UNTHINKABLE (2010)

Apt to its title it’s really UNTHINKABLE or if you wish just separate the two words UNABLE (to) THINK. It’s mind-blowing film, an engaging, intense and shocking drama. Getting heard few rough patches of story from one of friend’s recommendation I thought it would be another version of ‘A Wednesday’ from Hollywood. Thank God, I’m wrong. Though subject is the same, the theme and treatment of this film raise many pertinent questions about what is right and what is wrong or maybe drawing us towards a situation where who’s right and who’s wrong is distorted truth.

The film opens with a video recording footage of an American Muslim man Yusuf aka Steven Arthur Younger claiming that he planted three nuclear bombs in different cities of States. Within few minutes he surrendered himself voluntarily knowing its dire aftermath. FBI’s special agent Helen is involved to interrogate under weird and sadist specialist military interrogator named H. There’s huge dichotomy between methods and attitudes of these two interrogators where one is ethical and believes in negotiation, the other is diabolic face and believes in severe physical and mental torture to get the information. After severe torture and emotional scratching he opens the mouth and made two unique demands to the President. Now they have few hours left and he confesses them that it’s a hoax...is it really? I need not spoil film more here onwards.

Along with giving tension filled intense drama of one and half hour and showing two poles apart personalities of interrogators, the director pinpointed many questionable things from Middle East policy of US to the reasonable demands made by fearless face of grave fanatic. At one point of interrogation H said- “The winner gets to take the moral high ground because they get to write the history books.” Absolutely true statement but the serious question is Does winning with power sum it all? The question is not whether there’s another bomb ticking out in the end but the question is who and what corrupt the mind of whom? Who’s the real perpetrator here? What will happen to those kids who’ve faced the ugliest face of humanity? Perhaps dealing with unthinkable one too becomes unthinkable.

Back in action is Samuel Jackson in one of his power pack performance as cruel interrogator H…he’s just cold blooded psychopathic interrogator you’ve ever seen on screen. He’s finely supported by Carrie Anne Moss and Michael Sheen. Director Gregor Jordan and writers Oren Moverman & Peter Woodward surely deserve two thumbs up.

Highly recommended for those who haven’t seen it…One of the best and impressive Hollywood film of this year.

Ratings-8/10

WITNESS FOR PROSECUTION (1957)

Undoubtedly one of the remarkable courtroom drama and mystery adaptations of Agatha Christie’s stage success by none other than the director who perhaps got the maximum number of Oscar nominations as Best Director during two golden decades of Hollywood.

Billy Wilder opens the film with light hearted fun where we witness an overweight old lawyer resuming his office accompanied by too caring and nagging nurse. Against her will he catches up with the murder case just to smoke cigar and employs another lawyer but soon the case takes interesting turn when victim’s strange German wife appears and gave vague and strange answers quite confusing to defend the case. The challenge propelled the old lawyer and he applies all his might to win the case. But unlike other courtroom drama the punch of the film comes in final ten minutes when he won the case. It’s a brilliant twist with poetic justice.

Wilder kept the sophisticated British humor running even in the courtroom parallel to the intriguing trial. Charles Laughton’s gave his most memorable performance as one of the most admirable lawyer keeping alive the spark of brilliant sense of humor and in one of the most intriguing character of her career Marlene Dietrich is just impeccable to watch. Wilder again scores his mastery over medium proving why he remained successful in more than one genre.

Ratings-8.5/10

BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)

One of the most talked about films of 60’s Hollywood, loaded with striking dark humor, graphic violence and bold treatment which created much hue and cry at the time of its release. The film is loosely based on real life pair of 30s depression era of America discounting the romantic angles between lead pair. One has to watch it for shocking depiction of violence and the brilliant chemistry between Faye Dunaway in her debut act as Bonnie and Warren Beatty as Clyde. Considering her breakthrough film Dunaway is just awesome and strikingly bold in her performance. She’s undoubtedly one of the greatest blonde Hollywood actress of 70s. Gene Hackman is simply memorable in a short role for his “Don’t sell that cow” gag which he shared more than once on screen.

Director Arthur Penn romanticized the robbery in the first half as light hearted adventure especially when bunch of other three guys joined the team including Clyde’s brother and his nagging and yelling wife who later became a loose thread for the sniffing cop. But the fun is soon overshadowed by disturbing violence as cops secretly attacked them at night costing the life of Clyde’s brother and blinded his wife. The fate of lead pair soon resulted in grim and shocking finale when law ends their loose adventure. The influence of Godard’s early new wave films is clearly visible where style rules over plot. But Penn and Beatty made a groundbreaking film considering its time; made few years before 70’s great trendsetters Coppola and Scorsese. The last unexpected and unceasing gunfire shootout is great shocker even today and it surely influenced Coppola depicting the car shootout scene of ‘The Godfather’.

Ratings-8.5/10

SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)

One of the perfectly written-directed and acted films of Hitchcock abstained from any usual star power of glamour. Its ambiguous character study surrounded by doubt and trouble. Hitchcock showed the doubtful side of the man to the audience from the very beginning but the character of the film starts doubting him much after an hour has been passed. But still he kept our fingers crossed about the true face of the guest Uncle Charlie. Hitchcock plays with the theme of doubts on multiple levels without showing any sort of murder or crime on the screen; the whole drama happens around an average middle class American family of a small town. The denouement of all doubtful objects i.e.-ring, newspaper column, the use of light and shadows in photography and the ambivalent suspense fixed in the double layers of single personality is something so amazing.

I start liking Joseph Cotten more and more after every next film I’m watching. He’s such a natural and elegant actor too unlikely to match stylish and handsome ruling movie stars of that era but in acting he overshadowed many of them. It’s quite unusual to watch him here as sophisticated villain unlike his gentlemen roles in ‘Citizen Kane’ and ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’.

One of Hitchcock’s own favorite movie.

Ratings-8/10

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)

“How could I know that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?”

An archetypal film noir by Billy Wilder is the tale of desperate and seductive femme fatale’s bait, leading a young insurance agent into a plot to murder her husband claiming fabricated train accident to get the benefit of double indemnity clause of policy. Told in a flashback, the story leads to fatal and dark ending. Wilder used voice over narrative technique which he later used in all his dark dramas- ‘The Lost Weekend’ and ‘Sunset Blvd’.

Both leading pair and partners in crime-Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck are just perfect. For MacMurray perhaps it’s one of the best of his career. There’s great supporting act by Edward G. Robinson as Barton Keys, Fred’s friend cum boss. Though it didn’t win any award out of its seven nominations in all major categories, it’s crackling film with sharp dialogues, dark characterization and striking camerawork showing decadent and scheming atmosphere. I would enjoy it better, if I hadn’t seen Bhatt camp’s Bipasha-John Abraham starrer ‘Jism’, an absolute rip off of this brilliant classic.

Ratings-8/10

THE THIRD MAN (1949)

Carol Reed’s ‘The Third Man’ is technically a milestone film in many ways and that’s why its entry is permanently locked in one of the best film noir ever made. There’s no doubt that Reed achieved remarkable result on every front- Graham Greene for writing original screenplay, brilliant casting and performances, flawless and gritty editing and extraordinary camerawork.

Movie begins with Holly Martins, a penniless American pulp novelist came to visit his old friend Harry who’s going to offer him a job. Surprisingly after arrival he came to know that Lime got dead by accident just few minutes ago and he was a big racketeer. He met a stranger claiming Lime’s friend, a young theater actress who visited the funeral and soon investigated that there’s three men who witnessed the accident and had seen Harry dying. He knew the two men but the third man remains a big mystery.

I think Joseph Cottten is one of the finest genuine and natural actor of that era. He’s finely supported by Trevor Howard and Italian actress Alida Valli and above all surprising short role by none other than Master himself. Orson Walles’ much awaited entry in the film came much after passing an hour. And he appears just like a flash of ghost and suddenly escapes. And mind it, it’s sort of entry which the man like him deserved. Though he’s having just few minutes screen presence in the entire film, he made Harry Lime one of the crackling characters you have ever seen. It’s revealing to know that great ‘cuckoo clock’ speech of Lime was penned by Welles himself.

Cinematographer Robert Krasker’s achieved extraordinary feat here. His camera captured the essence and mood of the urban nightmarish, sinister and corrupt world of post-war Vienna plagued by black market racketeers in classic Neo-Realist sort of B&W frames. It’s dark world of full of fear and upheaval. I’ve never ever seen the city roads, streets, ruined gothic buildings including the underground sewage of the nocturnal cityscapes captured at original locations in any other film noir so integrally. The film has some of the great slanting and low/ground angle shots; watch the way he shot mysterious shadow on walls. Camerawork here is absolutely the subject of reference material for the students of cinematography. Infact in camera work more than Reed, the film looks more like Welles film. Kasker deservingly won Oscar for it. Zither music played on guitar by Anton Karas is another inseparable part of the film. All these elements won it Best Film trophy at Cannes same year.

One of the best noir of all time.

Ratings-10/10

NOTORIOUS (1946)

Though not may be Hitchcock’s greatest, it’s a fine classic worth viewing once. The plot involved American agent and secret Nazi syndicate. Soon after her German father convicted for treason Alicia is approached by US agent Devlin. He led her into a secret plan to spy on her father’s syndicate friends. Alicia’s romantic obsession with quite cynical Devlin involves her in trouble and trauma.

One must watch the film for enormously beautiful Ingrid Bergman. She’s having one of the most heavenly faces and this is absolutely her movie; she overshadowed even Cary Grant paired with her here. She’s quite effortless in her act compared to Grant. Besides Grant didn’t have much to perform here except being catalyst; showing his grinning face, sharing kisses and help her out in the end. Claude Rains as Nazi Sebastian is impressive.

Hitchcock’s long fixation with Freudian elements is visible in his earlier films. Here he represented Oedipus complex between Sebastian and his old mother reminds me the mysterious old lady in ‘Rebecca’. Hitchcock’s trademark tension lies here in a sequence showing lifting the key of the room where Uranium ore is hidden in wine bottle. Movie ends surprisingly and too abruptly without any sort of climax; contradictory in Hitchcock films except his unconventional ‘The Birds’.

Ratings-7/10