PK (2014) - Hindu nationalists are dumbasses

This morning I read a short notice about Hindu nationalists vandalizing cinemas that  had shown the movie PK.Browsing on I saw that this film would be shown today in Valby Kino.
Valby Kino is a strange place. I love the enthusiasm of the staff, but first you have to go in a backyard, then up a staircase. Actually it looks more like a porn cinema than a regular cinema hall. I wish they would concentrate more on movies that are not shown by every other cinema.
Now to PK, the biggest blockbuster Bollywood ever had. Yes, this is proof of popularity, but not proof of quality. Actually I have a problem with Bollywood comedies, as many are less than sophisticated. They often engage in very physical humor, like the fat guy stumbling, farting, compulsory peeing etc. Laughing about fat guys and big noses is  not comedy, maybe farcical, but not comedy.
Rajkumar Hirani used these devices in Three Idiots from 2009, but he had also a superb blend of pure comedy and touching drama. Judging by the trailer I expected that the jokes in this movie would be far from elegant. However, the reaction of Hindu nationalists made me curious. Ultimately I watched the movie for their sake.Actually the trailer collects the least memorable scenes from this film.
So, what is this all about? An alien is stranded on earth; he needs his remote to call a space ship that will bring him bring to his home planet. But the remote is stolen from him and - as it turns out - sold to a leader of a sect, who then presents it to his devotees as personal gift of God. The alien - he doesn't bring a name from his home planet - is told that only God can help him.
So the alien tries to address God to help him get back his remote, but he is in a state of thrownness (as Heidegger would have called it), he is a stranger and has no clue how this planet is organized. Slowly he recognizes patterns, but he also questions all conventions with childlike (or autistic) logic. At last he comes to the conclusion that all those "managers" of God dialed the wrong number and got connected to some prankster. He also unmasks the holy man who has his remote, so that he at last can return to his home planet. But he returns after one year, to explore the gap between the gap between words and meaning (yes, langue and langage). Example: when we say 'I love chicken', we don't mean that we love animals, but that we put them on our menu).
Rajkumar Hirani has given us a very subtle film, with sentimental and funny elements, drama and comedy, laughs and tears - and "food for thought". His message is ultimately gnostic;: The real God is evading our perception, we reveal petty pretenders.
Amir Khan plays his PK with the scrutiny of a philosopher and the curiosity of a child. There are great supporting performances (e.g. by Anushka Sharma and Sushant Singh Rajput as a potential Zaara/Veer-couple -- Bollywood always manages to bring new and fresh faces to the screen) . But also Saurabh Shukla as the man and Sanjay Dutt as his disciple bring great supporting performances.
I left the cinema hall happy, almost elevated - very few films bring me in that state. Yes, this is a great film, with a few concessions to the crowd, but nevertheless a most lovable film.

Some have been waiting for this: Amir Khan in the nude

Gozu - a strange film from Japan

I am widely unfamiliar with the work of Takashi Miike. Browsing through the extensive list of his work, only one movie had crossed my way before, The Happiness of the Katakuris, but then I thought that that movie was inferior to the South-Korean original. So now Gozu. sometimes the UK Film4 has good movies, but they also present a wide range of rubbish. And Gozu indeed falls into that category.
It's about a Yakuza who has lost his grip on reality and has become unacceptable; he is to be killed. However, on the way to the disposal place, he is accidentally killed. His body disappears mysteriously and the supposed-to killer is ordered to locate the body.
What follows is a series of surrealist-dreamish-nightmare scenes. They include a somewhat aged hotel-owner with SM tendencies, nymphomaniac personality and the bull-headeg messenger. Not onl that yakuza has lost his sense of reality. The film end with one of the most bizarre inter courses.
I wouldn't have watched this movie, but it has a relatively good score on metacritic, so Ilet me fool, although my inner voice said: Stay away from this crap. I have no clue why some intellectuals think that this might be a work of art.

What You See Is What You Get

Saayad (Nepal 2012)

Movies from Nepal are still widely unknown outside the community. This is not only because everybody outside the NP community lacks interest in these movies, but also because most of them arre not supplied with subtitles. - OK, Nepalese is easy, but you still have to learn it (and the toughest thing is to find a teacher). I know what I talk about, as most teachers run away, once they have received the money.
These problems we didn't have with Saayad, as it was subtitled.
The movie is about drugs. We follow loosely the biography of two brothers (the movie has many loose ends, threads that begin and never end). After the death of their parents, the elder brother takes care of his bhai, but the younger las is a bit of a spoiled brat. He knows that daai always will save him, no matter what he does.
The younger brother is quite good at school, but he lacks some spice in his life, so he starts using drugs. We witness how he gradually looses grip of reality and at last he lives in a world that is only accessible to him self.
The last words of the movie read: It could be your story --- and here we see the target group, Nepali youths. The film is an admonition to them not to regard drugs as a shortcut to an adventurous life.
The film has some editing flaws in the first part - before intermission - but then the director speeds up the action and saves the film.
I'll give it 6/10.

Saayad - another movie from Nepal that transcends entertainment

Apabad (2012)

Movies from Nepali are not very often shown in this part of the world. Often the language is in between, as there are no subtitles available. That's why I couldn't see the movie Loot when it was around earlier this year. Fortunately now the movie was shown with subtitles.
The movie is about a daydreamer in Kathmandu. His father wants him to follow the way of business, but he prefers to be a creative writer. At last the parents agree to send him to a school in the UK. They use all their savings and even take a loan. But then it appears that the money is lost, as the school was blacklisted. -- He tries to take his life, but is cast away on an island. Here he tries to live his own life; he manages to survive and actually succeeds to grow his own vegetables. A success, as his father predicted he would always be depending on him. But he realises that the success is only worthy of that name when he can share it.
In the meantime his parents also develop. His father realises, that the boy needed to make his own way. The parents and the boy's girl-friend to publish his writings as a manifest. The book becomes a tremendous success.
The morale of the movie is obvious, but the plot is not so simplistic as a short resume sounds. 
The movie is very nice, beautifully shot and has a message that is now more important for Nepal than anytime before.
I want to be gracious and will give it 9/10 together with unlimited praise to director Subash Koirala.

Nepali's youth between reality and hope

Veer (2010)

This movie received bad reviews, undeservedly, I think. It tells a part of the story how India achieved independence.
In 1920 the wife of the new governor sees that the British are not very popular and she asks the stupid $1.000.000 question: Why do they hate us so much (the same stupid question that certain people asked after 9/11, but let's leave that for the moment. She is told a story about resistance and collaboration. Those who resist are called savage and uncivilized (this part is completely missing in 'Warrior of the Rainbow' who is facing a similar situation). Those who resist may be rough, but they are shown as honest. Veer, their leader to come, even goes to school in Britain. Of course he falls in love with the daughter of his worst enemy. - Veer wants to avoid a fight, but some protocol about given words, honour and karma force him to have a fight anyway. This last part is the least satisfying. Of course it may reflect the attitude of those who talk about honour and such things, but I hope that we, in general, have grown out of this attitude. It's a situation that seems to be closer to the Mahabharata than to Taras Bulba.
Anyway, the movie is nice; the story has been given some consideration and that's why it is more than the default war epic.
I will give it 6/10.

Veer has the qualities of an epic; it's about love, war and even a bit about dharma

Agneepath (2012)

Yes! This is how Bollywood should be - action, excitement, romance, an attractive sound track, in short: just entertainment.
The story is about Vijay. As a boy he had to witness how Kancha, the local criminal boss, had his father hanged. Now he only lives for revenge. In Mumbai he becomes an associate of Rauf Lala, who is a competing criminal. Vijay soon becomes the successor of his business empire and is ready for his final revenge. - The memory of his father gives him a strength and a power he didn't know that  he had it.
There are some nice subplots which add to the emotional appeal, the relation to Vijay's mother who doesn't approve of his revenge plans and also the relation to his sister who was born after Vijay's father was lynched. But there is also Gaitonde from the local police who knows that Vijay is basically good and who becomes a bit  a father substitute. And there was a lot of very good and subtle acting, especially from Hrithik Roshan. Sanjay Dutt enjoys being the evil Kancha,
I give it 8/10.

Agneepath -- the path of fire

 

War of the Arrows (2011)

This film is set during the second Manchu invasion into Korea. I was told to watch this movie, being a history buff, so I gave it a chance. It's about a warrior who knows how to shoot his arrow and who wants to save his sister. During the movie there is a lot of fighting, actually nothing but fighting. I was not always sure who was fighting against whom and for which reason and it doesn't matter very much either. There is some stuning videography when the camera follows the arrow, but that doesn't save the movie.
Is it about history? No. What was the result of this Manchu invasion? What was its impact? Were there major incidents? Nothing we learn about history. Maybe it's common knowledge in Korea?  History is just a pretext to make yet another  war movie.
It gets 3/10.

Dhada (2011)

I started these notes to have some future reference for myself, but there is already a certain backlog ...
So I gave a movie in Telugu a try. Before I had limited myself to the output of Bollywood -- which alone is so big that it's impossible to keep track, even when you watch films 24 hours every day. However, I think that regional variations will enrich me also in a way.
Dhada has a confused manuscript (however the plot summary in Wikipedia is even more confused. It's a  tale about two brothers, one is good, the other one working for the Mafia. The good brother has no idea of that business associate and he spoils the that business by freeing victims of human trafficking. He wants that good brother killed, which of course is not going to happen. And of course there is some romance involved.

Naga Chaitanya is the good brother

The film is edited in a very rough manner with some raw clipping. On the other hand, the fight scenes and the songs are carefully choreographed. The songs slow down the pace of the action, so at times you ask yourself, whether this is an operetta or an action movie.
The film is however entertaining, I watched it while I was not feeling too well, so the hours just passed fast. I'll give it a 5/10.

Warriors of the Rainbows (2011)

I need to follow up on what I am reading and watching... So, I came across this movie and saw it. Sometimes curiosity has a high cost.

A chopped-off head of an enemy entititles you to a tatoo

The movie is about the Wushe Incident. This event may be known to specialists of Chinese history or scholars that know the history of the Japanese occupation of the occupation of Taiwan inside out, but to me it was new. History is a growing subject, the more you know of it, the bigger it grows. The movie is about The Seediq people, an indigenous people of Taiwan. Here would have been a good chance to learn something about a people, whose existence was unknown to me before. However, the only thing we really learn is, their hobby of cut off the heads of their enemies. In terms of ethnological insight this is a very insufficient result.
And the incident? We don't get any insight into the behaviour of this people. Some were obviously collaborating with the Japanese. By the way, the Japanese are portrayed as really nasty people. I am sure they behaved like that in real life and maybe even worse. The Seediq are generally called the savages, while the movie a bit follows that line - but adds the adjective 'noble', like the noble savages in Avatar - a people living in accordance with nature and all that.
The film comes in two parts, four hours of fighting and chopping off heads, sometimes aesthetically choreographed. This movie may be suited for those who love war movies -- so it was not for me, though the photography was nice. I'll give it 3/10.

Moonwalking With Einstein (Joshua Foer)

Jeg ville have læst denne bog allerede da den var månedens bog i Fagbogklubben, men dengang kunne jeg ikke få ereolen til at virke. Nu har jeg læst den 'på bog'.
Foer skriver om hukommelsen, både om dens fysiologi i hjernen og om hukommelsens historie.
At huske noget går ud på, at man skaber en stærk forbindelse mellem det man skal huske med sanselige indtryk. Skal man huske noget kedeligt, såsom tal, så skal man omsætte det til en synæstetisk oplevelse. Hvis man mindes denne, så vil man have talrækken også, Hos nogle mennesker er hjernen indrettet på en måde at de oplever det af sig selv - tal bliver til farver osv. Hos andre mennesker mangler dele af hjernen, enten fordi en emsig kirurg har skåret noget væk eller fordi en  virus har spist sig mæt af disse menneskers hjerne. Disse er selvfølgelig gefundenes fressen for hjerneforskning, da de med deres ulykke kan bidrage til at kortlægge hjernens funktioner.

I Foers hukommelspalast er der mange boliger

Foer skriver også om mnemoteknikken, sådan som den blev brugt i antikken, i en verden, som var afhængig af oral formidling. Plato lader Sokrates polemisere imod skriftligheden. Foer hentyder til ironien - i dag husker vi kun Sokrates' udfald fordi nogen gjorde sig den ulejlighed at skrive det op.
Foers fascination blev vækket, fordi hab overværede en hukommelsekonkurrence. Man fortalte ham, at han med en smule øvelse og nogle små fif også ville være i stand til at deltage i sådan en konkurrence. Bogens story-telling del beretter om hans vej til mesterskabet.
Foer kalder det for metalakrobatik. Det kan være temmelig ligegyldigt, om nogen kan fremsige så og så mange positioner af tallet pi eller gengive ordlister. Det kan være sjovt, men er næsten så underholdende som en abe der kører cykel eller en papegøje der fløjter Nattens Dronnings arie.
Det ser Foer også, derfor har han nogle overvejelser om den praktiske betydning af disse teknikker. Viden om faktuelle forhold er på retur - vi har jo Google. (Jeg mindes Espersens udfald imod 'støvede bøger' i Gotfredsens bog...)
Selvfølgeligt er udenadslæren ikke nok, hvis der mangler en forståelse hvad man skal bruge faktaerne til. Skolen idag tror, at man kan klare sig langt hen ad vejen uden kendskab om faktuelle forhold - og det er et tragisk fejlskøn. Vi skal forestille at være et videnssamfund, men PISA viser det gab der er mellem intention or præstation. Andre dele af verden, Asien især, er derimod videbegærligt.
Teknikker som dem Foer er inde på, kan muligvis gøre læringen "sjovt" for eleverne - man behøver jo ikke håbe på at alle blive god til Foers cirkusagtige præstationer. 

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012)

I almost forgot that I watched this movie also, or rather I nearly forgot to write something about it. So, here we go.
Imran Khan plays a young man who is under pressure from his father to achieve the best. When he looses his job as architect he doesn't have the stamina to tell his father. He takes sessions with a psychologist and there he runs into Riana (charmingly played by Kareena Kapoor). They spend time together during the Christmas days and after a long debauchery, they find out that they got a marriage license.They travel to India together where Rahul meets Riana's less than conventional family.
At last they cancel their marriage (why?), but Rahul now has the courage to live his own life and not that of his father.
There are some nice and funny scenes in this movie. Kareena gives her role a charming freshness (it's like what Zooey Deschanel does for the series New Girl). Imran Khan does a good job from being "tight assed" to relaxed cool young man. Nice entertainment when one has 2 spare hours. I'll give is 5/10 stars and I don't care if it was inspired by the movie What Happened in Las Vegas or not.

Traffic (2011)

It seems that I presently watch a lot of Asians movies. I never saw a movie in Malayalam before, but as I am very curious I gave this flick a chance.
It's not straightforward to find more information about this movie. In Wikipedia you have to enter Traffic (2011 film) and on IMDb I had to go through the name of the director, Rajesh Pillai, until I got more information about Traffic.
Obviously also in India these films have only a regional appeal, as they plan to make a remake in Hindi and in Tamil.
So, what did I see? A highly complex film, centering around an actual traffic accident. A boy, Raihan, is heavily injured in an traffic accident and only kept alive by a ventilatorand after some hesitation his parents consent to give his heart to the daughter of a superstar. The heart can only be transported through rush traffic. Sudevan, who had been away from service because he took bribes, volunteers to transport the heart. Rajeev who was on the bike with Raihan will accompany him.
The movie also gives us the complete history of all the person's involved - the cop who is transporting the heart; the boy who was going to work at a radio station. We also get the full history of Dr.Abel who is trying to sabotage the mission.
At first this is like separate stones of a mosaic, but at last we get the full picture.
I have never seen a picture in Malayalam before, so I took the chance to get an impression of this cinema. I'm happy that I've watched it. Exciting, engaging, bravo!
My opinion: 9/10.

Sreenivasan and Asif Ali in the fantastic Malayalam movie Traffic

The Love of Siam (2007)

Tong und Mew sind Jugendfreunde. Als Tongs Schwester von einem Ausflug aus dem Dschungel nicht zurückkommt, zieht die Familie weg. Jahre später treffen sie sich wieder. Mew ist Sänger in einer Boy-Band. Tongs Vater hat das Verschwinden der Tochter nicht verkraftet und ist Alkoholiker geworden. Mew und Tong finden heraus, dass sie vielleicht mehr als bloß sehr gute Freunde sind und dieses Gefühl verwirrt beide. Eine Betreuerin der Boy-Band hat eine auffallende Ähnlichkeit mit der verschwundenen Schwester. Sie wird Tongs Vater vorgestellt, in der Hoffnung, dass dieser sich so aus dem Alkoholsumpf retten kann. Mew und Tong haben nicht nur Gefühle für einander, sondern aus Beziehungen zu Mädchen, unerwiderte Gefühle allerdings.
Am Ende bleiben sie dennoch 'best friends' oder wie Tongg es sagt: Ich kann zwar nicht dein Boyfriend sein, aber das heißt nicht, dass ich dich nicht liebe.
The Love of Siam ist ein schöner Coming of Age Film. Es ist ein langer Film (knapp 3 Stunden), aber ohne Längen. Chookiat Sakveerakul gelingt es, die Personen so zu führen, dass wir gerne an ihrem Leben teilnehmen, obwohl die schauspielerischen Leistungen von Marco Maurer (Tong) und Witwisit Hiranyawongkul (Mew) sind in Grenzen halten. Ein Film über die Verwirrung der Gefühle, der vielleicht am ehesten für Jugendliche in einem repressiven heteronormativen Umfeld interessant sein dürfte.
Meine Wertung: 8/10

Mew (r) und Tong (l) haben Probleme bei der Definition  ihrer Freundschaft

 

Witch from Nepal (1985)

My experience says: better don't popular Asian film prior to 2000. This includes Hong Kong cinema I should have listened to my intuition, but I saw that there was some footage from Nepal, so I watched the movie anyway.
The film's original title is Qi yuan. It's about a couple from HK that is on a safari in Nepal. The man meets a mysterious woman who wants him to become the master of her tribe. She follows him to Hong Kong and he gets her powers., That is good, as a warrior tries to eliminate that man.
The story is told in a confusing manner, the comedy is silly, the special effects are preposterous. The acting is OK, that is the actors make the best of this nonsense.
The witch from Nepal doesn't talk very much, but when she talks, she speaks Hindi.
I give it a 2/10.

Ladies vs. Ricky Bahl

I don't like the title - it sounds stupid. And additionally Indian comedies have a rather physical humour which I also dislike. But then I decided that I wanted to give the movie a chance anyway.
Ricky Bahl is a conman he cheats women to give them money and then he disappears. When one of his victims make her story public, two other of Ricky's victims decide to take revenge and let him taste his own medicine.
These women are Dimple, played by Parineeti Chopra. Critics liked her. She has some good lines indeed (which is hardly her merit), but maybe Indian spoilt brats are like that.
I  liked much better Aditi Sharma - she develops her role in a nice fashion, while Chopra's character has no discernible development.
Dipannita Sharma (how many Sharmas can there be in one movie?) plays her role as bitchy business woman in a very efficient way, not bad at all for a former super model.
Ranveer Singh is a pleasant new discovery - charming and full of talent, as it seems also as a dancer. He cons the ladies until he is conned at last.by Anushka Sharma. She plays born sales woman, full of vigour and life - it was a pleasure to see the interaction between Sharma and Singh. There is a good chemistry between these actors. Hint: This movie also contains a romance.
The script was OK, however it seemed to be uninspired in the middle. Altogether: nice entertainment from Bollywood. A film for those who like to chuckle and smile.
I will give it a 7/10.

There is good chemistry between Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh

Don (2006) and Don 2 (2011)

For a long time I haven't seen a good movie from Bollywood. There were a lot of expectations to Ra One, but at last it was a movie from all and thus for nobody. The other movie that had a high level of expectancy attached was Don2, a sequel to Don from 2006. To get the best from it, I wanted to see that movie before watching the newest blockbuster.

Don – The Chase Begins Again (2006) Don is a mobster; his antagonist is DCP De Silva. When Don is caught by the police, de Silva sees his chance to send a mole into the world of the gangsters. Vijay, a simple singer, is the spitting image of Don. Then a charade of mistaken identities is starting. Then de Silva dies and Vijay tries to prove his identity. Vijay has a foster son and the real father - beautifully played by Arjun Rampal - also has a grudge on de Silva.
But de Silva is in reality the criminal Vardhan, and Vijay is actually Don.  Additionally Don and Vijay have their respective girlfriends, as no Bollywood movie can do without a touch of romance.
All this is confusing, sometimes surprising and, of course, highly improbable.

Shah Rukh Khan enjoys visibly playing a criminal. Although his character is a murderer, he manages to portray him as a sort of gentleman criminal. His Don is not really malicious, but rather playful.  There is a very strong cast of supporting actors. I have been told that the music partionally is also a remix of older songs.The score is rather efficient.

Don is nice entertainment, although plausibility is not the strongest aspect of this movie.

I wanted to divide these movies on two evenings, but after the first part I became reallt interested in part 2. I thought it would be nivce to continue right after the 2006 movie.

Don2 (2011) even more depends on action. Don now is about to control the European drug market. His closest aim is to rob the Central Bank in Berlin. The plot is surprising, has many turns and twists and shows once more than Don is a criminal above the genius level. This time we are not concerned about the abominable aspect of drugs, but we sympathize with the devil, because he is robbing the bank. This Don is more like Thomas Crown, not so much Godfather or Tony Soprano. And there are more than hints that the adversaries deserve to be robbed. I was amused that one of the corrupt German politicians was called --- Kohl.
This movie is not worse than Mission Impossible or Ocean-11. It has become customary that voices from India loathe those movies that do well abroad. However, Bollywood has emerged as a serious competitor to Hollywood. 
And at last a movie that didn't leave us half dissatisfied.