La Sirga ( 2013 )

La Sirga opens to a scarecrow or a corpse shaking on a stake and the expanse of endless wind and fog. Alicia, a Columbian teenager emerges from the fog of war torn uncertainty. Her village was burned down by the rebels. The perpetrators of the riots are never revealed. They are fogged too. Alicia, like a zombie walks among ghostly trees and collapses in the swamp. Mirichis rescues and delivers her to her paternal uncle Oscar, who runs a lake side inn for the tourists- La Sirga. He reluctantly takes her in. He puts her in the middle room. The word ‘Middle’ thus acquires a dramatic significance to the plot. Middle is her age. She is not a completely a woman and not completely a girl. She is in the middle of war. In the middle room, through the cracks of wooden walls, her uncle lustfully watches her undressing. She sleepwalks and buries down the burning candles in the marsh. She is haunted by the demons of war and understands deep within that, lights holds no relevance to the new age.

Along with Flora, the house keeper at La Sirga she renovates the inn from the ruins. Mirichis innocent extension of love and simple understanding of her condition advances the movie plot. We begin to see that, it is not just village of Alicia, other villages in and around the lake La Concha are being burned down. Arrival of guns in the taxi boat of Mirichis implies the impending conflict. Alicia and almost everyone in the movie live in this strange expectancy.  The only thing that swims against the wind is the water turf, an El Sorro.  I really don’t know what an El Sorro is. But we see this floating turf in the initial scenes of the movie also. Its ability to swim against the wind is explained to Alicia. We feel that, the turf that swims against the wind can actually define Alicia and her lust for life.

Errant son of her uncle, Freddy appears one day from the blue. He appreciates the efforts of Alicia. He decides to stay long. But Mirichis proximity with his cousin envies him. We soon see him, watching Alicia undressing from the cracks of the other room. Alicia turns back and sees the lustful eyes of his father in the other end. Freddy completes her miseries of being in the middle. We begin to learn soon afterwards that, effect of war in human mind offers extreme solutions. Something happens to Mirichis. Movie does not show what happened to him. But it is obvious that, something bad has happened to him and either her uncle or her cousin is involved. We see, Alicia picking up the wooden figurine of Eve made by Mirichis, lying covered in the swamp where that something happened. Desperate, but strong Alicia tries to travel against the wind is the last scene.

The Director provides a refreshing perspective on the insecurities of the period that we live in. Even with a low budget, he presents a clear view of the life in La Concha. Cinematography is excellent and in certain scenes, it deliberately tries to become predominant. The beauty of wind among the over grown grass and the inconsistent water that, Mirichis rows back. Leaking roof, leaves sparkling drops of water in the transparent container is so beautifully captured. Every other thing in the movie bears the signature of the Cinematographer.

La Sirga offers the worries of our period. Images used in the movie symbolizes the insecurities of our period. A roof that leaks and threatens to fall represents the failures of manmade solutions to the man made conflicts. A bruised knee, distant thunder and dark clouds above the lake need no explanations.

I really don’t know the political condition of Columbia. I really don’t think that, La Sirga exists only in Columbia. It exists everywhere. Alicias live in my neighborhood. I hope they all try to swim against this wind.

I loved La Sirga. My Whatsapp mate, Naveen says that, he has a terrible sickness of liking all the movies, he ends up watching. I think, I have got that sickness from him and I am loving it totally. 

Her (2013)

Theodore, the protagonist in Spike Jonze's Her says to his friend, he has always been confused and he shares hurt and confusions to the near ones. He says he likes being in marriage and that’s why he delays for signing the divorce papers. He still finds explanations to defend her arguments. Theodore, as his employer in Beautifilhandwrittenletters.com puts him is half man and half woman. But he bears a woman’s heart.

Theodore lives in future. He is lonely. In future, computers, smart phones, and other devices are voice-activated. People wear headset in one of their ears and give command to the Operating System. The OS, Theodore uses, requires him to speak simple commands such as “Read email” or “Delete,” .It helps him to find suitable partners for sex chat also. We soon realize that, Theodore is sexually starved. Then he finds out a new OS which is an artificially intelligent operating system, called OS1 and produced by a company called Element Software. The OS1 meant to learn and mature through experience, growing smarter and more sophisticated with use. “It’s not just an OS. It’s a consciousness” says  the tagline for OS1.Same consciousness emerges as Samantha, being voiced by Scarlet Johansson, from the OSI. She reads his emails, edits his work and reminds him that he has an appointment in five minutes.

The relationship deepens gradually. But his real woman date that follows soon after devastates him emotionally. He decides to stick with his gadget almost immediately and the gadget turned woman raises to the occasion and falls in love with him right away. The first time they have sex, the screen fades to black. This is second time we see Theodore having Phone sex .In the first scene, provocative nude photographs of some pregnant celebrity, that he had seen earlier, supported him for an orgasm. But here we see darkness. Samantha has no physical form. Theodore refuses to accept any physical imaginary form of Samantha as well. He throws out Isabella with whom Samantha had an agreement for physical manifestation. We realize how genuine Theodore is. We understand how much this man feels for Samantha, when he accepts to his estranged wife that, he dates an OSI. She accuses him for not being capable for human emotions. We see that, she is not completely wrong. Theodore cannot take failures. He is confused. He confuses people around him and hurts them.

The scenes that follow, offers us an insight on the scary future in waiting. Not just Theodore, everyone in the street has OSs and they all seem to be inclined with these imaginary relationships also. Samantha confesses that, she has around 8000 men under her wings and with 641 she is in relationship. We know her reply before being uttered. We see the disappointment in the face of Theodore. But we think about Theodores at that point. Desperately lonely Theodores in the street, looking for perfection, love and companionship.   Theodors of present.  The Theodor in me.

Theodore is a professional letter writer. He writes beautiful emotional letters. But when it comes to him, he fails to express his real feelings. We see him learning this quality from Samantha who articulates her every emotion in words. The movie closes when Theodore finishes a letter to his estranged wife. He sounds clear and present. He has no escapism now. He and his lonely friend sit and watch the lonely city from the terrace is last scene.

Director leaves no empty space in the movie. Its emotional balance is perfectly intact. But I don’t think that, it’s a love story. I rather call it an exploration to a real consciousness. Samantha’s evolution and Theodore’s gradual ascent to his own realities provide a great understanding of human existence. It also teaches that, perfection is   farce. Cinematography and the tone of the movie present the future in vivid terms. Joaquin Phoenix perfects Theodore. I don’t think anybody else can bring so much wind to this solitary man.

I enjoyed it thoroughly…..

                                                                                            

JOINT SECURITY AREA (2000)

When my best friend Karter agreed to share his collection of action movies, I was expecting gun shots, graphic violence and mindless stunt sequences. It is not that, he does not enjoy good movies. But his love for action movies opens a threat to everyone close to him. He has a special interest in them. Fortunately the shared movies belonged to one country-South Korea. I have a special interest in South Korean movies. I think every Keralite holds a special place for Korean movies, especially the movies directed by Kim Ki Duc. He is a house hold name in Kerala. His movies are screened year after year in our International film festival .Last year he visited the film festival with his latest movie-Moebius. He was given a kingly welcome. (I really don’t want to talk about Moebius. I think the movie was beyond my experience and understanding.)But thanks to him, South Korean movies continue to fascinate us.

 Among the 5 movies that, I borrowed from Karter, Joint Security Area was the one I really did not want to watch. Name suggested stupid action sequences and aerial bombing scenes. I knew that, Quentin Tarantino had recommended it in 2009.Still it did not ring the bell. But then having nothing to watch, I encountered it yesterday. The movie opens with a shooting scene and the scenes that followed were ridiculously executed. English dialogues were out of place and the acting was amateurish. I thought my initial fears were right.

But then, it started to engage me. Shooting episode occurs in the heavy militarized border between North and South Korea, which leaves a North Korean soldier (Shin Ha- Kyun) dead and a South Korean soldier injured. The incident becomes a threat to the enforced truce, forcing both sides to send for a mediator to “solve” the problem. Enter Major Sophie Lang (Yeong-ae Lee), an officer in the Swiss Army, famous for their neutrality. Sophie is Korean, but she’s never been to Korea. Her investigation helps us to see that, there was an unusual bonding existed between the rival soldiers. We get to know that, it was most innocent and heartwarming. They separate politics from personal life and enter into a beautiful ambience of childlike innocence. But tension arises soon between rival forces and the South Korean friends -Soo-hyeok and Sung-shik- returns to the remote camp in DMZ to say goodbye and celebrate North Korean friend Woo-jin's birthday. But the commanding officer of the north blows their cover and they are exposed to Mexican standoff. The scenes that follow, explicitly explains the things that are under investigation. It also helps us to understand the strong bonding between the rival soldiers and the guilt of Soo-hyeok in particular. Sung-shik attempts for suicide and Soo-hyeok ends his life. 

The movie specifically takes us to the human emotions under the war torn borders and it also gives us an insight on how humanity survives beyond borders. The scene in the mine field where Soo-hyeok is struck to mine and Oh and Private Jeong Woo-jin (North Korean Soldiers) decide to disarm the mine and save him from death is extremely real and beautiful.   

But the movie has a big flaw which becomes obvious with the characterization of Major Sophie Lang. She appears to be confused and her character lacks credibility. Whenever she appears on screen, you tend to believe that, the movie is artificial. We desperately hope that, she disappears and the soldiers appear. Those guys who played soldiers did a wonderful job.  No wonder Lee  Byung-Hun became famous for his histrionic skills worldwide.  Sound design of the movie is remarkable and so is the cinematography. 

I had seen Old Boy of Park Chan-Wook. It was a treat. Now having watched   his Joint Security Area and heavily impressed with his body of work, I have decided to watch all his works.

Thanks Karter.

Enemy (2013)

Yesterday I started to watch Enemy, a movie loosely adopted from the José Saramago novel - O Homem Duplicado, or “The Duplicated Man.”.Despite of some strong recommendations from my friends, I found the first 30 minutes of the movie, extremely unbearable. Thought the movie was wayward and it failed to capture the essence of the Novel. But having finished watching it today, I think, I loved the movie. It opens with the epigraph “Chaos is order yet un deciphered,”.I don’t think any other epigraph can precisely describe the real meaning of this movie.

 As in the Novel, protagonist Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal), a depressed history professor and we soon find him stalking his double- Anthony St. Claire, an actor of no substance. Their interactions and their common pursuit to understand their condition devours our concentration and attune ourselves to the common pattern of a thriller and we expect a climax and an ending where every tangled bows are neatly framed, apposite for a better perspective. But the ending offers nothing similar to it. You get to know that, Enemy is not a melancholy thriller like Prisoners, movie from the same Director. You rewind the whole movie from the very beginning. You even start reading the epigraph again and understand that,the movie is meant to reverberate you. It has multiple level of understanding and each and every thing in the movie is meant to serve that purpose.

The movie opens in a dark corridor and a door to the sex show is opened with a key. Men in suits and identical in expression watch a nude woman perform orgasm on stage. Another one brings a spider and it’s crushed brutally. You meet Adam Bell and we see him teaching the ways of totalitarian governments and their tricks to misguide the people. We hear the same voice over even when he makes love with his girl friend in an inadequately furnished apartment. Adam watches a local film ‘Where there is will, there is a way ‘ DVD late one night with minimal interest. But later in a dream, he remembers that, his double was in the movie. He rewinds and convinces himself and then starts his pursuit to track the other man.

You understand from his visions that he is totally disconnected and disoriented in many ways. You also understand that whatever we see on screen has different dimensions. Repeated focusing on web like wires intertwining the city presents the    gravity of totalitarianism .It also manifests Adams fear of it. Antony Claire is also like Adam. His wife is pregnant and she presents herself as the human form of totalitarianism. She controls him. She checks everything about him. She has woven a web around him and we get to know that, nothing about him escapes her.

Gradually it becomes clear that, she is the central character of the movie. We also understand that, both Adam and Antony Claire are different adaptation of same person in separate times. Adam re-visits the failed actor in him after six months. He re-visits the same locations, people, circumstances, failures and finally realizes that, the same totalitarian spider has completely invaded him.

Director Denis Villeneuve uses a different narrative which is remarkable. Enemy also showcases the talent of Gyllenhaal.He breathes life to Adam and Antony and he never fails to understand their singularity. Helen (Sarah Gadon), Anthony’s wife did a wonderful job. She excels in the last scene. She convinces us that, she likes this history professor version of the same man who is gentle and faithful. She has completely arrived and the key to sex show becomes totally useless to the man, irrespective of his names..