The Human Animal

The Human Animal, narrated by Desmond Morris (famous zoologist) is a six part science series on human race and its behaviour evolved from animal ancestors. In this portrait of the human species, Desmond Morris takes us right to the centre of human existence and explores all aspects of human life and behaviour. From the way we rear our young to the common use of certain facial gestures, he covers a fascinating variety of subjects: how our hunting instincts have been channelled into an extraordinary range of sporting activities; how the modern art world can trace its roots back to an early primate picking up a stone resembling a face; how different courtship rituals across the world reflect the universal emotion of love. Both candid and entertaining, Desmond Morris exposes our foibles, celebrates our triumphs and gives us a new understanding of the way we behave.

An amazing journey which will give insight to our own existence.

Space Race

i have seen an amazing documentary series made by BBC on the race between US and ussr to explore the space. the name of series is "Space Race". it is a 4 part series on the history of space programmes.

the big figures and master minds of this race were Sergei Korolev and Wernher von Braun. Braun was a NASI party member and a SS major, he developed German's rocket technology. he surrendered to US army when war was over and US got the man to conquer the space. The same time ussr was also looking for a geneus to start its space programme. at last they find out the man - a prisoner living in Siberia, sentenced during Stalin's ruling period-his name was Sergei Korolev. Both these master minds participated in the race which is one of the greatest suspense thriller story of modern history.

Korolev put Russia ahead of US , by sending first satellite, living creature, man into space, first space walk, first object orbit around moon and first object touched moon's surface.He was a demanding, hard-working man, with a disciplinary style of management. Korolyov personally monitored all key stages of the programs and paid meticulous attention to detail. His accidental death broke the back born of the USSR space programme. until his death, his identity was kept secret from the world.

one of the best documentary series i have ever seen. well researched, well scripted and well made big budget film. it is a docu-drama using lot of actual footage.

Old Partner

The global economic crisis has badly affected Korean film industry. Big production companies like CJ and Show box are hesitant to invest money for big budget films. But the year is not too bad for Korean cinema…. Park chan wook’s “Thirst” got award in prestigious Cannes film festival, films like “Breathless” got wide spread attention among international film festival viewers. The amazing director Bong joon ho has released his new movie “Mother”. There were surprise hits like “Hand Phone” which indicates the return of violence in Korean Cinema.

But the year 2009 will not be remembered by any of these films in future. It will be remembered after a small documentary made with a tight budget. This documentary has created history…… it touched the hearts of millions of Koreans…. The name of the documentary is “Old Partner”. It was released in 15^th January in only 7 screens... as word of mouth and favorable reviews spread, the film entered the box office top position and the number of screens was reached 200. The film attracted nearly 3 million viewers, an unprecedented figure for a documentary and became the country’s highest grossing independent film. It won the Best Documentary Award at the 13th Busan International Film Festival and invited to overseas film festivals like Sundance.

Directed by Lee Choong-yeol, the movie tells the story of a crippled old farmer and the dying cow that has served him faithfully for decades. Old Partner’s focus on simple rural life, and on the strong bond an aging farmer has formed with his cow (so strong that his wife gets jealous). it harbor a nostalgia for the pastoral Korea of old.

Bongha village, where the film was shot, is planning an “Old Partner” museum to cash in on the movie’s success. The old couple has been besieged by tourists, and there has been concern from the movie director about the instrusions on their daily lives. On the other hand, the village seems thankful for the possible influx of cash.

Day 3, documentary made by Suneesh Surendran

Suneesh Surendran is my very close friend. he is now working in Rose bowl channel. His latest documentary was screened in the international video film festival at Trivandrum. it is a nice documentary about killing of street dogs in a remote village in Trivandrum. the whole documentary was shot in a day and made within a week. This documentary was telecasted many times in the channel.

This time also Suneesh proved his sense of sound and visual framing through this documentary. He got the craft with him but subject wise lacks depth. He is one of the rare documentary film makers in kerala who uses sound extremely sensible manner. In way he plays with close ups and sound. His earlier documentary got special jury award in Malayalam Television Awards given by Kerala Govt.

I think he has the caliber to become a very good film director in malayalam. If my prediction is right he has the talent to bring aesthetic changes in malayalam film industry..... Hope he will get the opportunity and exposure...
Another talent who i would like to introduce is Gireesh. Gireesh was my junior in C-DIT course. he is making his first feature film in malayalam, in which mamooty is the main hero. earlier he worked as associate director with Shyama Prasad.

i have seen his dedication towards his work while he was doing his diploma film. his sense of framing is excellent. i heard that Mamooty is very keen to work in his project and helped him to find out producer for the film.

i wish all the success to his first film and hope he will produce sensible film which malayalam film industry really needs.

Eagerly waiting to see two new Korean movies

I am eagerly waiting to see two new south Korean movies. Joon ho bong’s ‘Mother’ and Park Chan Wook’s “Thirst”. Both of them are my favourite directors from Korea.

40 years old Joon Ho Bong has already proved his talent through his films “barking dogs never bites”, “memories of murder”, “host” and “Tokyo”. His films are critically acclaimed as well as big successes in box office. He is a product of Korean Academy of Film Arts (known as KAFA, the state film school in Korea like our FTII. I got a chance to watch his diploma film ‘incoherence’ at KAFA- the present institute director who taught him told me how talented he is even when he was a student). His film “Memories of Murder” broke all the box records when it was released. It is a perfect crime thriller with out using many mainstream cinematic jargons and one of my favourite films ever produced in Korean language. His last commercial movie “The Host” is still the highest money collecting movie in the history of Korean cinema. This film was dubbed into more than 15 languages and released all over the world including India. His latest movie “Mother” was released last month in Korea and it instantaneously became another big success. I heard that it is also a crime thriller like “Memories of Murder”.

Park Chan Wook do not require any introduction, the two time Cannes award winner is considered to be the most precious film maker of modern Korean cinema. He started his career as a film critic and has a deep understanding of world cinema. He is world renowned for his “Vengeance Trilogy” – Sympathy to Mr. Vengeance, old boy and Sympathy for Mrs. Vengeance. IMDB has voted Old boy as one of the greatest movies ever produced in the history of world cinema. His earlier film “JSA”(Joint Security Area) is one of the ground breaking political film (remember it was a commercial film) which questioned the boundaries built by the political establishments over the unbounded love of humanity. I think JSA is the first South Korean political movie released in North Korea by the Kim ll-sung regime (it may be wrong to call it a communist government as it became a father-son business).

Park’s latest movie ‘Thirst’ got special jury award in Cannes film festival of this year. It is his first horror movie and it is about a vampire. I heard that it has lot of visual potential like ‘old boy’. “Thirst” will be released in Korean theatres in this month. I am very excited to watch this movie.

Interestingly both the directors – park chan wook and Joon ho bong are members of Democratic Labor Party, a leftist political formation in Korea. They are very critical towards the US centered policies of the South Korean Government. You can trace out anti imperialist statements/references in their films.

Byambasuren Davaa

Byambasuren Davaa is a unique film director…. still now she has made only two films – “the weeping camel” & “The cave of the yellow dog”. Her films are unique for its very gently, subtle , uniquely fluid, organic, meandering way of storytelling.

She was born in Mongolia and studied in Germany. Her both films are about the vanishing culture of nomad people in Mongolia. But interestingly she used very different perspective to tell the story. In her own words : My aim was to document a vanishing culture. So as a film-maker, I’m in control of my language, but I wanted to step back and let them tell their story from their perspective, so in a sense I created a filmic language that would enable them to do that. They live quietly, and in a subtle way.

In the first film is about nomad family in Mongolia and one of their camels. The camel is not ready to accept its new born baby. The mother camel is not allowing the baby camel to drink its milk. So the family tries all possible ways to solve the issue but fails. Then according to their tradition if a particular music is played the mother camel will change its mind. So they bring two artists from faraway place to play the music. And astonishingly the music works...!! The camel starts crying and it allows the baby to drink its milk.

The story is very simple and close to nomad tradition. The second film is also about another nomad family but this time the main focus is on a child and her dog. All the characters are from real life and no script was used to produce both these films. For both this movies, she spent more than 2 months with the original nomad family. After some days the family was not worried abt the camera and presence of the team. So she created some situation in which the characters reacted naturally and she filmed those scenes. So there was no “Action” and “Cut” s during the shooting. It was really long, painstaking process of film making but result was very amazing. The characters were fitted with each situation in the film and it was so natural.

Zhang Yang

If cinema is a medium to narrate a story – Zhang Yang is one of the greatest film makers from Asia. His films presents human saga interwoven with affectionate humor. Turn away from art house destined costume epics of emperors, conquerors and concubines; he depicts the lives of ordinary citizens. He is a great talent as a teller of compassionate tales.

In his first movie - spicy love soup is considered to be the first box office hit of an independent film in Chinese film history. This celluloid work was based on 5 love stories, with changing tone and feel for each story, yet continues to follow a certain charming rhythm and style.

The first story is about a boy who loves sounds. He daily records sounds which please him. One day he came across the most beautiful sound in his life - sound of a girl student in his class. Using his recording and editing skills he creates a beautiful but manupulated conversation with the girl. It was his first gift to the girl ...may be the last also. In the second story we came across a boy who makes a dinner with a hope to reconcile his bickering parents. He adds some magic love potion (given by his grandmother) in the dinner to unite them. In the third story a husband and wife in the verge of alienation rediscover their love through toys…!! The fourth story is about a love at first sight …

In the centerpiece of the film, is the most heart touching story of a retired nurse who tries to find out her new life partner…..

His second ‘Shower” film brought him international attention.

Da Ming, goes home to Beijing when he receives a letter from his mentally challenged brother Er Ming thinking that his father had died. He finds his father working at the family's bathhouse (the false message was a ruse of Er Ming, to get Da home). Da stays a couple days, observing his father being social director, marriage counselor, and dispute mediator for his customers and a boon companion to Er. Da is caught between worlds: the decaying district of his childhood and the booming south where he now lives with a wife who's not met his family. When Da realizes his father's health is failing and the district is slated for razing, he must take stock of family and future.

His third film Quitting was a sensation in China. It depicts the story of a drug addicted actor- Jia, who tries to find out his existence through alienating himself from his family and society. . The film is a striking social document as well as a gripping personal story. The film is also a passage through the impacts of post modern "Beatles Culture" on the young generation of China in early 90’s.

Sunflower was his fourth film. "Sunflower" is a powerful and touching look at the compelling inner dynamics of post-Cultural Revolution Chinese society. As the political atmosphere of the country changed Zhang Gengnain, a self trained painter rejoins with his family from the labor camp. The physical torture in the labor camp made him incapable to continue the profession of an artist. But he wants to fulfill his dreams through his son Xiangyang. The films time period spans the course of three decades--focusing on the years 1976, 1987 and 1999--in the lives of Zhang Gengnian and his son.

His latest film is Getting home released in 2007. It is also a pulse counter of modern China. The film reflects the humane side of Chinese society as well as the emerging callous class difference and developmental paradigm of the society.

The plot follows Zhao as a construction worker whose best friend dies, leaving him to fulfill a promise that he will return his body to his distant hometown. Short on money, the determined Zhao decides to carry his friend's corpse on his back, relying on help from the people he meets on his travels…"Getting Home" is a road film in the purest sense, progressing in anecdotal fashion through Zhao's encounters with a variety of quirky characters, some of whom help and some of whom hinder him in his journey. The plot revolves around a number of small, personal stories and is frequently unpredictable, as the viewer never knows what lies around the corner, or who he will run into next. Through this, the film works well as a series of clever observations on the lives of everyday people in modern rural China, and is both believable and fascinating. Despite the subject matter, it makes for upbeat and life affirming viewing, helped by the fact that the honest and loyal Zhao makes for a great, sympathetic protagonist who the viewer really comes to care for. His efforts to fulfil his promise are very touching, as are many of the tales of the people he meets, and Zhang shows his usual skill in avoiding cheap sentiment, keeping things heartfelt and unforced throughout.

Zhang's works have emotional core which drives the film and which really pulls the viewer into the story. Few other directors working in modern Chinese cinema or indeed from anywhere else in the world are his equal in this respect. Funny and poignant in equal measures, it makes for great entertainment and again goes to show that the best films to come from China in recent times have been the small, personal ones rather than the big budget blockbusters.

Waltz with Bashir

ഈ സിനിമ ഒന്ന് അവസാനിചെന്കില്‍ എന്ന് ആഗ്രഹിച്ചു പോയി പല തവണ. ഇതില്‍ കണ്ട ദൃശ്യങ്ങള്‍ വളരെ കാലം ബോധ മനസിനെ വേട്ടയാടും എന്ന് സംശയമില്ല.

1982 ല്‍ ലെബാനോനിലെ സാബ്രയിലും ഷടിലയിലും നടന്ന വംശഹത്യയുടെ ഓര്‍മകുറിപ്പാണ് ഈ സിനിമ. ചരിത്രത്തിലെ ഏറ്റവും രക്ത രൂഷിത മായ, സ്റ്റേറ്റ് സഹായത്തോടെ നടന്ന കൂട്ട കൊല യാണ് ഈ വംശഹത്യ. ഈ സൈനിക നീക്കത്തില്‍ പങ്കെടുകേണ്ടി വന്ന സിനിമ സംവിധായകന്‍ മറന്നു പോയ തന്റെ ഓര്‍മകളെ തിരികെ തേടുകയാണ്.

ഒരു മുഴുനീള അനിമെഷന്‍ ഡോക്കുമെന്ററി ആണ് ഈ ചിത്രം.

A new Kim-Ki-Duk in World cinema

If you are waiting for a Kim-Ki-Dukian  movie, do not wait for Kim-Ki-Duk to make a movie. “Yang Ik June” will satisfy your Kim-Ki-dukian taste buds.

The new Korean movie “Breathless” marks the arrival of a new Kim-Ki-Duk in World cinema – Yang Ik June. This movie is the new sensation from korea, conquering film festivals and critical appreciation from the around the world.

Breathless originates from the dark side of human relationships. Throughout the film you can feel the violence which demystifies violence. The director is not concerned with viewers who would humiliate its characters. It does not try to make its characters appealing by concealing their stupidity. That is to say, it does not avoid absurd moments to make itself more romantic.

It can also see as a gangster movie but it gradually breaks away from all the traditional elements of a gangster movie. In the gangster traditional films, it is rather the sympathetic qualities that makes the gangster identifiable; the viewer somehow knows that actually the gangster is 'good hearted', and waits for that moment in which he reveals the good in him/her. But from the first scene breathless questions this perspective.

In the first scene you can see that- A man is beating a woman. Then another man comes along (“hero”) and beats the beater. At that point the viewer may think like "OK, this is the hero". Yet the scene continues and the man who beats the beater starts to beat the woman, blaming her for not fighting back. The viewer does not know if she/he is to laugh or get angry, to adore the guy or to degrade him.  

Interestingly this is the first film of Yang-Ik June and he played main role in this film. His performance as an actor was amazing…one may feel that his both skills were competing each other in this movie.  

Cinematic experience

What kind of experience do we have when we are watching movies? Is it only personal..?

While reading a book we conceive words into images…. Is it same happens with cinema also..? I think personalization happens with images also. The visual moving infront of the viewer’s eyes would be different from the visual (information) that he stores in his memory. There is a transformation happens in between these process. What is that..? How is it happens..?

I think this process of transformation is vital when we study the impact of moving images on an individual and on a mass. That is why different people have different feelings about a same movie.

Shower

ലോകസിനിമ ഇന്ന് zhang yang കഥ പറയുവാന്‍ കാത്തിരിക്കുകയാണ്. ഓര്‍മകളായി മാറുന്ന മനുഷ്യ ബന്ധങ്ങളുടെ നൈര്‍മല്യംമാണ് zhang സിനിമകളുടെ ഇതിവൃത്തം. 80 കളുടെ അവസാനം ചൈനീസ് സിനിമയില്‍ പുതിയ മാറ്റാങള്‍ കൊണ്ട് വന്നു. പുതിയ ഒരു കൂട്ടം സംവിധായകര്‍ നവ സിനിമയ്ക്കു തുടക്കം കുറിച്ചു. ഈ ചൈനീസ് നവ സിനിമയുടെ അമുല്യമായ സംഭാവനയാണ്‌ zhang yang. zhang നെ പ്രശസ്തി യിലേക്ക് നയിച്ചത് 2 മത്തെ സിനിമയായ "Shower" ആണ്. തികച്ചും ചെറിയ ബജറ്റ് ഇല നിര്‍മിച്ച ഈ സിനിമ അപ്രേധീഷിട വിജയമാണ് box officil നേടിയത്. ഒപ്പം വിവിധ ഫിലിം ഫെസ്ടിവലുകളില്‍ വിമര്‍ശക അംഗീകാരവും നേടി.

 

Shower

 

Liu Daming നഗരത്തില്‍ നിന്ന് അച്ഛന്റെ അടുത്തേക്ക് വന്നത് വളരെ ആശങ്കയോടെ ആയിരുന്നു. താന്‍ ജനിച്ചു വളര്‍ന്ന ഈ ചെറിയ പട്ടണത്തില്‍ അച്ഛന്‍ നടത്തുന്ന bath house ( ആളുകള്‍ക്ക് സുഖപ്രദമായി കുളിക്കാനും സമയം തള്ളീനീക്കാനും വേണ്ടി നടത്തുന്ന സ്ഥലം) ഇല്‍ എതിയപോയാണ് സമാധാനം ആയത്. അച്ഛന് കുഴപമോന്നും ഇല്ല. അച്ഛനോടൊപ്പം ഈ ബാത്ത് ഹൌസില്‍ കസീയുന്നമാനസിക വളര്‍ച്ച കുറഞ്ഞ അനിയന്‍ കാണിച്ച വേലയാണ് ഈ തെറ്റിധാരണ ക്ക് കാരണമായത്. തനിക്കു അയച്ച കത്തില്‍ അവന്‍ ബെഡില്‍ കിടക്കുന്ന അച്ഛന്റെ പടം വരച്ചു, അച്ഛന് സുഖമില്ല എന്ന് Liu Daming കരുതുവാന്‍ ഇത് കാരണമായി. ഇപ്പം അച്ഛന് കുഴപമില്ല എന്ന് കണ്ടപ്പോള്‍ സമാധാനം ആയി, വന്ന സ്ഥിതിക്ക് 2 ദിവസം കഴിഞ്ഞു പോയാല്‍ മതി എന്ന് നിശ്ചയിച്ചു. ഈ shower house ഒരു രസകരമായ ലോകം തന്നെ യാണ്. ഇവിടെ വരുന്ന ഓരോ ആളും ഓരോ തരക്കാരാണ്. ഒരാള്‍ക്ക് വെള്ളം തലയില്‍ വീണാല്‍ ഉടനെ പാട്ട് വരും. ഈ പാട്ട് കേട്ട് നിവൃത്തി ക്കെട്ടാല്‍ മറ്റൊരാള്‍ ഓടി പോയി tap അടയ്ക്കും. അപ്പോള്‍ പാട്ടും തന്നെ നില്‍ക്കും. പക്ഷെ Liu Daming ഇന്റെ അനിയന്‍ Liu Erming ഇന് ആവട്ടെ പാട്ട് ജീവനാണ്. അയ്യാള്‍ ഓടി പോയി Tap തുറക്കും. അപ്പോള്‍ ഒരു ഉന്തും തള്ളും പ്രതിഷിക്കാം. അവിടെ വരുന്ന വയസ്സായവരാകട്ടെ കമ്പം "ചെറു പ്രാണികളെ " തമ്മിലടിച്ചു രസിക്കാനാണ്. പ്രാണികള്‍ തമ്മിലുള്ള അടി അവസാനം അവര്‍ തമ്മിലുള്ള അടിയായി തീരാന്‍ അധികം നേരം വെണ്ട. ഭാര്യയുടെ അടി പേടിച്ചു വരുന്നവരും, വിചിത്രമായ കണ്ടുപിടുത്തം തലയില്‍ കൊണ്ട് നടക്കുന്നവരും ഇവിടത്തെ സന്ദര്‍ശകരില്‍ പെടും. എത്ര വിചിട്രമാനെന്കിലും ഈ ലോകം ഒരു തലമുറയുടെ വികാര വിചാര ങ്ങളുടെ രംഗ വേദി യാണ്. ഒപ്പം Liu Daming ഇന്റെ അച്ഛനായ Liu ഒരു ജീവിടകാലം കൊണ്ട് കേട്ടിപെടുത്ത ഒരു കുടുംബമാണ് ഈ bath house.

 

Liu നു പ്രായം ഏറെ ആയിരിക്കുന്നു. തന്നെ ഉപേഷിച്ച് നഗരത്തില്‍ ചേക്കേറിയ മൂത്ത മകന്‍ മാനസിക വളരച്ച്ചയില്ലാത്ത ഇളയ മകനെ തന്റെ മരണ ശേഷം സംരെക്ഷിക്കുമോ? വികസനത്തിന്റെ പേരില്‍ ആ പ്രദേശത്തുള്ള എല്ലാ വീടുകളെയും പൊളിച്ചു മാറ്റ്‌ മെന്നു govt. അറിയിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു . അപ്പോള്‍ തന്‍റെ ഈ പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട bath house നെ വിട്ടു പിരിയേണ്ടി വരുമോ ? - Liu തന്റെ ആകുലതകളെ ഉള്ളില്‍ ഒതുക്കി കഴിയുക യാണ് അപ്രേധിഷിത ആയാണ് Liu നെ മരണം കീഴടക്കുനത്. ഈ മരണം - Liu സഹോദരന്മാരെ എങ്ങനെ ബാധിക്കുന്നു എന്നതാന്നു ഈ സിനിമയുടെ അന്ത്യത്തില്‍ നാം കാണുന്നത്.