12 Years a Slave (2013)

Director: Steve McQueen
Writers:  John Ridley, Solomon Northup
Cast:       Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Brad Pitt

Solomon Northup, a free black man from New-York is kidnapped and sold into slavery and ends up in antebellum United States. Like the title suggest the audience more or less know what happens and it is based on Solomon Northup's first hand account with the same name.

The first half of the film goes along the expected lines and there is not much to it other than Solomon's bewilderment with his situation. Excellent cameos form Paul Giamatti and Michael K.Williams are there in the first half with Paul Dano playing his usual cliched self. The second half of the film gets more interesting with the introduction of Michael Fassbender's slave owner character who is infatuated with Patsey played by Lupita Nyong'o. It is really a British film that tells the story that Americans and Hollywood don't dare to tackle.

It can be also called third in Steve McQueen's 'Bodily Fluid Trilogy' with Hunger and Shame preceding it. It is a difficult watch but really well made and should win many awards.

Rating: 4/5 

Ship of Theseus (2012)

Director: Anand Gandhi
Writers:  Anand Gandhi, Pankaj Kumar, Khushboo Ranka
Cast:      Aida Elkashef, Sohum Shah, Neeraj Kabi

The film starts by stating the Theseus Paradox which poses the question that:' If all the planks of Ship of Theseus was replaced with other planks, then will it remain the same ship? If another ship is made using the replaced planks which one of them will be the Ship of Theseus?' Then the film proceeds to show three stories in the anthology format with some connection. It dwells on the ideas of identity, soul, death, karma etc with organ donation as the common thread.

I watched the film without any prior knowledge other than it deals with existentialism. It was ironic when I heard one character in film referring to the fact that body contains microbes at an order of several times the number of human cells it has, because I had discussed the same thing earlier today with one of my friends. Where will you draw the boundary when the system itself contains several subsystems in which several other organisms reside. Who is controlling who and there is a big question mark over the scope of free will. Isn't it just some organic matter and chemical reactions without any purpose, soul or anything. Another thing is that our cells die gets replaced with newer ones quite frequently and theoretically over a period of around 7-10 years all the cells in our body would have been replaced at least once. So how is one human being defined if there is no soul?

The film is exquisitely shot and well acted. It was made on a very low budget and it got good reviews during the film festival runs. In India it got released in a few cities based on the number of votes it got from potential customers. The film has been made available for free through: http://cineoo.com/sot and it can be freely streamed or downloaded. There is an option to donate as well which I did (Rs.200-the amount it would have cost me to see it at cinemas). All credits to the film makers as this is something that I thought was feasible for such independent films. Make it accessible to viewers and if the film merits it, the word of mouth popularity and money will follow. Good to see that Hugo Weaving presented the film for its Australian audience.

It is really a must watch film for which Indian film industry shouldn't take any credits.Shame that I couldn't see it on a big screen. It might have been better for the film if they did a simultaneous release via the internet like they have done now. It might have helped them in getting to more cinemas as I would certainly have watched it again on big screens.

Rating: 5/5

Don Jon (2013)

Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Writer:    Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Cast:       Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore

In the title role, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a New Jersey bartender who is addicted to porn and have unrealistic expectations about real sex which makes him prefer the former. A girl comes into his life but he finds it hard because of the demands the relationship makes.

Don Jon is a solid directorial debut from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it is really a funny childish version of 'Shame'. The Don John character is a blue collar worker who loves his car, his house, his porn and his church. Every week he makes his confession and the film follows his activities repeatedly over the film's length. The only problem in the film is Scarlett Johansson's character who is supposed to be from a higher class but talks in a similar manner to Jon which I thought was a bit unrealistic. But otherwise I guess it would have been very similar to the relationship between Travis Bickle and Betsy in 'Taxi Driver'. Most of the characters and Jon's family itself are caricatures and the film is really funny. Editing would remind one of 'Requiem for a Dream'.  

It is obvious that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has good taste and chooses his films carefully, if you see his filmography with films like 'Brick' and "Mysterious Skin'. Rather than making a dark brooding film, he has made a real fun film with 'Don Jon', which did rather well at the Box Office.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers:  Terence Winter, Jordan Belfort
Cast:       Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the role of Jordan Belfort, a wall street broker, who used pump and dump tactics to make money through his clients by dealing in penny stocks. He was a drug and sex addict and its a no holds barred film from Scorsese after his tame children's film that was 'Hugo'. 

Even though the film is three hours long, you won't feel the length as it is hilarious all the way through. There are number of great set-piece scenes like the McConaughey one, cerebral palsy phase scene, FBI in the Yacht scene etc. The entire film is driven by Belfort's narration especially the first hour and you can see him breaking the fourth wall frequently like in 'House of Cards' and it is done seamlessly without feeling too expositionary. It is a great watch but I don't think it is one which people will feel the need to re-watch anytime soon. Loved the nod to Godfather with him having two guards named Rocco.

Many people have questioned the morality depicted in the film. Well they can do one as the film is not in anyways required to take a stand or send a message.

Rating: 4/5

Good Vibrations (2012)

Directors: Lisa Barros D'Sa, Glenn Leyburn
Writers:    Colin Carberry, Glenn Patterson
Cast:        Richard Dormer, Jodie Whittaker, Liam Cunningham

The film chronicles the rise of Belfast punk rock scene, amidst the troubles that were going on there, through one man's efforts who set up the Good Vibrations record store. Terri Hooley ended up getting records out for bands like 'The Outcasts' and 'The Undertones' but decided not to profit from them as he was a socialist. None of the bands became big and they didn't sign any record deals but they received support from BBC's John Peel.

It is a feel good film and it is conscious about it with the tagline: 'It is not a feel good film, but a feel great film'. The thing with such films is that how different the set up is decides whether it works or not. Belfast rife with the Catholics-Protestants fighting and its dark sense of humor and accent makes the film work. Unlike the characters in films like '24 Hour Party People', the characters here are not desperate for money which in itself is a bit different. As Terri says regarding the punk:' New-York has the hairstyles, London has the Trousers but Belfast has the reason'.

Rating: 4/5 

Stories We Tell (2012)

Director: Sarah Polley
Writers:  Sarah Polley, Michael Polley

It is a documentary film that tries to bring different people's version of a family event to give us a picture of somebody who died a while back.

The family event concerns the parentage of the director/actor Sarah Polley. It helped that I knew nothing about the film as well as the celebrity nature of Sarah Polley, even though I have seen films like Go in which she played one of the main characters. What makes it better than sum of its parts is the breaking of fourth wall that happens frequently and particularly in the last third of the film. We realize that the film is an attempt by Sarah Polley in dealing with the the discovery of her real biological father.

Rating: 3.5/5

Le passé (The Past) (2013)

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Writers:  Asghar Farhadi, Massoumeh Lahidji
Cast:       Ali Mosaffa, Berenice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Pauline Burlet
Language: French, Persian

An Iranian returns to France to file divorce with her wife whom he had left four years back after suffering from depression. Things get complicated as he gets involved with the tensions within the family between the mother and her elder daughter, who is not happy with the mother's pending marriage to a man whose wife is in a coma.

The film is extremely intense as things get more tangled as it dwells more into the past. Little things are revealed slowly to the audience without any spoon feeding and it is amazing how Iranian films gets such fresh stories from family relationship situations. The twist at the end is similar to the one in Farhadi's previous film 'A Separation'. The performances are great from all the four leading characters as well as child actors. It is another masterpiece from Farhadi again dealing with separation but mostly to do with the aftermath.

Rating: 5/5