Movies, Books and me..

Life was going on.. steady and at ease when lo i went off to meet a dear sweet aunt of mine and her hubby whom i was meeting for the first time.. Some people, i believe are met just to attain a cause. N this time I'm sure that was one of the purposes of my visit to their home.. Abundance of knowledge, encyclopedia of books, movies and again knowledge... what do i say.. but i was simply mesmerised by the depth of knowledge he possessed(my uncle). Geography, History, of India, Us or the entire world..Even the dates were known by heart to him.. And he is a doc by profession..So count in biology too..Also equally knowledgeable is my aunt..About books, economics what now.. in their midst i felt glad to admit that i am a kid and was pleased to be treated like one.. And from there i now have a whole new list to to be read books and to be watched movies..

N a few impressive ones i already saw from their collection are -

A Passage to India - A beautiful movie by David Lean adapted from E M Foster's famous book A passage to India.. It gives us a view of British India. How the British lived in India and later a clash between the Britishers and the mob.But unlike a movie on freedom struggle, this movie has a good story line and its mysterious till the very last reel.Truly awesome was the performance of Alec Guiness as professor Godbole.Also impressive were the dialogues which were apt and crisp.A good movie involving and Indian doctor, a young British lady tourist, her old adorable companion called Mrs Moore and how their nice little picnic turns into a nightmare..

Mississippi Masala - A lighthearted movie about an Indian family residing in Mississippi.. Its a story abt forbidden love between the Indian girl played by Sarita Choudhuri and an African American played by denzel Washington.. Must say i have become a fan of the director mira nair, especially since her other movie Monsoon wedding too had been exemplary. The best thing about the movie was that it didn't have any special or great story line or anything much different form other romance movies, but still it was cute in its own simple way and i liked the girl a lot.

She played the character remarkably well.. :)

After movies it time to mention a book, the author of which I'm reading for the first time And I'm just speechless by his total grasp on his entire plot and layout.. He seems to have a mental picture of each day of his characters and with tremendous ease he flip flops between the past and present making drowsy readers jerk and flip back pages.. not that readers can doze reading his book..The person I'm talking about is Mr. Amitav Ghosh and the book is The Shadow Lines which won the Sahitya Akademi Award, India's most prestigious literary award.. Rest of his books are in my to-be-read list and his non-fiction books like In an Antique Land are also much appreciated..

A very Long Engagement

After watching amelie, i became enchanted by audrey tautou. And i was happy to get "a very long engagement" on mail, in which she plays an even more powerful character..
i have been wanting to write the review of this movie for the past 2 weeks.. However somehow the time/mood compatibility seems to have favoured only now.. I fear i lost the vehement desire n freshness of the noble thought now :( but still i'll try..

Crippled with polio n living in war timesmatilda,the heroine of this simple love story has much more in depth to express than i first expected.. The movie really takes one on a treasure hunt and the feeling of adventure and mystery are sure to accompany you till the end..with not one boring scene/reel i felt a sense of achievement after watching this movie.. each character is carefully interwoven and its fabulous how the plot unfolds.. some of the war scenes might be disturbing though..A very true to life and touching movie, which has truly captured the pain, the fear and hopes of soldiers and their loved ones.There is a subtle tinge of humour and excellent cinematography and direction are a sure plus..truly enjoyable was also the background score, costumes and effects.

Though it was a bit difficult to keep reading the subtitles mind you, as i am yet to be accustomed to watching foreign films i enjoyed the movie a lot, ..must say i am completely knocked down by audrey.. first it was audrey hepburn.. now audrey tautou.. may be if i have a daughter, u can guess wat i may name her ;) provided i am not that impressed by sumone else by then.. lol


Another movie which got hooked into me was "The hours".The entire movie revolves on a book "Mrs dalloway".. how the book takes over the life of 3 women, living in 3 different cities at 3 different periods.. there was a lot hidden and unsure about the 3 women.. though a little clarity is presented towards the end, it is enigmatic..it is about their whole lifes in 1 day, the day their fates become clear.. As is said in the movie "A woman's whole life in a single day. Just one day. And in that day her whole life. "

The dialogues are excellent.. It ranges over a wide spectrum and the story tells us abt so many things in so many ways..it feels you are reading a book.. There is so much scope for imagination. n yet in the end, it remains a simple story abt a woman who wrote a book in 1923in England, a women who read it in 1951 in LA and yet another modern day woman who seemed to be living it in 2001 in NY city.

somehow it seems inexplicable to me.. but it sure was a pleasure to analyse the movie.. nicole kidman won the oscar for playing the English writer n must say she has successfully portrayed a battered kind of a schizophrenic woman, concealing her glamour and her strikingly different nose. julianne moore is pretty in the 50's costume and meryl streep who im sure u all will agree as a versatile actress, has done a fair job in this movie as well.
i had fun imagining the possible links between the 3 stories till the end.. wuldn't want to spoil the surprise for any of you.. based on Michael Cunningham's 1999 Pulitzer Prize winning Novel"The Hours." ,this movie can be enjoyed by drama lovers :)

Music And Lyrics!!

saw this movie recently.. Don't worry.. im not here to give a review.. ;)
just loved this song a lot n it has completely had me...
a classic melody.. check out for urself.. Oh ya.. n there s another version in which the starting piece of music is played using a veena.. i just loved it a lot... Sorry i cudn't find that clip for u.. but here is the original full version.. Enjoy!!

Amelie

Its not often that i watch a foreign film.. The idea of comprehending the movie through subtitles n video alone doesn't always fascinate me much.. However with regard to powerful movies recommended by friends/family, its always exception..

The seven samurai (1954) is a Japanese movie often aired in management classes and as part of team building sessions for its powerful presentation of victory achieved as a team.. That was the first foreign film i watched..

Amelie was recommended by a dear friend who will have a major role in my hair straightening, as she is the one who has gifted me with the straightening iron ;-)

This french movie is about an impish gamine Amelie who lives alone and works in a cafe. She is timid, yet cheerful with a child's heart..When she finds a box of toys hidden for 40 years behind a baseboard in her apartment, she's inspired to repatriate the items, an impulse of generosity that sparks more benevolent acts, one after the other.

The first half of the movie is thoroughly enjoyable. Amelie's vivid imagination is hilarious and her little ways of life are amusing..However the second half may seem too childish and a bit silly..

It is a light hearted movie jarringly adult in some other ways, which in my opinion needn't have been.. Anyways, enjoyable by adults, it is daringly distinct. A celebration of life, Amelie reminds us of the small wonders that abound around us … if only we paused to look. Thanks to my friend who recommended it to me :)

Casablanca..

It has been a long time now since i wanted to c this movie..N at last my desire was fulfilled yesterday when i watched it with my husband..
Though it was not all that magical, i loved the movie.. It is very realistic n the characters r all simply adorable...The surprise twist in the end really reminded me of another Hindi movie..The song "As time goes by" is splendid and Humphrey Bugart as a saloon owner is very charming..
To classic lovers, I wud say a must see.. It makes you think, think about war times, the black and white era, and much more..N more so for the lyrics of the song.. They kept me pondering...



[This day and age we're living in
Gives cause for apprehension
With speed and new invention
And things like fourth dimension.

Yet we get a trifle weary
With Mr. Einstein's theory.
So we must get down to earth at times
Relax relieve the tension

And no matter what the progress
Or what may yet be proved
The simple facts of life are such They cannot be removed.]

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

And when two lovers woo
They still say, "I love you."
On that you can rely
No matter what the future brings
As time goes by.

Moonlight and love songs
Never out of date.
Hearts full of passion
Jealousy and hate.
Woman needs man
And man must have his mate
That no one can deny.

It's still the same old story
A fight for love and glory
A case of do or die.
The world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.

Oh yes, the world will always welcome lovers
As time goes by.



On yet another romantic note, read the article below..It left me bewildered...
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSL0912761120070409?feedType=RSS

An Affair to REMEMBER

She was the happiest girl on earth.. She was going to meet the man of her dreams in a short while..Terry McKay (Deborah Kerr) was just minutes away from her destination when she falls prey to fate, meeting with a fatal accident..

Related to their most romantic rendezvous on top of the Empire state building is the dialogue in which Kerr says"It was no ones fault. I was looking up at heaven, because you were standing there! Oh, Nicky, if you can learn to paint, I can learn to walk again!" corny lines aren't they?? wat do u say?? Had it been last year diya wouldn't have agreed more..

She would have discarded it saying "Ah!! it can happen only in films.."

But as the Universal Story weaving machine works (see my previous post 2 weeks in US) may be the gr8 movie director of all times namely God decided to teach her a lesson..

A week before she was to meet her Nicky Ferrante, she too falls prey to a bike accident n lands up in hospital with a couple of broken bones n joints.. leaving the surgery n other misery parts, her life also was a bunch of corny lines after that.. confused?? read on...

Thanks to the director who scripted her story, she didn't have to wait for ages for Nicky to drop into her apartment one day.. Instead,on the very day of her engagement.. Under the direction of all her family, friends n well-wishers, Nicky Ferrante gave her the ring in the hospital room...That became the most astounding, awesome, unbelievable surprise of her life!!!

Truly An affair to remember!! Everyone said"Oh how romantic.. just like a film story!!"

But diya no more uses the line "Äh!! it can happen only in films.." :)

"city of angels"

Among the many differences between India and US, grapes happenend to catch my attention.. The refrigerator here contained a bunch of fresh juicy red grapes.. N when i hapenned to taste it, it was as pleasing as it looked.. Sweet, juicy and really intoxicating a feeling to thank god for creating taste buds..

Dont know if i may sound exaggerrating but at that instant the next thought that occurrd to me was the dialogue between seth and maggie(Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan) in my favourite movie "city of angels" which goes as follows -

Seth: What's that like? What's it taste like? Describe it like Hemingway.

Maggie Rice: Well, it tastes like a pear. You don't know what a pear tastes like?

Seth: I don't know what a pear tastes like to you.

Maggie Rice: Sweet, juicy, soft on your tongue, grainy like a sugary sand that dissolves in your mouth. How's that?

Seth: It's perfect.

Yes its perfect!!My dear friends, be thankful.. god has made this place just perfect!! 4 u and 4 me n for the entire human race!!! :)