Showing posts with label SAIFF 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SAIFF 2010. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Kashmir
Harud/Autumn (2010) - Bashir
Kashmir, a hotbed of India-Pakistan territory dispute is the subject of Harud (Autumn). A young man, Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), is seen trying to cross the border over to Pakistan only to be captured and returned to his home, to his parents. The village is under watchful eyes of heavily armed occupying Indian Soldiers. Rafiq's brother is one of the thousands of young men who have gone missing since the military insurgence. His mother is still hopeful that her older son will turn up some day and attends rallies by APDP (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons). His father, a traffic cop, having seen a lot of violence, is deteriorating fast due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Rafiq sleepwalks through the day with his friends who are dreaming about escaping from Kashmir. The jobs are scarce for young people and the news of cell phones arriving in town is quite possibly the most exciting thing they ever heard in quite some time.
Harud, directed by a Kashmir born actor turned director Aamir Bashir, is a quiet, understated drama that acutely presents what living under siege is like. Absence of soundtrack and sparse dialog adds to the gloomy, suffocating tone of the film. It's Shahnawaz Bhat's expressionless face that speaks volumes. There is no life left in that blank stare. We see a glimpse of emotion stirring up in Rafiq when he finds his brother's still camera. He has to bear witness to what's happening in Kashmir through the lens. Bashir meticulously builds up to the film's climax which coincides with Eid (a three-day festival marking the end of Ramadan) where a lamb needs to be sacrificed.
Subtlety is both the film's strengths and weaknesses: Harud never lets up its depressive mood and Bashir keeps it from falling into sappy stereotypical situations. With its unavoidable but artfully done ending, the film is a bit underwhelming. Given the heady subject matter, a little harder, grittier filmmaking would've been more suitable to make a bigger impact.
Harud plays on November 1st (7:30PM) at SVA Theater as a part of 2010 SAIFF.
Review at twitch
Kashmir, a hotbed of India-Pakistan territory dispute is the subject of Harud (Autumn). A young man, Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), is seen trying to cross the border over to Pakistan only to be captured and returned to his home, to his parents. The village is under watchful eyes of heavily armed occupying Indian Soldiers. Rafiq's brother is one of the thousands of young men who have gone missing since the military insurgence. His mother is still hopeful that her older son will turn up some day and attends rallies by APDP (Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons). His father, a traffic cop, having seen a lot of violence, is deteriorating fast due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Rafiq sleepwalks through the day with his friends who are dreaming about escaping from Kashmir. The jobs are scarce for young people and the news of cell phones arriving in town is quite possibly the most exciting thing they ever heard in quite some time.
Harud, directed by a Kashmir born actor turned director Aamir Bashir, is a quiet, understated drama that acutely presents what living under siege is like. Absence of soundtrack and sparse dialog adds to the gloomy, suffocating tone of the film. It's Shahnawaz Bhat's expressionless face that speaks volumes. There is no life left in that blank stare. We see a glimpse of emotion stirring up in Rafiq when he finds his brother's still camera. He has to bear witness to what's happening in Kashmir through the lens. Bashir meticulously builds up to the film's climax which coincides with Eid (a three-day festival marking the end of Ramadan) where a lamb needs to be sacrificed.
Subtlety is both the film's strengths and weaknesses: Harud never lets up its depressive mood and Bashir keeps it from falling into sappy stereotypical situations. With its unavoidable but artfully done ending, the film is a bit underwhelming. Given the heady subject matter, a little harder, grittier filmmaking would've been more suitable to make a bigger impact.
Harud plays on November 1st (7:30PM) at SVA Theater as a part of 2010 SAIFF.
Review at twitch
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Virtual Reality
The Image Threads (2010) - Vijay
What better country to make a film about the internet age than India, the largest IT labor exporting country? This serene, visual contemplation on the nature of the virtual world and finding one's identity in it starts with an ironic quote: "I had a dream about reality. It was such a relief to wake up." by a Polish aphorist Stanislaw J. Lec, which sets the tone of The Image Threads.
An IT professor named Hari, 'pimping (in his own words)' the information technology laborers to the US and Europe, narrates most of the film in philosophical monologue. He sometimes engages in conversations online with a virtual persona who might be either a sultry female model or a man in a mini-skirt or both. Other times he recalls his black magic priest grandfather.
At one point, parallels are drawn between internet virus and the Plague by a girl seductively treading around him, singing the nursery rhyme, Ring Around the Rosie. But the film's languid pace and beauty betrays the ominous subject. Shot in exotic Kerala locale, the film is nothing short of stunning- water stained walls, rusty water pipes, vegetation infused houses, ancient temples, lush jungles, dark caves, bearded yogis, beautiful girls in colorful costumes, sleek gizmos, wires, lights and wikipedia, all vying for your attention. Every frame is work of art. Director Vipin Vijay and his cinematographer Shehnard Jalal often distinguish, then blur the boundaries between the past and present, technology and nature, reality and fantasy, tangible and intangible.
Devoid of any visible narrative, The Image Thread is unlike any film I've ever seen. It is more like a visual essay than a film. To enjoy it, you have to give in to its luscious visuals to wash over you. Calming and hypnotic, it's literally the best films to meditate on.
The Image Threads plays on October 28th (7:30PM) at SVA Theater as a part of 2010 South Asian International Film Festival here in NY.
Link to SAIFF
Review at twitch
What better country to make a film about the internet age than India, the largest IT labor exporting country? This serene, visual contemplation on the nature of the virtual world and finding one's identity in it starts with an ironic quote: "I had a dream about reality. It was such a relief to wake up." by a Polish aphorist Stanislaw J. Lec, which sets the tone of The Image Threads.
An IT professor named Hari, 'pimping (in his own words)' the information technology laborers to the US and Europe, narrates most of the film in philosophical monologue. He sometimes engages in conversations online with a virtual persona who might be either a sultry female model or a man in a mini-skirt or both. Other times he recalls his black magic priest grandfather.
At one point, parallels are drawn between internet virus and the Plague by a girl seductively treading around him, singing the nursery rhyme, Ring Around the Rosie. But the film's languid pace and beauty betrays the ominous subject. Shot in exotic Kerala locale, the film is nothing short of stunning- water stained walls, rusty water pipes, vegetation infused houses, ancient temples, lush jungles, dark caves, bearded yogis, beautiful girls in colorful costumes, sleek gizmos, wires, lights and wikipedia, all vying for your attention. Every frame is work of art. Director Vipin Vijay and his cinematographer Shehnard Jalal often distinguish, then blur the boundaries between the past and present, technology and nature, reality and fantasy, tangible and intangible.
Devoid of any visible narrative, The Image Thread is unlike any film I've ever seen. It is more like a visual essay than a film. To enjoy it, you have to give in to its luscious visuals to wash over you. Calming and hypnotic, it's literally the best films to meditate on.
The Image Threads plays on October 28th (7:30PM) at SVA Theater as a part of 2010 South Asian International Film Festival here in NY.
Link to SAIFF
Review at twitch
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