World movies; Asian Flavah

Cover of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Asian movies have a different flavor. They are stylish, with a play of light and music which has no parallel in any of the western movies. I heard QT gave a standing ovation to Old Boy when it was screened at Cannes, also it is up there in top five in his must watch movies list – both 'facts' which have not been verified personally, but obtained from reliable sources. I have seen the movie and acknowledge it with same verve. It is a work of art, especially the use of wide angles and some top view shots. It is not seen in classical movies of the world, and again, the use of word 'classical movies' should be sparingly used.

A few years back, I saw King Lear by some Danish master screened at Thrissur. Another day, another foreign language movie by some European master – a kaleidoscopic view of human emotions when concentrated in a particular place, there, a train passing through some of the most desolate and sparsely populated land. Same day, I saw Swayamvaram by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. The movie had very little dialogue, but the camera work was simply world class. I found the use of spin and close ups particularly refreshing. The story line was also extremely simple but executed with great style. The best movie I have seen is King Lear itself. That was a work of art – since the story itself is unparalleled, the movie have to be top notch to save itself from being branded mediocre. Some of the older Japanese movies are too good. I am unable to name most of them. Kurosawa's Rashomon is one of my favorites. The way human emotions are shown can be done only by a master. The final court scene is is perfect, and I wonder if any movie can be shot with so little props and actors in the script to get this effect. The way they show rain and sun are breathtaking, which might even overshadow the works like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or the way they show action scenes, sword fights and murders will do away with Kill Bill easily. The screen space is shared between the actors and nature and that makes the whole difference. Even Japanese serials which were shown in DD long time back were a pleasing experience. The snows of Japan used to fill our living room with same emotions as they welcomed it, and their spring festivals were a joy for us here too.

After a gap of three years, I saw another world movie - Old Boy, and this gave me a peek into Oriental cinema. This Korean movie uses many works by Classical Western masters, like Vivaldi to accentuate the effect of a shot. To use one of Vivaldi's Four seasons suite for a action scene should be termed as audacious at the least. Still, the director made it off. Asian movies have always made style a part of their work – with movies like masters like Ang Lee taking the game to Oscars. I wonder why India is falling back in this race, when we also had good masters once upon a time, and still counts Santhosh Sivan as one of the best cinematographers in the world. Raavan is a testimony to the continuing legacy of Sivan and a fall in the art of Mani Ratnam, which maybe attributed to bad selection of actors(but this may pay off in world stage). I wish to see Vanaprastham which many say is a good movie. I do not relate to these kind of Malayalam movies, whereas the movies during golden age of Mohanlal, Mammooty, Soman and Sukumaran finds place in my HDD easier than these new age gimmicks. I do not subscribe to people catering to world, forgetting the reality of the world they live in. The trick is to show the ground reality the way world wants to see it, and not to show what world want to see as the ground reality. It is still possible with directors like Prakash Jha and Farhan Akthar still having lots of potential to make such movies.

I have lots of movies to watch – Kim ki duk, other movies of Old boy trilogy, then many more unnameable ones which my friends have given me, half of which which neither they have seen, nor will they be seeing it in near future, as my case is also going to be. The next movie in the list is Audition which is supposed to be highest rated in IMDB, and ratings are some thing which I am always skeptical of. Still, I got to know it is good from two different sources. It is somewhat surprising that there are lots of people who sees other language movies, other than English even in Kerala. I am not talking about my friends, who are all far more superior than myself in critical viewing, but the general public. The movies which run long are action movies, but action is also done by Hollywood, and they do not draw this big crowd. Movies like Ong Bak shot in low budget, and its sequels shot with bigger budget, have run for many weeks more than movies like Bourne series. Even though MI-3 has biggest drawing star in Hollywood, people still say about the camerawork and direction by John Woo rather than saying about acting by Tom Cruise. As I already wrote, Jackie Chan is a bigger star in Kerala than all the Khans except SRK, on another thought, maybe even the King Khan too. It was fun to notice that an unknown movie, Ninja Warrior had more collection than, De Dhana Dhan and some other Hollywood flicks during weekly movie financial review by Economic Times, after all this is a big industry.

Now the Asian movies have taken a very artistic touch, with people showing gore and sex with vibrant colors. This might be the way a person feels in heart when in such emotions, and movies are trying to transpose that into the celluloid. It may also add to the factor that HD movies and newer technologies have made this all the more possible. I had written about the excellent camera work in Karate Kid(2010), and the way the movie showed the beauty of China. I feel that they have really shown how to add nature to the cast. All the wonders of the world seem to be concentrated in the Orient – the sky scrapers as well as the Taj Mahal, the buildings of commercial centers in Shanghai to the beautiful Imperial palaces of Japan and China, all show the magnificence of the East. Movies can be a mirror to all the wonders of the world, and with wonders being showcased in these movies, I do not doubt whether Saint Gobain shall have serious competition.