It's been raining tropical thunderstorms every evening.My favourite time when the air is fresh and free of haze except for the infamous traffic crawl and flooding.Couldn't life be just simple with my plants growing well in the wet weather and me curled up viewing indie movies and reading "The girl who kicked the hornet's nest."I've just finished reading "radio Shangri La" and an autobiography of a Tibetan activist.A slow life at snail pace that's all I ask and I would love to retreat to the rural countryside of Kalumpang or Frasers where I can garden to my heart's delight and write a novella.A simple ,quiet life far from the maddening crowd.
Bliss.
I've just viewed two director's indie movie that has been enriched by cross cultural adaptations of cinematography and style of narration."The Lunchbox" an indie movie by Ritesh batra starring Irrfan Khan and Nirmat Kaur was a rom comedy with a streak of realim of people living lives of quiet desperation-women trapped in loneliness of loveless marriages or elderly women fulfilling their marital duties after that spark of love has vanished .I like the particularly local context of the dabawalla system ,the way Indian life revolves around the paneer and roti and that love is expressed not so much in words as in deeds.The heart wrenching scene is very eloquently still and quiet when the main character Saajan looks longingly at the warm scene of a family with children and parents enjoying a scrumptious dinner.Unlike Bollywood movies that go for a song and a dance too long and the archetypal gangster and in law,this movie is realistically directed.Despite the difference in culture ,the emotions and scenario are universal themes.It reminded one of the miscommunication in the Hollywood movies of You've got mail or Sleepless in Seattle.I'm so looking forward to his next movie 'The sense of an Ending" which I've just read.
The other movie by a Taiwanese director called the Assassin was so different from the usual flying swordsfighter martial genre.Again I 'm impressed by the Western style of cinematography of black and white versus the stunning landscape .The emotion is muted and understated instead of the usual melodramatic plot,the sense of betrayal and conflicted emotions between love and duty resonates throughout.It reminds me of Terence Mallick "The tree" in terms of using the setting to showcase what is not openly expressed between the characters.
The only thing is that there are so few who can appreciate the subtle indie movies so that I could view our local indie movies by Hu yao Gang and the other on Moving house in which the practice of transporting the whole house by gotong royong is seen.Our locals win accolades abroad but is not recognised by mainstream audience cause they don't play by the rules of blockbusters.
No comments:
Post a Comment