Leviathan (2014)

If I was asked to round up this movie in to one word most probably I will run out of a proper word. It is that brilliant in all its aspects of cinema and after a long time I can shout amazing and give the highest score possible.  If I compare Leviathan in to a living being the beauty of it is in its every molecule that makes a perfect living thing. Not only it has the best of looks it also feels warm and completely full of heart and emotion. And this mind bending contemporary tale of social drama from Russia will most probably numb your senses for a while. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev has delivered a pinnacle of creativity here and now I want to watch all his movies.

The plot of Leviathan is its strongest muscle. In a Russian picturesque coastal town an ordinary man is fighting a legal battle to save his property from getting demolished. On the other end of the lawsuit a corrupted politician grinds his teeth sensing his evident win of the case. But when a lawyer from Moscow comes with bitter information to burry the politician and to rescue the ordinary man things become heated beyond control. But the arrival of this lawyer turns in to misfortune than being a savior with certain unexpected events that starts to take place.

Leviathan is very good in presenting the plot in surprise elements. It builds from the scratch slowly but steadily. And every tough curve it takes it doesn’t become aggressive nor over dramatic. The movie manages to maintain certain calmness throughout but the viewer feels the intense calamity that brews step by step. How the director does this is mostly by the mood created with cinematography and subtle music. There are aggressive performances but they are not fueled by external cinematic elements. This is quite different to most of the movies we see but director pulls this stunt so swiftly that you may not even notice it. And when the movie ends some of it makes perfect sense while still most of it is a dark and a gloomy memory. Just like the cold empty shores with decaying skeletons of giant whales.

This brings me to the part where I admire the cinematography and acting of Leviathan. Right from the opening scene to the ending scene that makes a perfect connection of other scenes in between, this beautifully crafted movie is a piece of art in visual pleasure. Most of the wide-angle shots represent the atmospheric effects of this small and seemly remote town and its peoples life style. And the actors breaths life to a set of characters that looks simple at a glance but very complicated internally. They portray the good and the ugly with beautifully natural acting and for Leviathan it is a strong suit. These actors will make you remember the characters for a very long time.

To be frank I cannot recall a place where I can point as to be negative in Leviathan. There are no scenes or dialogues wasted and it seems like this is perfect cinema and we sure come across that kind very rarely. Definitely one of the best of the year and no wonder it’s running for the Oscars.

Genre: Drama

Original title: “Leviafan” (Russian)

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Rating: 5/5

The Train (1965)

Maybe you are a fan of war movies or you are a keen locomotive enthusiast. Or you can be a classic movie lover. If you belong to either of those categories or few don’t look far The Train is the movie for you. This brilliantly executed gem of a movie will keep you at the edge of your seat and will expose you to one of the most wonderfully told story of heroism in the closing days of WW2.

The story takes place in France in the final days of German occupation. The German is in the process of leaving France while a colonel is in the process of removing valuable set of art pieces via train to Germany. The French resistance must give their lives to pull out a brilliant effort to stop this train from reaching Germany. Will they success or fail? The Train will give you the answers.

The Train is way ahead of its time in execution, story telling and performances. There are ample amounts of nail biting action and suspense and loads of heroism to go along with. I have not seeing them all but this could be the best movie based on Trains ever made! Bravo.

Rating: 5/5
Director: John Frankenheimer

Sons of Anarchy (2008-2014) – 5/5

After 7 years of blazing glory Sons of Anarchy has now come to a steady stop. This crime loving outlaw biker club drama is rarely one of the unique shows the TV history have ever seeing and unquestionably cannot be compared with another show due to it’s own terms. While it is nearly impossible to go in to every detail of this brilliant show created by Kurt Sutter loosely based on the characters of Hamlet in a short review such as this, I’m trying my best to give credit to all the uniqueness it made us witness.

Being said that I have no doubt that this is the most violently dramatic TV show the world has seeing that actually made homage to outlaws, brotherhood, friends, big American motorbikes, people of all colors and races, guns, gangsters, prison mayhem, school shootings, eye popping like a pro with spoons, retribution without a regret, all kinds of love including transsexuals, burying up dead bodies and digging them up again, porno, baby snatchers from Ireland, body parts in boxes, crooked cops, random acts of violence, dragging handicapped people on streets tied to cars, mothers in laws killing daughter in laws, sons killing step fathers, kids injuring them selves to frame grandmothers and the list goes on. Though all this sounds so vicious and gory Sons of Anarchy is mind splittingly perfect in its script and performances that it was never felt neither irrelevant nor excessive.  This obviously makes this show to shrink to a certain set of devoted viewers and becomes completely inappropriate for the masses. Which is the reason we didn’t see internet braking hype for Sons of Anarchy in any year nor fans aggressively fought over it existence over a different show. But the Sons of Anarchy fans held up their end of the bargain and the creators gave their best to fans in return and it was wonderful.

Sons of Anarchy was brilliant in its story telling. While some may call some seasons silly and relatively uninteresting compared to a different season the flame never went out. Sons of Anarchy is not a show that evolves over the seasons in its drama. True it does up to a certain limit with it’s characters as they evolve but each season was full of equal drama and tension that every time one season ended it was almost like some great movie came to a holt giving the promise of a sequel. For me I was hooked to Sons from day one to the finale episode and boy it was a joy. Seeing all those gritty mind blowing performances by the cast and how the whole plot elevated from episode to episode was truly a wonderful experience. And the thing with Sons of Anarchy was that it was full of energy and full of surprises and at one point I decided that I will not guess what’s coming up but rather let the story take over me.

Sons of Anarchy has won many awards including the Golden Globe for best performance by an Actress in a Television Series (Katey Segal) which proves the quality of acting it was equipped with. The cast was brilliant and though most of them saw the other end of the barrel of a gun or the sharp side of a blade and went out in a split second (most in completely unexpected ways in unexpected moments) the body count didn’t mean that they were forgotten. We saw amazing performances up to the last episode and some of them were the best the recent TV has to offer. If the fans were haunted by the faces of the actors and dropped a tear at their despair it was nothing to be amused of.

And Sons of Anarchy will be largely memorable for it’s choice of music. Episode after episode and at right times the sound tracks were mixed in a way that they were completely aligned with the mood and story of the show. When I look back at the set of beautiful music throughout these 7 years I have no doubt that Sons of Anarchy delivered it so powerfully in par with the shows emotional chemistry. For me I cannot think of Sons of Anarchy without its sound tracks and I’m sure for many it will be equally memorable.

All in all with fantastic writing and direction of Kurt Sutter as the creator of the show Sons of Anarchy was one hell of a ride. These characters and the ideology they represent will always be remembered though how cruel and violent they were just because of the fact that this show made them all looked so great. But the final message Kurt Sutter sends out so loud is that there is no crime that goes unpunished and no lie that will not be revealed for it’s truth. And if you believe in it Sons of Anarchy is a modern day tale of Karma disguised in leather jackets. I will miss this show dearly and salute the creators for making such amazing TV time.

Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller

Creator : Kurt Sutter

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014): Ratings – Genre 5/5, Overall 4/5

Matt Reeves’es vision of science fiction is different to many. His movies take emotions in to count than the pure side of the movies scientific nature. This is well proven with his earlier movies like Cloverfield (2008) and Let Me In (2010). And now he teams up with the writers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and brings this much improved and very successful sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and it is magnificent. Right from the very beginning to the last scene this movie will take you through an emotional journey of man and ape alike and puts you in a tight spot as a human to determine the fate of things to come and decide write and wrong.

Ten years after the pandemic decease humans are at the brink of extinction. The apes who have survived lives in the woods formed up massive crowds and a form of civilized living. But when the humans bring war to the Apes door step and Apes leadership is questioned, the battle rages.

The very first thing that will blow the minds of the viewer is how insanely good looking this movie is. Thanks to the astounding works of the computer graphics and set creation the green rainy forest and the abandoned dying city both look absolutely realistic. And when the thought provoking plot is mixed up with ultra-realistic expressions of the apes this movie can sink right down in to you. And speaking of the plot it’s carefully written to give the viewer a very good perception of things occurring and the flow is very good.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes as a story is completely far-fetched and it is amazing how it works this well. But if you’re expecting more and more battles of large scale and less talk (or sigh language) then it might disappoint you a bit. But never forget that battles are never justifiable without the correct amount of emotions. And here the wait for the final battle is worth every bit of drama and once you realize that the world will never be the same again for Apes and Humans both there is slight hope left for both. And amazingly you might wish that apes will find their peace once again. Make your own judgment of who’s to be blamed, us or our ancestors.

Genre: Action | Drama | Sci fi

Director: Matt Reeves

-Priyantha Bandara

Boyhood (2014) | Ratings: Genre 5/5, Overall 5/5

If you ask me if I have seeing a movie like Boyhood before I would definitely answer yes. But if you ask me what does Boyhood has in common with all those other similar movies, I would say very little. Because Boyhood is a magnificent creation as life itself than being just another movie.  Boyhood surpasses all movies in same genre and reaches a pinnacle of realism that as viewers we get astonishingly surprised of. It seems as if our own lives has being put on to a movie and some way or the other you feel that this movie is connected to you so deeply and you get so attached to it. The simple reason why it is so is because Boyhood is a project that spans 12 years in the making and us the viewers get to witness the same set of cast age a decade and it is nothing we have ever seeing before in a movie. We have seeing stories span across long time periods but non what so ever was this natural and emotional.

The lead of Boyhood is a 5 year old boy Mason (Ellar Coltrane) who lives with his mother and sister. His father who is separated come to visit occasionally and this routine visits and the phases of Masons’ life as growing up to become a teenager with his mother in control of the household is the story of Boyhood. As a story Boyhood has no heavy surprises or shocking moments just like most dramas of this sort has. It’s very simple yet gradually moving and clearly shows how Masons’ perceptions and attitude towards life evolves as he grows up. Boyhood is nearly three hours long in duration but for me it is still too short. These three hours packs 13 years of a boys’ life and it is so refreshing to witness how his life go through different phases and each of these phase has its own tragedies and beauties.

The other 3 main casts Patricia Arquette (Mom), Lorelei Linklater (Samantha the sister) and Ethan Hawk (Dad) simultaneously adds in to the changing time and their own struggle of survival within this 13 year spanning story which is also very well constructed. In that sense this movie can be easily centered upon any of these 3 characters as well and still will be very much appealing. But still the viewers can follow the story from several angles while engaging with the main story line of Mason and that I think is one of the many strengths of Boyhood over other coming of age movies. Yes, Boyhood is not aggressively centered upon a single storyline.

Boyhood is not cheesy or over dramatic or forces the viewer to get involved with it. But it somehow manages to keep the viewer engaged and when it’s over you wish there were more. Life goes on.

Genre: Drama

Director: Richard Linklater

-Priyantha Bandara

Raid 2 (2014) Ratings: Genre 5/5 |Overall 3/5

Blistering barnacles and thundering typhoons!! I have not seeing this much of hand to hand combat action after The Raid Redemption (2011) and this bone breaking second installment is fantastic. It packs a heavy and a lethal dose of adrenaline for the action movie lovers and that much of a does come seldom with effectiveness. Just like the first movie Raid 2 starts off calm and quiet and gradually builds its plot while becoming bloody and violent from floor to the ceiling.

Raid 2 picks up from the end of the first movie. Rama (Iko Uwais) who is a cop in the Jakarta police force sent undercover to discover evidence of a large crime syndicate. To do this he must commit a crime and get himself in prison and get close to a son of an underworld boss who is serving sentence. While his initial undercover plan last a few months, once in prison he realizes that the game is uglier than expected.

Raid 2 is exactly two and half hours long. And by the look of it it’s an insane long for an action flick. But once the action hits the screen and plot starts to reveal the viewers will forget the clock entirely. (or maybe the clock got smashed in to pieces by all the punches and kicks). Not like the first movie which totally takes place in a 20 story drug run apartment Raid 2 hits the streets. And it hits the prisons, night clubs, subways and even road sides like action madness. And this has elegant looking yet blood thirsty bunch of villains and the most wanted element of a thumping action movie, car chases. Imagine all this combined with the sheer amount of punching power of the first movie. It’s definitely bigger and better and this is something seldom I can say about sequels.

I must keep a note about the action of Raid 2. It is obvious at a glance that it’s natural and performed on location. As this is rare in movies these days the action choreography and pulling it off in such a brilliant way is truly commendable. And the viewers can actually feel the awesomeness of a pure combat with long action sequences and that’s mind blowing. There is a high chance that you might miss lot of details in one viewing so just as I did maybe you have to pause, rewind and replay to catch them all. It’s lightning fast!

Though Raid 2 is violent and gore it is not violent up to the extent of unwatchable insanity. Therefore most viewers should be able to digest it. And violence is not the real thing to be worried about. It’s the ample amount of kicks and punches and forever panning camera movements. If you manage to get through them and survive the cracked walls and shattered glasses Raid 2 will be one of the best action movies you have ever seeing. And this movie will go to my archives of repeat watch worthy action movies and believe me when I say this there is only handful there already (Including The Raid Redemption).

Original title: “The Raid 2: Berandal”

Genre: Action

Director: Gareth Evans

Enemy (2013) Ratings: Genre 5/5 | Overall 4/5

In my opinion a good psychological thriller has to have 3 strong elements. 1. It should be a story that’s close to everyday situations where most viewers can relate to. 2. It should have the capacity to grab the viewer from the throat and squeeze in to their brains without much effort. 3. It should have and ending without an ending that’s so mysterious that different viewers should have different opinions about it. In short a good psychological thriller is a movie that some would despise and some would break their brains to get right. And Enemy has all those qualities and I was stricken by its force. After many days of watching it and reading ample material on the net about what it really is still I don’t know if I got it right or not.

Abad Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a history professor who lives a mundane and a very routine life. He teaches in day time and has no interests of anything else as such. He has a girlfriend but her visits and time spent also part of his dull routine. But one day after recommended by someone he goes out of his routine and rents a movie. After watching the movie he realizes that there was a minor character actor that just looks exactly like him. Abad get obsessed with meeting this look alike actor.

Though the plot sounds neat and tidy the representation of it is mind scattering. There are skeptical twists that wraps the whole story and deeper it goes complicated it becomes. As there are only few words spoken and it seems like every line has its contribution towards a twisted meaning. And the peculiar cinematography always concentrates on cityscapes and shapes which are most of the time have less people and seemed isolated just like our main character. And when it’s combined with the eerie music the movie creates a mysterious atmosphere amongst the vastly seeing urban landscapes. All in all the look and feel of Enemy itself is a psychological mystery.

Performance wise Jake brings back his Donny Darko (2001) mood and it’s very good. His facial expressions contributes to his powerful character (or should I say characters) and his confusion over his own behavior is clearly shown. Jake makes Enemy even better. Enemy is directed by Denis Villeneuve who was recently well known for Incendies (2010) and Prisoners (2013). Being a big fan of both, Enemy is another valued addition to Denis’s high marks in my book.

Sadly the irony of writing a review about a psychologically thriller is that very less can be told about its plot unless you tend to reveal lot and spoil it for many. Therefore, other than saying Enemy is a piece of cinema that fried my brain cells more than ones and has one of the most twisted “WTF” endings I will not say anything further.

p.s If you have seeing this movie already and looking for some explanation this is a good place to look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9AWkqRwd1I

Genre: Thriller | Mystery

Director: Denis Villeneuve

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Ratings: Genre 5/5 | Overall 4/5

Would you like to take a vacation in Europe and stay in a luxurious hotel situated in the mystical mountains? While at it enjoy the sights, smells and sounds of the country in mind tingling details? Then think no further, the doors of The Grand Budapest Hotel is open for you. The Grand Budapest Hotel (GBH) is not just a movie but an experience in a whole different level. If you were not blown out by its grace then you must see a doctor immediately. This is by far in my opinion the best Wes Anderson movie that takes the viewer in an epic journey through the fictional land of Zubrowa and a hotel named The Grand Budapest.

The tale of GBH is told from perspective of Zero (Tony Revolori) a lobby boy who works for the hotel. And he works under the talented and charismatic concierge M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes.) These two brings us a story so unfamiliar and whimsically magnificent, a story of romance, fantasy and above all adventurous. And from the very start to the ending scene you will not blink because it looks that delicious.

If you recall Wes Anderson’s earlier works like Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Darjeeling Limited (2007) and Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) you already know that he has a style of his own and Wes’s movies looks insanely detailed. But GBH surpasses all of them and gives realism a new definition. It’s a mix of miniature models, live sets and computer animation that makes this movie by far one of the most memorable of that sort. When you get used to the brilliant looks of the film then you start to engulf in the characters. And the finest and the impressive cast will not let you rest a minute. GBH unveils a parade of talented and well-known actors character by character just like it unveils its beautiful story. Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Bill Murray and Edward Norton are few of them. And the mix of cinematography and performance is complete by seemingly synchronizing and fabulously ear pleasing score by Alexandre Desplat who has dozens of compelling movie scores under his belt.  

This movie is not just a movie that you will only enjoy while watching. It is like some delicious desert you had while enjoying your most anticipated holiday on the cold mountains. You will recall its taste over and over again and will be mesmerized by it. And those brilliant sequences of the funniest jail break, cable car ride on to the steep mountains, high speed chase down a snowy slope will be steadily embedded in your brain. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

Genre: Comedy

Director: Wes Anderson

All Quite on the Western Front (1930) Rating Genre: 5/5 Overall 5/5

While catching up with some old classics I came across this brilliant piece of cinema which is made 84 years back. Though it is nearly a century old right now the sheer amount of creativity in this is simply mind blowing. Maybe looking at the long journey the cinema has come up to now from the time this movie was made comparatively the key point that comes to my mind is that ‘not much improvement’. Because in a world where we believe that Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece (It is no doubt) of war cinema All Quite on the Western Front (AQWF) has done it in a magnitude beyond its time and that’s some mind boggling truth to realize.

The background of the movie is based on a set of teenagers who joins the German army on the first year of World War 1. Thought they are still very young and attending to school the motivation they received through their school professor make them want to fight for their country. However they realize that the true face of war is brutal, unforgiving and severely stressful than the picture they received of it back at home. On blood, sweat and dead bodies they struggle to survive one day at a time seeing the devastation of war getting heftier by the night. While the story follows several individuals in a group the key character is Paul Bäumer who finally gets to return home after getting injured. But once he come back which is after 3 years from being in the front line he realizes that the place he call home is not what it used to be. And he becomes a stranger amongst the people of his home town.

AQWF is based on a German novel (Im Westen nichts Neues) by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The movie is directed by Lewis Milestone. The storyline is very effective in terms of depicting the mentality of the soldiers who are fighting in the front lines and how the hardships of the circumstances break them. Lack of food, long hours on duty, fear of death, being homesick, losing their mates are all taking a toll on their motivation and ultimately the significance of their existence is lost. But the courage these young men show staring at death day in and day out is not to be underestimated. The other key point which made AQWF on top of my war movie list is the cinematography. Right from the start the details the movie concentrates upon is magnificent. In an age where CG was not heard of most of the scenes have being staged live and that must have being a tremendous effort from the whole crew. And there is one astonishing battle sequence that runs for a whole of 8 minutes nonstop and by the end of it the viewer will be sweating for sure.

The true beauty of AQWF is how the director mixes up the selfless war and the humans full of emotions in to one. This mix ultimately proves that wars are fought by ordinary people in extraordinary situations and their lives are just as valuable no matter what side they fight for. But on the battle ground that is the only thing that seems to have no value and it’s devastating. No war can be justified.

Genre    : War | Drama

Director: Lewis Milestone

Amores Perros (2000) Rating: Genre 5/5 Overall 5/5

Mexico | Drama | Crime | Thriller

Sometimes great cinema is not always based on things that are easy to watch and digest. Ameros Perros is such movie where the viewer will get to witness painful things and through that pain come the art of realization. Maybe there is no other pleasant way to tell this story without making it less effective. Whichever it is the final result is a staggering piece of true cinema.

Amores Perros is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and is the first movie of the death trilogy followed by 21 Grams (2003) and Babel (2006). Though there is no relativity in plot between these movies the sublime and underlying similarity in style of storytelling is what binds them together. Here in Amores Perros there are 3 parallel story lines that seem very different to each other on surface but speak of a common theme all together. And at one point the characters of each story line overlaps and meets ones another at a common symbolic incident. This incident is what binds the stories together however not largely dependent on each other’s success. This is one reason I called this point symbolic than crucial.

Story line one follows the most painful to watch material. It’s about a young man from the city low class who turns to fighting his dog in underground dog fights to earn money for his plans to get away with his unconventional girlfriend.  Here you may come across the ugly trade of dog fights and the fate of dogs that goes in to them. For dog lovers this section is nightmare. Story line two is about a super model who faces an unfortunate road accident. The drama between her illegal partner and her struggle to survive takes a very different mood and rhythm from the previous story. Yet she also has a pet dog that keeps her company. The key character of storyline three is a hit man. Beaten up by life and mistakes he did in the past he lives with a bunch of dogs and almost homeless. However he struggles to put things right by his daughter and for some reasons he is pushed away from his dreams.

As you may realize these three storylines are far from being common. But they are beautifully connected by dogs. The dog is a symbol of loyalty at each story and the people are symbols of disloyalty and unfaithfulness. This combination works perfectly and Amores Perros gives the viewer heavy breathing. Powerful performances, wonderful cinematography and music ads spice on top of each other without making a single story lines prominent over each other. It seems like the director has done a perfect job in phasing out the sequences and laying out a perfect ending as well. While I highly recommend this I would like to recommend 21 Grams and Babel too if you have not seeing them already. They complete one of the most satisfying trilogies of contemporary cinema. 

Director : Alejandro González Iñárritu

Apu Trilogy: (Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1959) Rating 5/5

Bengali| Drama

Though for decades after decades this brilliant set of movies have being praised by many over and over and there is ample material to read everywhere, I still believe that it would be utterly disrespectful of me if I don’t express my view of the Apu trilogy. This set of movies directed by Satyajit Rai in based on two books written by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. It’s cinematically perfect no doubt and the masterful taste of music is composed by Ravi Shankar. And Arpu trilogy is known to be one of the prime examples of parallel cinema movement in India and has indeed inspired movie makers for decades up to today. And it’s a perfect specimen that great movies do not rely on big budgets and famous stars.

Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) is the first movie that introduces Apu to the audience. He is born to a respectable yet poor family in a remote village having an elder sister. Yet turn of unfortunate events moves the family to the city where the next movie Aparajito (The Unvanquished) takes place. Here Apu becomes a young boy facing more hardships in life yet succeeds in his education. However by the end of Aparajito he is left on his own. When it comes to the third movie Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) the story completely concentrates on Apu as the key role moving up in the city as a small time writer and employed in a newspaper. Poor but a happy soul filled with compassion and inner beauty Apu faces joys, surprises and more tragedies in his life ultimately turns him in to removing himself from the society and loves ones completely.

The plot is nothing but beautiful. Rai with his skillful direction instantly transforms the viewer into a distant time and country. Looking back from today the beauty of the culture and the people back then seems very far yet feels so real. The true essence of these movies is the realism factor which is highly appraisable. Everything contributes to a core value of reality via every expression, set creation and dialogue. And each frame is a piece of art where the cinematography is simply mind blowing.

Apu trilogy is a work of genius for many factors and the ones mentioned here are just a few. While it’s hard to come to a conclusion of the favorite movie out of the three my affection towards Pather Panchali and Apur Sansar seems more. Aparajito portrays clear time period of Apu’s life transition from a young boy to an adult and for me it’s just that. Yet the other two movies feed from originality and then moves on to more deep representation of Apu’s character. However Apu trilogy is a must watch for any movie fan who believes that cinema is for the mind and hungry to feed their artistic brains. I’m sure this trilogy will be screened for generation to come and what can I say, older it gets tastier the wine. 

Director: Satyajit Rai

12 Years a Slave (2013) Rating 5/5

12 Years a Slave (2013) Rating 5/5

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!! Starting from the tragic plot up to the tear jerking performances and beyond fantastic direction, 12 years of a Slave is one of those movies that you have to see before you die. And it’s beyond your imaginations and previously seeing movie that speaks of American slavery. This heart breaking yet amazing story unwind one of the most brutal yet then vastly accepted slave trade that the world has witnessed up until not so long ago. And this movie is ruthless beyond comprehension for the modern man to even understand the gravity of the crimes committed in the name of slavery and once your done watching this you might turn in to a different human being.

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup, who lives in 1800’s in New York was a free man up until he gets kidnapped and sold to work in plantations in New Orleans. From that point onwards his sole intention is to return to his wife and 2 kids. With months and years passing by while changing from one brutal master to the other he does not give up on his dream. And for him survival becomes the number one priority while witnessing and experiencing some of the most horrific things in his life as a slave.

12 Years of Slave packs some stunning performances starting from the lead to the number of famous cast picked even to carry out minor roles. Among them Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender delivers extra fuel to the heat. It seems like director Steve Mcqueen has built one of the most successful screen team this year. And it is highly effective.

Though how hard it is maybe to get through this movie when all that misery sinks in to your heart and mind, 12 Years of Slave will give you a new perspective for life. Nothing is this world is fair but even that has to have limits.

Gravity (2013) Rating 5/5

This is not movie making. It is how you create cinema history. Gravity is simply that magnificent in every way you can imagine.

When a space mission goes terribly wrong following an accident in the near orbit to the earth, two astronauts gets stuck in the abyss held only by the gravity of the planet. Poorly equipped only with their space suit tethered to each other and all communications cut off from earth they make the desperate attempt to head back to earth. Battered by challenges one after the other it is a matter of time they lose hope of ever returning to the blue planet. Yet determination above all keeps them alive.

I thought I will never watch the same movie twice in a single day. But Gravity pulled me back and I couldn't escape it. And I must say the second viewing was more powerful than the first one.

Gravity combines several powerful elements together so masterfully and offers the space in a platter like you have never seeing before. Script - touching and emotional. Acting – Brilliant, Cinematography – Outstanding, Music – Heart pounding. There were moments I started to shiver and felt like I’m suffocating and at that minute I was in the movie with the characters and my only intention was to escape.  

This movie simply is the most detailed space thriller I have ever witnessed. There may be minor flaws and science geniuses may not agree. But for being a science fiction such brilliance from a movie cannot be even expected.

The Hunt (2012)

One thing I know is that it’s nearly impossible to explain the feelings I got when I watched this mesmerizing piece of drama. It’s no doubt one of the most powerful storyline unfolded on a movie and definitely very hard to witness for any person who has even a bit of wetness in their hearts. At times there is no pleasure in watching this but it’s just mere pain and that pain you share with the main character that is brilliantly portrayed by skilled Mads Mikkelsen. Combined with the touching storyline and the performances Jagten is not just a drama about adults and children. It’s a story of a man wrongfully accused of a heinous act and the ruthlessness of the society that falls in the same path. We being the majority and the part of that very society become victims of our own belief system and reactions which is terribly wrong even to admit. Once you’re done with this movie you will be shocked and that shock is not delivered via blood or violence. That’s the beauty of this drama that in my opinion is incomparable to any.  Must watch!!

 The Hunt ("Jagten" original title) 2012, 5/5

Samsara (2011)

If you have being watching movies which are out of the ordinary and especially non verbal documentaries that shook the cinema Baraka should be a familiar name to you. And now from the makers of Baraka, Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson comes an amazing new movie called Samsara. And it is no doubt is the most impressive, haunting and mystical piece of cinema I have witnessed. Samsara has a biggest story that you can ever witness. It is the story about the most diverse planet that we know of called the earth and the life exists in it. Shot over a period of 5 years in 25 countries using 70mm film Samsara has no worthy contender up to date.  And it is a rarest of gems out of handful of movies shot in 70mm in the past 40 years as the makers call it.

If you ever thought that you have seeing the world and know what’s out there then maybe you might feel inferior once you see Samsara. It is that much powerful and larger than anything you have seeing before. This is not fantasy or a world created with CGI or boosted with cinematic 3d to blow your mind. It is the world that exists out there today and the world we are delightfully enjoying and changing by the minute. And it is bound with nature and beliefs that significantly roots down to tiniest atom in your body and there will be no one who cannot relate to Samsara even in a tiny way. I urge you not to settle for poor copies or watch this in a media that is not meant to watch movies in. Choose a moment that you feel peace with yourself and choose a medium that gives you the best viewing and sound experience. For 102 minutes you will be n heaven but right here at home in earth.

ඔබ සිනමාවේ වෙනස් කෘතීන් සහ විශේෂයෙන්ම වචන රහිත වාර්තාමය චිත්‍රපටි නරඹා ඇත්තෙක් නම් බරාකා යනු ඔබට නුපුරුදු නමක් නොවේ. දැන් ඒ විශිෂ්ට චිත්‍රපටිය අප වෙත ගෙන ආ රොන් ෆ්රික් සහ මාර්ක් මගිඩ්සන් වෙතින් සම්සාර නමැති මේ අලුත්ම වචන රහිත අතිශය සුන්දර වාර්තාමය චිත්‍රපටිය එලි දැක්වෙයි. අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම මෙවැනි සිත් ගන්නා, සිතෙහි ආරුඪ වන සහ වශිවන සුළු සිනමා කෘතියක් මෙතෙක් මා විසින් දැක නැති බව කිව හැකියි. සම්සාර තුල ඇත්තේ ඔබට ලිවිය හැකි විශාලතම කතාන්තරයයි. එනම් අප දන්නා තරමින් විවිදත්වයෙන් අග තැන්පත් පෘතුවිය නමැති ග්‍රහ ලෝකයත් එහි ජීවත්වන මිනිසුන්ගේත් කතාන්තරයයි. වසර 5ක් කාලයක් මුළුල්ලේ රටවල් 25ක 70mm පටල පටි භාවිතයෙන් රුපගතකරන ලද සම්සාර හා උරෙන් උර ගැටිය හැකි තවත් චිත්‍රපටියක් නොවේ. නිෂ්පාදකයින් පවසන පරිදි මෙය පසුගිය වසර 40 ඇතුලට 70mm පටල පටි භාවිතයෙන් රුපගතකරන ලද චිත්‍රපටි අතලොස්සකින් එකක්.

ඔබ කිසි දිනෙක හෝ ලෝකය දැක ඇතැය් සිතා සිටියේ නම් සම්සාර නැරඹු පසු ඒ අදහස බොහෝ විට වෙනස කරගනු ඇති. එය එතරම් විශාල සහ ප්‍රබල නිර්මාණයකි. එමෙන්ම එය ඔබ කුල්මත් කිරීම සඳහා කෘතිමව නිෂ්පාදනය කරන ලද පරිගණක සජීවිකරණයන් හෝ ත්‍රිමාන රූපයන් නොවේ. මෙහි ඇත්තේ අදටත් අප විසින් සරුවට භුක්තිවිඳින සහ මොහොතින් මොහොත වෙනස් කරන අපගේම ලෝකයයි. එමෙන්ම සොබාදහම සහ ඇදහිලි තුලින් පිරිපුන් මෙය ඔබගේ ශරීරයේ කුඩාම පරමාණුව දක්වා නෑකම් කියයි. එසේම සම්සාර වලට යම් තරමක හෝ බැඳීමක් නැත්තෙකු ලොවෙහි නැති තරම්ය. මා හට කිව යුතු වන්නේ ඔබ මේ චිත්‍රපටිය නරඹනවානම් කරුණාකර ගුණයෙන් ඉහල පිටපතක් තෝරාගන්න. එමෙන්ම කිසි ලෙසක අතිශය කුඩා තිරයක මෙය නැරඹීමෙන් වලකින්න. ඔබ ඔබේ සිත සමග සාමයෙන් ගත කරන වෙලාවක් සහ චිත්‍රපටියක් නැරඹිය හැකි හොඳම ශ්‍රව්‍ය දෘශ්‍ය මාද්යයක් තෝරාගන්න. විනාඩි 102ක් තිස්සේ ඔබ සුරලොවක ගත කරාවි. නමුත් ඒ ඔබේම නිවසේ සහ ඔබේම පෘතුවියේ සටිමින්ය.

I rate this 5/5

-Priyantha Bandara

Samsara (2011)

Documentary

Synopsis: Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimeter film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders.(IMDB)

M (1931) (Germany,German)

M (1931) (Germany,German)

Drama | Crime | Thriller

 

81 years in the making there is nothing more you can expect from this true masterpiece. Today where lame scripts and cheap acting defines cinema, “M” is an astonishing cinematic achievement from 1931 from Germany. Reminds me over and over that the foundations of true art was laid ages back and all we have now is a deteriorating fake memory of it. M is evidence of brilliant minds that created true artistic cinema. And after all these years it has the energy to blow your brain cells out.

 

This production is from the era where talking cinema was introduced and very little could be achieved at that front. But the sounds of this movie is exceptionally well made no matter how technically unfeasible it could have being at the time. The version I saw is the final restored print made in year 2000 which is 117 minutes long. And not a single moment of it can be recalled as irrelevant or boring. Some of the scenes are remarkably well made using creative cinematography and acting. And no matter how small the role can be the actors just gives the fullest life to them while the main lead Peter Lorre delivers a heart stopping performance.

 

M cannot be described in few sentences. It is deep and controversial at the same time. The minds of a child killer and the minds of a set of criminals who tries to justify their intention of killing the child killer is are very difficult to explain psychological occurrences. Yet the movie cleverly and skillfully brings these very different emotions on to one table and bridges the gap using the policemen who sweat to discover the mind boggling mystery killer case.  And mixing all that is the formula for one of the best classic thrillers every made.

 

M යනු වචනයේ පරිසමාප්ත අර්ථයෙන්ම අද්විතීය සිනමා කෘතියකි. එහි විශේෂත්වය මෙතෙකය් කියා කීමට පෙර එය වසර 1931 දී මුල් වරට තිරගතවුනු එකක් බව කිව යුතුම වෙය්. මීට වසර 80 කටත් වඩා පැරණි මේ චිත්‍රපටිය අදටත් එක ලෙස වලංගු කතාවකින් පෝෂණය වන අතර එහි රසය කාලයත් සමග වැඩි වී ඇතිවාක් මිස අඩුවක්නම් නොවේ. එමෙන්ම එහි ඇති සිනමාකරණ අගය විටෙක ඔබ මවිත කිරීමට තරම් සමත්ය.

 

ජර්මනයේ නරගයක කුඩා ළමුන් පැහැරගෙන ගොස් මරා දමන පුද්ගලයෙකු වෙයි. මොහු කොටුකරගැනීමට පොලිසිය මාස ගණනාවක් තිස්සේ අතිශය වෙහෙසක් දරය්. නමුත් ඉන් පලක් නොවෙය්. මේ අතර පොලිසියේ දැඩි සෝදිසි නිසා අපහසුතාවයට පත්වන නගරයේ පාතාලය ඉන් මිදීමට ඇති එකම ක්‍රමය මිනීමරුවා තමන් විසින් කොටු කර ගැනීම බව සිතා එයට වැඩ පිළිවෙලක් සකස් කරයි. මිනීමරුවා හසු වන්නේ පොලිසියටද නැත්නම් පාතාලයටද යන්න මම නොකියමි. මක් නිසාද එය එතරම්ම ලෙහෙසි අවසානයක් නොවන බැවිනි.

 

චිත්‍රපටියක් වශයෙන් ගත් කල තිබිය යුතු සියලු ගුණාංග මෙහි ඇතුලත් වෙය්. සිත සලිත කරවන රඟපෑම්, උසස් නිෂ්පාදන අගයක් සහ මුල සිට අගටම එක දිගට නැරඹිය හැකි කුතුහලය දනවන කදිම පිටපතක් ඒවායින් කිහිපයක්. මේ සියල්ල එකට සිඳවා ගත කල චිත්‍රපටි උනාට හොඳම කසායක් M.

 

5/5

 

-Priyantha Bandara

 

Synopsis: When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.

Revanche (2008) (Austria) (German language)

Revanche (2008) (Austria) (German language)

Drama

How does is it feel to love a prostitute? And what would you possibly doesn’t do to make her only yours? To start off with how does a prostitute differ from any other woman after all? Maybe these are few of the burning questions you might ask yourself while you watch this master of creative cinema. I must say this is not just a movie. Its pure art soaked in feelings. It will penetrate your skull and make a forever hurting wound in it. It is that strong and that profound in its story telling. There are no two words this is brilliant movie making from Götz Spielmann from Austria. It has a sharp tale that unfolds bit by bit slowly but steady and grabs the viewer by the backbone surprising him with each twist on the way. There is ample room for imagination but most of the time you will be dead wrong. The first half of the story runs disoriented with few story lines here and there but when the moment comes to put them in to one plot the real mind circus unfolds. Maybe until very late you will not realize that Revanche has no background music at all. I mean nil!! That vast emptiness of the atmosphere creates enough pressure for the fan to engulf in the story like it’s our own experience. Once again I have to say this is BRILLIANT!

ගණිකාවකට පෙම් බඳින්නේ කෙසේද? ඇය ඔබේම පමණක් කරගැනීමට ඔබ නොකරන්නේ මොනවාද ? ඒත් ගැඹුරින් සිතන කල්හි ගණිකාවක් අන් ගැහැණියකුත් අතර ඇත්තෙන්ම ඇති වෙනස්කම් මොනවාද? මේ චිත්‍රපටිය විඳින අතරතුර මෙවැනි දැවෙන ගැටළු ගොන්නක් ඔබේ සිතට පැන නගිනු ඇත. මෙය නිකම්ම නිකන් නාට්‍යමය චිත්‍රපටියක් නොවේ. එමන්ම එය හුදෙක් සුළු කතාපුවතක් රැගත් පැය දෙකකුත් නොවේ. මෙය වචනයේ පරිසමාප්ත අරුතින්ම විශිෂ්ට සිනමා කළා කෘතියකි. එය ජීවිතය සහ හැඟීම නමැති සයුරේ ගිලි පෙඟී ගිය අගනා චිත්‍රපටි අත්දැකීමක්. මේ කතා වස්තුව සහ එහි ඉදිරිපත් කිරීම කෙතරම් බලගතු වන්නේද යත් එයින් මිදී පලා යාමට ඔබට හැකි නොවේ. එය රසිකයාගේ කොඳු නාරටියෙන් අල්ලාගෙන සෙමෙන් සෙමෙන් නමුත් ස්ථාවරව ඉදිරියට ගලා යන්නේ ඔහුව වරෙක අතරමං කරමින්. ඔබට‍ බොහෝ දේ  සිතා ගත හැකි. නමුත් රිවන්චේ ඒ සියලු උපකල්පන සිඳ දමනු ඇත. තවත් විශේෂත්වයක් වන්නේ  මෙහි පසුබිම් සංගීතයක කෙඳිරියක් හෝ නොමැති විමය්. ඔබට ඒ බව සමහරක් විට කිසි සේත්ම නොදැනේවි. ඒ මුග්ධ නිසොල්මන අතර ඔබට නොදැනීම ඔබ තනි වෙන නිසාවෙනි.ඔස්ට්‍රියානු සිනමාවෙන් ලොවට පිදෙන මේ කෘතිය විශිෂ්ඨ සිනමා කෘති අතරට එක් වන අගනා සිනමා මිනි කැටයක්.

5/5

Synopsis: Ex-con Alex plans to flee to the South with his girl after a robbery. But something terrible happens and revenge seems inevitable.

-Priyantha Bandara

Aftershock (2010) (China)(Chinese)

Aftershock (2010) (China)(Chinese)

Drama

 

When I saw the end credits appear on the screen… I realized that if I don’t rate this movie 5/5 I will curse myself forever. A movie doesn’t simply be different or strikes as being great without strong presence of emotional element. Because, good cinema is completely about self realization for the viewer whatever the volumes it maybe. This movie is just a mind blowing emotional experience that you may come across very rarely. I don’t recall me being so engulfed in emotions and heart ache and expecting to see some solace for the characters that appear in this than any other movie. I wanted them to find peace with themselves… become normal though how hard it may seem.  But deep within I knew there is no joy for them anymore as life has changed forever. If a movie can make you feel that pain and regret just like it was your own experience, then there is nothing else that you can ever expect from cinema. This Chinese masterpiece I will take to my grave.

 

සිනමා කෘතියක් අනර්ඝ වීමට නම් එය යම් කිසි දුරකට හෝ එය නරඹන්නාගේ සිත තුල ස්ව ආත්ම ගවේෂණයක් ජනිත කල හැකි කෘතියක් විය යුතුමය්. මේ චිත්‍රපටිය නරඹන විට මා සිත ජනිත වූ අනේක හැඟීම මෙතෙකය් කියා පහසුවෙන් කිව නොහැකි තරම්. මුල සිට අගට ජීවිතයක් තරම් බරැති හැඟීම් ගොන්නක් සමග පොර බදන මේ කතාව, ප්‍රේක්ෂකයාගේ මනස සහ හදවත ඉතාමත්ම තදින් ස්පර්ශ කරනවා. සමහර විටක මෙහි ඇති චරිත වටා සැරිසරන දුක්බර මතක සමුදාය අපිට අපේම මතකයම් මෙන් දැනෙනවා. ඔබ කොතරම් තද සිත්  ඇත්තෙක් උවත් ඔබේ හදවත හඬවා ඇසට කඳුලක් නැගෙනු වලකනු නොහැකි වේවි. මා දන්නේ එක් සත්‍යයක් පමණි. එනම් මේ විශිෂ්ඨ චීන සිනමා කෘතිය මාගේ මනස තුල නොමැකෙන මතකයන් ගොන්නට එක් වූ බවය්.

 

5/5

 

Synopsis: The epic story of a family separated as a result of the Great Tangshan Earthquake of 1976.

A Separation (2011) (Iran)

Drama

 

Not only in recent past but this is one of the best works of cinema I have ever seeing. Coming from Iran and made their way up to become the best foreign language movie award at the Oscar’s, this movie deserves every inch of that award. For plain 2 hours this movie will fill you with emotions, blow you away with tension and rob yourself off your senses and at the end leaves you thinking and shattered. This is not anything other than pure amazing movie making. The script is perfect. It’s just perfect. Acting is astonishing as the cast portray their potential right throughout in each tough scene starting from the very beginning. I don’t recall of seeing such mesmerizing acting by any recent movie. Do yourself a favor and watch this immediately. You do not know what you’re missing until you do.

 

යම් කිසිවෙක් මගෙන් හොඳ සිනමාව යනු කුමක්ද කියා යම් දවසක විමසුවොත් අද පටන් මට එය A separation කියා ආඩම්බරයෙන් කිව හැකි. සිනමාව යනු මෙය නොවේනම් වෙන කුමක්ද? මොහොතක් මොහොතක් පාසා ඔබගේ මනසේ ඉතා ගැඹුරු තැන් පවා තදින් ස්පර්ශ කරමින් ගතවෙන මේ හෝරා දෙක ඇත්තෙන්ම බොළඳ සිනමාවෙන් පීඩිත වූ සුවහසක් රසිකයින්ට පිදෙන දිව්‍යමය ඔසුවක්‌. එකිනෙකට නෙදෙවෙනි ප්‍රධාන චරිත ගොන්නක් සහ එයට පන පොවන අති විශිෂ්ට රංගන ශිල්පීන්ගේ ප්‍රතිභාව ඔබ දුටුවොත්, මෙතෙක් කල් ඔබ රඟපෑම යයි විශ්වාස කල සියලු මිත්‍යාවන් බිඳී යනු නියතය්. අග්‍රගන්‍ය තිර රචනය සහ එහි ඔබටත් නොදැනී ගලා යන ජීවිතය නම් වූ සුන්දර කටුකත්වය විඳ ගන්න. ඔබට මේ චිත්‍රපටිය ජීවිත කාලයක් මතක සිටීවි.

 

5/5

Synopsis: A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.

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