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Reviews
Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin (2019)
A Writer Like No Other: Herzog's Tribute to Chatwin
In the beginning of Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin, Werner Herzog notes: "Bruce Chatwin was a writer like like no other. He would craft mythical tales into voyages of the mind." Herzog himself has a strange ability of transforming the most brutal and horrific aspects of nature and society into poetry of the soul. It is even more astonishing if one notes how unromantic his treatment of nature actually is. In Grizzly Man (2005), Timothy Treadwell's enthusiasm for the bear is undercut by Herzog's voice pointing out the indifference of the beast to human sentiments. The British travel writer and Herzog's long-time friend Bruce Chatwin possessed a similar fascination with nature, landscape, and people, especially Aboriginal communities and nomadic tribes. Made with a lot of love and care, Nomad is Herzog's tribute to his friend. Instead of facts about Chatwin's life, we are offered a portrait of his soul. Herzog's documentary goes to the places Chatwin cherished in his life. And the result is mesmerizing.
Ice on Fire (2019)
Pertinent and Powerful
This is a pertinent and powerful documentary once again coming from DiCaprio. This documentary tries to find ways to stop or reverse the negative effects of climate change. The cinematography is brilliant; the narrative voice of DiCaprio confident and urgent without being haughty. And most importantly, it is based on facts and statistics from around the world.
Khozhdenie po mukam (2017)
Excellent In All Aspects
This is an excellent series, both gripping and emotional without being melodramatic. Acting, script, direction, cinematography, use of music --everything is very well executed.
Se rokh (2018)
Cheerful Film on a Dark Theme
The film works brilliantly within the unity of time, place, and action. There is not a scene, not a dialogue, that is superfluous. The 3 faces of the title are the faces of a wannabe actress, an actress, and a former actress who all struggle against social persecution and ostracism. Panahi's love for the absurd and the ironic keeps the film afloat in an otherwise dark sea of pathos. Saw this film in Kolkata Film Festival 2018.
A Star Is Born (2018)
Good Film, But...
Both Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have delivered great acting. The songs are good. The plot-line is strong, though a little bit predictable. So, the film had all the material to turn it into something fabulous. However, something seemed missing. The film failed to create powerful emotions, something one would expect from the theme of the film.
The Maus (2017)
Excellent Historically Grounded Thriller!
It is somewhat surprising to see such a low rating of this excellent film. This film is an excellent thriller with grounded historical references.
The film concerns a couple who get stuck in a Bosnian forest on their way home from the woman, Selma's family's funeral, who were killed during a genocide in the Bosnian war. In the forest they are confronted with two ferocious Serbian militant, and from there on the film takes a dark turn.
The background is the Bosnian war, and especially the mass rape and genocide. It takes a quick Wikipedia search to know that during the war, majority of the genocidal rape was perpetrated by the Bosnian Serbs.
Among other things, this film also explores the inefficacy of the first world middle-class people's endeavor to "understand" a war-ravaged woman. Though Selma's German boyfriend tries to "understand" her, and "protect" her, he is not ready to give up his own comfort zone.
Howards End (2017)
A Beautiful Series
The one thing that strikes you first about this series is how beautiful it is because of the brilliant cinematography.
The series also makes the tale complex by introducing themes of colonialism, slavery, and class oppression. Though the plot is a comedy in the sense that the ending is happy, yet this happiness seems to be forced. This is because Mr. Wilcox is an out and out hypocrite, and yet Margaret and Helen ends up seeking his protection --a tragedy reinforced by the patriarchal society. The prostitute, Jackie is exploited by Mr. Wilcox. Mr. Wilcox hides from Margaret that she is the rightful owner of Howards End, and he is instrumental in the killing of Mr. Bast.
Hayley Atwell as Margaret seemed a bit constricted, as did Joseph Quinn as Leonard Bast. I adored Philippa Coulthard's powerful acting in the role of Helen.
Charité (2017)
Started Well, Ended Poorly
The opening of this series was very good, and that is why I kept on watching it. However, I feel the series suffers from a lack of direction: it knows not what it wants to do. While the central concern shifts from scientific investigation of diseases and their cures to personal lives of the major characters --their love and betrayal, ambition and disgrace -- the series starts to descend into melodrama. This is unfortunate because the series deals with a prestigious real institution, and real historical doctors, some of whom later went on to win the Noble Prize.
There are also several issues that the series picks up, only to discard them without exploration. For example, in the last episode, we are shown a "human zoo" comprising of "22 inhabitants from the Indian Subcontinent". The human zoo is conducted by the historical figure Carl Hagenbeck. Yet, he claims to have "Senegalese" and "Bengalese" people in his zoo. Needless to say, Senegal is not in the Indian Subcontinent, and there is no such people as Bengalese. The Indian people are shown to be clad in elaborate turbans and saris, and when one woman dies of pox, she gifts her nurse (who previously called her "dark as chimney" and "cannibal") an oriental-looking pendant. I think this part is very callously made, and stinks of what Edward Said would call Orientalism. Those people from the Indian subcontinent seem to function only as a source of momentary exoticism in the series, something Hagenbeck tried to do in the late 1800s.