Movie reviews

Since its the holidays now, and i haven't got much else to do, i have been renting a lot of movies to watch.

One Hour Photo

Macabre at its best. Or should i say, worst.
You know what i mean.

It started off with just the concept being scary. But since the concept is the basis for the rest of the movie, the darkness kind of permeates into every single detail- to such an extent that you even find the happiest moments of the movie sad and depressing. After seeing things from the side of film production, you tend to look out for these elements while watching the movie more than you did before- things like the lighting, the sound, the music quality. For me, these are the things that really affect your experience as a movie-watcher. The plot and concept are undeniably the primary elements for a film. But without the technical aspects, the film is just a story that has been visualised.

These technical aspects were perfected in One Hour Photo. I don't want to go into detail here because i think it would be bloody boring.

So here's more on the concept. It works brilliantly for the movie- and its absolutely realistic. It could happen anywhere. Once that thought hits you, it gets doubly frightening. "An employee of a one-hour photo lab becomes obsessed with a young suburban family." is as much as i can give away. So there's Sy the photo guy who was played by Robin Williams. I can imagine no other actor who would have done the role better than Robin Williams. He became Sy, and he was able to portray all the nuances that exist in a character like Sy- with so much ease. Not to say that Sy is an easy kind of guy to understand when you watch the movie, or that the movie is even easy to watch. Its not. Its dark, chilling, and portrays human relationships and the mind at its scariest. Sy puts you in a dilemma, really. And that is the EXACT thing that makes this movie so brilliant.

The plot wasn't rich or extravagant. It wasn't like Good Will Hunting, with multiple characters contributing to a complicated plot, high emotional quota, or big dialogue that moves you. This movie was pretty simple- a simple plot, with simple lines. Its only the nature of Sy's character that makes it so hard to watch. Its what you don't see, don't hear, and don't know, that makes it a good film.

I don't want to delve into details about Sy's character, or about the ending. You should watch the movie yourselves. It has some profanities, some sexual content, and partial nudity. So be warned. Still, its a very very well taken and well written film, and is definitely worth watching.

***

I also watched Ghajini yesterday. Since everyone's already seen it, i don't feel like reviewing it. I enjoyed watching the earlier parts of the film, until the climax. After that i felt that things just got long and boring and draggy. Nainthara is a really bad actress, and her role was too stereotypical, and too loud and noisy for my liking. The movie had too much masala in it- which is predictable, since it is a mainstream commercial film. Surya, although he was able to do all these fancy head movements and eye movements, and mastered the walk, was quite predictable. Partially because his character was such. Still, i thought he could have done better.

Having said that, he was sizzling and i loved him during all the dance numbers. And he is the unparalleled casanova of tamil cinema. He is good with lovin' the ladies, babeh. And if i continue any further with this much estrogen in my bloodstream, i will say some things that i will most definitely regret. So, at this point, i will stop and go have a shower.