Different Worlds Apart

Rewatched Dil Se last night again and I'm always in awe of the music by AR Rahman.

From the delightful and light Chaiya Chaiya to the very disturbingly beautiful Satrangi Re to Dil Se Re... not only does the music fit, the picturization in some of these are just perfect.
( come with me dance on the top of a running train )

Additionally, the movie though disturbing is one of the best movies to come from Bollywood. Its director Mani Ratnam was following the "7 Stages of Love" from beginning to end, and in such disturbing and bhauntingly beautiful cinematography it makes you weep. And Shah Rukh Khan is good in this movie, and I love Manisha Koirala!

Yeah I know I am a bit late but I only saw the movie a week or two ago on German TV.
I have to admit when the first summaries of the movie came out I wasn't too thrilled so instead of rushing to my favourite DVD wallah once the movie was out on DVD, I waited till it was shown on German TV half a year later ...

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
- also known as the movie with the closest sex scene SRK will ever do :)

summary:
This is the story about two desi couples living in New York and could be very happy with each other, if not for the fact that jealousies, bad luck and injuries sour the happy married life. All comes to an end of pretence when Maya and Dev fall in love and not only risk their respective marriages but also find themselves confronted with what they have become.

review:
We have two couples that more or less are married happily. Rishi and Maya seem to be a nice, happily married couple and Rishi obviously loves his wife very much and unlike the typical desi husband he adores her very openly and for everyone to see.
Dev and Rhea on the other hand know more or less that their love has ended and that their married life is just a shadow of what it was before Dev had his injury. Dissatisfied with his life, Dev has become a cranky, maliscious and also unlikeable sort of man. He treats everyone with disdain including his wife.
But he wasn't always like that, there are glimpses of the man that was and the father that although clumsy and not really sure he actually likes kids, loving his wife and small son. But the disillusion of having to abandon his career as a football player, embitters Dev very much and changes him into a person who is flawed and very much an asshole.
Rishi on the other hand is a perfect husband who loves his wife very much, but Maya cannot fully appreciate this. She does not love her husband and it is more of a marriage of convenience and not of love. She is dissatisfied with her life and also full of guilt, that she cannot give back as much love as she is receiving from Rishi.
When Dev and Maya meet, it is as if these two flawed and damaged people recognise themselves in the other and from their friendship a deep love follows. A love so ignorant of other's feelings that it leads to inevitable heart break.
The two adulterous characters are dysfunctional, Dev more than Maya but both have an air of coldness and also untouchability around them, that makes it difficult for their spouses to reach them. They barely function as spouses and yet they try, or Maya tries, but you can see it is a struggle that becomes more and more difficult from one day to the next.
Karan Johar definitely tried to emphasise on that and sometimes it really did go on my nerves, but all in all it was okay.

Strangely enough, I liked the movie despite its flaws. It is not your typical Karan Johar movie, it is not KKHH and certainly not KKKG, but Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has a certain morbid fascination, professionality and reality that you don't find in many Bollywood movies, nor in Hollywood movies at that. It is not my favourite, far from it, but especially Abhishek Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan did their jobs as loving, respectively disdainful husbands very well, indeed.
Shah Rukh Khan who has been Bollywood's number one heart-throb, definitely works as the disdainful, cold and flawed husband. He is not Rahul or Raj. His Dev is disillusioned and hurt and he takes it out on the world and his family. No regrets, no apologies. He definitely plays against his heart-throb image here and it actually works and is even more intense because you know him as Rahul and Raj, and his Dev has even more impact that way.
I was impressed by Rani Mukherjee who normally excudes so much warmth in her roles, but here, as Maya, she had a coolness around her that was only thawed when Maya was with Dev.

All in all, not a movie I would recommend if you start out with Bollywood movies, because apart from the song and dance numbers, it is very much a Western movie with its theme of adultery and how it affects the ppl connected with it. But on the other hand, it is very much a Bollywood movie, as it ends on a lighter note, even if you are optimistic with a happy ending (though I don't see Dev and Maya living happily ever after, they are too damaged to actually work in a day to day relationship IMHO.).

Yeah I know I am a bit late but I only saw the movie a week or two ago on German TV.
I have to admit when the first summaries of the movie came out I wasn't too thrilled so instead of rushing to my favourite DVD wallah once the movie was out on DVD, I waited till it was shown on German TV half a year later ...

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
- also known as the movie with the closest sex scene SRK will ever do :)

summary:
This is the story about two desi couples living in New York and could be very happy with each other, if not for the fact that jealousies, bad luck and injuries sour the happy married life. All comes to an end of pretence when Maya and Dev fall in love and not only risk their respective marriages but also find themselves confronted with what they have become.

review:
We have two couples that more or less are married happily. Rishi and Maya seem to be a nice, happily married couple and Rishi obviously loves his wife very much and unlike the typical desi husband he adores her very openly and for everyone to see.
Dev and Rhea on the other hand know more or less that their love has ended and that their married life is just a shadow of what it was before Dev had his injury. Dissatisfied with his life, Dev has become a cranky, maliscious and also unlikeable sort of man. He treats everyone with disdain including his wife.
But he wasn't always like that, there are glimpses of the man that was and the father that although clumsy and not really sure he actually likes kids, loving his wife and small son. But the disillusion of having to abandon his career as a football player, embitters Dev very much and changes him into a person who is flawed and very much an asshole.
Rishi on the other hand is a perfect husband who loves his wife very much, but Maya cannot fully appreciate this. She does not love her husband and it is more of a marriage of convenience and not of love. She is dissatisfied with her life and also full of guilt, that she cannot give back as much love as she is receiving from Rishi.
When Dev and Maya meet, it is as if these two flawed and damaged people recognise themselves in the other and from their friendship a deep love follows. A love so ignorant of other's feelings that it leads to inevitable heart break.
The two adulterous characters are dysfunctional, Dev more than Maya but both have an air of coldness and also untouchability around them, that makes it difficult for their spouses to reach them. They barely function as spouses and yet they try, or Maya tries, but you can see it is a struggle that becomes more and more difficult from one day to the next.
Karan Johar definitely tried to emphasise on that and sometimes it really did go on my nerves, but all in all it was okay.

Strangely enough, I liked the movie despite its flaws. It is not your typical Karan Johar movie, it is not KKHH and certainly not KKKG, but Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna has a certain morbid fascination, professionality and reality that you don't find in many Bollywood movies, nor in Hollywood movies at that. It is not my favourite, far from it, but especially Abhishek Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan did their jobs as loving, respectively disdainful husbands very well, indeed.
Shah Rukh Khan who has been Bollywood's number one heart-throb, definitely works as the disdainful, cold and flawed husband. He is not Rahul or Raj. His Dev is disillusioned and hurt and he takes it out on the world and his family. No regrets, no apologies. He definitely plays against his heart-throb image here and it actually works and is even more intense because you know him as Rahul and Raj, and his Dev has even more impact that way.
I was impressed by Rani Mukherjee who normally excudes so much warmth in her roles, but here, as Maya, she had a coolness around her that was only thawed when Maya was with Dev.

All in all, not a movie I would recommend if you start out with Bollywood movies, because apart from the song and dance numbers, it is very much a Western movie with its theme of adultery and how it affects the ppl connected with it. But on the other hand, it is very much a Bollywood movie, as it ends on a lighter note, even if you are optimistic with a happy ending (though I don't see Dev and Maya living happily ever after, they are too damaged to actually work in a day to day relationship IMHO.).

First off, I have to say that I watched the movie as a bad quality copy with no subs and that of course, I have already pre-ordered my copy of the Special Edition that comes out in June or July! That said, even despite the really bad copy of the movie, with a watermark running through it, it was a pleasure to watch it.

I think everyone knows by now what this movie is about, but here is a short no spoilery recap:
Shinnojo and Kayo are married and live a quiet yet satisfied life in the shadow of the local daimyo. Shinnojo who dreams about opening a kendo school for children, works as a food taster to the daimyo and the monotony of his job really dissatisfies him. One day, due to poisonous seafood prepared out of season, he is poisoned and even though he battles the poisoning, he ends up blind. As he loses all zest to live, his wife shoulders the responsibility of their small family. When she is forced to sleep with an official to grant her husband a life pension, Shinnojo repudiates her and challenges the offender ...
( possible spoilers so it is under a cut - BUT, you can read the review without the cut, it still makes sense :) )

There are so many small scenes that have a great impact and the cast, especially Kimura Takuya and Ran Dei, impress very much. To tell you the truth I was a bit edgy when I heard Kimura was the lead in this big production. Yes, he IS a good actor, and he can certainly carry a movie, but the role of Shinnojo is so totally different from everything he has played before. Here, he is not the romantic lead or the dashing ice-hockey player, or the abused murderer. Additionally, for the most part of this movie, Kimura cannot rely on his eyes. Normally, he expresses a lot through his eyes - a look, a wink, a blink. But in Bushi no Ichibun he is blind, and you actually accept this and believe him that he is blind. Kimura pulls it off with a certainty, a quiet intenseness that leaves you in awe.

Ran Dei portrays Kayo both as a strong woman as well as the fragile flower. Her confession to Shinnojo is painful to watch, but she leaves nothing out, doesn't gloss over the fact she was raped and that she should have known what the official had been after. But she endured it all for Shinnojo's sake.

Yamada has created a masterpiece, Bushi no Ichibun and certainly the best of the trilogy. All comes together here, the cinematography, the acting, the sets. It all gells to a wonderful and wondrous movie. It is very quiet, very Japanese, very Zen. The movie is set almost always either in the dimly lit house of Shinnojo or their garden with its blooms, trees and shrubs and the changing of seasons. It is more what we in Germany call Kammerspiel (intimate play) than a grand movie with many different characters and locations. Due to the enclosure of society as well as the limitation of space (locations) Yamada creates a very intense movie that draws you in and makes you think about it even long after the credits have rolled off.

I'm so looking forward to this movie with subtitles, it will be a pleasure to watch it again with the additional in depth understanding of the characters.

Hana yori mo naho


summary:
It is 1792 - the time of the Ako rising of the 47 ronin samurai about to revenge their dead lord. Hana yori mo naho tells the tale of a young samurai Aoki Soza-emon (Okada Jun'ichi) who comes to the city of Edo to revenge the death of his father. His father's family and clan run a kendo school in the country and they are supporting Soza with money to find the murderer of his father, Kanazawa Jubei (Asano Tadanobu).
( read more )

Hana yori mo naho


summary:
It is 1792 - the time of the Ako rising of the 47 ronin samurai about to revenge their dead lord. Hana yori mo naho tells the tale of a young samurai Aoki Soza-emon (Okada Jun'ichi) who comes to the city of Edo to revenge the death of his father. His father's family and clan run a kendo school in the country and they are supporting Soza with money to find the murderer of his father, Kanazawa Jubei (Asano Tadanobu).
( read more )

summary:
For Yun-soo (Kang Dong-won) life was one continuous string of hardships, hunger and inevitable death. Now he is sitting on death row, waiting somewhat impatiently for his execution as he thinks that death is the only salvation but also peace he will ever get.
( read more )

Today, I want to review a different kind of movie from the usual. It is still Asian, it still stars Kimura Takuya amongst others (Sorimachi Takashi aka GTO is also playing a part), but only a few on my flist know that I'm a glutton for WW2 movies. Mostly British ones, but still.

After Tora, Tora, Tora, a movie from the 1960's(?), Kimi wo Wasurenai is my second movie that I have watched that is from the Japanese POV. It is not a great movie, it has its flaws but I was deeply touched by the portrayal of those six young pilots who all volunteered to be Kami-kaze (divine wind).

I had always wondered in what kind of state of mind these pilots must have been to become suicide pilots. In Germany we have a similar history of pilots but not to the extent like in Japanese history.
The movie gives a little insight in how these young men ticked, how they lived, trained, loved before going on their ultimate and final mission. It is heart-breaking to see that these guys are forming a unit, that they become friends through playing pranks on each other and getting into bar fights. That some of them find love, or run from love, all knowing that this has no future. Most of the time it is a very funny movie and you easily forget that this is actually a movie about young Kami-kaze pilots. Their fate or mission is treated so casually, as if being a suicide pilot is the most normal thing in their world of Japan in 1945. Which it was of course, considering Japanese military history. Kami-kaze are more or less seen as the successors of samurai of old times. Like the samurai, for the kamikaze pilots bushi do (way of the warrior) and its rules, traditions and implications was very important. Liek the Samurai a kami kaze had to give his life for his daimyo (lord/king/tenno) and it didn't matter if he lost it by enemy hand or through his own if necessary.
The six pilots who are portrayed here very much are like the samurais of old. They know their mission will never change the outcome of this war and yet they are determined to fulfill this madcap mission.

I liked the movie very much, and not only because Kimura-san was part in it. It is more or less a very quiet movie, and it doesn't ask for right or wrong or who is the bad guy. The suicide squad is portrayed like any other squadron without pathos. Perhaps the real pathos is with the guys, every one of the has his reason to be part of this mission and how they deal with the outcome. The moment they board their planes, they are alone, they won't see each other ever again. And they are not doing it for tenno or fatherland but for their families, friends, for the people and most of all for each other.

Today, I want to review a different kind of movie from the usual. It is still Asian, it still stars Kimura Takuya amongst others (Sorimachi Takashi aka GTO is also playing a part), but only a few on my flist know that I'm a glutton for WW2 movies. Mostly British ones, but still.

After Tora, Tora, Tora, a movie from the 1960's(?), Kimi wo Wasurenai is my second movie that I have watched that is from the Japanese POV. It is not a great movie, it has its flaws but I was deeply touched by the portrayal of those six young pilots who all volunteered to be Kami-kaze (divine wind).

I had always wondered in what kind of state of mind these pilots must have been to become suicide pilots. In Germany we have a similar history of pilots but not to the extent like in Japanese history.
The movie gives a little insight in how these young men ticked, how they lived, trained, loved before going on their ultimate and final mission. It is heart-breaking to see that these guys are forming a unit, that they become friends through playing pranks on each other and getting into bar fights. That some of them find love, or run from love, all knowing that this has no future. Most of the time it is a very funny movie and you easily forget that this is actually a movie about young Kami-kaze pilots. Their fate or mission is treated so casually, as if being a suicide pilot is the most normal thing in their world of Japan in 1945. Which it was of course, considering Japanese military history. Kami-kaze are more or less seen as the successors of samurai of old times. Like the samurai, for the kamikaze pilots bushi do (way of the warrior) and its rules, traditions and implications was very important. Liek the Samurai a kami kaze had to give his life for his daimyo (lord/king/tenno) and it didn't matter if he lost it by enemy hand or through his own if necessary.
The six pilots who are portrayed here very much are like the samurais of old. They know their mission will never change the outcome of this war and yet they are determined to fulfill this madcap mission.

I liked the movie very much, and not only because Kimura-san was part in it. It is more or less a very quiet movie, and it doesn't ask for right or wrong or who is the bad guy. The suicide squad is portrayed like any other squadron without pathos. Perhaps the real pathos is with the guys, every one of the has his reason to be part of this mission and how they deal with the outcome. The moment they board their planes, they are alone, they won't see each other ever again. And they are not doing it for tenno or fatherland but for their families, friends, for the people and most of all for each other.

I have watched Duelist now two times and I'm still in awe of the cinematography, the colours, the sword fighting and of course the prettiness that is Kang Dong-Won aka Sad Eyes.

summary
The Duelist is set in ancient Korea where counterfeiting on a grand scale is taking place. A young female state detective called Namsoon is send out to gather information and also bringing down the perpetrators. Together with her fatherly friend and superior she meets a mysterious stranger who seems to be entangled in the counterfeit.
( character review )

The movie is shot beautifully, every frame is a work of art and the colours seem to leap at you from the screen. The acting is okay, with a very intense main lead and few dialogues. Even though the music is contemporary it doesn't distract from the tale and only enhances the timelessness of it.
Even though it is an historic drama, it is a very quiet movie. You can see actually the characters developping and unfolding, and you can sympathize with Sad Eyes and his life and why he makes the choices he makes.
The martial arts scenes are beautiful. Strong lighting of black and white as well as the choreography is beautifully done. Namsoon and Sad Eye dance a deadly dance, one wrong move and one of them is dead. It is both terrifying and beautiful to behold. They appear like two wild beasts that meet on a plane where they can exchange their passions freely, without restriction. The fighting becomes a ritual of courting and of mating, they touch but never kiss, while their swords slash and stab at each other.

It is not a great movie, there are flaws. But these can be easily overlooked by the fact that it was beautifully shot and that the male lead is such a pretty man who knows how to handle a sword and still looking hot. ;-)


Edited to add: Kang Dong-woo did a very good job. The poor man definitely lost some weight, even though he is not heavy, his tall frame carries his weight well but in this movie he is really tough and lean and even his face which is normally a bit on the chubby side is lean and flawless.
x-posted in dorama_chat