Cidade de Deus (City of God)

A great Brazilian film based on a true story of rivalry between two gangs in Rio de Janeiro’s slums around 70’s. The story is about the turbulence of those times and about the lives of members of the warring gangs and those caught in the vicious cycle of violence, as narrated by an aspiring photo journalist living in the same slum who always finds himself in the thick of action.

Being a true story, there is nothing much to tell about it except that it is amazing. The story tracks the genesis, rise and nemesis of a criminal gang and repetition of this cycle. And as is with any story narrated by a not-so-great raconteur, the wannabe journalist in this case, the story line digresses from the main plot many times. These digressions always recount some interesting story, related to some important character, which finally ends where the main plot was left at. Perhaps this, I felt, was the most brilliant aspect of the film apart from some remarkable performances like those of the characters Li’l Dice and Benny, the coolest gangster in town.

The portrayal of almost every character is good. Most of the characters in the mob are refreshingly different from those in Hollywood movies. Here, apart from the usual shooting, looting, raping and killing stuff, the mobsters dance, party, love and rock too.

But the narration, though not mindlessly gory, is quite disturbing at times. A few scenes like the one where Li’l Dice quenches his blood thirst, the one where a kid kills another kid and the one where a little boy takes to the gun and joins the gang war to avenge his father’s death are shocking. The cinematography, the sets and everything else just reflect just what any slum looks like.

The pace is such that the film never slackens for once throughout its entire length. And to add up everything else, here is a film with many good elements. A must watch if you love good cinema. But I’m afraid same is not the case if you can’t stand violence and killing stuff and wish to enjoy your movies with popcorn.

Movies, Movies & more Movies......

The past one week I've been too busy watching movies while the rest of my class mates are busy preparing for GATE exam. Having recently found out the magic of P2P network, we have been busy downloading many movies. (Now, I know it's illegal but, we don't get those titles here even if we want to rent or buy them. No sir, not even pirated editions.) So it has been like a-movie-a-day for the past few days. And in these past few days I discovered some good movies, courtesy IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.

Starting with next post, I'm going to review the few good movies I saw.  One thing, I don't exactly have what one might call a discerning taste though you may call it eclectic.

So no guarantees that these movies are good enough for you.

Salaam 'Salaam Bombay'

To gear ourselves with enough stuff to endure the then imminent threat of Mid Sem Exams, we recently went on a DVD hunt. (Pirated, that is. But then, we don't get the originals even if we want them. Do we?) We managed to get a good many. Thanks Pete, we are through that exam stuff. And we enjoyed the movies too. Some were just bland while others OK and a few really entertaining. But one was just great.

And the great one is Salaam Bombay. Just great. It was just too good. Totally engrossing and entertaining too. Unlike most other parallel cinema we get to see here in India, this film isn't all depressing.

The film is about a kid who is thrown out of his home and reaches Bombay. And it is about how he faces the life in the big city along with his brothers and sisters in arms, the other urchins. Don't worry I'm not gonna give out any spoilers. But it isn't just the plot or some other thing that makes this film worthwhile. It's just the whole thing.

Salaam Bombay has good script and great direction along with power packed performances. Every character just lights up the screen. The characters, their bodylanguage, the backdrop, which we get to see in many towns and cities, and the background sounds just give you feel of experiencing some thing real instead of watching a cinema. But hey, that doesn't mean this film is like documentary. Ms. Nair made sure that this film isn't a documentary. She gave it a life and little dramatic touch.

One thing that deserves a special mention is the cast. Shafiq Syed as Krishna, the protagonist is great. Nana Patekar is superb as Baba. Real surprise is the character 'Sweet Sixteen' who never even utters a single word through out the film. Other characters too just grab your attention with their subtle and in some cases, sublime performances.

The film is very thought provoking. But what's more interesting and a bit disconcerting is the fact that though made in the later half of the 80s, the film's backdrop and characters can still been seen in every nook and corner of our country. That might leave us wondering whether India has ever cared for its nameless and faceless millions.

While a few scenes are gloomy & sad and a few others are entertaining, every scene is riveting. The fight the characters put up in life leaves us with a great hope.

This film is a must see for every who wishes to see something worthwhile.

P.S.: Hey, I was just too mesmerized with film to actually notice any pitfalls and shortcomings. So don't blame me if you find any.