White Ribbon - The silent horrors

Another Cannes winner. Use of natural light and the pace of the movie makes it true to the lives and times it represent. Of so many World War movies I have seen, this makes it closest to my idea of reality then existed. It is not just photography or color treatment, but body languages of the actors and especially that of the child actors make it flawless.

The bicycle they ride and how they handle things, there so much thought that was put into each character. Story shows a puritan pastor, a doctor and the baron - how it revolves around these three poles in a fictitious protestant village Eichwald - they represent kind of sub surface aggression and nodes of societal tension in the pre-worldwar era in Serbia.

There is a narrative of a school teacher that tells the bizzare incidents taht remains unresolved

There is no closure to many things but that is not the point of this story. How everything changed and became irrelevant with imminent War. This movie depicts what was that everything that existed before war and new value system it brought in. Pastor represents the close walled religious hypocracy, the baron the disregard of the powerful to the reason and fairness towards people he rule, the malicious doctor, the widower with degenerated values.

The white ribbon the pastor asks his son to tie stand as a reminder of the innocence and purity he lost. He makes them feel guilty about natural instincts and inflicts his own values on them.

There are some scenes that transport you to that age - when schoolteacher goes to meet Eva's parents, the conversations between man and his woman - Baron and baroness post dinner, doctor and midwife, schoolteacher with Eva in carriage.

The movie was shot in color and then treated frame by frame to remove traces of modern age. it shows. Haneke is capable of handling big canvas of a village and succeeds in delivering his message. Creates the tension without much of images of violence and horror and shows that terrorism and oppresion in different age can be equally disturbing without of the actors realising that are being subjected to it.

Abbas kiarostami : Certified Copy

I think highly of cinema that initiates a compelling inner dialog especially when in the end you don't reach any closure. So much about happy endings.

Abbas Kiarostami's 'Certified copy' uses this ambiguity extremely well.

Of many Persian directors that I tend to confuse with each other except Majidi, from now on he is not the only one. Now there are two of them to distinctly remember and 'follow'.

Movie starts with a London writer, Shimell, attending launch event of its translation in Tuscany, the book flaunts the controvercial name - copy. Book as he describes is about art is in its perceptual value and not about its being original or copy. Among the admirer and attendee is Binoche, who runs a antique shop which sells copies of great originals and had views of her own. They end up spending time together later on and exchange views without necessarily sharing it, squabble through.

At a coffee shop he is mistaken for her husband and from the moment as they walks out, their interaction changes to as if they are married for real.

Abbas uses the graphic treatment of frame within frame with the use of mirrors when they argue over the statue and its artistic worth. Now the whole argument of fake-real uses the same recursive mechanism within the medium of movie making which itself is based on suspension of disbelief. He leaves the exact relation between shimmel and binoche ambiguous driving his point home.

He mixes his argument with light hearted almost natural comic vein at multiple instances. When they are approached by newly married couple or when Binoche waves at them from after the wine and outburst episode, or when Julian, her 8 yr old kid, decides to interrogate his mother for good, when she over phone help them find something. Juliette Binchoe is fantastic in her grace and illusive comedic presence.

This cinematic style does reminds of Linklaters. All those conversation heavy scenes - before sunrise. But the kiorastami and his graphic sense take this movie to different level than just an intelligent argument with yourself. Abbas is known for use of Persian poetry and so is Shimell takes refuge of poetics 'Garden of leaflessness' when he tries to convince her.

Go for it for a lingering thoughts of the movie that remains long after it is over.

Edge of Heaven (German/Turkey)

So far have not watcvhed many German movies, but of those I have watched (gigantic, Im july, etc) there is always a mention and fascinating reference to India. Feels good to be perceived by a different culture this way. Reminds me of one exchange student from Germany we used to have in IDC, she was just amazed by vibrancy and clamour we live in. Being a Fine arts grad, she succinnctly put, back there in germany its all shades of gray. She liked in here. And she actually rode a bicycle with her friend from Mumbai to Kanyakumari. OK...I was digressed to some distnat memories. I was talking about movie.
'Edge of Heaven' is a movie lying on my hard disc for some time and I kept wondering what could it be about. Never wanted to land into another supernatural or crappy version of period movie. And at one assuming moment I happend to open it finally to watch it. The movie has multiple perspectives at a turkish population living in germany, stigma a migrant family generally has to go through. Migrated alienated and living in some country trying to fit in and once that phase gets over, what remains is a longing. The plot is annotated with two deaths..thats what connects the dots in this movie. In fact two chapters of the movie open with titles and like reading a novel which gives feel of "while this was happening..". Nejat (pronounced neshat), A turk who teaches German in German university who speaks less but means lot, his brutish but loving, old-school father living in Bremen who manages to save from his pensions and tips from horse racing to get another turkish "woman of loose virtue" to be his live-in wife in old days. Her name 'Veter' that means "that's enough" in turkish, being the seventh daughter in family. Veter's daughter, Aayten, a student of sociology back there in Turkey involved into political activities against the tyranny of state regards to freedom of speech, right to education. Now as the story unfolds Najat is led to his quest for Veters daughter in turkey while Aayten to germany in serach of her mother.
Its all about loving your parents, tag line go well than Johar's melodramatic mutlistarer. In new country, ties with family becomes so significant. These days near and dear are all a phone call away but that feeling is what keeps us going. When Nejat tell the story of Ibrahim and the God, the message of the movie comes to effect. Movie is about telling a story that leaves it mark than a quick shot of entertainment. If you share the same mood and expectation then this is a good watch.