Studing for midterms is really annoying, so fuck econ, I'd rather do this post. Five movies that changed the way I look at movies, stories, people, events and beyond anything the whole freakin idea of life.
So here you go (in no particular order) -
1. Mean Streets - Martin Scorsese
"You dont make up for your sins in the Church, you do it in the streets, you do it at home. The rest is all bullshit and you know it."
This is as raw as Scorsese gets. The movie that put Scorsese, De Niro and Harvey Keitel on the map. A gangster drama from the perspective of Harvey, a staunch Catholic who goes through a constant moral conflict. I've yet to come across a movie with stronger written characters. What atmosphere! Brilliant use of music. The scenes in Harvey's bar are pure cinematic orgasms. The beauty of the movies lies in its amazingly sketched characters. It was only after seeing the rough cut of Mean Streets, the producers agreed to back Scorsese on Taxi Driver. And you can't get away without crediting the writer, Mardik Martin. Who later went on to co-write Raging Bull with the Scorsese.
2. Fa Yeung Nin Wa (In the Mood for Love) - Wong Kar Wai
"Feelings can creep up just like that. I thought I was in control."
Wong, the chinese grandmaster. His movies are not about plots. They're about urban life, isolation, idleness and those moments, those little moments that change your life forever. Nobody shoots movies better than this Honk Kong auteur does. I saw it twice back to back, just for its cinematography. The movie in itself is a 101 to cinematography. There's a sequence involving the two leads in a hotel room, shot entirely using mirror refections. Just fucking WOW. Story revolves around two people who realize their spouses are having an affair. What do they do? They decide to replicate the affair by role playing. I'm not a fan of love stories, but this along with Jeux d'enfants (Love Me If You Dare) blew me off. This movie is about longing, the reluctance, the hitch in love. Real stuff. Stuff that no one talks about now.
3. Amores Perros - Alejandro González Iñárritu
"Because we are also what we have lost."
You thought Tarantino is the master of fractured screenplays? Give this a watch. Mexican director, Inarritu's debut feature. The first part of his death trilogy. I've never seen a movie quite like this before. Three stories, linked together by a car accident. Draws massive metaphors on purpose of life and death. Just the first story, involving street mobsters betting on dog fights is more gruesome than any other movie made in the past decade. Violence never got more raw, yes more than City of God or Gomorrah. It's defintely one of the craziest movies I've ever seen, yet it talks in heaps and bounds. Written by Guillermo Arriaga. I wish someday in future, Inarritu and Arriaga reunite to do make another movie.
4. Dev. D - Anurag Kashyap
"Tum kisi se bhi pyaar nahi kar sakte, sivaye khud ke. Tumhe na, iss sheeshe se shaadi kar leni chahiye, iss bathroom vale se"
I strongly belive every Indian man is a devdas(love struck sort of loser) by default. We love to sink in sorrow. We relish wasting our lives brooding over that girl, that kicked our arse. Frankly, nowhere else in the world, people are so confused and fucked up when it comes to the idea of love. Kshyap adapts the old awful begali novel, to give us this delight of a trippy movie. Story of a modern day cocaine sniffing (a lot of other shit too) Dev. D set in Paharganj, Delhi, who battles his feeling for his lost love while mating with a 18 year old turned prostitue. Brilliant camera work, and some nuts music by Amit Trivedi. If nothing, then watch it for Kashyap's sly quirck. The first conversation between Dev and Chanda. It doesn't get better!!!
5. There Will Be Bood - Paul Thomas Anderson
"I hate most people. I look at people and I don't see one thing worth liking."
Story of a nasty oilman's quest for wealth, his struggles with his son and rising religious dogma. Set in the period of Southern Califronia's oil boom. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and the lead played by Daniel Day Lewis, do I need to say more?
Some other ones-
Blue Velvet - David Lynch
The master of absurdism at his absurd best. Probably the best movie from 80s.
Casablanca - Michael Curtiz
All I've to say is - "Here's looking at you, kid"
And if somebody calls it a plain love story, I'm gonna shoot you bitch!
Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen
Love, nostalgia and Paris. My favorite Woody Allen movie.
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi - Sudhir Mishra
Idealism, politics, love, realities of life, circumstances and growing up. All in the backdrop of emergency. The best Indian movie of past decade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-gC9HrUWAE
P.S. I'm still getting into the groove of watching movies. Just a kiddo! And these aren't the best movies I've seen, they just struck me and never left.
P.S. I'm still getting into the groove of watching movies. Just a kiddo! And these aren't the best movies I've seen, they just struck me and never left.
