The Last Emperor (Chinese+English)

There are some films are there are some evergreen epics..This falls in the latter category. It swept 9 Oscars and I would not waste time praising the movie...

We often blame kings and aristocrats of not caring for the common mass, this film as an exception makes one think of their viewpoint. We all know of Marie Antionette's so called famous dialogue that sparked the French Revolution: "If they dont have bread they can eat cake" . People despised her for that.. but think of it from her point of view.. she has been enslaved in aristocracy...she has not been allowed to know whats going on in the outer world..cake and bread are so easily available that she has not been allowed to know the difference....How could she know...Its the society that has imprisoned her in broadening the horizons...

In this film the theme is portrayed through the life of the Last Emperor of China. He was told he was the Lord of 10000 years...he could do whatever he wanted as long as he never stepped outside teh Forbidden Palace...He lived a boring life of superfluity...yet one day he was evicted from his palace...what could he do....he couldnt live the live of a normal man...from the age of 3, he was made to believe that he was the Lord. So he teamed up with the Japanese to regain his throne...He became the emperor but a puppet again...People condemned him for his action..but he had no remorse...for he thought he was right!!!!!!!!

Anyway the film is a treatise because it vividly portrays Chinese traditions and its metamorphosis from imperialism to communism through the eyes of the man who suffered the most.

At 3:38 hrs its a long watch but I can assure you its worth it.

Direction 8.5/10
Overall 8/10

Leaving Las Vegas

Some films haunt you for life... This is one of them... A tragic romantic film that offers no solace..

Love stories are cliche...so is this...to the barebones..its an unexplainable relation between a drunk and a hooker and yes both know it....The drunk has only one aim in life- to drink himself to death..the hooker is beautiful..she does not respect the job she does yet she knows she is one of the best in her business...But..she is tired of being single...and then she meets this man..who respects her for what she is...thinks she is her angel..

The acting is superb..earning Oscar for Cage and nomination for Shue...Its a difficult film yet if you can delve into it..you would be dissolved in their lives...Sera(Shue) is pained by the way Ben(Cage) was destroying himself..yet never complained...she complied with his bouts...and tried to make his life as easy as possible...Las Vegas is the land of phoney lights and deceit..yet it was in Las Vegas that the unconditional love developed...

its difficult to write a review for this movie..see it to understand the depths..

"see how hard you make me angel?"

Acting 8/10
Overall 7.5/10

Mumbai Meri Jaan (Hindi)

If somebody uninitiated to Indian cinema asks me to show him a recent Indian movie, I would probably choose this movie.....A class in its own...So many techniques have been so brilliantly executed that the director deserves kudos for it....If I talk only about the techniques after watching this movie, I would have been an unfeeling idiot.....For above everything, this movie delivers a strong message....its made out of bits and pieces of commonplace middle-class life-a pie of our frustrations, our joys our tensions, anxieties....

Why such violence????? The world is such a small place to live in...we are but tiny specs in the fathomless universe..yet, we cant live in harmony...we fight among ourselves about petty things...We dont know what or who God is....yet we fight because someone else does not follow our method of reverence for the superpower guiding us....we build walls in the name of religion, castes, sects....we love to loathe at others..overseeing what we are...petty lives....if there are criminals, thats only because the society has made them so....instead of reforming and obliterating crimes, we vent our anger on "criminals"....the very acts creating more "criminals" and terrorists...everyone in us has a Satan inside...its the job of everybody else to contain others.....positive feedback :) ...despite all our follies, still there is something about humans thats worth praising..with time, we forget everything and life moves on, the spirit lives on...

The above paragraph may have been a string of rambling thoughts...but I am helpless..the film makes you think...The film might have been better without the lengthy dialogues in the 2nd half..yet...if I could have directed a film like this, I would have called it a day :) Superb camera angles, multiples plots brilliantly knitted together, excellent editing, background scores intelligently adjusted from sitar to rock, satirical rib-tickling comedy interspersed between grim scenes, a strong message..what more do you want in a movie!!!!!

Overall 8/10
Direction 9/10