Stalker

 It is classified as a science fiction film, but it is anything but that "Stalker" (1979) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and starring Alexander Kadanovsky, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Nikolai Grinko among others.

Its the slowest science fiction movie that i have ever seen. The camera moves ever so slowly and with a purpose. The Stalker (Alexander Kadanosky) takes people to a distant place where ordinary laws of physics do not apply and it was probably a site where a meteorite once fell. That is called the Zone and it is a difficult path to traverse.

One can't go in a straight line and each step has to be carefully taken. The stalker takes two men - the Writer (Anatoly Solonitsyn) and the Professor (Nikolai Grinko) to the Zone. Inside the Zone there is a room where all your desires and wishes will be fulfilled. Its an allegorical film in the sense that to achieve such a state of consciousness that to achieve one's desires, a person has to pass through many obstacles and difficulties and hardship.

The script is intellectually challenging because a whole host of philosophical questions are thrown at the viewer. The camera work is absolutely astounding, the art design showing the ruins and remnants of an industrial building including dirty water is breathtaking and stark. Cinematography as usual is quite good. Andrei Tarkovsky's movies are difficult to follow yet there is something in it for the viewers, something deep and thoughtful that a viewer can relate to in his own life. IMDB 6/10 

Bicycle Thieves

 

Iconic cult classic "Bicycle Thieves" directed by Vittorio de Sica in 1948, an Italian neorealist film ranked as one of the greatest films of all time. The film derives its strength from its beautiful story told in a simple style. Its a post world war II Italy and work is hard to find. Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) gets an employment call to stick posters of an upcoming film, but he must have a bicycle of his own, otherwise he does not get the job. He has pawned his bicycle to meet ends of his family comprising of his wife Maria, son Bruno and a small baby. Maria manages to sell some quilts and get some money to release the bicycle. Antonio is happy with his bicycle and dreams of a big future giving comforts to his family. Unfortunately on the first day of the job itself, some one steals his bicycle and then its a desperate struggle to get it back, because he knows what it means to him and his family. Antonio does not give up the search and enlists the help of his friends to find the bicycle. The police is not of much help and neither he can spot his own bicycle in the second hand bicycle mart. As he gets one rejection after another, Antonio gets frustrated and sometimes angry at his son, for the bad luck that has befallen him. Lamberto has done a brilliant role as the angst ridden Antonio looking for his bicycle. The climax is very poignant. Both Lamberto and Enzo Staoila (Bruno, the boy) were non actors when they played this part. de Sica has used poor neighbourhood to shoot most of his shots and none of his shots were in studio. It was all realist portraying the poverty, grime and unemployment of the city in post war Europe. Many Indian film makers have been influenced by Vittoria de Sica including Satyajit Ray, Bimal Roy both of whom showed poverty and angst in their movies.  The film won the Golden Globe for the best foreign language film in 1949. 

The Old Man and the Sea

A classic from Ernest Hemingway for which he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Its a simple story told in a simple form, of an old man a fisherman Santiago and considered unlucky in fishing circles because he has gone 84 days without a catch. A young kid is with him and enamoured of him but his family forbids him to go fishing with the old man. The next day i.e. 85th day the old man ventures far out to the sea in search of that elusive catch and manages to snare a big fish but the fish takes him around the ocean for two days and two nights all the while battling the old man for his strength and endurance. The old man respects the fish, starts talking to the fish but by the third day, the fish also gets tired and starts circling closer to the boat which is when the old man kills the fish with his harpoon. He ties the fish with a lasso around the boat since it would have been impossible for him to haul it on the boat since he was tired and also he was alone. But when he killed the fish, the blood attracts some sharks nearby and they attack the fish relentlessly. It is a metaphorical book, you can look at it from the view of the old man or the fish. The old man battles bravely but the fish is also equal to him. He has a great sense of justice towards the fish. Also towards Joe DiMaggio the famous baseball player whom he adores and whose father was a fisherman. So when he loses the harpoon and the knife, he uses the club against the sharks the DiMaggio way. In all the old man kills 5 or more sharks. All the time he feels the absence of the boy, and talks aloud that if the boy had been there, it would have helped him. In the end he is left with only the head, the tail and the skeleton of the great marlin. Goodreads 5/5.

The picture is taken from the internet and used only for representational purposes and not with an intention of violating its copyright. 

 

A Star is Born

This is not the 2018 version of the film, but the first version that was made in 1937 by William A Wellman and starring Janet Gaynor, Frederic March among others. Well, don't know how the other versions petered out, but i guess it should be more or less the same. Esther Blodgett (Janet Gaynor in an award winning performance) yearns to be a movie star and runs away from her home to Hollywood to become one, encouraged by her grandmother. A chance encounter with a fading movie star Norman Maine (Frederic March) gives her a foot room in the movies and she latches onto it. Meanwhile she and Norman fall in love but while her fortunes are on the ascendancy, his goes down plus he gets into drunken brawl, gets arrested and all. A beautiful story of love and tragedy between two people with the bitter press and jealousies getting in between them. Apparently it is a kind of a cult classic, which it has been made four times so far. 

 

Tokyo Story

Beautiful, compassionate, poignant story about aged parents visiting their children in Tokyo but the children being indifferent to them and at times hostile as well. Yasuhiro Ozu's beautiful movie Tokyo Story made in 1953 in black and white and a cult classic all these years. 

The retired aged couple who live in a distant village have two sons and two daughters and one son who had died so his widow survives him. One son lives in Osaka and others in Tokyo. One daughter lives with them only in their village where she is a school teacher in a school. In Tokyo they all have very busy lives struggling to make a living. Taking even half day off from work becomes impossible at times. Then they have grandchildren as well. So they are visiting the children after many years and look forward to it. Initially the children welcome them but later they become indifferent which the aged couple are quick to spot and realise it. Their daughter in law however is quite warm and friendly with them. After a short visit the aged couple return back to their home but the mother falls while in the train and has to deboard at Osaka where they visit their other son. Later on they come back to their village and the mother again falls ill. Its a beautifully made moving film and very subtle messages of love and affection. There is a beautiful dialogue in the movie which is "you can only love your parents while they are alive, and you cannot carry your respect to them to their grave". The Japanese is a beautiful lilting language, very pleasing to hear and the pronunciation is very clear. It is a timeless classic from the Japanese director. The Japanese say Arigato or thank you numerous times. All the characters have played good roles, so its difficult to single out anybody.  Cheiko Higashiyama as the mother has played a stellar role in the movie.