FilmCriticLalitRao

At a time when catholic church is involved in numerous controversies which have distanced followers from this religion, the success of the Russian film 'Ostrov'/'The Island' should be heralded as the breath of fresh air. It brings home the message that it is only a religion which can bring spiritual succor to human beings. The involvement of its leading player Pyotr Mamonov is nothing short of a miracle. Initially, he was reluctant to act in this film. However, at a later date he was convinced by a religious authority that such a role would bring him closer to religion. It is with great poise that he played the role of a holy monk who is afflicted by guilt as something unpleasant happened to him during second world war. In Russia, there is hardly anybody from the old generation who has not heard his rock songs which spoke about freedom. Apart from the rich message about man's need to embrace spirituality, Ostrov succeeds as the locations where it was shot are simply extraordinary. Filmed in the province of Karelia, Ostrov boasts of some of the finest locations ever filmed to portray an orthodox monastery. Past experience has shown that religion and cinema haven't been good mates. Russian film 'Ostrov' is an absolute exception to this rule. It is solely for this reason that it must be watched by all and sundry.

Franco-Swiss filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard continues to be an enigma.It is not only the choice of the topics of his films but also the way he films them makes him a puzzling director.'Hélas,Pour Moi'/'Oh,woe is me' is one such film which brings forth the enigmatic as well as recondite nature of his film making techniques.In terms of conventional customs prevalent in the world of cinema,this film makes very little or no sense at all despite having taken the services of some good actors including French super star Gérard Depardieu.The entire film is imbued with a plethora of words which transport viewers to a world of poetry.However,this verbosity becomes an impediment to the film's narrative flow as there is an evident lack of story.It is not so long ago that this same director favored a beginning,a middle and an end in the same film.However, Oh,woe is me suffers enormously from the lack of these elements. This is a big price for a film to pay as despite beautiful locations including trains and ships,this very film has failed to communicate any message to viewers.This is something which every viewer would take with oneself when this film is watched.