Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Feb 7, 2012, 1:10 pm
Meghe Dhaka Tara, the first in Ritwik Ghatak’s “Partition Trilogy” which also comprised of Komal Gandhar and Subarnarekha, is considered the greatest masterpiece of the mercurial genius, and remains a seminal achievement in the history of Indian cinema. Ghatak took the otherwise pejorative mel...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Feb 6, 2012, 4:25 am
Limelight, for all practical purposes, could very well be considered as Chaplin’s swansong, as it was composed in the form of an ode to his profession and his life, and was made at a time when he was a political pariah. An ageing former tramp-comedian, who is no more a name to be reckoned with, is...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Feb 5, 2012, 1:28 pm
The phrase ‘American Dream’ has historically symbolized hope for better times; yet, dreams can be dark, crippling and shallow, too, and this in essence formed the core theme of this excellent albeit underrated and largely unrecognized film noir. Like most archetypal noirs, the movie shows the sl...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Feb 4, 2012, 10:57 am
The Joke, adapted from the debut novel of the same name by the famed Czech writer Milan Kundera, and directed by Jaromil Jires, was one of the most politically charged movies to have come out of the Czech New Wave movement. That, combined with its subversive humour and sharp commentary on the then-t...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Feb 2, 2012, 12:16 pm
Alexander Payne returned to the director’s chair for a feature film a good seven years after his last film, Sideways, with this one, but the end product is a proof of the fact that he hasn’t really lost any of his touch. The Descendants, which is a movie about one man’s vain attempts at coping...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Feb 1, 2012, 3:46 am
David Cronenberg has travelled a long way over the course of his eventful career – from shocking body horror and grotesque sexual imagery to the movies he’s been making in the last few years, which, in comparison, appear almost mainstream on account of their restraint and understated natures. A ...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 31, 2012, 11:40 am
Dreams, lucid or otherwise, make for darn interesting films, and the Spanish tech-noir (if it can really be qualified as one) Open Your Eyes sure remains a pretty good elucidation of that. This oddly compelling movie, boasting of a highly ingenious plot, is about Cesar (Eduardo Noriega), a young, ha...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 29, 2012, 12:00 pm
Play It Again, Sam remains a quintessential Woody Allen film, what with it being populated with neurotic characters, its impish and sardonic take on love and relationships, and its self-deprecating humour. Yet, quite ironically, this wasn’t directed by Allen; it’s another matter though that whoe...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 28, 2012, 3:28 pm
Post the success of the Swedish thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, adapted from the bestselling Swedish novel of the same name written by the late Steig Larsson, it was a given that this would get remade in the US as well. Expectations were high since David Fincher took charge of the remake, ...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 26, 2012, 1:03 pm
Acclaimed Turkish auteur Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s latest offering might seem a murder mystery as per its premise, but upon watching it I realized it’s anything but one. Though presented in the garb of a meticulous police procedural, this is, in essence, a meditation on the dichotomies of human nature...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 25, 2012, 3:42 pm
Bennett Miller had shown incredible maturity as a filmmaker with his debut film Capote. Consequently it was but natural that Moneyball was greeted with considerable anticipation, more so for the fact that, this, which is only his second movie, has been made a whopping six years after the first. Adap...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 23, 2012, 4:42 pm
In his final offering as a filmmaker, Hungarian maestro Bela Tarr has created a movie that is so complex, layered and rich, structurally and tonally, that one must put in some efforts in order to appreciate its power and beauty. This profound, minimalistic, quietly observant and deeply philosophical...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 23, 2012, 9:40 am
Planet of the Apes has been amongst the longest running as also one of the most successful film series. The 1968 original spawned four sequels as also a remake by Tim Burton. Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the latest addition to the 43-year old franchise, is a prequel to the first film. The film ch...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 22, 2012, 1:04 pm
A Separation, despite its seemingly simple storyline, has managed to be quite a few things at once – it is a sensitive portrayal of the breakdown of marriage, a powerful take on what that entails for the couple’s kid, an affecting depiction of the various nuances that define human behaviour, a p...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 21, 2012, 1:18 pm
Some sporting duels manage to traverse beyond the confines of the concerned sport to become socio-cultural and at times even socio-political milestones. Mohd. Ali versus George Foreman, Bjorn Borg versus John McEnroe, Ayrton Senna versus Alain Prost, etc. are some of the ones that immediately come t...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 20, 2012, 1:25 pm
Jar City reminded me a lot about the Norwegian police procedural and psychological thriller Insomnia – both accentuated their psychological contents and excellently juxtaposed the inescapable human and societal violence against the starkly beautiful Nordic landscapes and its harsh weather. This gr...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 19, 2012, 2:42 am
Srijit Mukherji, whose debut film Autograph earned considerable popular success, has taken a completely divergent route with Baishe Srabon (the 22nd day of the Indian month of Shravan and the great Indian litterateur Rabindranath Tagore’s death anniversary), and is a clear indication of the direct...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 18, 2012, 12:45 pm
Tomas Alfredson, whose previous movie was the brilliant deconstructionist vampire tale Let the Right One In, changed his milieu from icy Scandinavian winter to gloomy British winter with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Adapted from the famous John Le Carre novel, this Cold War-era thriller is a complete ...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 16, 2012, 7:33 am
Guy Ritchie was credited to have brought to screen something new and unique with his zany reinterpretation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary creation. Even though his first edition of Sherlock Holmes cannot be qualified as a great artistic achievement, it at least acted as a breath of fresh air; f...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 15, 2012, 1:09 pm
Jim Jarmusch attained instant renown with the seminal Indie film Stranger than Paradise. Down by Law, his follow-up to the earlier film carried forward a number of thematic strands – the general sense of aimlessness among the protagonists, the rambling narrative, the idiosyncratic tone, an odyssey...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 9, 2012, 2:16 pm
Watching Mouchette I couldn’t help but notice that this Robert Bresson gem has a number of similarities with his Au Hasard Balthazar – so much so that the two can almost be discussed in tandem. Not only was this too was a minimalistic and emotionally challenging movie with religious undertones a...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 7, 2012, 2:10 pm
Hollywood loves coming up with good underdog stories where not just the odds are heavily against the protagonist’s inevitable victory, he also needs to overcome numerous obstacles and adversarial scenarios during the process; and contact sports make for compelling character studies with the brutal...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 6, 2012, 1:27 pm
Takeshi Kitano, aka “Beat” Takeshi through his involvement with Japanese television, didn’t just direct, but also wrote, edited and played the role of the lead protagonist in the movie Hana-bi – often considered his best work. Poetic, minimalist and stylish – the movie managed a unique con...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 5, 2012, 1:28 am
I’ve been an ardent fan of the Tintin comic books since when I was a kid, and consequently chancing upon this documentary was a lucky break for me indeed. In fact, every admirer of the timeless and immensely loved Herge creation would find a potential treasure trove in this informative documentary...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Jan 3, 2012, 2:09 pm
Danish provocateur par excellence Lars von Trier loves deconstructing popular genres, and then having a wry chuckle at the expense of his audience. Who can forget what he did with the much-loved ‘musical’ genre with Dancer in the Dark. He set his eyes on science-fiction this time around, and has...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Nov 3, 2011, 12:45 pm
Songwriter, singer, actor, director – Anjan Dutt has donned quite a few hats in Ranjan Ami Ar Ashbo Na, as he’s done in his life. Like his delectable Madly Bengali, this movie too is based on the theme of music. Here he has played an ageing yet still immensely popular rockstar/ songwriter who ta...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Nov 2, 2011, 11:54 am
Badmaash Company has tried really hard to be a stylish new-age thriller. To leave no stones unturned, the director employed a series of tricks he has learnt, possibly from watching a slew of popular Hollywood thrillers; he even mixed a number of stereotypical Bollywood tropes and clichés for old-ti...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Nov 1, 2011, 1:44 pm
Shatranj Ke Khiladi, loosely adapted from a short story by Munshi Premchand, was the sole movie made by Satyajit Ray in Hindi. Set a year prior to the 1856 Sepoy Mutiny, this beautifully crafted film is a mild satire on the then-existing social structure and mores, and a bemused observation on what ...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 31, 2011, 2:18 pm
Aparna Sen followed up her marvelous debut film 36 Chowringhee Lane with this layered tale of forbidden love. The titular character of Paroma, played by Rakhi, is a conservative, middle-aged Bengali housewife who lives a mundane existence completely engrossed in her various familial responsibilities...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 27, 2011, 11:49 am
... in a Metro where one of the segments, as I’d found out, was “inspired” from The Apartment. Though I’d been wanting ... a huge insurance corporation, rising through the ranks at a brisk pace thanks ... his willingness to loan out his apartment to his philandering superiors. This infor...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 23, 2011, 3:14 am
Sam Peckinpah’s career was fraught with a plethora of troubles, more so when it came to his cinema – Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid was no exception. In fact, so hostile was the situation, he had even strived to have his name removed from the movie’s credits. Now that the “Director’s Cut”...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 20, 2011, 8:16 am
Number of cine-goers have placed Robert Altman’s The Player on the same pedestal as Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard for its unflinching and biting look at the movie business and the Hollywood studio system. Though I consider that as a travesty, there’s no doubting the artistic value of the fil...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 18, 2011, 10:56 am
A pet theme of some of Mani Ratnam’s films has been “love at the times of war” – an emotional human drama unfolding at the backdrop of a socio-political upheaval. This journey began with his much-loved Roja. This was also the movie that ensured that thenceforth his fame was no more restricte...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 17, 2011, 12:02 pm
Kiyoshi Kurosawa (not to be confused with his more famous surname-sake), has become quite a renowned figure in contemporary world cinema. Watching Tokyo Sonata it would be a rather difficult task for one to guess that the director has quite a cult following for his works in the horror genre. Set dur...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 15, 2011, 5:17 am
Though a sequel to the brilliant and much-loved The Hustler, Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money was however a very different movie altogether – both in terms of their tones (flamboyant as opposed to understated) and the principal protagonist’s nature (wizened as opposed to brash). Former poo...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 12, 2011, 10:03 am
The Hustler, based on Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name, boasts of awesome pool-play, but it would be a folly and a great disservice to the movie to simply qualify it as a sports movie. This grim and deeply existentialist drama provided an incredible sketch of a man struggling to find the balan...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 10, 2011, 12:34 pm
The Watergate Scandal led to the making of a number of paranoia- laden conspiracy thrillers in the 70’s – Three Days of the Condor being one of them. Directed by Sidney Pollack, the movie is filled with tense moments, dollops of intrigue and a distinctly anti-authority stance. The movie had Robe...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 9, 2011, 4:50 am
Though 70’s American cinema has come to be broadly identified by its anti- establishmentarian spirit, Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show was anything but rebellious. Rather, it was a bittersweet ‘slice of life’ coming-of-age film filled with nostalgia about a time, so to speak, that h...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 8, 2011, 9:28 am
Kim Jee-Woon, one of the most exciting Korean filmmakers working today alongside the likes of Park Chan-Wook, Bong Joon-Ho and Kim Ki-Duk, made his debut as a director with this delicious ensemble black comedy. The Kang family is one hell-of-a dysfunctional family, and when they move to a godforsake...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 7, 2011, 8:49 am
Stalag 17 might not rank among Billy Wilder’s best works, what with a plethora of legendary movies in his oeuvre, yet it remains a highly competent and enjoyable film nonetheless. One of the first war movies focused on war-time prisoners rather than on-field action, so to speak, the story is compl...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 5, 2011, 12:22 pm
Made four years after Khamosh, the well-made whodunit, Parinda is considered the movie that begun Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s foray towards ‘mainstream’ cinema. It is also considered among the earliest Hindi movies to provide a deglamourised, non-clichéd look into not just the Mumbai underworld, but...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 5, 2011, 2:05 am
A spin-off to the terrific courtroom drama The Practice, Boston Legal was also the brainchild of David E. Kelly. Lasting a total of 5 seasons, this series too revolved around a law-firm and its member lawyers, but the similarity ended there. While the former was somber, grim and serious, the latter ...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 4, 2011, 3:40 pm
Chowringhee is the name of one of the most important and iconic thoroughfares in the city of Calcutta. The movie, which was an adaptation of Bengali writer Shankar’s renowned novel of the same name, had this road as the backdrop for its storyline; more accurately, it was based in a luxurious hotel...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 3, 2011, 10:19 am
The Last Metro was the most overtly political work of Francois Truffaut – a surprise given his apolitical stance in most of his works. Set almost completely within a theatre-house in a fast-crumbling Parisian society during German occupation during WWII, the movie managed to provide an affecting l...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Oct 2, 2011, 4:14 am
Adapted from Humphrey Cobb’s novel, Paths of Glory was one of three memorable anti-war movies made by Stanley Kubrick; yet tonally the three were poles apart. While Dr. Strangelove was a farcical satire of the highest order and Full Metal Jacket was part vitriolic and part sentimental, Paths of Gl...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Sep 30, 2011, 10:13 am
... -culture, anti- establishmentarian spirit, etc., inspired the creation of a slew of ... towards that golden age of filmmaking. The documentary doesn’t just cover a ... such definitive classics as The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, ... Pieces, Midnight Cowboy, One Flew ov...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Sep 28, 2011, 8:57 am
Rear Window ranks among Hitchcock’s greatest masterpieces, period. The terrific plot, along with ingenious plot elements, MacGuffins, twists et al, makes for an immensely enjoyable watch. But the movie wasn’t just that. Its character developments were exemplary, as were its various subtexts like...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Sep 26, 2011, 10:39 am
Sandwiched between Klute and All the President’s Men, Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View oftentimes gets lost amidst the fanfare surrounding the other two. Over the years it has been recognized as a decent conspiracy thriller and a perfect reflection of the paranoia and distrust that defined the...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Sep 23, 2011, 7:14 am
High Noon is considered to have ushered in the transition from idealistic and romanticised to more “adult” and realistic Westerns. Thus unlike what one might expect, the “hero” in High Noon is not blindly heroic; not that he's lacking in terms of courage, skill and honour, but he knows a los...
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Shubhajit L. posted an article on Cinemascope - Sep 20, 2011, 12:08 pm
One might not place Sidney Lumet on the same pedestal as Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, but there’s no doubting the fact that he was as quintessential a New York filmmaker as them. Serpico, considered among Lumet’s best works, certainly remains a sterling illustration of that. The film chronic...
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