Bodhisattya Pal

Like father, Like brother, Like daughter! Or not? The problem with this dystopian thriller is it's shallow world-building! The ominous high concept served superficially and never matched with the rather harmless visual mood! The performances were non-uniform! In spite of the strong influence from several sources like Plant 75, Clue etc., Humane succeed to stay engaging. This will be still considered as a good enough debut from Caitlin; thanks to her originality beside the obvious family influence! By originality, I am referring to the satire served through out the runtime. And there are obviously some good gory moments! After all, she is a Cronenberg!

Some times, I encounter challenges to write anything after watching a certain piece of work; maybe because of the distinct peculiarities underneath its apparent simplicity! This 2023 Silver Bear winner is one of them. Afire is a strangely funny film, at least till the devastating final act; a subtle commentary on the realms of empathy through shifting perspectives. In the ego's mirror, love's uncharted domain, it ignites fiercely upon revelation. Love; so healing; so devastating!

Time never flies away. It comes back, sometimes to haunt you, sometimes to tear you apart. In this time, where cinema is reimagining the genre romance and making it unrelatable, and chaotic in the process, Past Lives stays gentle, restrained and spontaneous. The way debutant Celine Song handled the psychological realm of the characters, it immediately brought back the images from last year's masterpiece Aftersun. Personally, I believe the uniquely layered chemistry between Nora and Arthur is one of the most beautiful, complex and thought-provoking portrayals of love in recent times. With minimal notion, Past Lives leaves a philosophic nostalgia of an age old melancholy...

Cinema is dying. A.I. has started the counterproductive act of replacing the creative space within the industry. Mediocrity is being catered by quasi-astonishing VFX. Offence, shame and animosity is being glorified in the name of patriotism. Folks are celebrating it! Amidst this, an extraordinary man took a collosal challenge to portray the peerless life events of another extraordinary man. Staying unprejudiced and not to glorify the phenomenal scope is theoretically impossible there! But how far can theory go? Oppenheimer is a cinematic spectacle where all the existing formulas of a spectacle is rejected! Cillian Murphy becomes more Oppenheimer than Oppenheimer himself. That's eerie, isn't it? Can't explain the effect of Ludwig Göransson's transcendental score on me! Just wanna say, one has to do something otherworldly to surpass the brilliance of Hans Zimmer's Interstellar! Post today, sound design will be evaluated on the scale of zero to that of Oppenheimer! The technical aspects of Oppenheimer is like an undecipherable academic paper, whose every sentence deserves a separate explanation! Oppenheimer feels like a psychological paradox which dances between science to philosophy, philosophy to politics, politics to ethics! The Oppenheimer portrayed by Nolan is not a hero, antihero, genius, scientist or politician but rather a complex ethical dilemma. The melancholic silence of it, unusual for a movie about explosion, will haunt for a long. Cinema is saved...

Thankam is like two movie playing simultaneously with the analogous flow towards an unsatisfying but egregious final reveal. Inspite of being a complex character study as well as an engaging procedural, the narrative's socio-economic depth stands taller. And if these are not enough, Thankam deserves every praise just for its empathetic handling of language dynamics throughout the runtime.

Time goes away but leaves the memories behind like the sunburn of a holiday; and one sudden day it brings a shimmer of recollection made of the scattered summer songs, lost photographs, faint videos and forms a new memory; familiar yet uncanny, beautiful yet devastating! No contemporary work succeed to portray such a hauntingly empathetic image of memory as this heartbreaking debut from Charlotte Wells. Inspite of it's delicate, heartwarming and intimate undertone, it was very certain that something is not completely right and an anticipation of something shattering to happen keeps testing the viewer's restlessness. And at last the non-arrival of anything tragic was so tragic that it will be impossible to get out from it's ethereal envelope of unbearable melancholy! Lead by the unalloyed performance of Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, Aftersun is an simple yet unusual work of pure genius about the reminiscence of people closest to us, yet never really known; about vision that never really happened! Charlotte Wells is an extraordinary talent to follow. Easily among year's best...

An absurd fantasy that gives the term satirical dark comedy a whole new dimension! A court-room drama can't be as crudely precise as Court [2014] along with being as funny and hilarious as hell, unless it belongs to Malayalam cinema. A common man's latent outburst against the system is manifested in a existing yet unreal setting. Inspite of it's acute undertone, one has to struggle hard not to chuckle; and for this the screenplay hardly did any extra effort which may feel imposed; such was the spontaneity. An exceptional cast and remarkable technical team made sure that Poduval's intent is perfectly compatible at the other side. Undoubtedly, one of the finest from contemporary Indian cinema...

The threat of modernization challenges the integrity of a family in this countryside memoir set against a tender, personal and sentimental backdrop. This Golden Bear 2022 winner immediately reminds me of a last year movie Luzzu, which shares the same soul. The minimalistic approach, exquisite cinematography and non-professional actors bring the innocence of the landscape lucidly. The movie feels like an old photo album made of scattered memories. Infusing an amalgamated harmony of feelings through the changing parallel perspective, Carla Simón created some unforgettable images manifesting the collision of globalisation and heritage, survival and culture, contemporary and tradition. Elegant, soulful yet melancholic, heartbreaking...

Followed the conventional structure just to break it later; Gargi is a no-nonsense step towards making of the real feminist cinema in a nation where 'feminism' means everything except what it is supposed to mean! There are a tremendous number of classy court-room dramas made in India; some are cinematic and audience friendly; some are crude and pragmatic, like Shaurya (2008), Shahid (2013), Court (2014) and Mulk (2018) lately. Gargi doesn't have smart arguments or exhilarating verdicts but something that most of them lacks. The shifting perspectives keep playing with the audience's sense of ethics and prejudice untill a devastating third act. An important story told through a powerful film with an outstanding cast and spectacular crew. Gargi will find it's place among films like No one Killed Jessica (2011) or Talvar (2015), which ended being more than just a court-room drama! Commanding...

The Quiet Girl, a film made in a dying native language, where familiar English sounds coarse, harsh but the unheard Irish, which is on its way to become 'quiet' forever, sounds like a melody, close to the heart! Isn't it the real cinema? Embraced by the mystic serenity of the rural Ireland, The Quiet Girl is a delicate piece of poetry on solitariness. I can't recall a film, where a departing train painted on wall or a piece of biscuit bring tear on the eyes! Rennicks' mesmerizing score and Kate McCullough's intimate cinematography ensure that even the most minimal motion results in the utmost sentimental overflow. The debutant director Colm Bairéad creates magic through her experimentation with fragile human emotions. Melancholic, exquisite, moving and soulful - The Quiet Girl is a nostalgic saga of finding a voice amidst the eternal quietness. Cinema in it's purest form...