Thursday, February 11, 2016

4 films


'Madness', 'Madness',...yells a British soldier walking the ruins of a blown up railway bridge in The Bridge on the River Kwai; towards the close. The film is about Britishers against Britishers with the Japanese having a few camera minutes. Have seen it twice in Calcutta, saw it again on Wednesday; much less of violence and a psalmic quiet towards the end howling a 'Madness'. Is it a war film? From around 12.30 lolled in the arm chair with The Bridge on the River Kwai; followed To Kill a Mocking Bird; next,Witness for the Prosecution and last Marathi film Shwas. It was 10.30 evening; through the night Atticus and Vichare roamed the head as there is a Madness to all the films; perhaps, Madness is a necessary qualification for a top class film; me is not talking of Oscars and all that; a film is good without awards; ask any director: a film is serious fun. The AAA scene in To Kill a Mocking Bird is when Jem places his sister Scout, inside a tyre and rolls it down the road; the girl goes round and round reminding me of the deft, improptu scenes from Ray and Adoor; didnt we do it as kids?; these shots could have been spontaneous; and Gregory Peck as Atticus reminds me of my cousin Ramu and son-in-law Rajesh Patil; Rajesh is never upset with Shreya and Chiyu, do what they may and they scrum a lot; at worst, he smiles a 'jaodiya'. Ramu never hectors sons, Aditya and Kartik; hope Kartik Iyer confirms; Atticus (wife dead) is the father, wished me had one like that; Jem and Scout pull up Atticus, call their father Atticus and always wind down with a Yes Sir; murders cancel murders; there are no truths to search and dig for; like it happens in Witness for the Prosecution with the pappad-like British humour sponging blood drops; Charles Laughton perhaps noses ahead of Gregory Peck, for the fun; and the court scenes in both films are real having reported Ambani-Wadia cases in the Bombay High Court; courts are closer to tombs; not the thundering speeches of Mohanlal and Mamooty to absent judges in Malayalam films; perhaps many will not agree but the court scenes in the Marathi film Court are the best me has seen; Rama enjoyed To Kill a Mocking Bird and the Peck sentence: Mockings birds are not to be shot as they sing the best. Yet the film which put holes in me was Shwas; sure am sentimental, yes wept with Vichare and his grandson Parshuram. Own up, Shwas is a dear, me could relate to and when there are drops and dashes of Konkan, me breaks up. Shwas (Breath), seen it twice and by 10.30 it was all over. Rama and Ganesh find it hard on their emotions but the story happens. Hours of films uploaded me to a dream of directing a film. Thanks Ganesh, for the show. 

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