The Lives of Others (2006) "Das Leben der Anderen" (original title-German)

This movie is 217 minutes long. For the first 15 minutes I thought it’s going to be some military movie with lot of violence (including torture and pain). Then surprisingly it turns away from all of it and becomes a political drama mixed with secret missions and spying. But soon after it becomes a very memorable and heartfelt film that definitely makes any person ponder in the name of love and humanity. The main character which you found to be inhuman and bound by rules at the start become one of the cinemas controversial and touching characters I have seeing by the time the movie ends. The final 20 minutes of this movie could be the greatest ending an any movie can have. It’s that perfect and that gripping. And it leaves the viewer with a tear and that tear is not out of pain or sorrow but in the name of people who choose to do the right thing even that right thing can cost their lives. If you can patiently go through the painfully slow start you will soon realize how wonderful this can be and missing it could have being one the greatest cinema mistakes you have done. Bravo to the fantastic acting, cinematography, music and everything. And a short review like this cannot do justice to it.

The Lives of Others (2006) "Das Leben der Anderen" (original title-German) 4.5/5

Seraphim Falls (2006)

Seraphim Falls (2006)

Action | Drama | Thriller

 

All western stories are not complete if there is no man hunt and gun slinging action. And a horse never dies a natural death but by the hands of its master! And that sums up Seraphim Falls as well. There is a man on the run and couple of men on the chase with many horses. All of them go through cold and hot terrains which are equally mind blowing landscapes but nothing wait for them except revenge, greed and death.

 

What’s different about this is that the main leads are prominent Hollywood figures and that being Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan it definitely increases the value. And technically the performances are very good. You feel the pain of a bullet in your arm and getting abandoned in the hot desert alike. The story flow well and there is no boredom. And there is a good critical moment of the plot reserved for the last moment where everything becomes clear. If you’re a fan of good old western flicks this will not disappoint you.

 

බටහිර ඇමෙරිකානු පස්චාත් යුධ සමයේ මිනිස් දඩයක්කාරයින් පිරිසක් එක් මිනිසෙක් පසු පස ලුහුබැඳ යනවා. ඔවුන් සුන්දර හිම කඳු සහ වනාන්තර පසුකරමින් කර්කශ කාන්තාරද ඉක්මවා යන අතර ඔවුනට ඒ සියලු තැන්හිදීම හමුවන්නේ පලිගැනීම, තන්හාව සහ මරණය පමනය්. මෙය බටහිර චිත්‍රපටි වල මින් පෙර නුදුටු කතාවක්නම් නොවේ. නමුත් Seraphim Falls ඒ පැරණි කතාවම හුදෙක් නැවුම් සහ සිත් ගන්න අයුරින් දිග හරිනවා.

 

මුලික වශයෙන් හොලිවුඩයේ නම ගිය තරු දේපලක් වන ලියම් නීසන් සහ පියර්ස් බ්‍රොස්නන් ගේ රංගන දායකත්වය ගැන කිව යුතුය්. ඔවු තම චරිත ඉතා ප්‍රබල ලෙස රංගනයෙන් ඔසවාතබන නිසාම ඔබේ අතට වෙඩි වැඩිම සහ ඔබට රුදුරු මරු කතාරේ අතරමන් වීම වැනි දේවල් හොඳින්ම දැනේවි. පැරණි ඇමෙරිකාවේ මිනිස් දඩයම් ගැන චිත්‍රපටි වලට ඔබ කැමතිනම් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය අනිවාර්යෙන්ම ඔබව කුල්මත් කරාවි.

 

3/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Synopsis: At the end of the Civil War, a colonel hunts down a man with whom he has a grudge. (IMDB)

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

Biography | Drama | Mystery

Diane Arbus is not an unfamiliar name for the photography at heart. She is considered to be one of the controversial and prominent photographers in the history. And her vision and work was rejected and blamed by many in her days but later on praised and inspired largely. However it is a question if this movie actually discusses the true identity or her visionary perception of the world. Maybe for someone who doesn't expect or know the photography of Diane may enjoy it for what it is. But for me it didn't deliver what I wanted to see. But as a movie with a deep exploration of a woman’s mind who some might call extraordinary it is somewhat there. And the cinematography is quite powerful. What’s more commendable is the charming acting by Nicole Kidman.

ඩියාන් අර්බස් නම් අග්‍රගන්‍යය චායාරුපශිල්පිනියගේ ජීවිතයේ මැදි භාගය තේමා කොට ගනිමින් ලියවුනු කතාවක් මේ චිත්‍රපටියේ අඩන්ගුය්. ඇය ලෝක ඉතිහාසයේ ජීවත් වුනු වඩාත්ම ආන්දෝලනයට ලක් වුනු චායාරුප බොහොමයකට හිමිකම් කියන චරිතයක්. චිත්‍රපටිය ගලා යන්නේ ඇය චායාරුපශිල්පය ප්‍රවිෂ්ට වීම සහ ඇයගේ සමාජයෙන් කොන් කල ජන කොටස් වෙත ඇති වන දැඩි කැමැත්ත මුලික කර ගනිමිනුය්. චිත්‍රපටියක් සහ එහි කතාවක් වශයෙන් මෙය ප්‍රබල වුනත් සැබෑ ලෙස ප්‍රේක්ෂකයා අපේක්ෂා කරන ඩියාන් මේ චිත්‍රපටිය තුල ජීවත් නොවෙයය් මට සිතේ. එම නිසාම පුද්ගලිකව මෙය අස්සර්තක සිනමා කෘතියක් බව හැඟෙ. කෙසේ වෙතත් නිකොල් කිඩ්මන්ගේ ප්‍රබල රංගන කුසලතාවයත් චිතපට කලාවේ භාවිතයත් ඇති මෙහි සැබෑ කුසලතාවයන් ගැබ්වී ඇත.

2.5/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Synopsis: Turning her back on her wealthy, established family, Diane Arbus falls in love with Lionel Sweeney, an enigmatic mentor who introduces Arbus to the marginalized people who help her become one of the most revered photographers of the twentieth century.

THIS IS ENGLAND (2006)

In the movies language ‘This is England’ is nothing but “Bloody f… Brilliant”. Maybe it’s one of the most realistic gangster movie which portray the ugly face of England in the 80s way before the so called technological evolution and the knowledge age.

The plot speaks of the controversial social unrest which was in England at that time related to immigrants and the working class Englishmen. And persuasive enough to make you believe the harsh truth of the society’s frustration of some social problems. 

The story wraps around 12 year old Shaun who is a favorite of the bullies. While trying to find his life with his mother after losing his father to the war, Shaun doesn’t really enjoy his days around where he lives. Eventually he is introduced to a small group of adult teenagers and he finds their routine and bond too strong to let go. Being a kid of that age he gulps in to the life style and it doesn’t take long for him to go shoulder to shoulder with more serious people of more organized movement against the immigrants.

The acting is simply wonderful and very strong. Shaun played by Thomas Turgoose is one hell of a job well done. I practically felt sorry for the kid for what he is getting in to but proves himself stronger than many adults as the story rolls on. And there are other good performances as well. Especially by Stephan Graham who plays the ring leader Combo. 

I like the flow of the movie. It’s not slow and it’s not very fast either. The viewer has enough time to grab what’s going around and some of the stuff is disturbing and the language is harsh. 

My Score 4.5/5

Genre: Crime, Drama

Director: Shane Meadows

Writer: Shane Meadows

Stars: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham and Jo Hartley