Chungking Express (Hong Kong, 1994)

Country Series – This will feature countries from alphabetical order, A to Z. One film from a country will be written. Next in the series will be from I...

Earlier Posts - Afghanistan, Burma, Columbia, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Georgia, Jamaica

Don’t ask is Hong Kong is still a country? This film came when Hong Kong was still with British.

I had always been fascinated by films which deal with multiple stories. There will be a particular place where all the stories will be connected, so we will be eager to see the moment. Films like Ameros Perros, Babel, Ayuda Ezuthu deals with multiple stories with a connecting point. I thought Chungking Express will be like the one amongst the above listed films. But it turned out to be like K Balachander “Oru Veddu Iru Vasal”- a theme based Tamil film. The connecting point in the Chungking is love or getting out of the break-up phase.

What is this Chungking mean? It’s a mansion, or a group of building in the city of Hong Kong. The story is set in the hustle and bustle of this mansion, where people living in close quarters. A quick run through Wiki says, Chungking mansion has eclectic number of people with different nationalities. Bound by its anthropology the film has all sorts of characters from different nationalities- Indians (Pakisthanis, Indians, Bangaladesis), Asians (Chinese, Thai..) & Westerners.

The first part deals with a cop (No. 223) falling in love with a blonde girl. Cop 223 is already into a break-up and he is whining about it. The blonde girl, prepares a set of drug mules, but she losses them to her rival in the airport. She moves to a bar and bumps into the cop No. 223. They end up in her apartment. 

The next story is about a beat cop No. 663, who is also in his love break-up with a air hostess. He meets Faye, a waitress in a small eatery. Both the cop and Faye play hide and seek game with their love.

Every 4th scene someone is cleaning something! Is Hong Kong people that clean consciousness. There is no story; no plot develops in both the stories, no specific ending. There is no connecting point between both the stories. You might be frustrated, if you look at the film like a conventional film.

Kissa Kursi Ka (India, 1977)

This week we are observing 40th anniversary of the Emergency (India), which was imposed by Indira Gandhi government in 1975. There are only handful of films which talked about the black pages of India. One such film, which not only took a direct dig into the Emergency, but also made a satirical political film, Kissa Kursi Ka. Kissa means story (tale), Kursi means chair (Seat of power or throne). The film is directed my Amrit Nahata, who was a Congress MP then, later he went to Janata Party which was the torch bearer in opposing the Emergency under Jai Prakash Narayan.

As far as I know, political satire is a very rare genre, the one I had seen is a Tamil film by an comedian turned political commentator Cho Ramaswamy’ Mohammaed bin Thugluk, which was released in 1971, way before the Emergency.

As the name suggests, Kissa Kursi Ka is all about catching and keeping the power on ones hold. This takes the plot directly from Indira Gandhi, who was to hold the power to safeguard her PM position. Let me not go into the political events of 1975, but just talk about the film. 

**Spoilers Ahead**

The film is set in a fictional country call Jan Gan. Meera and her boyfriend Gopal on a chit-chat in a party strike an idea to make someone as politician and then make him\her the President of Jan Gan desh. After a brief search, they find Gangu, a dumb street vendor who is selling a medicine named sanjayveni. With all the misdoings of Meera, Gangu becomes the President. Gopal cautions Meera that Gangu might turn as monster, which eventually happens. Meera lose her grip on Gangaram (Gangu), who takes directions from Deshpal his secretary. Shabana Azmi is called Jantha (which denotes the public in Hindi), she is disabled to speak. Her visits to Gangaram are prevented by Deshpal. Ridiculous ideas are implemented by the government- Killing rats to prevent those eating grains. Mass execution of rats takes place. People are given incentives to kill rats. An unnecessary war is fought with the neighboring country called Anderinagar. At one point Deshpal sexually assaults and kills Janta. Terrified Gangaram finds it and asks what have you done? Deshpal replies “What I did to her was all what you did to the people of this country”. As every film, the villain Gangaram and Deshpal find their end.

The film is not short of songs. At given intervals the songs appear is various major Indian folk\classical styles- Odissi, Bangra, Bharathanatiyam, which lyrically represent the unfolding story.

After forty years, even now the dialogues will still hold good for the current politicians. The film was banned and its original tapes were burnt by none other than the second son of the Mrs. Gandhi, for which he was sentenced to one month prison post Emergency. This film can be put in the lines of religious satire Life of Brain and Kubrick political satire film Dr. Stranglove.

The full film is available in YouTube, taken from a Zee TV telecast.

Picture Links and other links-

http://homegrown.co.in/understanding-indias-dangerous-history-of-film-censorship-and-its-implications/

http://www.filmykeeday.com/movies-that-were-banned-in-india/

Bharath Stores (India, 2012)

இதை தமிழில் தான் எழுதவேண்டும். என்னென்றால் இது இந்தியப்படம், அதுவும் நம்ம பக்கத்து மாநிலம் கர்னாடகாவிலிருந்து வெளிவந்தப் படம். பொதுவாக சமகாலத்து நிகழ்வுகளை படமாக எடுக்கமாட்டார்கள். எதற்கு வேண்டாத தலைவலினு. இல்லனா ஒரு ஜனரஞ்சகமான படத்தை எடுத்து அதுல தொசை மேலத் தூவுன மொளகப்போடி போல ஒரு சமகாலத்துப் பிரச்சனையா பூசுனாப்புல சொல்லிட்டு போயிடுவாங்க. ஆனா Bharath Stores நேரடியா கதையோட மையப்புள்ளியில் டிராவல்லாகுது.

பெரிய shopping complex மற்றும் mall-கள் வந்துவிட்ட நிலையில் சிறிய மளிகை கடைகள் என்ன ஆகும் என்பதை ஒரு கதையோடு சொல்வதுதான் இந்தப் படம். (Written & Directed by Sheshadri)

பாரதியும் (Sudharani) அவள் கணவரும் (Gurudutt- கமலின் கலைஞன் படத்தில் வரும் வில்லன்) ஆமெரிகாவில் இருந்து பெங்களுருக்கு வருகிறார்கள். பாரதி கோவிந்த ஷெட்டியை (Dattareya) தேடி வருகின்றாள். பாரதியின் தந்தை கோவிந்த ஷெட்டியிடம் பட்டக் கடனை அடைக்க வருகின்றாள். கோவிந்த ஷெட்டி Bharath Stores என்ற மளிகை கடையின் முதலாளி. ”Bharath Stores bus stop”-பை கண்டுபிடிக்கிறாள், ஆனால் அங்கு Bharath Stores கடை இல்லை. அக்கம் பக்கம் விசாரித்தாலும் யாருக்கும் தெரியவில்லை. ஒருவழியாக கடையில் வேலை செய்த சந்துரு மற்றும் மஞ்சுநாத்தை (இந்தப் பெயர் இல்லாமல் கன்னடப்படமே இருக்காது!) சந்திக்கிறாள். அவர்கள் கோவிந்த ஷெட்டியிடம் வேலை செய்த அனுபவம், ஷெட்டியின் குடும்ப சர்ச்சை மற்றும் கடையில் எப்படி வியாபரம் படுத்தது என்று கூற, கதை கடந்த காலம், நிகழ் காலத்திற்க்கும் மாறி மாறி பயணிக்கிறது. ஷெட்டியை பாரதி சந்தித்து கடனை திருப்பிக் கொடுத்தாளா என்பது கதை.

காலப்போக்கில் மாற்றம் இன்றியமையாதது தான், அதை எற்க மறுத்தவன் அழிந்துப்போவன். ஆனால் அரசாங்கமோ பெருநிறுவனங்களோ மக்களின் மீது அவர்களுக்கு தெரியாமல் ஆசையை விதைப்பது அந்த மாற்றத்தை வேகமடைய செய்து மனிதர்களின் மனித்தன்மையை இழக்க செய்கிறது.

எல்லா சிறு மளிகைக்கடைகளும் பாதிப்பு அடைவதில்லை, ஆனால் மால்களின் காட்டாற்று வெள்ளத்தில் Bharath Stores போன்ற கடைகள் அடித்து செல்லப்பட்டிருப்பது உண்மை. 

Retail, wholesale, packed foods, IT மற்றும் பெருநிறுவனங்களில் குடுக்கப்படும் food & grocery coupon, விளம்பர உக்திகள், credit card, தேவையற்ற பொருள்களை வாங்குவது போன்ற எல்லாவிதமான நவீன கலாசரங்கள் பற்றியும் கதையோடு சொல்கிறது Bharath Stores.

Torrent-ல் இருக்குதா என்று தெரியவில்லை. எப்போயாவது DD National, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha அல்லது DD Bharathi போன்ற TV Channel-களில் பார்க்கலாம்.

YouTube Trailer

Ban That Scene (Burma, 2012)

This is a short video which was made by an independent filmmaker (Wyne) from Burma (Myanmar). It is a 17-minutes satire film. Short film, so a short article.

The Plot

A film maker approaches the censor board to certify his film. The board consisting of some 15-20 people from different government departments watches the film. Every member voices their opinion and asks\argue to remove certain scenes from the film. The actual film ends in a chaos.

Few banned items proposed by the officials- Shots & Reason.

• Scene showing beggar- Other countries will think Myanmar is full of beggars.
• Women dressing.
• Men and women “talking” about love.
• Government official taking bribe.
• Power Outages. Yes!

The short-film, mocks at the pitiable state of the certifying authority. I equate this film to the recent happenings in the Indian Censor Board (CBFC) releasing a list words which should be banned in the films.

Full Film in YouTube.

Earlier posts in this series- Afghanistan 

Country Series – This will feature countries from alphabetical order, A to Z. One film from a country will be written on a weekly basis. Next in the series will be from Columbia, South America.

Bettada Jeeva (India, 2011)

Language: Kannada | Director: Sheshadri | Year: 2011

The title is translated in English as “Man of the hills”, but it could have been “The Life on the hills”, because although the film portrays about the human emotions, it equally talks about the life of the people living in the Western Ghats of South India. 

The story is set in pre-independence India. Shivaramu (Suchendra Prasad) is a young freedom fighter, who is propagating Gandhian thoughts is on a run from the law. He loses his way in the woods while travelling, he then with the help of the tribes land at Gopalaiah’ house for a night stay. 

The elderly couple- Goplaiah (Dattatreya) and his wife Sankari (Rameshwari) live in the midst of the forest, along with few people. They have their own farm. Situation arrives when Shivaramu had to stay with them for few days. This gives an opportunity for Shivaramu to know about the couple, their runaway son Subbu, who they believe is in Bombay. He comes to know that Subbu like him (Shivaramu) has left his parents to take part in the freedom struggle. By seeing the emotional sufferings of the elderly couple, who are unaware of the whereabouts of their son, Shivaramu decides to get back to his own family. Sankari also asks Shivaramu to find their son, since he too is travelling to Bombay. Did he find is the climax of the film?

The synopsis of the film made me to watch it, since most of the pre-independence set films are either patriotic or political biography. Very few films touch the human emotions of that period. 

Other touch points in Bettada Jeeva are the life of the people in Western Ghats of Karnataka- Their culture and attitude towards the then on going freedom movements. Gandhiji is almost an outsider to them. The people never care who rules them. The film on its way of pitching the human emotions, also talks about environmental issues of deforestation. But nothing gets preachy.

The Patience Stone ( Afghanistan, 2013)

I picked this film when I read this was the Oscar entry from Afghanistan. But apart from the Afghanistan tag in the production company (Along with French collaboration), there is no reference of the word “Afghanistan” in the story line, nor we get to know where the story is set. Just like we don’t get to know the location of where the film is set, we are unaware of the names of the characters. They address others by how they are related to each other or by their occupation. This might be done intentionally or the film maker (Director- Atiq Rahimi) thought it was unnecessary. 

The story is set in a front-line town, which is getting heavy shelling as there is a war going on. The main plot of the story is a man (Husband), wife, their two daughters, her aunt and a stuttering soldier. 

The man (Husband) is in a coma-stage, he has recently taken a bullet on his neck owing to a family conflict. The wife takes care of the husband, hoping that he will get back his senses. With no one to take care of their daily needs, she depends on her aunt. The wife comes to know about the traditional myth about “Patience stone (Syngue Sabour)” from her aunt. Talk to a stone, sharing ones feeling, sorrows, happiness and suffering. The stone will listen to it and one day it will break. 

The wife (Golshifteh Farahani) starts to treat her husband as a patience stone. She starts to say about her early life on how she was bought up by her father, who used to gamble and fight all day with her mother. She shares on how she got married to him in spite of his absence (She will get married to his picture and dagger). She goes on with the monologue on how she was watched by her mother-in-law in the name of purity and the true story behind the birth of their daughters. At one stage she starts to question about how Khadija (First wife) taught Mohammad that he was a prophet. By interpreting Koran the wife concludes that Khadija should be a prophet.

Finally, did the stone break is the climax. 

Golshifteh Farahani is a treat to watch. Owing that she has the large screen space and the talk time, she takes the whole film, with a mere dead role by the husband (Hamid Djavadan).

Country Series – This will feature countries from alphabetical order, A to Z. One film from a country will be written on a weekly basis. This weak is Afghanistan. Next in the series will be from Burma.

Aval Appadithan (1978, India)

Director- Rudhrayia | Starring- Sri Priya, Kamalahasan, Rajanikanth | Language- Tamil | Country - India | Year - 1978

The film starts with Arun (Kamal) handling a camera, seeing from the viewfinder he speaks to his audience, he says “kojam left’la thalli nikkanum..ok”. As the film progresses, we realize the importance of the opening scene dialogue. We see liberal ideas flowing all the way throughout the film. 

If you translate the title Aval Appadithan in English, it becomes, “That is how she is”, which by itself comes from a male, meaning these are the words uttered by a male. Shouldn't it be “Nan Ippadithan” (I’m like this)?

If you get a chance to see this film in a TV channel, most probably, there are chances that you won’t see the full film, the scenes will be choppy and the dialogues will be muted. First time, I saw this film in a TV broadcast; it was hard to follow due to the self-censorship of the channel. Later, I had to rely on YouTube to catch the full version (Hope it was un-cut).

The irony in this world is, if one talks on what s/he feels, they are branded as liberals\leftists and an individual should always belong to a group. Individualism is lost. Everyone has to go by the books. Laws are not meant to be broken, so why do we have words like “amendments”.. “change”..? 

Back to the film, Manju (Sri Priya) is an out-spoken character, because of her previous bitter experiences; she hates the men-folk and can get the wrath of the men easily by talking-open (that’s how she is portrayed). Arun, who has a chance to work with her and tries to understand her, he goes on or tries to propose his love to her. Thyagu (Rajanikanth), who is her boss, tries to woo her for sex. 

Thyagu, want to use and throw her. His world views are like a normal man, who doesn't want to think beyond their needs. Arun, although liberal in his thoughts (at one point he reveals himself as communist- Not all communists are open-minded), he tries to restrain himself to understand Manju. Whereas, Manju complicates the plot in the end. Did Arun & Manju get together?

Illayaraja Music- There is three songs in the film, very apt to the situation and meaningful. Background music, I cannot reproduce it in my words, you have to see\hear for yourselves. For instance, when a character in the film is in a doubtful state, they show the doubtful expression, at the same time, the background music too reflects the same mood.

Ananthu, for whom, the film is presented makes a little cameo- the voice of Arun father.

Also watch it for- witty, straight-talking dialogues. It’s famous, live-recording, documentary style scenes- Arun interviews woman from the different sections of the society. 

Rudhraiya, the writer and director of this film passed away recently (2014, November). 

If you are whining about Tamil films are only song-dance-fight, then this film is for you.

Last Train Home (Canada, 2009)

Direction: Lixin Fan
Language: Mandarin
Year: 2009

Most of us would have experienced it, while travelling on festival season like Deepavali or Pongal. I’m referring to the rush which happens in the Koyambedu Bus Stand and at Central Railway Station in Chennai. Thousands of people flock the terminus to go to their native. A similar incident happens in China, but in a larger scale. 

China is known for its human migration, millions of people migrate from the mainland to the cities. The cheap labor is exploited to give ‘Made in China’ brand. Every year, during Chinese New Year, about 130 million of people migrate\travel to their native place. There is a mad rush in every railway station.

Last Train Home is a documentary film, which follows a husband (Changhua) and wife (Suquin) who are working in a factory at Guangzhou, the third largest city in China. Their teen daughter Qin and son Yang lives some 2000 Kms in mainland. They are taken care by their granny in a village. We see the train journey thrice. The parents meet their kids once in a year. The relationship gets sour between them. Qin, discontinues her studies from the village school and take up a job in a garment factory in Guangzhou. Did her parents succeed in taking her back to school is the rest of the plot.

The film can pose some serious questions about labor, especially cheap labor. I fail to understand or find it odd in terms of humanistic values on why labor in countries like China is cheap, but whereas in US, UK,.. it is high. I can understand, it is economics, but that doesn’t mean two people doing the same job can be paid differently. Moreover the person who is less paid has to suffer more.

This is a documentary, not documentary-style, but it looked like a feature film. A must see film, if you like to watch documentaries.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand)

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Country: Thailand | Language: Thai | Year: 2010

There has to be a particular reason if you like this kind of film. For me the reason is when I see such a film is it makes me to think, it raises more questions both cinematically and content-wise. 

The title of the film gives it all. This is film about a man’ past lives. You don’t need to question if the concept of reincarnation is true or not. If you question, then you’ll lose the film. This happened to me as I put the question before me while the film started, but my fellow viewing mate had different ideas, he saw with a little open mind, without much expectations and for him it was a fairy-tale. For some who has better understanding of the ethnic culture, this film might give a different experience.

Boonmee is in his deathbed, to say exactly he has a kidney failure and he counting his days. He owns a farm and lives near a forest. His sister Jen visits him from the city. While they were having the dinner, suddenly the ghost of his deceased wife, Huay appears and so his son who had disappeared long time ago, but he has now changed into a sort of a creature with red eyes. The film goes on to recall his past lives although he doesn’t actually say it on the screen. Once he was a princess who does it with a catfish. In another life he was like the same creature, which his son is now.

This is not a conventional ghost or spooky film. This is slow. Sometimes challenging with its pace and content which I couldn’t comprehend much. I enjoyed the visuals, the minute sound details of the forest. Having seen films which were driven by dialogues and literal story-telling, this was a different and unique experience.

Samskara (India, 1970)

Back story of how I found this film-

In August this year when I called home, my mother attended the call and said they were watching the funeral rites of Anantha Murthy. I vaguely knew about him, the one who took on Modi by saying that he’ll leave India if Modi becomes Prime Minister. I asked her, is he that famous personality to live telecast his funeral rites, she said yes and said “Go and search in your! Google and find him”. But, I didn't proceed further. After a week, she came to visit us, that morning there was an article about Anantha Murthy. She said she’ll take this to share it with my grandmother. After all these incidents, I kept Anantha Murthy in a corner of my mind and whenever I had a chance I would read about him.

To know more about him- Check this Wikipedia link.

Surprise, I saw that some of his writings were made into movies. Samskara was his first story which was made into a film, starring Girish Karnad.

It’s a coincidence that I came to know about Anantha Moorthy during his samskara. Samskara means Funeral Rites.

Film

The story is set in a small village, populated by Brahmins, especially Madhwas (Vaishnavites). The film starts with the morning rituals of Pranesh Acharya (Girish Karnad). On his way from the river, a passerby women hides herself and tries to make sure she doesn’t get into the way of Pranesh Acharya. How better could the film start, we tend to know what’s in the store! A bomb shell of course. 

Pranesh Acharya is the head priest in the village and he is living with his ailing wife, who is bed ridden for some years. The plot folds with the death of Narayanappa, he doesn't have children and is survived by his wife. It is afternoon when this death news is passed into every house and all had to skip their meal as there is a death! The villagers gather to decide on whom to do the funeral rites, by their talk we come to know that Narayanappa is a Brahmin, but married to another caste girl, eats non-veg, drinks liquor, smokes, works in theater (drama) and an outcast among them who always questions their way of living.

The villagers want the priest Pranesh Acharya to come into a decision on what to do? At first, the relatives of Narayanappa are not forthcoming to perform the funeral. Chandri- the wife of Narayanappa gives them her jewels, so that Narayanappa can be given the last rites. On seeing the gold, the two relatives who denied doing the rites earlier wanted to perform it now. Pranesh, who is living by the scriptures is in a dilemma and want to consult the scriptures on whom to do the last rites. That night the Madhwa Brahmins sleep without food. The events on following day’s turns into a chaos. Did Pranesh Acharya come to a decision and who did the last rites for Narayanappa is the rest of the story. 

Anantha Murthy goes a little deep. He doesn't stop himself to write about the divide between Brahmins and the other caste; he also talks about the divide between the Madwas (Vaishnvites) and Smarthas (Sivaties). The film revolves around two personalities, one- Pranesh Acharya with his morals & guilt and other Narayanappa with his outcast kind of thinking & its after-effects.

The film is directed by a Telugu director, Pattabirama Reddy, assisted by Sangetham Srinivasa Rao ( Apoorva Sagodarargal & MMKR fame). The film must be inspired by the style of Satyajit Ray. The music and the making of the film closely relate to Pather Panjali. Samskara can be seen for its content than for its visual treatment. This film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film (India) in 1970. I don’t have qualms about the content; it’s rational and should be debated. But is this film worth for its cinematic language.

The full film is available in Youtube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmZHsUVSUw8

Shevri ( India, 2006)

This can be called as a much sought-after story in the offbeat Indian films. Yes, when you take a look in to the non-mainstream Indian films, most of them are taken with the backdrop of a social issues- be it a caste discrimination, exploitation of poor (slum), crime against women… I haven't explored much of the non-mainstream films, but with the few I have seen, those mentioned above issues were the plot. But, having said that, I don't like to hold myself to talk or introduce one such off beat film Shevri, a Marathi film.

Vidya (Neena Kulkarni) an introvert kind of middle aged divorcee in Mumbai is sharing an apartment with an very outspoken and extrovert Maya (Mita Vashisht). During weekends Vidya travel to Nasik to visit her teenage son, who is taken care by her mother (we know all this through a series of flashbacks). 

The film starts in a evening, Vidya is just roaming the streets of Mumbai. As we enter into the night we know that Maya is busy with her boyfriend in their apartment and Vidya is just passing the time and waiting for them to finish what they had to finish.

As she travels through the deserted night, she encounters few strangers, from when she recollects her past- Her boss trying to take advantage of her, a misunderstood colleague, who actually helps her, her relationship with her mother, her struggle to win back her son who is inclined to his father and the events on how her marriage was broken. As said earlier, the story is told as a series of flashback.

The ending is very simple. At the break of the dawn, when a cycle tea vendor says that he doesn't have tea (which she’ll ask for) and he got only coffee, she realize that life is full of options and the happiness depends on which one she chooses. She calls a taxi to go back to her apartment by asking the driver to turn on the music in the car.

The connecting points of the events happening during that night and the flashbacks were well woven. I had to content with the crude subtitling (I saw it in DD Bharathi), some English words never made sense and it was too literally translated.

If you had a chance, please watch it and let me know your thoughts.

En Peyar Palar (India, 2008)

Whenever I’m on the Chennai-Bangalore highway I see this river all the way stretching from Ranipet from Vellore. For past ten years, only once I had seen water running in this river, rest of the time it is always dry.

In Tamil Palar means Milk River or Milky River. Pal means Milk. Lar (ar) means river. I kept wondering from where this river is from and why its always dry throughout the year. I had a hunch that this should be from Andhra Pradesh as the Arcot districts share their border with AP, but this river originates in Karnataka.

In Karnataka it travels 90 Kms, in AP 30 Kms and the rest 220 Kms in Tamil Nadu. The entire stretch of 220 Kms is dry!. This documentary “En Peyar Palar” (My Name is Palar) talks about the plight of this river in Tamil Nadu and the reasons for its dryness throughout the year. 

Reason- Karnataka & Andhra constructed various small dams and hold the Pallar water.

Once a fertile lands are now turning out to be useless for anything. The documentary interviews farmers, social activists, people affected by pollution caused by the leather industries and sand quarries in the river. So often we do chest thumping of the industries, but seldom they have facilities to prevent environmental disasters. In India about 40% of leather products are manufactured from the Vellore and surrounding areas. 

Sand is essential in construction of houses\buildings and there is no alternatives. But the problem is excessive mining and most the sand taken in this river are smuggled into AP and Karnataka. These states does not oblige to water-sharing, but they want sand from Tamil Nadu!

The irony in this Pallar river is in a town called Palur in Kancheepuram district, which got a mineral water plant for IRCTC. The Rail Neer from this plant distributed in Southern trains & stations. I wonder if there is no water in the river from where they will they get the water for the plant ? Are they taking groundwater ? What happens to the waste water, because for every liter of a RO purified water, we get 3-Lit of waste salty water !! This is not covered in the documentary as this plant was commissioned in 2011. 

I believe change is inevitable, everything created by the nature has to be destroyed and then it recreates itself. This the law of the nature. But this recycle takes millions of years, but man can do it in the matter of few years. Being a part of this system, all I can do is to sit comfortably in the AC bus and stare at the dry river bed.

Watch the entire documentary in YouTube,

**Pics by The Hindu & rajeshbabu.com

உன்னால் முடியும் தம்பி (1998, இந்தியா)

அ முதல் ஃ தொடரை தொடர்ந்து எழுதுவதற்கு எனக்கு நானே சொல்லிக்கொள்ளும் வார்த்தைகள் தான் “உன்னால் முடியும் தம்பி”. அதுவே இப்பதிப்பின் பெயராகவும் படத்தின் பெயராகவும் வைத்து எழுதுகிறேன்.

சமுதாயத்தில் இருக்கும் எழை பணக்காரன் மற்றும் சாதிய எற்றத்தாழ்வுகளை பேசும் இப்படத்தில் முதல் காட்சியில் வரும் நிகழ்வு படம் முழுவதும் நம் கதாநாயகனை தொடர்ந்து வருகிறது.

குளத்தில் உள்ள படிகட்டுகளில் கண்பார்வையற்ற ஒரு பிச்சைகாரிக்கு ஒரு வாழைபழம் கிடைக்கிறது. அதை எடுக்க முற்படும் போது கை தவறி அடுத்த படிகட்டில் விழுந்து விடுகிறது. இப்படி தவறி கொண்டே இருக்கையில் நம் கதாநாயகன் (சிறுவன்) இதை பார்த்துக்கொண்டே மந்திரத்தை சொல்லிக்கொண்டு நடந்து செல்கின்றான்.

பிச்சைகாரி பழத்தை எடுப்பாளா என்று கண்களில் ஒரு குறும்பு பார்வையும் நமட்டு சிரிப்புமாய் நடந்து செல்லும் சிறுவன் அவளுக்கு உதவி செய்யாமல் கடந்து செல்கின்றான்.

பொதுவாக ஒரு படத்தில் கதாநாயகனை அறிமுகம் செய்யும் போது பிறருக்கு உதவி செய்பவனாக சித்தரிப்பது வழக்கம். அப்பேர்பட்ட திரைப்படங்களுக்கு நடுவில் இப்படத்தில் பாலசந்தர் வழக்கம்போல் வித்தியசமாக நாயகனை சித்தரித்துள்ளார்.

இப்படத்தை பற்றி விரிவாக வேறு ஒரு பதிவில் சந்திப்போம்.

Drug War ( China, 2013 )

Directed by – Johnnie To | Staring – Louis Koo, Honglei Sun | Genre – Drama | Language – Mandarin | Country – China & Hong Kong | Year - 2013

In an attempt to breach the Great Wall of China, FilmBulb introduces a recent Chinese film. Having already seen a Johnnie To’ film (Mad Detective), I went to ‘Drug War’ with some expectations. Usually I don’t expect too much from a film before seeing it, because it kills the experience.

Johnnie To, a Hong Kong based director. Drug War a collaboration of Chinese and Hong Kong is filmed in mainland China, JinHai Province, so it’s more of a Chinese production than Hong Kong, and also it is evident in its making. As the name of the film, it’s a movie about drugs, a juicy subject for any film maker. The catch is not to make a stereotypical Hollywood-ish Asian version film. Drug War at ease gives a different template.

Timmy (Louis Koo) a hi-profile drug dealer is caught by the undercover police captain Zhang (Honglei Sun). In an attempt to redeem himself from the death penalty (In China possessing 50 grams of methamphetamine will lead to hangman). Timmy then makes a pact with Zhang to escape death penalty. He agrees to point all the big shots in the Chinese drug trade. The rest of the film is how the two run over each other, did Timmy escape the death rope or Zhang succeed in busting the drug trade.

A “good character development” is done, when we feel pity when the character dies. Joker in The Dark Knight is a good example, I felt for him! Johnnie To places good screen space for every character just by placing the camera for extra few seconds on the characters. The women cop Yi Huang (Yang Xiaobei) and mute brothers- Senior Dumb and Junior Dumb are such finely crafted characters. Wait, did I say mute brothers, yes, these two brothers (Guo Tao & Li Jing) are mute drug makers.

If you are familiar with Hong Kong films, you can foresee the ending. By having a heavy government censorship over his head, Johnnie To has walked a thin line. He delivers a master blow in the end.

Trailer

**Other Chinese & Hong Kong Films - Summer Palace | Mad Detective

Summer Palace ( China, 2006 )

Language - Mandarin | Starring - Lou Ye, Guo Xiaodong | Genre - Romance | Director - Lou Ye | Country - China | Year - 2006

Last time when I tried to watch a Chinese film, I ended up by seeing a Hong Kong film, Mad Detective. Searching for a Chinese film, made in main land lead me to Summer Palace directed by Lou Ye.

The synopsis read like this ‘A romantic story in the back drop of Tiananmen Student agitation’; this line set me in watching this film. As you can see in the FilmBulb posts, most of the movies are set in war, revolution, agitation, political changes.

The other thing that caught my interest is the movie poster, which said ‘..it got great female character..’.

Plot

The film starts in a small city named Tumen. Yo Hong (Hao Lei) just finished her schooling is working in her father’ store. She has a close relationship with Xiao Jun (Cui Jin). To persuade her higher studies she moves to Beijing. Through her hostel mate Li Ti (Hu Lingling), she befriends Zhou Wei (Gua Xiaodong). As days progress the relationship between Yo Hong and Zhou Wei becomes close, both are in deep love and we get a chance to see how deep they are in some intimate scenes.

Yo Hong and Zhou Wei

When the student’s agitation is in its peak, their relationship is broken. Yo Hong moves back to Tumen. After several years, we see Yo Hong living in Wihan, Central China and Zhou Wei in Berlin, Germany. Both, normally indulging in their daily activities, satisfying their physical needs but there is a void inside them as they miss each other badly. Did they unite is the rest of the story?

Li Ti and Yo Hong

“One of the great female characters in recent years

My Take

Considering the story it is a long film (140 mins.). I was expecting lots of political atmosphere, but it was limited (China, I can understand). Sexually explicit scenes containing female frontal and male rear nudity dominates, these scenes were little bit of too much, but a romantic film will always come with love making scenes.

The usage of news footage to show the time travelling is a pop idea- end of the cold war, Berlin wall, handing over of Hong Kong to China.

A video clip from Summer Palace-

Li Ti character shares almost the same screen space s as Yu Hong. When both seek for Zhou Wei’ love- Yo Hong chooses a much rational and wise decision, but Li Ti takes a different decision. Yo Hong is week by her looks, but hard mentally, while Li Ti is quite opposite.

When Washington Post said “One of the great female characters in recent years”, I couldn't agree more.

Extras-

Chat Transcripts from the director' interview- Click Here.

Trailer with English Subs-

**Any comments are welcomed and if you have seen this films, let me know your views.

Mad Detective ( Hong Kong, 2007 )

If you like complex story-telling movies like Memento, Irreversible and Inception, then add Mad Detective to your list.

Language : Cantonese | Staring : Lau Ching-Wan, Andy On, Lam Ka-Tung | Direction : Johnie To | Country : Hong Kong | Year : 2007

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Please don’t come into a stereotypical conclusion, by seeing police, bullets, chase sequences in the poster of this film. If this is a routine cop-film, this shouldn't have featured in FilmBulb. As promised before, FilmBulb tried to breach the Great Wall of China, but can’t get into the mainland, so just passed through Hong Kong. Mad Detective is directed and produced by Johnie To. Released in 2007, this film went on to win many awards in the screenplay category.

Plot ( Spoilers maybe )

Inspector Bun (Lau Ching-Wan) has an unusual way to solve cases. He literally puts himself in the shoes of a criminal, we see an example in the opening scene- He lets himself inside a big suitcase and asks his fellow detectives to roll it through the stairs to identify a killer in a murder case. This answers why the name of the film is Mad Detective. 

Bun (Lau Ching-Wan)

The actual story begins when a young detective Ho Ka-On (Andy On) seeks Bun’ help in solving a “missing person” case, but Bun is now not with the police department. The missing person is a police officer Wong and the suspect is another policeman Ko Chi –Wai (Lam Ka-Tung). 

Ho (Andy On)

Bun agrees to help Ho, in spite of his imaginary wife, May Cheng, asking Bun not to work on the case. Wait, did I say imaginary, yes, initially we (& detective Ho Ka-On) assume that Bun has lost his wife and he just makes up an imaginary wife, but as the story move on we see that Bun has this special abilities to see the inner personalities of others. 

Bun sees seven-personalities in the suspect Ko Chi-Wai and he also sees a week-kid personality in Ho Ka-On. The rest of the story is how Bun solves the mystery of the missing person.

Ko Chi-Wai's Seven personalities 

My experience

You can’t see this film once; it takes two viewing, at least for me, especially when you are viewing through sub-titles. No wonder, why this film got accolades for screenplay, because after Bun team with Ho to solve the case, the personality thing comes up. So whenever Bun sees a character, we are forced to see their respective personality. 

First viewing for me was a half-digest. I ate the food (film) again, because I sensed this was a good one to re-watch. I’m sure you can find some after effects inside you after seeing this film. After effects is in seeing the hidden personalities in others. There is a small Indian connection in this film; one of the characters is an Indian.

“I’m sure you can find some after effects inside you after seeing this film.

The orchestration of the climax is very innovative, when see all these personalities are reflected in the mirrors, but in reality it’s different. If you like complex story-telling movies like Memento, Irreversible and Inception, then add Mad Detective to your list.

Trailer