Once upon a time in Hollywood: An ode to movies

Tarantino is known for a genre known as revisionist history. Django Unchained is mostly that and Inglorious Basterds is true to the genre.

It didn’t take long to pique the curiosity of Tarantards (ha ha) and the bystanders when he announced Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. This movie isn’t about a cult that wreaked havoc on Hollywood or the celebrities. It’s a loving tribute to a Hollywood where western TV shows were the staple of the households. The main stars and the ones that played cameos were huge celebrities in their own right.

This movie is about such a star past his prime looking for that one break to bring back the glory days.

Di Caprio plays this star to perfection. He is hysterical, miserable and often has to swallow his pride to survive in the cut-throat industry. A pensive Brad Pitt plays man Friday, driver, friend, philosopher and Agony Aunt to Rick Dalton. Pitt plays this character with so much charm and wit that you forget that he is a violent man to start with. There’s a reference to the disappearance of his wife. The man even loses his job on the sets of a Bruce Lee starrer because he cannot back off from a fight.

These two characters are on the decline in their personal and professional capacity. While they live in the tony area of Hollywood, a residential plot at a higher level in the hilly terrain overlooks Dalton’s house. It’s the start of a new era in Hollywood with the hot and happening Roman Polanski and his wife Sharon Tate. She has done small roles in the movies and TV and is on the verge of stardom.

Anything more about the movie and we would be in the dangerous territory of revealing the plot. The movie is long, indulgent and proves yet again why Tarantino is the master of creating mood, suspense and a fantastic treatment. This movie is more Coen brothers than a typical Tarantino and that’s a welcome change, if at all!

Unda – Of Men Growing A Pair

There has never been a movie about a battalion of reserved police from Kerala going into Maoist-infested territory in Chattisgarh. There will never be another movie about the same topic. Unda isn’t about how the police thwarts Maoists attacks and conducts the state election.

It’s as much about the inefficiency of our system to provide our forces with equipment required for the job as it is about being an alien in one’s own land. The battalion of police is in a way alien in their own land, India. The tribals face exploitation and threats to vacate their own land. The plot is heavy for sure, but the light-footedness in the treatment and story-telling is something that we haven’t seen before. The chemistry, the camaraderie and the rivalry between the men in uniform bring out different dynamics in different scenarios in the middle of the jungle.

This movie tells us how real men muster up courage and win the respect of their troops in the face of adversity. And in this case, the fact that the unit doesn’t have the basic equipment to last a day against the unknown, unpredictable enemy is the real hurdle they have to overcome.

The best part about Unda is it isn’t about the stardom of Mammootty. The star transforms into the character with strengths and weakness. This isn’t about heroism. It’s all about being human – this movie does a really good job of reminding us of that.

 

Khalid Rahman, take a bow.

Kettyolaanente Maalaakha: Made in heaven

#shortreviewseries

Syrian Christians. The hilly rubber-growing areas anywhere in Kottayam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta or Ernakulam district. And characters close to real life. This is what Kettyolanente Maalakha promises and the film delivers.

There’s a genuineness and honesty in characterizations, the settings and in the work people do in that particular locality. It’s immensely relatable if you’re from Kottayam, Pathanamthitta or Idukki district.

Some tightly written and well thought-out sequences make sure that the movie handles a very sensitive subjective with care and understanding. And the subject at hand is sexuality in a marital context. The movie holds a mirror to the fact that many boys and girls of marriageable age do not know the basics of sex or about consummating a marriage. Though Kerala isn’t exactly the rest of India in terms of statistics on domestic violence, fetal mortality rate, marital rape or population growth, it’s still in India the last time I checked.

This is one movie nobody should miss. Kudos to the director, writers, the amazing cast, Veena Nandakumar – the Maalakha and Asif Ali, who lived and breathed Sleevachan.

More than anything, this movie has reposed my faith in the so-called genre called Family Entertainers!

9: Super. Natural.

#ShortReviewSeries

Janus Mohammed’s second outing, 9, was a slickly produced, well-acted movie. It deserved a bit more love from the audience.

The movie had a lot going for it in terms of supernatural elements and psychology. Breathtaking locales in Himachal (if I am not wrong), great production design, great acting by the two Rajs – Prithvi and Prakash.

All ye movie buffs out there, if you missed watching this at the movies, it’s a great time check it out. It has all the characteristics of becoming a cult classic.

Janus Mohammed, take a bow.

Varikkuzhiyile Kolapathakam: Murder he wrote…

#ShortReviewSeries

Trivia first: It was Maniyan Pillai Raju’s character, Hitchcock Kanjikkuzhi who originally had the intention of narrating Varikkuzhiyile Kolapathakam in the murder mystery, No:20 Madras Mail. And here we are, with a title Hitchcock, the real or the pretender would have liked. Does the movie live up to the title. Yes, it does. When people conceive whodunnits, it’s usually about a murder or series of murders with a bunch of familiar suspects and red herrings all along.

What makes this movie different is that it isn’t the crime or the modus operandi that holds your attention. It’s the suspense about who’s the victim. It’s an interesting premise and a vicar of the parish investigating the crime is something we haven’t seen before.

All credit to the director and a star cast comprising of the talented Amit Chakkalackal, Dileesh Pothan and the fresh faces who played the villagers. A good watch considering the extended lockdown. It’s gonna be a good break from all the Zoom calls and con calls without any outcomes!