Wednesday, July 30, 2008

The Cave of the Yellow Dog

Today I have seen a marvelous film in which we can feel the death of nature and the noiseless love in its original form. The film remains about a totally different world available to us in contrast to the modern excitements (bullets, speed, explosions, fast food etc.). The story is so simply and genuine – in an isolated Mongolian grassland place a nomad family spends summer season. One of the little girls in this family makes friendship with a cute puppy she finds in a cave; her father wants her to leave dog where she found it - little girl struggles to keep dog. It is exciting to see a mode of life so totally different to our own and portrayed so honestly and without any moral squint at all. Its beauty lies in its simple storyline and seemingly unobstructed participants. The way the each character in this film interact with each other, and especially the way the children express love and affection to each other was amazing. The cast in The Cave of the Yellow Dog are actually a real family of amateur actors. However, what they achieved through this film can’t be achieved by any professional actors in this world.

The director of this movie is Byambasuren Davaa, a Mongolian filmmaker living in Germany. You may familiar with her earlier work The Story of the Weeping Camel (also an excellent work). Through her films she portrays the life of nomads in Mongolia. The subjects of her movies also serve as amateur actors, playing mostly themselves, which positions her work somewhere between documentary and fiction.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Story of Xiao Yan (Shang xue lu shang)

(dir: Gangliang Fang, 2004)

A beautiful Chinese film based on a real incident. The story is about Wang Yan, a 15 year old girl lived in a remote dry area, who wants to continue her studies at any cost. On the last day of an academic year, teacher told all the children that 24.8 Yuan would be the next year’s fee. But Wang Yan’s mother can’t afford this money because of financial constrains.

In order to continue her school life, Wang Yan had to earn 24.8 Yuan by herself in this summer vacation. She starts with 10 eggs…..it was difficult but imaginative process to accumulate all the money. The way to realize dream is always so flexural, however, it is in such a situation that the vitality and willpower of a countryside girl seems to be so vivid and vigorous.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist is a controversial mind blowing documentary directed by Peter Joseph which was released on 2007. The film was released through Google Video to the public and it became the most viewed video in Google video chart.


The film start with a critical comment on religion followed by an animation sequence of human evolution leads to montage of visual of modern wars. In continuation to this we can see a hand writing 1 + 1 = 2, which then replaced by a bible and an American flag (this denotes that imperialism and religion are two sides of a coin). After a few more war clips, the film then quotes Inner World of the Occult (Jordan Maxwell), criticizing religious institutions, governments, and the banking cartels who wants to control the world through myths, wars and economic policies.

The film is basically divided into 3 parts 1) the myth of Jesus Christ 2) the myth of 9/11 3) the raise of American banks which seized world power at the beginning of the 20th century


The Greatest Story Ever Told (Part 1)


Born on 25th December, born of a virgin mother, his arrival was proclaimed by a star in the east and adorned by 3 kings, at the age of 12 became teacher, baptized at 30, travelled with 12 disciples and performed miracles, known as "lamb of God"/"The Light" etc.,, betrayed and crucified, resurrected on the 3 day.

Who is he…? Wait before u says the answer. I am describing about Horus(BC 3000) , the Ancient Egyptian Sun God..!!

ATTIS (BC 1200), the God of Greece was also born of a virgin on 25th December. He was also crucified and dead for 3 days and resurrected.

Dionysus(BC 500) the Greece god has the story- born of a virgin on 25th December. He was also crucified and resurrected upon his death.

Mithra (BC 1200) the Persian god- born of a virgin on 25th December, has 12 disciples, performed miracles, 3 days after his death resurrected, day for his worship is "Sunday".

The fact of the matter is there are numerous saviours of different periods from all over the world subscribed to this general characteristic.


BUT WHY…??????

The answer is in the SKY…!!! Because this believes is a literary and astrological hybrid one and based on astrological principles documented by many ancient civilizations, especially pertaining to the movement of the sun through the sky and stars. The film explains how and why early civilizations personified the sun as the "representative of the unseen creator or god and how stars were linked into constellations, the 12 constellations being a place of travel for "God's Sun" and representing "elements of nature that happened during that period of time." This section is also used by the film to show the Pagan origins of the symbol of the Cross.

According to the movie, religion and myths in general are used to manipulate and mobilize populations and maintain established social structures.

All the World's a Stage (Part 2)

Part II of the documentary claims 9/11 was engineered to generate mass fear, justify going to war with Afghanistan and Iraq, to remove civil liberties from the general public, and to make more money for the people in power. It points out the similarities between fire on the German parliament during Hitler's regime and 9/11 attack.

It describes how American economy needs war and how they are manipulating to create wars in the last century.


Don't Mind the Men behind the Curtain(Part 3)


The title of Part III (Don't Mind the Men behind the Curtain) is in reference to the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz.

According to Part III, powerful bankers have been conspiring for world domination and increased power while the rich of society have been using their wealth to increase financial panic and foster a consolidation of independent competing banks. The film details the Theory of Electronic Conspiracy and claims that the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the united states, was created in order to steal the wealth of the nation. It explores war profiteering by banking cartels and defense and military contractors. It describes the goal of these bankers as world power over a controllable public.

Friday, July 25, 2008

My favorite Malayalam movies

Piravi (Dir: Shaji N Karun, 1988)

Oridathu (Dir: Aravindan, 1986)


Vidheyan (Dir: Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 1994)

Panchavadipallam (Dir: K.G George, 1984)

Vadakkunokkiyantram (Dir: Srinivasan, 1989)

Daany (Dir: T.V Chandran, 2002)

Daivathinte Vikruthikal(Dir: Lenin Rajendran, 1994)

Mughamugham (Dir: Adoor Gopalakrishnan, 1984)

Thoovana Thumbikal (Dir: P. Padmarajan, 1987)

Anubhavangal Palichakal (Dir: K.S. Sethumadhavan,1971)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Hurray i became kochachan....!!!!!

My brother Bency's son born on 21/07/2008

Sunday, July 20, 2008

El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona Year : 2007

While I was searching for a good horror movie to watch, accidentally I found this Spanish movie. First I thought it might be another stereotype horror movie of a haunted house and evil spirits in it. Surprisingly not…..!! (Even though it is about a lonely house and spirits in it). There is classy touch in this movie. The selection of shots, dramatic camera work, fine editing, flowing storyline, good performance by the actors and awe-inspiring location. The director succeeds to create a mystic atmosphere through out the film. Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez does a masterful job of balancing the thriller with the drama.The opening shots of the film are cleverly linked with the climax of the movie. The climax of the movie is really heart breaking…!

Synopsis

Laura was a former orphan. She bought the old orphanage building where she was raised and moved there with her adopted son Simón and husband Carlos. An unknown visitor informed her that Simón is HIV positive. Simon starts behaving strangely and tells Laura that he has five invisible friends, and she believes they are fruit of his imagination. Laura decides to reopen an orphanage for handicapped children in the location and during the opening party; Simón calls her to show the little cabin of his invisible friend Tomás. The busy Laura does not give much attention to her son; then she sees a mysterious masked boy and Simón vanishes. Laura feels the presence of other persons in the house and months later she finds the terrible truth about her son’s disappearance.

This was Spain's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of Oscars 2008.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Chaser (Chugyeokja)

Director: Hong-Jin Na

This film which was released this year became a surprise hit in South Korea. It was Hong-Jin Na's debt feature film and the actors are not so popular in the film industry. The budget of the film was also a mediocre one. After the slow start in the box office, the film became very popular through mouth publicity. It became the biggest hit of the year 2008 in south korea. The breath taking performance of the leading artists, craftsmanship of the director and thrilling storyline are the plus point of this movie.

Synopsis

Joong-ho is a pimp who was a detective once. He is in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. One night, he gets a call from a customer and sends one of his remaining girls Mi-jin. But when Mi-jin meets the customer, Jung-ho realizes the phone number of the customer matches that of the calls the missing girls got last. As something smells fishy, he searches for her. During his search, Jung-ho dents a car in the alley. When Jung-ho spots blood splattered on the driver’s shirt, he senses the man, Young-min, is the suspect. After an intense chase, Jung-ho finally catches Young-min. But because of Jung-ho’s pretence as a cop, they are both taken to the police station. At the station, he bluntly tells the policemen that he has killed the missing women, and the last girl, Mi-jin, may still be alive. As the police force is obsessed with a random search for corpses, Jung-ho is the only one who believes Mi-jin is still alive. With only 12 hours left to detain the serial killer without a warrant, Jung-ho’s hunt begins.

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Panama Deception

Director : Barbara Trent

Year : 1992

U.S. attacked Panama on 1989 which was a training exercise before the gulf war. In this invasion about four thousand people were killed. The excuse given was to get the drug lord, General Noriega, who had been on the CIA's payroll for 20 years. We see not only the devastation did to Panama, but also how American media was complicit in the way all of this was presented to the American public. The story is largely told through footage of the aftermath and interviews of victims, official diplomats and military officials. The comments by the Pentagon spokesman and military general were ironic when excellently juxtaposed with images that refuted their half-truths and deception. It won oscar for best documentary film in 1993

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Ghost of Rwanda

A very sensitive documentary on the genocide orchestrated by the ultra right wing Hutu(ethnic majority in Rwanda) groups in Rwanda during 1994. It is estimated that 8 lakhs Tutsi(ethnic minority) people were methodically hunted down and killed in the massacre. During the massacre what UN or the world peace protector USA was doing? The documentary examines UN & US’s role in this crisis. It shows how the social, political and diplomatic failures converged to enable the massacre to occur.

Through the interviews of Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, we can see the inefficiency of UN to stop the crisis. When he send a warning fax to UN headquarters regarding the unrest in Rwanda and asking permission to interfere before the massacre starts, UN secretary general Kofi Annan rejected the request within hours.

When the genocide started Belgian authorities withdrawn their armies since 10 Belgian army persons were killed by the rioters. UN also wants to withdraw its army but the brave UN soldiers refused to do so. The UN Security Council decided to keep a few peace keeping soldiers in the country because of the pressure from other African countries. First UN was even not ready to call it as genocide because if they recognize it as genocide they have to interfere in it.

Annan says “we have few numbers of soldiers in the country and they are not enough to resist the massacre. So we told them to not to take any actions”. In an interview he says “I have asked 80 countries to send soldiers to the mission but no one took any steps in this direction”. So what is the meaning to keep UN alive..???

When a black activist escaped from Rwanda and went to US to request help from US, one diplomat told her that “US do not have any friends but only interests and in your country we do not have any interest”. Clinton during his speech says “our national interest do not allow us to interfere in this issue”

Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors of the slaughter, "Ghosts of Rwanda" presents groundbreaking, first-hand accounts of the genocide. The film has lot of heart breaking moments…..when UN army came to rescue the diplomats, media persons and foreign citizens, the tutsi people beg to save their life too. But it was not the “interest” of the international community…!!

"With the perspective of time, the Rwandan crisis can be seen as a crucial test of the international system and its values -- a clash between the ideals of humanitarianism and the cold logic of realism and national interest," (Greg Barker, Director “The ghost of Rwanda”).

A must see documentary…!!!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Shocking Documentary on Patrice Lumumba

CBC Newsworld had produced eight-Part series on Political assassinations which examines some of the world's most horrific political murders of the second half of the 20th century. The series takes an in-depth look at murders that changed the course of world history and forces viewers to consider some startling questions: Who benefited or was protected by these murders? What role did governments or government agencies play in these murders? Are there conspiracies to suppress the truth? POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS looks at these assassinations in light of new evidence, little known facts, and through vivid re-enactments and interviews with first hand witnesses.

In this series one documentary is on Patrice Lumumba. The interviews of the murder witness and murders can shocks you. When u hear the interview of Belgian agent saying

"i have chopped the dead body of lumumba into small pieces. we don't want to show his dead body to the public. so we burnt his body, then i brought Sulphuric Acid and put the remaining parts in it. we ensured nothing remains.." The cruelty of colonial rulers and CIA has no limits.

The film will surely shocks you.......

Patrice Lumumba was an African anti-colonial leader, and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo. But for western powers he was a threat. It was at the height of the Cold War, and Congo was vital to Western interests because of its vast mineral resources. CIA agent Larry Devlin received 100,000 dollars from the Agency along with telegraphed instructions to make the "elimination of Lumumba" the "priority goal" of his covert action.

Only ten weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed an army coup, inspired by the West. Colonel Mobutu, the key figure in the coup, supported by the Congo's former colonial power, Belgium, and the CIA, became the Congo's ruler.

In the early December, 1960, Patrice Lumumba and two of his Ministers were killed by members of the Belgian Secret Service. None of the murderers - or the men behind them - has ever been indicted, but Lumumba's voice still echoes throughout Africa today.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

My favorite documentary of the week

Life and Debt

An informative and elegant documentary directed by Stephanie Black, depicts the impacts of globalization on Jamaica. This documentary, what could have been a dry lecture on globalization gets shaped by the filmmaker into a stylized narrative framework which is poetic, incisive and keep u close to the film. The intricacy of international free trade economics and structural adjustment policies will be understood in the context of the day-to-day realities of the people whose lives they impact. The film opens with the arrival of vacationers to the island—through voice-over, we begin to understand the profound contrasts behind the breathtaking natural beauty of the island. The poetic urgency of narration lends a first-person understanding of the legacy of the country's colonial past, and to it's present day economic challenges.