Santanu4096

I'm no professional critic nor a laureate wanting to draw examples from the great repertoire of literature to solidify my praise. I'm a thinker; and thinking about the film lately, having watched it a few months ago, I had come across the fact that the film isn't just a sequence of montages, but a philosophical revelation.

You are what are you are the moment.

Confusing aphorism, right? Let me explain. An actor or actress play different roles in different films. Similarly in our real lives, we also play different roles at different places or to different people; to some we are a friend, a partner, a son/a daughter, a father/a mother, etc. In other words, have different personas. In this film too, Mr. Oscar as he travels through different locations of Paris, he takes upon different personas (acting roles), including the Carax's infamous character Monsieur Merde. In the somewhat melancholic ending, we realise that Mr. Oscar *has no real self*. He was whatever he was at the moment; we too are, what we are the moment, and there's nothing such as true self.

Feel disturbed? I feel too, don't worry; we're all on the same boat.

Chakravorty's supposed magnum opus is a film made by charlatans for the charlatans, lauded with pretentious dialogue that was supposed to be highbrow commentary on the cosmic significance of human sexuality. The ending of it was surprisingly underwhelming, and failed to assert any signifcant meaning.

Perhaps the first, and the only ever produced movie about the subaltern mileu. Kangal Malsaat (or The War Cry of Beggars) penetrates into the fantasies of the lower-class. Throughout the film, the meandering and misguided communisty party of Bengal is mocked often, rhetorically so. The Fyataru-Choktor alliance aims to rejuveante the subaltern status quo by inciting them into anarchy to rebel against the state. Though comical in its appeal, the film is characterised by its penchant for crude jokes and bashing the left-front Stalinist politics; and it's not subtle, it's explicit as it should be!

Hats off to Suman Mukhopadhyay for pulling it off meticulously. Not only is it full of Bengali cuss words, but also full of filth-filth the bourgeoisie dump, expecting the workers to clean it for them.