The Week that is; UDAAN, INCEPTION and TERE BIN LADEN
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:51 pm
4 films released this week I managed to 3 of them and today’s just Monday; I wonder what I’m going to do with the rest of my week? So far it’s been a great weekend two such different films with the one common thing between them; they are both great films.
UDAAN
Great acting, great camerawork, great editing, great sound design and above all great Direction. These are not the adjectives usually associated with debut films and that too debuts in such numbers.
This is the lead actors first film, the editor’s first film, the production designers first, costume designers first and above all the director’s first film. But then again UDAAN is not your everyday ordinary film. This film is an extraordinary piece of cinema. It deals with one of the least explored relationships in Hindi movies; the father and son. Along with being one of the most ignored relationships in films (at least since Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan), it is also one of the most complicated ones in real life. This film pushes that relation to the extreme.
This the story of an adolescent boy of 17 who has not had any sort of real contact with his father for the last 8 years and then all of a sudden he is pushed back into his fathers house and their lives collide. Yes, I use that word in every sense of the meaning. All of a sudden our young protagonist is presented with a situation that he never knew existed. That situation is a 6 years old stepbrother he never knew he had. Add that to a father who is hell bent upon treating his son more like an employee rather than his child.
The story is simple and straightforward but the emotions that the film handles are anything but that. UDAAN handles some very real emotions and situations in a very real manner with a lot of maturity. I have not seen a Hindi film communicate so much emotion with such little dialogue.
UDAAN is sprinkled with moments that bring a smile to everyone’s face from beginning to the end and again these are not over the top comedy or dramatic moments. These are moments that everyone in the audience can identify with; these are moments that you, me and the guy sitting next to you have gone through.
Through the various incidents in the film we see the boy grow into the man he must become in order to take charge of his own life.
What is really great about the film is how the craft of the film has become incidental to the story and its emotions. Nowhere in the film do you feel the cinematography, editing, sound design and art direction being a step ahead of the story or outshining the film, which I might add is the case with a most of the recent films. Raavan and its cinematography being the most prominent case in point.
TECH SPECS:
CINEMATOGRAPHY- Most of the film is shot hand held and the operation is very intuitive, the lighting like all other aspects has been kept as real as possible. The cinematography complements the film perfectly.
EDITING- Fluid and seamless. Though some people have found the film to be a bit slow at times I did not feel so. A lot of filmmakers keep talking about have a slow pace to set-up their mood without realizing that if the mood is being set up successfully then the pace will not feel slow especially if the audience is involved by the story and the performances.
SOUND DESIGN- This is actually one of the strongest points of the film. The sound design at every stage adds a thump and an exclamation mark to the emotions of the story and the characters. Especially to the scenes in the factory where the sound of the machine pounding the metal has been used as a metaphor to the father and son relationship. The decision to use minimal background score is a refreshing departure from the usual wall-to-wall carpeting of BGM in hindi films. The piano pieces are great and give the film just the required amount of push.
Final Verdict: probably the best debut film in a long time, although considering the competition namely BLUE it wasn’t much of a fight, but then im also including “TAARE ZAMEEN PAR” in the same list and I do honestly think UDAAN is a better film.
All in all this film is a must watch for all fathers and sons among other people. Film of the year so far.
P.S. – I hope it sweeps all the awards this year in addition to the best debut in various categories, best of luck DIpika
INCEPTION:
“Makes the matrix look like an 8 year olds idea”
“There is a god and he is among us”
Remarks such as these can become the films worst enemies and yes I do realize that such comments originate from reviews such this one and the one previous to this one on UDAAN, but that is the catch 22 situation I find myself in. I guess it is a necessary evil of writing and reading a review, I am sitting here and passing a judgment and you while reading this are forming an opinion about something without experiencing it for yourself. All of a sudden I’m taking my reviews a little more seriously.
By the time that I went to watch the film thanks to all the reviews I had been hearing my brain whether awake or asleep already knew I was going in to watch a grand cinematic explosion. I wasn’t disappointed, it was all three of those words but somehow the magnitude of those words had fallen short of my expectations. Blame it on the sky-high reviews or on Nolan’s exceptional track record of creating one great film after another. The film itself is excellent, but on a scale of 1 to 10 within the excellent category of films I would give this film a 7.5 whereas his other films MEMENTO, PRESTIGE and THE DARK KNIGHT would all get an 8 from me, but that’s just me.
As one would expect with Nolan’s films it would really stupid of me to even try to tell you what the story or the concept is, for those who don’t believe me or doubt the genius of the man here is my weak-kneed and by comparison hugely amateurish attempt at doing so:
STORY: a man who is not allowed to enter his country and meet his children because he is a wanted man tries to pull the biggest caper in the history of his criminal life to earn a ticket back to his family.
CONCEPT: the ability of a person to enter your mind and steal your secrets and also plant an idea in your head and making you believe it is your own… WHILE YOU SLEEP.
Now does any of these help? I guess not, so lets leave the story telling/convincing up-to Nolan because that is something that he has done extremely well in the film. All I’m going to say is that it’s one hell of a concept and one hell of a ride, so don’t miss it.
Tech Specs:
CINEMATORGAPHY: I managed go with my wife (that really felt strange, lets try this again)
I managed go with my ex-girlfriend (much better) for this one. All through the film she sat with her head in her hands having conversations with (what I can only assume are) the light and shade gods else I will have to start calling her MOLL instead of NEHA (watch the film to get that joke).
The film is very classically shot with the lighting being extremely unobtrusive and natural. This in turn makes the transition between the real world and the dream world extremely seamless. The aerial cityscape shots area treat and there is a juicy graphic quality to the compositions. The cinematographer Wally Pfister has worked with Nolan on most of his films and the understanding between the two is apparent in the fluid execution of Nolan’s imagination.
All in all the film is a visual delight and a master-class in all aspects of cinematography.
EDITING: The Editor Lee Smith has done a superlative job, of binding a complex and at times confusing narrative. The film flows seamlessly and the art of the edit is at its invisible best. One of my teacher’s once told me that editing is like “roti” if it’s good no one notices it but if you make bad roti’s then it’s the first thing to get noticed. This is clearly a case of great roti’s. having said that I do think that the film went on for a little bit longer than I would have liked it to be, but that being said I don’t know if that was an edit or a directorial decision.
SOUND DESIGN: The sound design of the film has a lot of rich texture to it and never drops even for a moment. The sound effects are very well done but due to my bad experience of watching it at a really bad hall namely MOVIETIME HUB on the highway in Goregaon I would not like to comment on quality of the mix, maybe some of you especially from the sound dept. could offer a more detailed review of the same (read Dara, Gera, Anmol, Anil and anyone else who would like to contribute).
Hans Zimmer’s music was superb as expected and I’m in the process of trying to get the soundtrack.
PRODUCTION DESIGN: the owes it’s spectacular look to its production design, the colours and textures have a great amount of detailing in them. The production design has collaborated very well with the VFX dept. and the results are stunning. Also anyone with more knowledge about how the VFX and production design departments come together, please do provide us with any insights that you may have.
Verdict: A film not to be missed but at the same time not to over hyped and get carried away with.
P.S.- James Cameroon eat your heart out.
TERE BIN LADEN
So much hype if only the content was similar, its not a great film but its not a bad one either, so if you do find yourself in a situation where you are caught between a rock and a hard place this film is more than likely to cheer you up. A lot of the humour is colloquial and repetitive but still better than a few recent films that claimed to be comedies. The paki touch to the language is really funny and the way the director has made fun of the entire 9/11 situation is praise worthy. The film pokes some rib tickling fun at the american system of doing things and obviously of george W bush. Barry John is really good as the american agent, Pradyuman and Ali Zafar are above average and Piyush Mishra is being made to stay within his comfort zone without offering him much of a challenge. The surprise package though is the Shankar Eahsan Loy music score.
Verdict: Watch if in dire need of simplistic humour straight up.
UDAAN
Great acting, great camerawork, great editing, great sound design and above all great Direction. These are not the adjectives usually associated with debut films and that too debuts in such numbers.
This is the lead actors first film, the editor’s first film, the production designers first, costume designers first and above all the director’s first film. But then again UDAAN is not your everyday ordinary film. This film is an extraordinary piece of cinema. It deals with one of the least explored relationships in Hindi movies; the father and son. Along with being one of the most ignored relationships in films (at least since Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan), it is also one of the most complicated ones in real life. This film pushes that relation to the extreme.
This the story of an adolescent boy of 17 who has not had any sort of real contact with his father for the last 8 years and then all of a sudden he is pushed back into his fathers house and their lives collide. Yes, I use that word in every sense of the meaning. All of a sudden our young protagonist is presented with a situation that he never knew existed. That situation is a 6 years old stepbrother he never knew he had. Add that to a father who is hell bent upon treating his son more like an employee rather than his child.
The story is simple and straightforward but the emotions that the film handles are anything but that. UDAAN handles some very real emotions and situations in a very real manner with a lot of maturity. I have not seen a Hindi film communicate so much emotion with such little dialogue.
UDAAN is sprinkled with moments that bring a smile to everyone’s face from beginning to the end and again these are not over the top comedy or dramatic moments. These are moments that everyone in the audience can identify with; these are moments that you, me and the guy sitting next to you have gone through.
Through the various incidents in the film we see the boy grow into the man he must become in order to take charge of his own life.
What is really great about the film is how the craft of the film has become incidental to the story and its emotions. Nowhere in the film do you feel the cinematography, editing, sound design and art direction being a step ahead of the story or outshining the film, which I might add is the case with a most of the recent films. Raavan and its cinematography being the most prominent case in point.
TECH SPECS:
CINEMATOGRAPHY- Most of the film is shot hand held and the operation is very intuitive, the lighting like all other aspects has been kept as real as possible. The cinematography complements the film perfectly.
EDITING- Fluid and seamless. Though some people have found the film to be a bit slow at times I did not feel so. A lot of filmmakers keep talking about have a slow pace to set-up their mood without realizing that if the mood is being set up successfully then the pace will not feel slow especially if the audience is involved by the story and the performances.
SOUND DESIGN- This is actually one of the strongest points of the film. The sound design at every stage adds a thump and an exclamation mark to the emotions of the story and the characters. Especially to the scenes in the factory where the sound of the machine pounding the metal has been used as a metaphor to the father and son relationship. The decision to use minimal background score is a refreshing departure from the usual wall-to-wall carpeting of BGM in hindi films. The piano pieces are great and give the film just the required amount of push.
Final Verdict: probably the best debut film in a long time, although considering the competition namely BLUE it wasn’t much of a fight, but then im also including “TAARE ZAMEEN PAR” in the same list and I do honestly think UDAAN is a better film.
All in all this film is a must watch for all fathers and sons among other people. Film of the year so far.
P.S. – I hope it sweeps all the awards this year in addition to the best debut in various categories, best of luck DIpika
INCEPTION:
“Makes the matrix look like an 8 year olds idea”
“There is a god and he is among us”
Remarks such as these can become the films worst enemies and yes I do realize that such comments originate from reviews such this one and the one previous to this one on UDAAN, but that is the catch 22 situation I find myself in. I guess it is a necessary evil of writing and reading a review, I am sitting here and passing a judgment and you while reading this are forming an opinion about something without experiencing it for yourself. All of a sudden I’m taking my reviews a little more seriously.
By the time that I went to watch the film thanks to all the reviews I had been hearing my brain whether awake or asleep already knew I was going in to watch a grand cinematic explosion. I wasn’t disappointed, it was all three of those words but somehow the magnitude of those words had fallen short of my expectations. Blame it on the sky-high reviews or on Nolan’s exceptional track record of creating one great film after another. The film itself is excellent, but on a scale of 1 to 10 within the excellent category of films I would give this film a 7.5 whereas his other films MEMENTO, PRESTIGE and THE DARK KNIGHT would all get an 8 from me, but that’s just me.
As one would expect with Nolan’s films it would really stupid of me to even try to tell you what the story or the concept is, for those who don’t believe me or doubt the genius of the man here is my weak-kneed and by comparison hugely amateurish attempt at doing so:
STORY: a man who is not allowed to enter his country and meet his children because he is a wanted man tries to pull the biggest caper in the history of his criminal life to earn a ticket back to his family.
CONCEPT: the ability of a person to enter your mind and steal your secrets and also plant an idea in your head and making you believe it is your own… WHILE YOU SLEEP.
Now does any of these help? I guess not, so lets leave the story telling/convincing up-to Nolan because that is something that he has done extremely well in the film. All I’m going to say is that it’s one hell of a concept and one hell of a ride, so don’t miss it.
Tech Specs:
CINEMATORGAPHY: I managed go with my wife (that really felt strange, lets try this again)
I managed go with my ex-girlfriend (much better) for this one. All through the film she sat with her head in her hands having conversations with (what I can only assume are) the light and shade gods else I will have to start calling her MOLL instead of NEHA (watch the film to get that joke).
The film is very classically shot with the lighting being extremely unobtrusive and natural. This in turn makes the transition between the real world and the dream world extremely seamless. The aerial cityscape shots area treat and there is a juicy graphic quality to the compositions. The cinematographer Wally Pfister has worked with Nolan on most of his films and the understanding between the two is apparent in the fluid execution of Nolan’s imagination.
All in all the film is a visual delight and a master-class in all aspects of cinematography.
EDITING: The Editor Lee Smith has done a superlative job, of binding a complex and at times confusing narrative. The film flows seamlessly and the art of the edit is at its invisible best. One of my teacher’s once told me that editing is like “roti” if it’s good no one notices it but if you make bad roti’s then it’s the first thing to get noticed. This is clearly a case of great roti’s. having said that I do think that the film went on for a little bit longer than I would have liked it to be, but that being said I don’t know if that was an edit or a directorial decision.
SOUND DESIGN: The sound design of the film has a lot of rich texture to it and never drops even for a moment. The sound effects are very well done but due to my bad experience of watching it at a really bad hall namely MOVIETIME HUB on the highway in Goregaon I would not like to comment on quality of the mix, maybe some of you especially from the sound dept. could offer a more detailed review of the same (read Dara, Gera, Anmol, Anil and anyone else who would like to contribute).
Hans Zimmer’s music was superb as expected and I’m in the process of trying to get the soundtrack.
PRODUCTION DESIGN: the owes it’s spectacular look to its production design, the colours and textures have a great amount of detailing in them. The production design has collaborated very well with the VFX dept. and the results are stunning. Also anyone with more knowledge about how the VFX and production design departments come together, please do provide us with any insights that you may have.
Verdict: A film not to be missed but at the same time not to over hyped and get carried away with.
P.S.- James Cameroon eat your heart out.
TERE BIN LADEN
So much hype if only the content was similar, its not a great film but its not a bad one either, so if you do find yourself in a situation where you are caught between a rock and a hard place this film is more than likely to cheer you up. A lot of the humour is colloquial and repetitive but still better than a few recent films that claimed to be comedies. The paki touch to the language is really funny and the way the director has made fun of the entire 9/11 situation is praise worthy. The film pokes some rib tickling fun at the american system of doing things and obviously of george W bush. Barry John is really good as the american agent, Pradyuman and Ali Zafar are above average and Piyush Mishra is being made to stay within his comfort zone without offering him much of a challenge. The surprise package though is the Shankar Eahsan Loy music score.
Verdict: Watch if in dire need of simplistic humour straight up.