Out in the dark

English Title: Out in the dark 
Language: Hebrew, Arabic

Some movies just linger in your mind. And when that happens, there is no way to shake off that feeling except to embrace it, talk about it, and write about it. This is one such movie. I watched this movie last night. I couldn't sleep or feel right all morning. I hope writing about this movie will help a little to get over such a beautiful movie.

This movie gets compared a lot against "The Bubble". I watched "The Bubble" years ago and my memory of the movie is non-existent. So, for me this movie was fresh. Initially, I was taken by how cute the actors were. No lying there... but slowly you forget about it. The actors do make you laugh and cry with them.
I think the first moment when I heart exploded was when Nimr comes to Roy's house unannouced and Roy is on phone... he hangs up and gives Nimr a hug with the biggest smile. I could feel warmth, love, longing, genuine happiness in it all. It really felt like he hugged me. But in the same scene, you can tell how detached Roy is to Nimr's situation. You could tell that he couldn't relate. He has lived a comfortable life as a gay man. As things evolve, you can see that Roy can only sympathize with Nimr but not relate. Both of these characters go through a different range of emotions and you just ride along. I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have NO country? How orphaned and lonely would one feel? What kid of despair does one feel when there is nowhere to go and all you literally have is love? You could see that turmoil in Nimr. Especially after he sees his family on TV. Really, I can't imagine what it would be like to be disowned and then have no means to know what has happened to his family.

Honestly, I was a little surprised how Roy's character played out. What he does is quite unexpected for his character. You can't deny the force of love he feels when he puts everything he has at risk. Even though Nimr's situation is sad, it's really Roy who got tossed and turned in the storm of love.
The end was just heartbreaking. We don't know if Nimr makes it, if Roy was destroyed. It leaves us with despair but what makes it hard is it also leaves us with hope.

Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.

Se, Jie (2007)

English Title: Lust, Caution
Language: Mandarin, some amount of Japanese, English, Hindi, Shanghainese, Catonese

When Tony Leung acts in movie, I watch it. 
He is one of the BEST actors in the world. If you have been following Chinese movies, you would know that Tony Leung - Kar Wai Wong combination have made some fantastic movies. Ang Lee himself being a good director, I watched this movie with great expectations. And WOW!

The period is Second Sino-Japanese War
The main characters are -
- Secret service head and a Japanese collaborator, Mr.Yee
- Young student, Wong Chia Chi, who enthusiastically joins
a resistance group to make a difference
- Sex
The plan is to seduce Mr.Yee, be aware of his whereabouts, and kill him at a vulnerable moment.

How the plan is carried out and what ends up happening is the story of this movie. And it is very interesting.
But why did I mention sex as a main character?


Seducing Mr.Yee is big part of the movie. Yee knows that there are many people who hate him for being a Japanese collaborator and want to assassin him. He does not believe anyone. So you see seducing Mr.Yee and getting him to actually trust you, is difficult. The job is even more dangerous because Yee is cold, very withdrawn.


What starts as an amateur idea to infiltrate into Yee's household, becomes a serious mission over time. This job of getting access to Mr.Yee falls on Wong Chia Chi. Wong Chia Chi is a young student, enthusiastically joins a drama group, and is also dealing with her own abandonment issues by her father. Even though she takes up the mission, she really does not have any personal vengeance against Yee in her mind unlike other people who are part of the resistance group. They tell her he is a traitor, she believes that.


After she successfully gets Yee's attention, sex becomes a big part of the movie. The emotions, feelings, trust or the lack of it, opinions Yee and Wong Chia chi have about each other is simply shown through the sex scenes. What starts as a violent abuse by Yee who only wants her body, slowly transforms into love making and finally into love. This is the best part of the movie.


Ang Lee beautifully shows this transformation in the way in the way they hold each other, in the way they kiss and so on. No words do the talking. He is still cold and withdrawn. But you slowly see that he has begun to trust her and treat her with care; care in the most subtle way. At the same time, you see that she is slowly losing any anger and purpose. I cannot think of any other movie that has managed to speak so much through few sex scenes. Absolutely wonderful and creative!


Even though you know Yee is no saint, you understand him a little, his longing and his heart. And by the end of the movie, you will, maybe just a little, start falling in love him too. Tony Leung takes the credit of this. One of his best performances!! He switches from being violent to soft to a gentleman with ease. When you look at Yee you don’t think he can be violent and as you know him more, you don’t think he is capable of such love. Tony Leung brought such a mystery to this character and I can go on and on about Tony Leung. Wei Tang's performance was great considering it is her first movie?


Some might quickly dismiss the movie over the sex scenes. But I feel it is integral part of this movie and project all of its beauty. The cinematography is brilliant, especially when the wives play Mahjong. This definitely is one of a kind movie. I don’t think a movie like this can be achieved again.


Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.

Yossi VeJager (2002)

English Title: Yossi & Jagger

Language: Hebrew                                                           

Of late, I have been picking up gay oriented movies. Nothing intentional, just seems like the pattern is in the air. When you start watching some of the most amazing gay oriented movies, you will soon be adding Yossi & Jagger to your list. Why so? Because it is definitely a well-made movie. The other reason I decided to watch this movie was because it brings together again the director-actor combination - Ohad Knoller and the director Eytan Fox (of "The Bubble" fame)

This movie is set on a war background. That might immediately lead you to think that the movie is going to be a serious one. On the contrary, the movie manages to start and stay on a light note. The characters are all young men and women (Israel requires a mandatory military service from their youth) They laugh, crack jokes, share great friendship and deal with the ordeal of war in a not-so-serious way.

Yossi is the Commander of the squad, very tough, manly guy. He develops an affair with Jagger who is the cutest, the most lively officer. Yossi desperately tries to keep the affair a secret which is difficult as they spend their days and nights amongst the squad. Yossi wants to stay in the closet for reasons that are not shown in the movie and Jagger wants to come out open. There is different wants and needs in the relationship and you begin to wonder how its going to end. There is no crying or drama. The ending is particularly sad but not new to the world of cinema.

The movie shows gay love in an esthetical way and you soon forget that they are both men. Couple of scenes were strikingly brilliant. I loved the scenes where Yossi takes dessert to Jagger. You can tell how much he wants to be with Jagger and how enchanted he is by Jagger. Ohad's smile is so genuine. Another scene that I thought was very powerful was when Yossi looks at Jagger’s album and spots him in the rabbit costume. Ohad's expression was exactly how I reacted when they show the picture.

The movie is only 63 minutes long. The movie explores all the other characters in a subtle way, so there is a lot of variety. In fact, there are only 4 or 5 scenes with Yossi and Jagger together. Instead of calling it a love story, I would call it as a documentary about lives of young army team. Yossi and Jagger just happen to be a part of it. Once you let the characters unfold, you will soon be laughing with them and crying with them.

Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.

Ondskan (2003)

English Title : Evil

Language : Swedish/Finnish

When I picked "Ondskan" , I had no idea what i was getting into and I do not regret a moment of that 113 mins of my life.

The movie begins by opening a small window into Erik's life, which consists of his decrepit mother and a very abusive step father. Erik's change of personality within the house and outside the house immediately draws you to his character. After being expelled for thrashing someone, Erik's mother who is unable to protect him from the step father, decides to send him to a posh boarding school. Erik reaches the boarding school with a determination to make it good for the sake of his mother. He makes friends and learns the rules of the school and he immediately knows that he is going to be in trouble. Erik's persistent, his courage, fearlessness makes you fall in love with him. At the same time, to imagine what is going on in his mind when he gets violent is very disturbing. You would think that he is a sociopath, almost. But at every step, Erik proves your conclusion wrong and that only makes you fall for him deeper. The characterization in the movie was very good. The violence in Erik, with the deep love for his mother is a interesting aspect to his character. The movie fails to give you a definite ending, but if you sat through the end, it would bother you less. Because, you are already mesmerized by Erik.

And who better as Erik than Andreas Wilson. His stern face, blue eyes particularly helps bring out different attributes of Erik... be it when Erik is unable to help his friend or be it when Erik challenges his senior to burn him.

Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Language: English

On a lazy Saturday afternoon, I had the opportunity of watching Alice in Wonderland with few friends. The key attraction to me was the collaboration of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, a team that has made many fabulous movies. But for now we can leave Alice in Wonderland out of that list. This movie suffers from the same problem as any other movie made from fantasy books. The scenes are short lived and hence there is lack of depth in the scenes. The movie just goes on and on for the decided time without involving audience's interest. And when you think about it, the only reason you sat there would be for the animation.

So after watching this movie, I thought of all the other classic-books-turned-into-movies I have seen. I was quickly reminded of “Chronicles of Narnia – the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. Now that movie kept my interest throughout the course and brought out a tear or two for Aslan. So why can’t other movies achieve this? Maybe if Alice had disclosed a little more emotion, maybe if the movie didn’t skip through the story on a vague level. I am not able to put my finger on it.

The movie did not capture me at any level even on the technology part. Its starts of dreamy and then it loses it. The movie is not at best at merging 3D and real world. It doesn’t make you go “wow” or make you want to be in that wonderland…. Unfortunately!
Johnny Depp’s performance was as always good, but his unusual acting has become usual. It kind of lost the charm, I should say. I would like to see him do a movie of a totally different genre. Something that is more real and surprise us that way, maybe? I was also a huge fan of Helena Bonham Carter after Sweeny Todd. But her character as Red queen just sinks in the ship. She had to make few mean remarks, that’s all? That is disappointing. Anne Hathaway came across more as high maintenance than a merciful queen.

Overall, it is not a bad movie. You can watch it once of the fun of watching 3D while eating pop corns. But in this movie, it was definitely the case of wrong Alice in the wonderland.

Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.

Spoorloos (1988)

English Title : The Vanishing
Language : Dutch/French/English

This Dutch movie caught my interest after i read a synopsis of the story line. The strong title, the understated movie cover and the topic of pursuit gave me the impression that the movie was going to be very intense, dramatic, scary to some extent and very distressful.
And this movie turned out to be everything but what i had imagined.

The movie starts out with a young couple, Rex and Saskia, heading for a vacation. The trivial games they play on the road trip, the golden egg dream, the unforeseen mishaps builds the pace of the movie, which is pragmatic and tangible. As they stop at a gas station and do the mundane things we all do, you start to identify with the characters. The nervousness of Rex, his attempt to find Saskia at the gas station makes you wonder what you would have done if someone you know disappears. Going Parallel, the movie depicts the character Raymond, who abducts Saskia. As you look closely into the life of Raymond, you understand him, and yet you don’t understand him. Even though you know that he abducted an innocent woman, you don’t get angry at him. Maybe because, he is so genuine about what he does or maybe because he acts like a little boy who wants to suffice his curiosity.

Three years fly away and people move on with their lives. Rex, though pursuing his life, is left with lot of unanswered questions. He is desperate to know what had happened to Saskia and how she vanished. He is not hopeful about her life. But his despair leads him to go behind the abductor who contacts him, to plea to know the truth. On the other hand, the self understanding of Raymond concerns you at many level as you painfully understand that he has no remorse.

This movie is simply about the ones who are left behind, dealing with life, waking up every day with the question that you might never find answer to.
But at what cost will you seek the answer?

I for one, just cannot put myself into those uncomfortable shoes of Rex. To imagine that someone you know just drops of the planet. The nightmares, the despair... everything is so real and hence tragic. Unfortunately, this movie might disappoint someone who is expecting a thriller on top speed.

I personally loved the perspective the movie had to offer. It was fresh, new and real. It didn't take help of the drama we all expect in a movie like this. Ironically, it lingers more in your mind that any drama will ever do.

I do not, at this stage, possess the knowledge to handle a technical review of this movie.

Keep watching this space, for more life, love and cinema.