CINEMATHEQUE

A Tale of Acceptance Movie: Kaathal - The Core Dir: Jeo Baby     Kaathal is both emotionally draining and uplifting at the same time. Almost every major character in the film exhibits a face filled with pent-up emotions waiting to burst out into uglier forms, which surprisingly doesn't happen. But the beauty of the film is that when the emotional blast does come towards the end, it arrives with rather kinder tones of acceptance, letting go and setting everyone free. Both Mathew played by Mammoty and Omana by Jyothika are portrayed as a stone-cold couple who talk very little and emote very little shades of delight in their faces. Their physical self doesn't loosen up from the rigidity till the closing scenes of the film when they have found the closure they've been yearning for.    While Great Indian Kitchen was about setting oneself free from oppression when patriarchy tried its best to pin down the woman of the story, his subsequent film Sreedhanya Catering Service ...

Uprising There's An Uprising Small Axe (Film Anthology)   Dir: Steve McQueen So if you are the big tree We are the small axe Ready to cut you down To cut you down               - Bob Marley     Small axe is a masterpiece from Steve McQueen as all of the five films in the BBC original anthology tries (and wins almost perfectly) not only in expounding the issues faced by the Blacks but acts as a celebration of their eventual triumph over what was and is trying to pull them down. It tells five important stories drawn from the real life experiences of the West Indian community, who lived in Britain  between the 1960s and 80s.    The first film, Mangrove , tells the story of the Mangrove restaurant and the case of the nine people who initiated a protest against the police, who unlawfully seized and created fearful ruckus inside the place, which otherwise served as a cheerful place of community gathering for the Blacks. The co...

Into Thin Air Movie: The Vanishing (1988) Dir: George Sluizer     The Vanishing pervades a mood of tension and dread from its very beginning and is unlike any other thriller I had seen. Structurally elegant and subtle--with an air of impending doom that tempt us to believe that things might go wrong at any moment--the film is throttled by chance happenings and eerie omens, that decides the lives of people in it, forever. The movie tells the tale of Rex and Saskia, who were on their on-road holidaying trip in France after they had promised their loyalty towards each other, until suddenly Saskia disappears, while Rex was waiting for her at a gas station.    It has been three years now, since Saskia had been swallowed in by the early morning air of France, but Rex is still perturbed by her vanishing act. He goes about pasting missing-notices of her on the streets, along with his fiancée, and is so obsessed with the search for her that it has its impact on his current r...

Is the Chokehold that Gripping? Movie Review: Choked Dir: Anurag Kashyap    Set in and around the Modi government's demonetization policy, Choked tells the tale of a middle class couple who are trying to make ends meet. Choked is by far the most accessible Kashyap film, and tempts us into its darkly pleasant atmosphere, without asking the viewers to ruminate on what’s been shown to them. Is he, as of recently (the earlier example being Manmarziyaan , that showed us a quirkily mad love story) trying to have a more direct and straightforward conversation with his audience?     While Choked plays well with emotions and has the director's signature style of squabbles ensuing from nowhere (the bedroom fight between the couple while their kid sleeps in between them, is hilariously strange), it lacks the layering and depth that make one to root for a Kashyap film. Maybe, this time he doesn’t want his audience to do that, and is in for a rather immediate approach. ...

'Power'ful Humour Movie: Eeb Allay Ooo Dir: Prateek Vats    Eeb Allay Ooo are not words with meaning and are in fact sounds uttered by monkeys (“Eeeeeb”), langurs (“Allaaaay”) and humans (“Oooo”) in Prateek Vats interestingly theatrical debut, that works as an attempt to bring out the dynamics of power politics happening in India. For that matter, the overly dramatic action on display is justifiable as it serves in funnily exposing the primeval politics of Nationalism and Brahmanism trampling over the lives of the poor.    The film primarily presents us with the life of a jobless young man who suddenly gets recruited in a government post of shooeing away monkeys that reside on Raisina hill, the government district of New Delhi. What ensues thereon is all monkey-business, as the guy Anjani has to put up with (in a desperate and agonisingly confusing manner) all kinds of discrimination. A usual film would have focused on one of those areas of subjecting the protagonist...

Alma Matters Movie: Take Me Somewhere Nice Dir: Ena Sendijarević    Alma is a teenage girl from Netherlands who wants to meet up with her father who's currently in Bosnia. Take Me Somewhere Nice dwells on Alma's journey that quirkily manages her to gain lucid ideas about what she wants and what she craves for. Glossy and sultrily hued, the colour palette of the film doesn’t try to mellow the lurid shades—there’s no need to, as it doesn’t jut out or take away the attention of the viewers from the film in any manner. Even if it does, who cares, as long as there’s an eye candy of a film to stare at.               Image from screendaily.com     Ena Sendijarević's vibrant debut is a peep into  feminine desires and passions and her confusion in understanding the male, who seems to be “doing things to impress other men in the society.” Soon after Alma reaches Bosnia, her cousin Emir, who’s supposed to be her caretaker as per her mot...