Aw, I’ve fallen behind AGAIN! Anyway, it was only because I was very, very busy pretending to be busy. Got it?
Ok, so I’m going to write about three of the best films I have seen in the past few months or so. Incidentally these three have found their way into my favourites’ list. That is, if ever I decide to make one. (Yes, yes, enough of rambling now; it’s reserved for the other blog)
The first one is the latest Batman movie – “The Dark Knight”. The superhero genre is not really my type, but this one had got such rave reviews that I had to see it. And I was not disappointed. Great direction, superb acting, breathtaking cinematography, unforgettable dialogues, amazing stunts and above all a gripping story: this movie has it all! Now I’m not going to recount the story or sing its praises; the papers, the internet, the TV channels are all full of it. What I want to discuss here is the political metaphors used in this movie. The film is obviously a political allegory and my interpretation of it is as follows:
“You either live long enough to be a villain or you die as a hero” (Harvey Dent)
Batman, as we know, is a “vigilante” who goes about the city exterminating criminals and crime from Gotham City. On the one hand, he is an inspiration to people who don the dark suit in order to stand up for their city. On the other had, some question the need of having a masked vigilante who takes law into his hands. He is generally admired but when he fails to do his job, he is loathed as much. Batman, for me, is the symbol of the United States of America. America is (or used to be) for most of us the country of civil liberties, the land where dreams could come true, where everybody got justice. We expect America to stand up for human rights, against dictatorships and unjust regimes. Why, we even believe (atleast Hollywood does) that when aliens will attack or when a giant asteroid will come hurtling towards earth, the Americans will save us all. Yet, most of us criticise America for trying to be the “vigilante”, the “policeman” – punishing other countries, interfering with their internal affairs and waging wars which can be hardly called legitimate. (That is if wars can ever be called legitimate.) Isn’t it quite paradoxical? Well, I am not here to talk of politics. Indeed, it is a subject of which I hardly ever understand anything. Why not move on to my next favourite then?
“The Shawshank Redemption” is a touching story about life in prison and redemption. It was adapted from a novel called “Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption”. Now what Hayworth has to do with this film you will know only on seeing this beautiful film. Again, let’s not discuss the story but just a part of it that stayed with me even as the film ended. One of the characters in the film is freed after decades of incarceration. The prospect of walking into a world which has changed enormously in the meantime, terrifies him. He ultimately commits suicide. As Red (Morgan Freeman) says, he was so “institutionalised” by his stay in prison that he did not do what to do with his newfound freedom. Aren’t we all “institutionalised” to a certain extent? Why do we willingly wear shackles and why are we afraid of being free?
Let us go one to the last one before I start “rambling” too much. “To Kill a Mockingbird” (both, the movie and the book) is obviously a classic. It is also a perfect adaptation of screen adaptation of a book. It is entirely faithful to the book and yet there is some originality in the screenplay and the dialogues. And ofcourse, Gregory Peck is perfect as Atticus Finch. No wonder then that Atticus is America’s number one favourite hero.
Well, I’d say that these three are one of those films that you must watch before you die. Try and catch The Dark Knight in a theatre; I assure you it’s double the fun with people cheering and clapping. And yeah, I forgot to say how wonderfully menacing and terrifyingly funny Heath Ledger is as the Joker. I smell a posthumous Oscar…
