സ്ഫടികം (Sphadikam) (1995)

Director: Bhadran
Writer:    Bhadran
Cast:       Mohanlal, Thilakan, Sphadikam George
Language: Malayalam

Aadu Thoma (Mohanlal) is the village rowdy who is at odds with his very strict father, Chacko Master (Thilakan), a retired school headmaster. Over the course of the film we learn that his father, who believes that Mathematics is World's heartbeat, wanted him to be a genius in mathematics whereas his son's interest lied with practical science. The corporal punishment and constant discouragement forced him to leave the house as a teenager only to return 14 years later as the village rowdy. Film is basically about the relationship between the father-son duo and the title of the film translates as Prism, which is a metaphor for how differently humans can behave when faced with different kind of experiences in life.

These days we are not so blessed with a deluge of films that are classed as 'Mass', a word that I very much hate when used to describe a film or a scene. This film would qualify as such without even trying to be so and that makes it much more better when compared. In stead of having scenes that try to milk the audience for effect, this one is all about the character and so the scenes just comes naturally without feeling as if it is a set-piece. Film maker invests enough time in developing the character. Aadu Thoma is like a Christian version of Mangalassery Neelakandan from 'Devasuram' but while the latter mellows down very much after the first half of that film, Aadu Thoma is pretty much the rough guy the whole way through. I do think first halves of both these films are very much superior to their second halves since it is more interesting when we don't know much about the characters. I do rate both films overall around the same level and these two anti-hero characters are iconic when you talk about Mohanlal's filmography and it is precisely this anti-heroism that makes them so.

Overall it is a very good watch but there is an element of laziness when it comes to continuity in certain scenes. Also there are some scenes in which some characters just turn up conveniently for no apparent reason. The ending of the film seems very rushed and putting a time-bomb in a lorry doesn't seem that logical to take out a character as there is no guarantee that he will be in the lorry when it explodes, especially when timer is set for hours later. There is a unique visual tone to the film which gives it a Western feel sometimes and there are some great shots from under the lorry. Action sequences are very well done with a realness to it. Ending of the film have the protagonist getting arrested and you will really feel for the character in the same way that you felt for Mohanlal's character from 'Naduvazhikal'. A non-triumphant ending is something that you don't see nowadays in such kind of films and they always have laughably convoluted ways by which the hero escapes justice after killing dozens of people. Film was the highest grosser from 1995 and ran for a total of 225 days at the box office. 

Rating: 3.5/5

                                                                                 

La Haine (1995)

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Writer:    Mathieu Kassovitz
Cast:       Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui
Language: French

After local youth Abdel is beaten unconscious by police, a riot ensues on a Banlieue (project/estate/slum) in Paris during which a policeman loses his gun. The gun is found by Vinz who threatens to his friends that he will kill a cop if Abdel dies.

The principal cast used their own first names as names for the characters and they are a gang of three friends with Vinz being a Jew, Hubert a black guy and Said an Arab Muslim. I had seen the film around six years ago and the motivation to watch it again came when I read an article, related to the recent Charlie Hebdo event, which covered the issue of propensity of French youth from Banlieues to get radicalized because of the systemic neglect and police brutality. The author compares it to the 60s movement in Europe and US when the youth had Vietnam as a cause but since they were primarily from middle class background with education, they got naturally de-radicalized after the fad got over. This is not the case with the radicalized youth in France who takes up causes like the situation Palestine egged on by the batshit crazy fundamentalist preachers. The link for the article is: http://blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/olivier-tonneau/110115/charlie-hebdo-letter-my-british-friends

Film starts with the lines spoken by Hubert who is the most sensible among the three characters and wants to gets out of the projects: "Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good... so far so good... so far so good. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!". It again comes up during the last shot of the film where Vinz compares the guy who is falling to the system itself which is sleepwalking to a crash. "It's about a society on its way down. And as it falls,it keeps telling itself: "So far so good... So far so good... So far so good." It's not how you fall that matters. It's how you land." Vinz in the film is trying to carry himself like Travis Bickle from 'Taxi Driver' and the French version of 'You talking to me' is funny as hell. Said is like the cheer-leading monkey among the three trying to be a buffer to the tension between Vinz and Hubert. Film depicts 20 hours of their lives after the riots and is shot in black and white which gives it a timeless feel. Cinematography is stunning as is some of the sudden change in tones of how it is edited. There is an international feel to the whole thing with the usage of English songs in soundtrack, Hollywood film references and an 'Elvis shot JFK' t-shirt. I guess the whole situation is not much different in plenty of other European and US cities. The usage of 'Nique la Police', interspersed with that kick theme from Inception, was also glorious with Cut Killer himself appearing as the DJ. The ending comes with no warning and is heartbreaking. You expect that fate for another character from the film. I loved the story of the man beating up a nun thinking she was batman. 

Film was a huge critical success and retains a rating of 100 in rottentomatoes. Upon its release the then Prime Minister of France, Alain Juppe, commissioned a special screening for his cabinet in which attendance was mandatory. The title for the film comes from Hubert's line 'La Haine attire la Haine!' meaning 'Hatred breeds hatred'. Vincent Cassel had his career breakthrough with this film playing a 19 year old even though he was 28 at that time.

Rating: 5/5

Heat (1995)

Director: Michael Mann
Writer:    Michael Mann
Cast:       Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight

A group of professional bank robbers start to feel the heat from police when they unknowingly leave a clue at their latest heist. 

Both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro starred in Godfather 2 where the former played Michael Corleone whereas the latter played the role of his father, Don Vito Corleone, but in an entirely different timeline. This meant that these two actors who were arguably the greatest lead actors from Hollywood never shared screen-time till Michael Mann decided to make 'Heat'. They of course went on to act together in some crap film called 'Righteous Kill' in the noughties, but lets just forget that since they were not really at their best and didn't give a shit about films anymore. The fact that they will be on screen together was of course the selling point for the film which marketed itself as a Pacino-De Niro showdown. Still it happens in only two scenes since Al Pacino is playing a cop and Robert De Niro is the head of the robber crew which the former is trying to bust. The first of those scene is quite contrived but is necessary for the film nevertheless since it is trying to portray a situation where both these characters have huge respect for each other, like in real life I guess. 

The film is about 170 minutes long and it is well utilized to tell a story about complex set of characters with sufficient time given to show their family life. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is hugely dedicated to his job and that might be the reason for him being in his third marriage. On the other side, all the people from the crew except for their leader Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) have a family. Neil lives a very disciplined life based on the principle: "Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner." But over the course of the film he develops a relationship with a lonely girl and his inclination towards the well being of his colleagues, Val Kilmer especially, leads him to take some undue risks that could very well cause their downfall. The good thing about the film is that it is not just about their mistakes but also about good police work and lucky breaks for the law establishment. Since the film is from Michael Mann, one would expect great authenticity in the the set-piece scenes involving robbery and action sequences. I am told the bank robbery scene and police confrontation afterwards are the most realistic portrayal of them on screen. 

Michael Mann had the script of the film ready by 1979 and shelved the project after he made 'Thief'. Heat is based on the real life story of Chicago police officer Chuck Adamson and his pursuit in the 1960s of a career criminal named McCauley. In the film we are more sympathetic towards Neil and we want him to escape in spite of the body count that he caused. It might be partly due to the way the characters are played with Al Pacino doing another one of those hammy performance like in 'Scent of a Woman'. The line Because she's got a... GREAT ASS!'' was ad-libbed by Pacino and the look on Hank Azaria's face is genuine shock.

Overall it is a great watch and is my third favorite Michael Mann film after 'The Insider' and 'Thief'. When I saw it initially for the first time, I was quite underwhelmed but I didn't understand much of the intricacies involved in the scheming because of lack of subtitles. I loved it on my next viewing with the aid of subtitles. This was my third watch and I still found it to be great despite some problems involving the not so well fleshed out family back story given to the lesser characters- for eg the ones played by Danny Trejo and the other guy whom they used as the replacement driver. It would have been better if he didn't make those half arsed attempt at all. It was great to see Jeremy Piven in a cameo role of about 15 seconds which he manages to make memorable. LA looks great in that bluish tinge.

Rating: 4.5/5