By Mathieu Kassovitz
A far cry from the beautiful and romantic portrayal of Paris in most films, this one takes you into the heart of the ‘Cités’. The Cités are housing schemes for the poor on the outskirts of Paris. Often in bad conditions, the Cités are soft-targets for the police as we have seen in the Paris riots of 2005.
This movie tracks one day in the life of three friends from a Cité: Vinz, Said and Hubert. Their friend is seriously beaten up by the police during a riot. Vinz takes an oath to kill off a cop if the friend dies. Armed with a gun that a cop lost during the riot, they roam around Paris aimlessly to kill time. They are thrown out of a sophisticated art gallery, refused entry in a nightclub, are beaten up by the police and have a violent fight with some skinheads. Disillusioned and angry at the world that refuses to accept them, they journey back to their Cité (as if rejecting the hateful world that rejected them). The film ends violently and on a pessimistic note.
The film, shot in black and white, succeeds in capturing the life in the Cités complete with hip-hop and ‘verlan’ (a type of slang). Interspersed with humour, the film doesn’t become too dark and depressive. Though the undercurrent of hatred and anger cannot be missed…
A must-watch!!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
An Equal Music
By Vikram Seth
Beautifully written but the story just doesn’t have the capacity to grip you. I took two long months to finish this 380-paged novel (by Seth’s standards, 380 is quite short!)
This is the story of a musician and the love of his life; is it the female pianist or music? And as love stories should, this one does not make you feel for the protagonists.
Beautifully written but the story just doesn’t have the capacity to grip you. I took two long months to finish this 380-paged novel (by Seth’s standards, 380 is quite short!)
This is the story of a musician and the love of his life; is it the female pianist or music? And as love stories should, this one does not make you feel for the protagonists.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
L’Empire des Loups
Starring: Jean Reno, Jocelyn Quivrin, Arly Jover
‘L’Empire…’ is basically an attempt by the French to make a slick, Hollywood-style, SFX-laden action film. They succeed as far as style goes but when it comes to the screenplay the film falls flat on its face. As it happens with most movies based on novels, the screenplay is too complicated to be understood by somebody who hasn’t read it.
The storyline: Anna Heymes, the wife of a Government official is starting to lose her memory and suspects her husband of foul play. Capitaine Nertaux is investigating the gruesome murders of three Turkish illegal immigrants with the help of a suspended, bad-ass cop Jean-Louis Schiffer (Jean Reno) who’s an expert on all things Turkish. These seemingly unconnected stories converge with the sole intention of confusing the audience.Things get even more complicated when a Turkish extremist group called the 'loups gris' comes into picture.
The action scenes are not that great and the storyline is a bit too confusing and unbelievable. But the performances are great. Special mention to, of course, Jean Reno, but then he’s batting on the home turf.
Overall, it’s watchable.
‘L’Empire…’ is basically an attempt by the French to make a slick, Hollywood-style, SFX-laden action film. They succeed as far as style goes but when it comes to the screenplay the film falls flat on its face. As it happens with most movies based on novels, the screenplay is too complicated to be understood by somebody who hasn’t read it.
The storyline: Anna Heymes, the wife of a Government official is starting to lose her memory and suspects her husband of foul play. Capitaine Nertaux is investigating the gruesome murders of three Turkish illegal immigrants with the help of a suspended, bad-ass cop Jean-Louis Schiffer (Jean Reno) who’s an expert on all things Turkish. These seemingly unconnected stories converge with the sole intention of confusing the audience.Things get even more complicated when a Turkish extremist group called the 'loups gris' comes into picture.
The action scenes are not that great and the storyline is a bit too confusing and unbelievable. But the performances are great. Special mention to, of course, Jean Reno, but then he’s batting on the home turf.
Overall, it’s watchable.
Trilogie
Directed by: Lucas Belvaux
A very innovative project with three films (Cavale, Un Couple épatant, Après la vie) cleverly interconnected. The three stories run parallel; some scenes are even repeated but every time they bring out a new perspective. Interesting but definitely not cinema at its best.
A very innovative project with three films (Cavale, Un Couple épatant, Après la vie) cleverly interconnected. The three stories run parallel; some scenes are even repeated but every time they bring out a new perspective. Interesting but definitely not cinema at its best.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Munich
With: Eric Bana, David Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz
The film is about the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics. Mossad plans to assassinate the Arabs (called Black September) that planned the massacre and Avner (Eric Bana) is assigned the mission.
Again I had enormous expectations from the film and it didn’t quite match up to them
The film is about the aftermath of the massacre of Israeli athletes during the Munich Olympics. Mossad plans to assassinate the Arabs (called Black September) that planned the massacre and Avner (Eric Bana) is assigned the mission.
Again I had enormous expectations from the film and it didn’t quite match up to them
Three Colours White
This black comedy is a part of the trilogy based on the three French ideals of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’. White stands for equality though, quite frankly, I did not understand what it had to do with the film. Maybe this is an ode to lack of equality. The hero is the underdog and life treats him unfairly; his wife dumps him, he (a Polish immigrant) barely speaking French is left on the cold streets of Paris, homeless and without a passport. A fellow Pole when transports him to Poland clandestinely, huddled in a suitcase. There our hero gets rich by dealing in the black market and plots to take a revenge on his ex-wife. He almost succeeds but old love is rekindled and he ends up regretting.
I had quite humongous expectations from the film since it has got excellent reviews. But I was quite disappointed, maybe because I am not used to watching black comedies. I also did not like the ending since the ex-wife portrayed throughout as cold and cruel is shown full of regret and love all of a sudden.
I had quite humongous expectations from the film since it has got excellent reviews. But I was quite disappointed, maybe because I am not used to watching black comedies. I also did not like the ending since the ex-wife portrayed throughout as cold and cruel is shown full of regret and love all of a sudden.
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