Movie Review: Almanya - Wilkommen in Deutschland

Almanya - Welcome to Germany, is a 2011 German comedy directed by Yasemin Samdereli.

The movie starts with Canan, a young woman, describing her extended family, and how all of them are having problems. She is dealing with an unexpected pregnancy, with a non-Turkish boyfriend her family knows nothing about. Cenk, her cousin, can't be placed in his school's place of origin map as the map shows only Europe, stopping at Istanbul...and his grandfather is from Anatolia, in eastern Turkey. From where Huseyin Yilmaz came to Germany, leaving his wife and two sons and his baby daughter behind, in search of better paying work.

Their immigration story is told really well, serving to distract Cenk at various points in the movie: while the family meets for a meal and the grandfather, upset about his newly acquired German citizenship, announces his intention to take them all to Turkey for a vacation, and on their way to this holiday with the whole family. The backstory narration by Canan interacts with Cenk, for instance when he doesn't understand when people speak Turkish and he asks, can everyone please speak in German, and the scene moves forward with Turkish villages speaking German.

Cenk's dad was the first German in their family, and his wife is German. During the family meeting when Cenk wants to know if he is German or Turkish, as he can't play in both football teams, he needs to pick one, his mom says "German" at the same time as his dad responds with "Turkish".

The culture-clash, the un-belongingness in either country after you live away for a while, the confusion, identity crisis and longing on the grandfather's face, the happiness on the grandmother's face when she receives her German passport are only too well understood by scores around the world that move in search of a better life for themselves and their families.

However, this is a story that ends in tragedy. The million and oneth worker in Germany dies before he can give his speech in front of Chancellor Angela Merkel. So Cenk, his grandson gives it, making his entire family proud, and tells the audience that his grandfather wanted to say that he was happy.

The speech ends with a saying which is incredibly profound and so very true:

A wise man once gave an answer to the question of who or what we are.
We are the sum of everything which has happened before us,
everything that has happened under our eyes, everything that has happened to us.
We are everyone and everything that has influenced us, or that we have influenced.
We are everything which happens after we no longer exist, 
and everything which would not have happened, had we not existed.

All in all, a movie you will not regret watching. If you are wondering: Cenk brings a map of Turkey to his class, and finds out something about his friend.

***
PS: If you are having trouble finding English subtitles for the movie, leave me a comment.

Movie Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel

I am going to keep this very short so I don't make the same mistake as I did with Omar. The husband dismisses my movie choices as "artsy" but after checking the Rotten Tomatoes rating, he decided to watch it as well, and loved it!

***

Wes Anderson's latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel, is one of the most visually appealing and delightful movies I have seen. Each frame is brilliantly composed, and the camera moves with precision whenever it does. A flashback within a flashback,it reverentially tells the tale of Monsieur Gustave (R. Fiennes), a concierge at the Grand Budapest Hotel in fictional Zubrowka, in a time of war. He loved all of his guests, and took good care of them. One such rich guest, who we later find out is the owner of the hotel, is Madame D, who dies under mysterious circumstances a month after leaving the hotel. Because she willed a priceless painting to Gustave, her family frame him for the murder, and send an assassin to kill him. Aided by Zero, the lobby boy, Gustave escapes prison and manages to clear his name, with help from Zero's girlfriend Agatha, but is not able to enjoy his newly inherited fortune. With an ensemble cast consisting of Tilda Swinton, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe to name a few, this picturesque comedy is one you cannot miss! 

Movie Review: Omar

Please note: This ended up being a plot-line instead of a review - my apologies. Spoiler Alert! You have been warned.

***

This 2013 Oscar nominee was written and directed by Hany Abu-Assad and stars Adam Bakri in the titular role. Omar, with his childhood friends Tarek and Amjad, is plotting to kill Israeli soldiers. They train under Tarek's leadership, taking near perfect shots at the practice target. Right after drinking tea served by Nadia, while Omar and Nadia exchanged love letters unbeknownst to Tarek.

They are in love with each other, and Omar is waiting for the right time to tell Tarek and get his permission. The plot intertwines both the narratives of Omar's love for Nadia and his quest for freedom seamlessly. Amjad jokes about receiving love letters from Nadia, which should have been a warning sign for Omar, but he has known Amjad from his childhood, and perhaps knows about his tendency to exaggerate.

His family consists of his parents, a younger sister who criticizes Mourinho's coaching of Real Madrid at the dinner table, and a younger brother who titters at her. Omar works at a local Arabic bread bakery, and visits Nadia after school, or at her job as a seamstress to exchange letters. To meet her, he has to go over a wall, which he does by scaling it with the help of a knotted rope. One day, on his way back, an Israeli soldier in a jeep spots him and as he is walking away, he is stopped by the soldiers, talking to him on a loudspeaker.

They do not believe his story about visiting his girlfriend, especially after he gives them lip. He is asked to stand on a shaky piece of stone, with his hands held to his head. After a while, loud music is playing from the jeep, and Omar is still standing in the sun, hands held to his head. When a mosquito starts buzzing near his face, he loses his cool and tells the soldiers to drop their weapons and fight him like a man if they want something. He gets a broken nose in answer, and is told to go back to the stone, and now stand on one leg.

It is too cruel at times, and whichever side of the conflict you are on, this is not easy to watch.

Omar tells Tarek they have to take the operation forward that night. Tarek plans the operation, Omar steals the car, Amjad is to shoot. After hesitating, Amjad does the deed. They kill one soldier, run and Omar sets the getaway car on fire at a junkyard. The next day, he is working up the nerve to tell Tarek about Nadia while they drink tea with Amjad, when someone shouts "Undercover agents" and the three of them split. Running through the narrow streets between houses, it appears as though the streets keep getting narrower, and in the end he is captured.

Hung naked, while his torturer asks him who killed the soldier, Omar says nothing, but to tell the man he should wipe his nose out of snot. He steps away to clean up, and comes after him with a lighter. He says nothing, but at lunch the next day, someone at prison offers him advice on how prisoners are turned into informants when they confess. Omar says "I will never confess", which becomes an admission of guilt as the man was Agent Rami, wearing a wire. Agent Rami speaks perfect Arabic, and Omar doesn't know he is Arabic until he hears him speak Hebrew on the phone with his mom, where the only words he recognized were "Ma" and "Spiderman". He is given to understand that his only way out, to be able to make a life with Nadia, is to turn informant. He has to give up Tarek within a month.

Nadia tells Omar she heard rumours that he might be a traitor. Omar goes to Tarek and tells him how he got out, by agreeing to be an informant. Tarek tells him they have to find the source for the leak. They find a comrade, who says he ratted them out in exchange for a New Zealand visa. Omar shows Nadia the place he has bought for her, so they can have a place to live in. He tells Tarek about his love for Nadia, and Tarek says he will help them after they ambush Agent Rami with Omar's help. Omar lives this life of a double agent, not knowing whom to trust.

He has good reason. At the ambush, they are surprised again - the Israelis knew and they haul Omar in for questioning again. He begs for one more chance, and they let him out but with a tracking device on him. Rami says they have secrets on Nadia that they can use. Nadia refuses to talk to him, having heard everyone tell her he is a traitor - how else could he have gotten out so quickly? She walks away when he won't answer if he was a traitor. The next day, he sees Nadia hand over a letter to Amjad when he spies on her school yard. He follows Amjad, and when he threatens to kill him, Amjad says he was the one that gave away information, because he got Nadia pregnant, which the Israelis knew and were using the information to blackmail. Omar, thinking this must be Nadia's secret, is clearly upset about this betrayal but tells Amjad he will help him talk to Tarek.

During this talk which turns into a scuffle, Amjad kills Tarek, and they handover the body to Rami, who says they are both free now. Omar requests Nadia's father to give her hand in marriage to Amjad. Tarek's body is found much later as it was in a freezer for two months on Omar's request to Rami for time.

Two years later, Rami appears on his doorstep again, saying he can help him deal with the leader of a resistance unit who was asking questions about Tarek's death. Omar goes to meet Amjad for the first time since Tarek's funeral. Nadia greets him at the door, with a kid in her arms. She invites him in to wait for Amjad. When he asks for the age of the kids, he realizes Nadia was not pregnant until much after the wedding, Amjad had lied to him about everything. The letter Nadia had given Amjad, was meant for Omar, apologizing for calling him a traitor, but Amjad didn't deliver the letter. She is still in love with Omar.

He writes Nadia a letter. Omar then asks Rami for a gun, and tells him Amjad was the one that killed the soldier.

Who do you think he will use the gun on?

A fabulously made movie with gripping chase scenes, compact editing, and great performances from the cast of what I understand is mostly debutante actors.

Recommended!

Movie Review: Amour

No one dreams about death. But secretly, we all do. We hope we are visited by him in the middle of the night, that we barely notice, and that we trouble no one. Wishes however, aren't granted.

Amour, a French movie by Austrian film-maker Michael Haneke, is a movie about love and death. More specifically, the progress to death.

The movie starts with firemen breaking into an apartment in Paris. It carries the clear stench of death, and they find a room taped up from the outside. No one has seen the inhabitants in a while, and in the room they find an old woman on the bed, with flowers laid out carefully around her head.

It is clear that everything else from this point onward, would lead up to this moment in the movie. We start at a concert hall, with music, an appreciative audience, and no other details until an old couple, Anne and Georges return to their apartment from the concert. At breakfast the next morning, Anne stares off into space for a while, and does not respond even when Georges places a damp cloth on her. He goes inside to get ready to call for help, when he hears the tap he had absently left running, being turned off. When he gets back into the kitchen, Anne says he forgot to turn the tap off, and doesn't remember that she was in a state. But when she can barely lift the teapot to pour herself some tea, they figure out Georges was right to be worried. She had a stroke, and the 'safe' surgery to mend her, was one of the 5% that do go wrong, as Georges tells his daughter Eva.

The movie reveals information only as and when required. We find out Anne and Georges are piano teachers only when Alexandre, a former student, visits them and thanks them for everything they have done. But when he sees Anne's condition and offers his sympathies, you can tell Anne is a very proud woman and offended to be at the receiving end of any sympathy. She doesn't listen to the CD Alexandre sends them, which they were so keen on buying the morning after the concert, just before the stroke.

Anne is in a wheelchair, and she makes Georges promise never to send her back to the hospital. He does. Being a frail man himself, it is touching to see how well he takes care of her. He tells her stories from his youth, and she wonders why he has never told them to her before. The camera doesn't shy away from showing you the indignities of being dependent on someone. To take a shower, to go to the loo, and her brave face when Anne clearly doesn't like being dependent on anyone. She looks almost thrilled when she figures out how to operate the wheelchair on her own.

There are times when she gives Georges hints. One day, she tells him she has had a good life. What do you mean, he asks her. And on another, while he is having breakfast, she requests that he bring her the photo albums. Flipping through them, while Georges is eating, she remarks, what a full life.

Just when it looks like she is getting better, getting so far as trying to walk with Georges help, she suffers from another stroke. This time, it is much worse. She can barely get words out, which upsets her daughter Eva so much. Eva comes with Geoff, who she lives with in the US, the wayward boyfriend she mentions to Georges when we first see her. She tries telling Georges that he cannot take care of Anne by himself. He reiterates his promise and says he has hired help, two part-time nurses.

One of the nurses is abusive, and Georges fires her when he finds out. When she protests, he says, I hope someone gives you the same care that you give your patients. She says something unbloggable to him as she leaves.

Anne is in a lot of pain, while being bathed by a nurse, sometimes even as she is lying down. She refuses to eat much, taking just a few spoonfuls at a time. And not even much water. Once, when she refuses, Georges threatens to put her in a nursing home where they would force-feed her if she refuses. She takes a mouthful after that. But when she refuses again, he slaps her, and immediately appalled and sorry that he had done so.

It is clear that both of them are suffering. Eva visits again, and complains that Georges is not answering her calls or replying to her voicemails. She says she is worried about how they are doing. Georges tells her quite frankly - your worries are no help to me. I do not have the time to think about your worries. She is even more upset to see the state her mother is now in. Georges makes her a cup of tea to make her feel better.

One day, as he hear Anne call out in pain, he goes in, strokes her hand as usual while telling a story, and calms her down. When it appears that she might have gone back to sleep, he takes a pillow, and snuffs the life out of her.

He then methodically tapes the doors, closes the windows, buys some flowers. Then he writes a letter. To whom, it is not clear. The only thing we know is that he describes the adventure he then has, while trying to catch a pigeon that flew in to the apartment. He only says that he released the pigeon after catching it.

He goes to bed, and the next morning, he wakes up to the noise of plates being cleaned in the kitchen. He goes in, only to find Anne, fully dressed, cleaning the dishes. She says they have to leave soon, and as he follows her out after helping her with her coat, she asks him to wear his coat as well for it is cold out. He complies, and shuts the door as he walks out.

Both of them, hopefully at peace.

Eva is shown in the living room of the empty apartment later.

The movie tugs at your heart strings. I watched it with my dad, and I must say he was quite moved by the story. I reminded him it was only a movie when he remarked that it must have been awful for Georges to kill Anne. He said, but imagine, for someone somewhere, this is life!

C'est la vie.

Movie Review: Monsieur Lazhar

I have been meaning to watch the movie since I heard about it on NPR. Finally, I did. With a 97% rating on rotten tomatoes and Oscar nomination, Monsieur Lazhar, written and directed by Philippe Falardeau, it certainly sounded promising. 

It begins with a school in Montreal, where a boy, Simon, gets milk for the class because it is his turn. The classroom doesn't open, and when he peers inside he sees that Martine Lachance, his teacher, has hung herself. Alice, one of the most charming children in the movie, also peers in and sees her even as the kids are herded out of the school. When school reopens, the principal assures the distraught parents that the school's psychologist can handle their collective grief. 

Bachir Lazhar presents himself to the principal who still hasn't found a replacement, and he begins soon after. An Algerian immigrant, there are some cultural changes he will have to get used to. The movie questions the way education has evolved via Bachir's learning of the new system. When he lightly cuffs Simon on the head, he is reminded by a student that he isn't allowed to touch them. Not even a hug to comfort a crying child is permissible. This in fact, is why Simon, and Alice think Simon is responsible for Martine's death. Simon was going through trouble at home and was crying when Martine comforted him with a hug. He proceeded to complain that Martine had kissed him. While this is not why Martine killed herself, it is easy to see that the children would have thought they were somehow responsible. 

Another child remarks that the parents seem to be more traumatized at the death than them, refusing to discuss the matter and handling them with kid gloves. The curriculum also is something that Bachir will have to get used to, when his children cannot write down the dictation of Balzac. Alice gives him a few book recommendations for dictation that she thinks will work better. She also looks up Algeria and thinks it is really pretty. Her mom works for an airline so a babysitter spends the most time with her at home. 

When Bachir wants the school to address the childrens' grief by talking about the death, the principal refuses to even bringing it up. Even when a picture of Martine is found on Simon - who has drawn a rope around her neck to the ceiling and angel wings on her. In class, Alice blames Simon for her death while Bachir comforts the boy, reassuring him that it was not his fault. 

All through the movie, it becomes apparent that Bachir is dealing with a personal tragedy of his own. His family died in an attack the night before they were set to leave to join him in Canada, persecuted because of a provocative book written by his wife, who was in fact the teacher in the family, while he worked as a civil servant and later ran a restaurant. The principal who had kept him on despite knowing that he was a refugee and not the Permanent Resident he had claimed to be, but cannot do so much longer. 

The movie confronts the rules we have set about the education that children receive, and whether they actually help or hinder their progress. I love movies that say a lot without saying it - and this requires brilliant acting. All the actors in the movie are exceptional, the children included, and give nuanced performances while the excellent cinematography and editing does the rest, to tell a great story. Original music is by Martin Leon and he keeps it understated. 

I have given away a lot of the film without intending to, and for that, I apologize. 

Movie Review: The Artist

Its Oscar season, so this review seems fitting.

Released just over a year ago, in time for Cannes, this little gem has gone on to win at major cinematic award shows. Made in the mould of the silent film era, it follows the life of Hollywood star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) from 1927 to the Great Depression. Georve is charismatic, appealing and loves to be the center of attention. He has huge portraits of himself hanging at his house. His wife, who he doesn't talk to very much, is fairly one dimensional, and mostly stays mad at him. The depiction for their relationship is just about perfect - you don't need voices when you can show George and his wife at the breakfast table, with only their clothes changing everyday, while the lack of conversation and intimacy is consistent.

Berenice Bejo stars as Peppy Miller, a bright young star wannabe that captures George's attention. The progression of their interest in each other is shown with exceptional treatment. George's career appears to be a series of similarly themed movies: A Russian Affair, A German Affair...you get the drift. When Zimmer, the studio boss, tells George that sound's coming to movies, he is dismissive. George is left behind while Zimmer moves on to the talkies with "fresh meat". As George leaves Zimmer's office, he is shown walking down the staircase when he meets Peppy. They exchange notes, while the scene is symbolic of her rise and his swift downfall. He goes on to make his own silent movie which bombs at the box office - the same day Peppy shoots to fame with her movie. George cannot recover from his losses in time before the crash of the stock market - and he is forced to auction everything he owns after his wife kicks him out. He sets fire to his films, and is rescued when his dog Uggie finds help. Peppy takes him to her house from the hospital and he discovers that she had bought all his belongings from his auction house. Clifton, his former valet tells him Peppy is a good person, but he is upset and comes back to his burnt apartment to kill himself. Peppy arrives back in time, and they are reconciled. She tells Zimmer she will leave unless he takes George back - and they go on to make a musical. The only spoken lines in the movie are uttered right at the very end, when Zimmer is thrilled with their dancing and asks for an encore, and George Valentin replies, in accented English, "With Pleasure".

His dog, Uggie, steals the show with his splendid acting, displays a wide array of tricks and shares superb chemistry with George. George and Peppy are amazing in their roles, and carry the film with their exaggerated performances, necessitated by this being a silent movie. The music is reminiscent of the silent film era as well.

There are some things that nag you though: George's refusal to do a silent film is not explained - why didn't he want to speak? The characters are very predictable, and do nothing surprising. But the movie is very well made, with some great acting, and is worth a watch just for that. Its been a long time since you would have watched anything in black-and-white, almost entirely devoid of voices and yet get its story across.

Movie Review: A Separation

Slated to be one of the best films to come out in 2011, A Separation, fits its billing. The opening scene sets up the plot right away: Nader and Simin are at divorce court. Simin says her husband is fault-less, decent and a very nice man in fact, but he is unwilling to leave Iran to go abroad and seek a better life. Simin has visas for the family, which includes 13 year old Termeh. But Nader does not want to leave his ailing Alzheimer's afflicted father. And Termeh wants to stay with her dad, safe in the knowledge that her mother wouldn't leave her behind. The judge says he cannot do anything when the husband cannot be faulted and does not want the divorce, to boot.

Every scene that follows is action packed - and important to the movie. So don't forget to pay attention. Simin and Nader hire a woman to help take care of the grandfather when no one is at home. Simin goes away to live with her parents. The woman who comes in to help, Razieh, comes from an orthodox background. On the very first day, she is torn when she sees that the grandpa has soiled himself. She is on the phone to someone, evidently an expert on customs, and explains the situation: an old man who is 70 or 80 cannot change his pants. Is it alright for her to change him? No, she tried telling him to do it himself, he doesn't understand and is helpless. It can't be a sin, right?

She changes him, but tells Nader she cannot do the job anymore, especially if it involved touching another man. Nader is perturbed, as his father always told them if he wanted to go to the bathroom. His condition must be getting worse. Razieh asks if her husband can come and work the same job, but Nader is not to tell him anything about her working here. Her husband doesn't know, and presumably would not have permitted to come and work for a single man.

The next day Razieh loses the grandfather when she is distracted by her 4 year old daughter Somayeh while she was cleaning up the house. She goes in search of the grandfather. After a few panic stricken minutes, she sees him at a shop, and he starts to move away and begins to walk toward the road. Vehicles keep crossing, but we don't know what happens next. Not yet anyway. Razieh and the grandfather are safely back at home in the next scene, while Nader, Termeh and Somayeh play foosball together. Razieh's husband has still not turned up for work instead of her. She says its because he is in jail and she had to beg the lenders to get him out of there, but she will come to work until her husband can. Termeh's teacher is seen giving Razieh the number of a gynecologist to check on her pregnancy.

There are scenes where Nader teaches Termeh Farsi, and even gets her to fill up at a gas station. She comes back in and says, but everyone was watching me. The scene clearly shows cultural nuances, but also that Nader is broad minded enough to want his daughter to be independent and stand up for herself. He makes her go back to the attendant when he sees that Termeh didn't get back any change for the 40. Termeh says but the remaining 3.5 was his tip! Well, when he works the pump he gets a tip, don't let yourself be taken in...go get back the change, says Nader. Termeh goes back, and Nader watches in the rear view mirror as his daughter talks to the attendant and convinces him to give her the change back. When she hands him the change, he tells her its hers.

When Nader and Termeh come back on the third day, they can't get into the house. After fetching his keys from the car, he goes in, and Termeh finds her grandfather on the floor of his room, hands tied to armrests. Thankfully he isn't dead. But he doesn't speak a word. When Razieh comes back, Nader is mad. There is money missing in the kitchen. After a blow out, he asks her to leave. When Razieh asks to be paid for the day, he refuses, saying she has taken her due. After a minor scuffle at the door, Nader pushes her hand and shuts the door.

Simin tells Nader later that evening that Razieh is in the hospital. Both of them rush to the hospital. The nurse at the reception says that Razieh had a miscarriage. Razieh's husband Houjat finds out that his wife was working in another man's house - and that he may have caused the miscarriage. An angry man, he gets violent and gets into a scuffle.

They go to court. And the accusation is murder, as the aborted foetus was 4.5 months old and hence considered a fully formed person. Nader says he doesn't know that she was pregnant. This detail is important. If he knows, and yet pushed Razieh, its willful murder. Its the difference between going scot-free and spending 1-3 years in jail.

What follows is a close examination of everyone's moralities, class differences, Termeh's questioning of her father, and Razieh's doubts. "I cannot speak as well as him, but that doesn't mean he can get away with murdering my child" says Houjat in one scene. He has been unemployed for a year and is on anti-depressants. The little child Somayeh, even with a few lines, adds to the story line and the intimate portrayal of each character, interpretations and relationships. Is Nader guilty? Is the relationship between Nader and Simin beyond repair? Who will Termeh choose to stay with?

"The law sees everything as absolute" explains Nader to Termeh, when the ever watchful girl asks him a question about his motivations and examines his guilt while trying to understand.

A Separation is a complex and layered movie, with brilliant acting and editing, and gives you great insight into Iranian culture. In the end though, we all have more in common than we think: we are afflicted with similar concerns, relationships and conflicting moralities. And if you find a ton of Farsi words (mushkil, har roz, zindagi, mard etc) that are common to Hindi, don't be surprised.

Movie Review: Lemon Tree

I am making a habit of posting non-fiction! While I decide if I should keep up with it, I bring you another movie review.

Lemon Tree, an Israeli movie with dialogue in both Hebrew and Arabic, was directed by Eran Riklis and released in 2008. A Palestinian woman's life is thrown into tumult when the newly appointed Israeli defense minister, Israel Navon moves in next door with his wife. Salma Zidane owns a lemon grove passed down to her by her father, which supplies her with a meager sustenance but is the sole joy in her lonely existence. On the face of it, it appears to be a simple story of the Israeli-Palestine conflict told through a lemon grove. But like the conflict, it is neither simplistic, nor easy to reconcile. Its not only political, but a deeply personal story. Salma's grove is deemed a threat to the minister by his security detail, and she receives a notice declaring her lemon grove will be cut down. No one is sympathetic to her situation, her children included, given that other people have 'real' problems.

The movie explores a tapestry of relationships: the one between Salma and her grove, the disintegrating marriage of her neighbors, the implied unresolved relationship between Israel and his oft-quoted father, the friendship between Mira Navon and her reporter friend, the suspected relationship between Israel and his secretary, the growing unspoken support of Mira for her neighbor's cause, the fledgling relationship between Salma and her much younger lawyer, Ziad. Clearly a multi-layered film, the movie also showcases cultural nuances: the framed picture of Mr Zidane that glares down at Ziad, the meddlesome elders, who won't come to help, but visit bearing warnings about 'propriety' even before Salma and Ziad explore their attraction to each other while also unsubtly implying she didn't do as good a job of raising her children as her husband might have, had he been alive.

Salma doesn't speak much during the movie, but her understated performance is so good, she doesn't need to. Her character has an inner courage that helps her deal with the injustice of her situation, even while she's turned away at gunpoint when she climbs over the newly-constructed metal fence between her grove and her home to tend to her neglected lemon trees. "Only American movies have happy endings" Ziad announces at a press conference following the Supreme Court hearing of Salma's appeal.

The ending leaves you wondering 'Why does it have to be this way?' with the stark heartache(s) of the main characters symbolized vividly. Looking for an image of hope instead, your mind may seize upon a poster shown midway through the movie, that of a certain Zinedine 'Zizou' Zidane in a Real Madrid shirt, hanging above what was presumably Salma Zidane's son's bed before he left home.

If you yearn for a glass of lemon juice after the movie, it is only expected.

Movie Review: No One Killed Jessica

Based on a true story, the movie revolves around the murder of Jessica, at the hands of the son of a powerful politician, and the fight to get justice in the case. Narrated by a journalist, modeled presumably after Barkha Dutt, it spans the 7 long years following the incident in which Manish shot waitress-model Jessica for denying him a drink at a high-profile bar. 300 socialites vanished, claiming they weren't at the scene, witnesses turned hostile, watched by Jessica's sister Sabrina, at the bewildering manner in which evidence disappeared around the crumbling remains of an open-and-shut case.

The movie does a great job of linking other notable events that developed around the same time as Jessica case. Meera, the hotshot journalist returns from the war in Kargil and disregards the seemingly easy Jessica case to focus on another developing story: the hijacking of IC814 which resulted in the release of the three terrorists (all of whom made significant terrorist contributions immediately) in exchange for the passengers. She watches in despair after the case is dismissed, and the perpetrator goes scot-free. Amir Khan's movie Rang de basanti, significantly impacts the Jessica case, by acting as a rallying point. The media and the public take up the cause of Justice for Jessica.

Rani Mukherjee does a great job as the hard hitting, ambitious journalist, while Vidya Balan suits the role of subdued sister perfectly, growing angry and dejected by turn. Some scenes appear contrived: especially the affected speaking style of Malini, the high profile socialite and the almost comedic line uttered by Manish's mom throughout the movie. However, No One Killed Jessica does justice to the telling of a story in which the media and public can make a difference against the nexus of politicians in power. It especially excels in capturing the march of frustration amongst ordinary people, who slowly find their voice. The gripping background score lends to the pace of the movie which leaves you not only with despair at the hoodlums running our country, but also hope, in the power of the people.

Movie Review

Head on over here to read my (short) review of Peepli Live!

Let me know what you think!

~Rush