. As Kubrick famously is said to have said referring to its shoestring budget, "We want to make good movies and make them cheap. The two are not incompatible."

It narrates the meticulous planning and execution of a robbery at the horse races. Johnny (the hero) is planning one last big one before he settles down with a hopelessly devoted girlfriend. With the precision of time and details, he devises a heist at the races with the help of a crooked cop, race track cashier, a wrestler, a sharpshooter, a bartender and others. Everybody has a reason to be part of the robbery. The cashier is a weakling who succumbed to the pressures of his two-timing gold digging wife. What was supposed to be well guarded secret leaks to the wife who tells it to her lover who also wants to lay his hand on the loot.

After creating many distractions in the race track, Johnny managed to rob the races collection of $2million.

After the heist, however, lover boy decided to ambush the party. A shoot-out ensued, eventually killing all. Johnny made it to the airport with his girlfriend with the stash of cash in a large briefcase. Unfortunately, due to its size, he could carry it as hand luggage. While being transported to the luggage compartment of the plane, a freak accident caused his bag to open. His well planned well-executed endeavour just went spiralling in the air with whirling propellers of the aircraft.
And Johnny was apprehended.