Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 298

Porco Rosso – Perfecto

Porco Rosso, a Japanese animated film, came out of the Ghibli Production House way back in 1992, when most of my generation was still learning to walk/talk. For 1992, the animation is bloody damn good. While I was already a big Ghibli fan, this film revived a new found admiration for them.

For anybody who has a Netflix account, that’s where I saw this absurdly beautiful film. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Porco Rosso is about a former World War I pilot who has become a freelance bounty-hunter and for some in-explainable reason – has a pig’s head on a human body.

The plot starts with Porco rescuing a bunch of adorable little Japanese school girls from the clutches of ‘Sea Pirates’. The rest of the story is about how Porco runs into trouble with both the Government and the Sea Pirates who have put a bounty for his head.

What I really loved about this film was a sequence which shows an all women crew, right from a 17-year-old girl to 70+ grannies, repair and refurbish a fighter airplane for our hero. This airplane is all ready for a series of dogfights that Porco would be forced to participate in. It subtly conveys a message of women empowerment, even if its unwittingly.

All that said, Porco Rosso is a visual treat, from the contrasting colors, to beautiful landscape painting like scenes, to some lovely women characters. There is the beautiful mysterious singer Gina, who has lost three husbands to the war, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting a happy ending. There is 17 year old Fio, a young sprightly girl who wants to build planes and becomes a pawn in a dogfight between Porco and the Pirates.

Well, this animated film has it all – a dash of fantasy, action, drama, romance with a pinch of the absurd. Despite the main protagonist being a walking pig, the makers manage to make the viewer take him seriously and in the end develop affection for the enigmatic hero.

 

 

 

 

Drishyam – A clever remake.

So I recently saw this Bollywood flick five years too late and it’s called ‘Drishyam’. It came out in 2015 and had been directed by Nishikant Kamat. The Bollywood film is a remake of a Malayalam film by the same name directed by a guy called Jeethu Joseph.

Fun Fact – Apparently, the plot is slightly similar to that of Keigo Higashino’s ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’, which is a murder mystery novel. One that I have not read, but hope to, because it’s supposedly fantastic.

The plot is simple – it’s about a middle-class man who is trying to protect his family from the cops after his daughter accidentally kills a pervert who was trying to sexually harass her. His wife is also party to the crime because she helps the daughter bury the body.

However, what makes this film brilliant is the ingenious ways in which the hero tries to erase all evidence, the rest of the plot is about how the cops are at their wits end to uncover the disappearance of the boy, who happens to be the son of a top cop.

The Bollywood film is helmed by Ajay Devgn in the lead, with Shriya Saran who plays his wife. However, it’s the script that is the real hero of the film, it’s tight, intriguing and keeps you hooked. In the first half however, the viewer feels like there is too much unnecessary build-up, especially to establish ‘what a nice middle-class family’ the main cast is. In the second half however, each little scene starts to fall into place.

Will the family get away with murder? That’s the question you are left to wonder as you watch this thriller. The climax is pretty damn good, even though I did manage to guess the plot twist before the end. The pace might be a problem for some, although, it is largely breezy. What really works for the plot is that it has the right amount of seriousness and is spiced with just enough drama.

For me, the only thing that was problematic was the trigger for the accidental murder, but I can oversee it, because if I go into details, that will end up in being a big spoiler.

Despite a 2 hour plus run-time, Drishyam makes for a satisfactory watch. Those who have watched the original Malayalam flick claim the Jeethu Joseph one is way better. And I totally believe them, after all, the film has been so hugely popular, that it got a Hindu remake, a Tamil remake and even the Chinese bought the rights to remake the film.

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The Chinese remake is called ‘Sheep Without A Sheperd’ and Jeethu Joseph has been given credit for the script. The Chinese remake also went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters in the country.

So if you are interested in the film, you have four languages to choose from. The original might be a good choice. Unfortunately, I was not aware that the film was a remake, or I might have chosen to watch the Malayalam one by Joseph.

P.S – The Bollywood one is available on Amazon Prime.

 

Once Upon A Time…

‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’, the ninth film by Director Quentin Tarantino, as the posters declare, is in large parts a documentary of a fictional actor. And despite the fictional liberties the makers can take, this film is slow, boring and almost unbearable at points.

The movie starts in black and white, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring in a cowboy western series. The basic premise is about how he is a fading star whose only reliable companion is his stunt double (played by Brad Pitt).

Don’t know if it would be an exaggeration,  but I think at least 20 minutes of the film is just various actors driving around town. I fast-forwarded a lot of those scenes where literally nothing is happening except driving. Maybe this is an ode to a bygone era that would only be appreciated by those who were in their teens in the 60s.

If this film had not been directed by Quentin Tarantino and had lesser known but equally talented actors, this film would have disastrously bombed at the Box Office and faded from everybody’s memory. But only because THIS IS a Tarantino flick, one is forced to feel that maybe this is a masterpiece, a work of art. Bull.

Margot Robbie, who plays Sharon Tate, is nothing but a prop, and would mean nothing to the viewers who are not aware of her story. In real life, Tate was an upcoming starlet and wife of famous director Roman Polanski. Her budding career was nipped in the bud after she was brutally murdered by cult members of the Manson ‘family’. The actor had been 8.5 months pregnant. The murder is not part of the film.

‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ is only saved by some good acting on the part of Leonardo and perhaps the good physique of Brat Pitt. Pitt’s 56, but looks completely the part of a war veteran who is trying to make money by being a stuntman.

Interesting and funny only in bits, Tarantino largely wastes the potential of this film, considering the stellar cast and the money he had at hand. However, if all the reviews out there are to be believed, he has managed to make everybody believe that he indeed did make another piece of cinematic history.

For me, only the last 10-15 minutes of the film were good, because that’s were things finally pick up pace and interesting stuff happens. But it’s the classic case of too little too late. This Tarantino flick gives barely any new insights into Hollywood and to make things worse – it’s painfully slow and boring. Watch it only if you are a big Tarantino fan or like Hollywood nostalgia.

 

Castlevania Season 3

When I saw that Castlevania’s season 3 was out on Netflix, I literally did a dance of excitement!

“There is a Castlevania season 3, let’s binge watch it!”.

All that excitement slowly ebbed out as I started watching the first episode.

Season 3 lacked everything that made the first two seasons epic and worth watching not once, but twice.

It lacked pace. Indian dramas are faster.
It lacked action. All that kick-ass slicing-dicing and blood everywhere from the first two seasons just ain’t there.
It lacked a big baddie. But I guess it’s hard for anyone to match Dracula’s stature?
There was no suspense. It’s like they are not even trying.
Forget suspense, everything was predictable.
I would predict at least two plot twists and the actual plot-twist would always be the more boring one. One that I was already expecting
The background score was shit. Unlike the previous seasons.
The animation somehow seemed flaky. It felt like you are playing a game. And I know it is inspired by a game. But something about the animation seemed off this time.
Alucard had nothing to do. His whole sub-plot was pretty pointless. Which is very frustrating.
Hector, the forgemaster that betrays Dracula and in turn gets fucked over by the evil scheming Vampire woman goes through more predictable shit.
This time, we have the whole Church angle again and how those guys are assholes. But this time it doesn’t affect you much, because they are literally madmen. It’s different when you have sane men being evil. But when mentally unstable people do crappy stuff, you don’t feel as outraged.
The only saving grace was that Sypha and the Belmont boy still get some fighting to do. And their chemistry was intact, if not sizzling.
Looked like the makers made this one when they were high, only that can explain the snail pace and crazy shiny colour scheme. I mean look at this monster. Does he have shiny sperms for hair?

14. The scheming Vampire sisters are not evil enough and barely do much. Except for torturing poor Hector.

15. And the 18+ rating, which warns that there is sex around this time – don’t expect much.

I saw the first two seasons twice, savouring every second even the second time around. But the first season was agonisingly slow. I felt like weeping, because the latest season is a shame in front of the other two.

Also, I regret suggesting the series to someone just before season 3 came out. Now when they get to season 3, they are going to judge me.

Without Dracula, things are just not the same. Sigh.

 

Story Of A Widow

I read another book that had previously been lying around in a stall at the Delhi Book Fair. It’s called “The Story of a Widow” by Musharraf Ali Farooqi. 

Set in Pakistan, but not too different from social scenarios in India, I can imagine this book being made into an interesting mini-series on some streaming platform – Netflix, Amazon Prime or whatever.

The main protagonist, Mona, recently widowed, is struggling to come out her late husband’s shadow, and her life is thrown out of gear when a widower takes interest in her. Musharraf Ali Farooqi puts in quite some work in almost all his characters. So it’s easy to imagine all of them and their interactions.

However the book gets tedious halfway and becomes very predictable. In fact, to my disappointment, I imagine a more explosive end. That’s not to say the climax was a letdown, on the contrary, it almost redeems all the earlier plot flaws. Almost. However, this novel could have been chopped short by a 100 pages.

Bow Wow Yeah!

So I read a book called “Apocalypse Bow Wow” by James Proimos today. It arrived in the mail today and I was done with it in 15 minutes. But they were the most fun minutes of my day.

This little book is primarily meant for kids but it’s an interesting read for adults who like dogs. It about two cute canines who are left alone and hungry in their owner’s house. Can they survive? That’s what the book is about. It’s silly, funny and has no humans. What could be nicer?

I got it for Rs 100, which is like less 1.5 U.S dollars. So it was worth it. On that note – my e-book “Death & Darker Realms” is available on Amazon Kindle for less than a dollar, so check it out. Cheers.

Millenium Actress – Review

It’s hard to understand why I didn’t come across the 2001 film ‘Millenium Actress’ before. Directed by Satoshi Kon and produced by some guys called ‘Madhouse’, this 19 year old film is a gem that’s not meant for everybody.

The story is about a documentary filmmakers interviewing a legendary veteran actress who abruptly retired while she was still at the peak of her career. Chiyoki Fujiwara, is our main protagonist, an elegant old lady, who was once a ‘Madonna’ on the big screen, beautiful and enchanting.

The central theme of the movie is Fujiwara’s obsessive, almost unrequited love for a much older stranger, an anti-govt rebel she had given shelter when she was merely a school girl during an ongoing war. The mysterious rebel is a painter and immediately becomes an object of affection for the little girl. But they are parted in less than 24 hours. All he leaves behind is a key, a souvenir Chiyoki keeps close to her heart, almost all her life.

She becomes an actress in the hope that it will help her track down the man she had fallen in love with. We see her life in flashbacks, the lines blurring between her films and reality as she constantly chases a man while climbing the ladder of success. She seamlessly shifts roles between a princes, a warrior, a geisha, a nurse an astronaut. And even as her onscreen persona keeps shape-shifting, her love for a man she barely knew remains, keeping her on his tracks.

The makers of Millenium Actress combine the magic of Studio Ghibli with the nostalgia of Japanese talkies, to give us a moving, iconic tale of a film star. It makes several references to actual Japanese films, like the Godzilla (the only one I could identify honestly).

Some viewers may find the pace slow, but for me, it was just perfect and the documentary filmmaker in the story symbolizes all movie fanatics who place stars on a pedestal. He is a big fan of Chiyoki and has no shame in admitting he has seen her films 50 times over and cried 50 times over too.

Millenium Actress is like a slice of cinema history, shown through the eyes of an innocent fictional heroine, who you cannot but help fall in love with. Some googling reveals that it’s also one of the last major animation films that was made using hand-inked celluloid and it shows. Most of the scenes are like paintings, there were so many moments where I just wanted to pause and sketch. Almost each little moment seems to have been made with a lot of affection and that makes this movie even more special.

Also I did end up making a fan sketch from a scene. Will colour it later.

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Trump Years -Yikes!

As an Indian, who does not know too much about how the Russians influenced the U.S elections to ensure Trump would emerge victorious, the book ‘Trump Years – From Russia To Ukraine’ is a fascinating read.

While, as a graphic novel, the illustrations are not that great, they do an average job of keeping your interest alive. What really makes this book interesting is that they have used official documents and leaked mails to give us a glimpse of just how elaborately the Russians worked to sway the 2016 campaign.

The book also has crucial key players, each one a cog in the wheel of a massive system that worked relentlessly to discredit Hillary Clinton and portray Trump as something he wasn’t. Just the sheer scale of the whole thing is quite staggering.

Penned by Romeo Brooks, the book also helps one understand the whole ‘fake news’ phenomenon and how it’s so easy to manipulate voters in favour of a particular candidate. This book will really change the way you look at elections.

The e-book is available for free on Amazon for Kindle Unlimited subscribers if you are interested. Know what’s also free? My debut e-book called Death & Darker Realms

Restless Wind – A Review

I picked ‘A Restless Wind’ by Shahrukh Husain at the Delhi International Book Fair in 2018. My flatmate was the first person to read it and had a one like review – ‘it’s okay’. It’s probably her enthusiasm that pushed me into not reading it sooner.

So what is the book about? It’s about a British Barrister, born in Pakistan, raised in India, who returns to Gujarat after 20 years because her aunt is dying. She comes from a family that has historic connections with the royals, now dabbling in politics. The reader is made to understand that the story is taking place some time after the Gujarat riots, perhaps 2003/2004.

Zara, the heroine of our story, is married to a white dude, who is a psychotherapist and always over-analyses her moods and sentences. She is more than happy to take a break from her husband, fly thousands of miles away, go back in the lanes of her past and possibly she if she can rekindle an unfinished romance with a royal.

Shahrukh Husain has written the book very well, her sentences are fluid, she describes everything vividly, use all the apt phrases to transport you to the scenes. The problem with the novel is that it’s predictable and boring. Even her biggest twist, that eventually turns out to be a red-herring in the end, was something that the reader can sense. Or at least I did.

I found myself skipping some pages and paragraphs. There was hardly any bit that makes you laugh. None of her characters have a strong arc. Nobody in the book is very likable. However, Husain does a good job of conveying how hatred, blind beliefs and bigotry can lead to communal tensions and divide in the most secular of regions. All you need is a small spark, to start a fire.

Perhaps, the biggest problem with the book is that a lot of it is not relatable and the narration is slow. It took me days to finish reading it. Not your ‘un-putdownable’ kind of book. But probably worth a read.

 

Gully Boy – oh Boy!

It’s Feb 2020 and I finally watched Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy a year too late – it released Feb 2019. It’s been creating a lot of buzz in India’s film award circles and one can’t help but be curious. It was also India’s offical pick for the Oscars. So it’s safe to admit that before I streamed it on Amazon Prime, I already had heard a little too much about it. So I went in with the mindset ‘oh, let’s see what the fuss is all about’. Which is not a positive mindset.

Gully Boy stars Ranveer Singh, who plays Muraad AKA ‘Gully Boy’, a boy from the rotting streets of Mumbai’s slum Dharavi, who has an uncanny love for rap. He also has a psycho/aspiring doctor girlfriend, played by Alia Bhatt, who is ready to beat the shit out of any woman who as much as sends a flirty text to her man.

The film starts off at a posh locality in Mumbai, where Muraad’s friend is casually walking at first and then steals a car. Interesting. Muraad is from a poor family, his father is a driver, who barely earns enough to put his kid through college, but enough to get a second wife home, in a match-box tin hole house. Rap helps Muraad escape his grim reality and his life takes a turn when he discovers a local rapper called ‘MC Sher’. A dude who gains an instant fan in Muraad while performing at a college fest.

Rest of the plot is about Muraad’s transformation and journey into becoming ‘Gully Boy’, the rapper. The script is pretty good, but falters in the middle, where it becomes slow and sluggish. I don’t understand why Bollywood directors have a ‘romance quota’ that they must squeeze into a film, even if it’s not needed. Kalki Koechlin looked out of place as a music student who produces a rap video for Muraad. Their brief encounter, which does not even qualify as a fling, just slows down the film. Thankfully it picks pace again. Just like Kalki plays a momentory distraction in Muraad’s life, her scenes are also also just a distraction that the makers could have done without.

All the rap songs and rap battles in the film blend perfectly into the storyline and are a delight to both watch and hear. The lyricists have written anthem worthy songs that describe class struggles and aspirations of the less fortunate. I liked the song ‘Doori’ best, which is about how despite being in close proximity, people are so divided and disconnected with each other due to class barriers. The cinematography is real yet artsy and manages to capture Mumbai and its slums in a manner that does not hit you too hard. We are shown the dust, the dirt, the filth, but in long fleeting shots. Don’t know if it was a conscience attempt?

Zoya tugs the heartstrings of the viewer with a quintessential rag to riches story. The make-up and wardrobe guys did a neat job with making Ranveer Singh look like a boy from the streets. Singh himself manages to shed his real life persona of a loud, boisterous, over-confident fashion icon and gets into the skin on Muraad, who is just another boy from the streets, with identity issues and a rare passion for words and rap songs.

Siddhant Chaturvedi who made his debut with this film, is a revelation as ‘MC Sher’, he even manages to upstage Ranveer Singh when he comes on screen. The dude gets the whole ‘rapper’ attitude so right, that it made me wonder if he was a real life rapper.

Zoya Akhtar made a good entertaining film, with a near perfect climax, a photo-finish for Muraad, the Gully Boy. But was India right in sending it as the Oscar pick? Nah.