A Heart in Winter

It seems sort of a  coincidence or say destiny that I have been watching an array of french movies on the variations of  love. In the earlier post I had scribbled about the subtle beautiful movie 'Mademoiselle Chambon'.

 The movie that I just saw yesterday was 'Un Coeur en Hiver' (A Heart in Winter). This seems at first a love triangle between a philanderer, a musical diva and monastic urban guy but it illustrates much more shades.

First half of the movie  goes in the predictable mode  of a love triangle. Stephane (monastic guy) who is a violin maker seems to be a good friend of Maxime( Philanderer) who is the owner of this violin shop. Maxime falls in love with the gorgeous Camille (Emmanuelle Beart). Then things change n Camille falls in love to Stephanne.

It is the love between Camille and Stephane that takes us to a different psychological level. I would rather say this is movie of a man with a cold heart (A heart in winter)

Let me put this complex and intense movie in lighter prose. In a story telling mode-

There was a man with a heart in winter.
He lived in the world of music, producing an instrument of music.
He knew music but considered it a stuff of dreams.
Dreams bcos he built a reasoned wall where feelings cannot touch his heart.
But, there came this beautiful mademoiselle !
A musical Diva, a gifted violinist (Camille).
She  is having this cold affair with Stephanne's friend (Maxime)
But then her musical heart is pierced by the mystical gaze of Stephanne,
the cold hearted man !
There is reciprocity of love in gaze but not in words.
There is emotional turbulence in both,
Camille leaves her ex-lover for Stephanne,
And the day when she is ready to pronounce her love to him
She plays the violin in love for him,
A performance of a woman enraptured by love with emotions pouring through the strings of violin.
A woman completely stung by his love. But the cold hearted guy denies it. The gorgeous violinist is shattered that the  love of her life denies her.
The rejection seems incredulous at first and we are also mystified by Stephane.
It was not that he didn't love her but he didn't understand his own feeling, as he lived in denial of it.
But there was some internal upheaval  happening inside him, 
Dizzying him out and piercing him,
This upheaval was love!
Which he came to realise late through the understanding that man is mortal.

The lightness of the prose above doesn't mean to undermine this complex pychological movie on love. The performance of Stephanne is intense and brilliant. The gorgeous French actress Emmanuelle Béart's performance is exquisite. 

A small clip from the movie

Just One Word Subtle

A sublime idea in a subtle movie on love. Can music be the conduit that could kindle the heart of two persons?
 A touch , a look and silence can change the matured desires and shatter the conventionality nurtured.No materialistic magnets that attract the frail in this confused age but just raw human emotions that have driven relations for ages. There are upheavals that arise from unexpected quarters that can change and break the brittle socially constructed identity. And there can be the music that could tear apart the wall of conformism. But then circumstances subvert passion to make way for reason.

Mademoiselle Chambon illustrates this concept. There is not much action nor words required to get each other charged but just some sublime music of Vecsey-Valse Triste.

A beautiful subtle movie on love

'Biutiful' is Beautiful !

Biutiful' is beautiful and powerful film as a cinematic experience. Biutiful was a film I had been waiting to watch for a long time. The Film was different from other Innaritu's movies where multiple narratives and multiple stories intertwine with each other. This was a linear movie, taking us into a  journey of  the crumbling world of a man named Uxbal (Javier Bardem). He is a multifaceted person, a sort of a vintage urban survivor who is  a devoted father, tormented lover,mystified son, a ghost seeker, underground business man etc.To appreciate this movie we have to wear an objective hat and throw away subjectivity to the fullest extent possible otherwise it would just seem as a depressing saga. The narration in the trailer below provides us the gist of the movie. "Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. ...
An you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You'll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others. "

 Fate is a more than a small sandstorm and it cannot be escaped. Uxbal tries to fight with fate, but fighting with fate is like fighting with a shadow with only hurt in return. Life doesn't turn out like a popular flick or fiction where fate can be twisted to your own favor. Uxbal implicitly understands the inevitability of fate and tries to undertake things with atmost caution but trouble is chasing him all the time. The ardous journey that Uxbal has to undergo cannot be shortened and his life is going down a steep road without friction.

Javier Bardem was spellbinding in this hard hitting role and he has given the performance of his lifetime. Bardem gets into the skin of Uxbal and his intensity can be felt by us. A film in which the actor and the role really merges and produce an outstanding performance. A great work of art tries to portray its subject in such a manner that the observer  can feels the subject. If misery is portrayed then the audience should feel the misery. This is where Biutiful does well.  The film is minimalistic in terms of narrative technique unlike other innovative movies of Alejandro Innaritu.  But we get absorbed in the miserable life of Uxbal. The camerawork is  also quite  impressive. The movie conveys that fate is inevitable and we cannot fight it and death is a smooth passage. "When you come out of the storm your life would not be the same, it would be beautiful".

Pleasant Surprise !! (DG Revisited)

PS : Major changes from the first posting
I was not expecting much from the movie 'Dhobi Ghat (DG)' and was expecting it to be a pretentious dab on art house cinema. But it turned out to be pleasant surprise with themes inspired from  Alejandro Innaritu's movies especially Babel. The movie is about emotional dilemma's that people face in everyday existence. It shows the different emotional layers of eclectic people in the city of Mumbai.There are some good takers from the movie. 

DG revolved around three stories working simultaneously on relations but somewhat intertwined with each other. The first interesting feature that I liked about the movie was the use of silence and music. Emotions are better portrayed without words and this technique has not been effectively used in 'Hindi' cinema much. DG was able to somewhat effectively  use it in conjunction with music. Satyajit Ray was the master of this technique in India which can be clearly seen in movies such as Pather Panchali and Charulata, whereas in World Cinema Kieslowski was the master of this supreme narrative form without words.The stories were intertwined in subtle ways and showed an eclectic array of characters. Another interesting part was the simultaneous linear flow of these stories in a slow absorbing manner. The first story or theme portrays the case of Arun who cherishes his privacy and solitude.  His sense of solace comes from a vicarious experience (which can be considered  the third or another story in the movie) than from tangible human beings . The second story is about a typical 'Mumbai' struggler who aspires to become an actor one day. He seemed to me to be the central character of the movie. He finds this NRI girl who becomes his friend by chance and kindles his heart. But the girl is fond of Arun. These inconsistencies in relations and the emotional churning across different class characters has been portrayed nicely .The third story which has an vicarious emotional link to the first story and is about a simple and naive girl. She is like a adoring sister to her brother and loyal and servile wife to her husband. But her husband's infidelity she is not able to withstand and plans to commit suicide. The movie portrays in a basic sense the illogicality of life. But the end is kept open. There are movies with certain clear statements and predictablity which makes it singular in interpretation. But certainity in art form makes  it boring. Emotions are not predictable nor life is. 

Dhobi Ghat seems to be  a metaphor for life where it acts like a drainer or cleanser of emotions to make a person humble and more humane or maybe the opposite.