murtaza_mma

It's really heartening to see Hollywood still making such movies... it's heartbreaking to see American audiences snubbing it even as they continue to embrace the dumb superhero films. Had David Lean made Embrace of the Serpent then perhaps it would have looked like The Lost City of Z.

Here is a film that reminded me of so many great movies. A discernible viewer would find shades of Lawrence of Arabia, Apocalypse Now, The New World, The Wages of Fear, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Charlie Hunnam plays an English explorer Percy Fawcett who comes across as a thinking man's Indiana Jones. The movie also features deeply nuanced performances from one of my modern favorites, Robert Pattinson, and the intelligently beautiful Sienna Miller.

Kudos to director James Gray for his vision and courage to realize a film like The Lost City of Z. If you love the kind of films that I have talked about in the review then certainly you cannot afford to give this film a miss.

For more on world cinema please visit my film site "A Potpourri of Vestiges".

I wasn't aware until very recently that the great Indian filmmaker Mani Kaul made an erotic film titled 'The Cloud Door' back in 1994 with the ravishing Anu Agarwal (remember Aashiqui?) in the central role of a mysterious courtesan. Within a short run time of 20 odd minutes, Mani Kaul gives a demonstration of his cinematic mastery.

Had Kaul been born in Europe he would have been hailed as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Nonetheless, Kaul is to Indian cinema what Andrei Tarkovsky is to the Russian cinema. One cannot really think of another Indian filmmaker who succeeded in constantly reinventing the form. Some may mention Kumar Shahani but his body of work clearly pales in comparison to Kaul's formidable oeuvre which includes masterworks like Duvidha, Uski Roti, and Siddheshwari.

Coming back to 'The Cloud Door,' I encourage you all to watch it (you can find it on YouTube) but please don't hold it against me if you can't see much beyond its breathtaking images, a voluptuous woman and her naughty parrot that keeps repeating erotic verses, and a laughing fish. And because it's Mani Kaul at work, it is quite possible that the fish may be laughing at our ignorance that compels us to find purpose in a great artist's creative imagination.

P.S. It's a real pity that when Anurag Kashyap asked Mani Kaul about his films the master told him that he himself would love to watch them again if somehow Kashyap could help locate them for him.

For more on world cinema please visit my film site "A Potpourri of Vestiges".

Finally finished the first season of The Man in the High Castle and I must say that I am impressed! Ever imagined what would have happened had the Nazis prevailed during the Second World War? Well, here is your chance to witness the alternate reality and thank the Almighty that the Nazis were vanquished before it was too late. The Man in the High Castle presents such intriguing characters and subplots that they would blow any thinking viewer's mind. Speaking of the characters, I haven't seen so many complex caricatures in a single series. We have the wise Trade Minister Nobusuke Tagomi, the gritty Obergruppenführer John Smith, the pretty Juliana Crain and her troubled lover Frank Frink, the charming but duplicitous Joe Blake, the no-nonsense Chief Inspector Takeshi Kido, and the greedy but tenacious salesman Robert Childan, among others. If that's not enough we also have a senile and surprisingly peace-loving Adolf Hitler at our disposal. The rest of the supporting cast is no less remarkable such as the sadistic Marshall who doesn't think twice before terminating his victims in cold blood.

The attention to the period detail is striking. The series has already won a well deserved Emmy for its Title Design. The eerie tone of the series is set right from the title theme song '"Edelweiss" borrowed (but completely transformed) from The Sound Of Music. Of course, it wouldn't have been what it is today without its brilliant parallel editing that at times seems greatly inspired by the Baptism Sequence from the The Godfather. In a nutshell, The Man in the High Castle is absolutely brilliant and impossible to forget.

P.S. I must confess that after watching the pilot it was a bit difficult to decide. But the subsequent episodes have constantly improved. It is not like Game of Thrones where half of the season is spent on setting up the season's finale, for every episode takes us deeper into the alternate reality originally envisioned by the great Philip K. Dick. The reviews for the second season have been quite encouraging and we can expect the third season by the end of 2017. So there's enough time if you want to catch up on the first two seasons before the third one goes live.

For more please visit my film site "A Potpourri of Vestiges".