Amour (2012)

Amour didn't move me as I expected it to. It was oddly involving on a cerebral level, but left the heart untouched. Its abstractness often compelled me to interpret the happenings in various ways. A film which is spot on in its observations, it filled me with emptiness.

Amour is probably one of the better romantic tragedies of our times. There's something very romantic about wanting to grow old with someone, but there's nothing romantic about it, really. The harsh, gray reality is filled with a painstaking wait for the inevitable. Thinking about it now, it reminds you how even the love stories with happy endings have a bleaker footnote lying just outside focus. 

These two have spent half a century together. It appears as if their relationship has reached a place where they know the other person just as well as they know their own self. Georges doesn't take a beat to confess he too would probably die out of fright if burglars broke into their apartment in the middle of the night. But then on another instance, Anne asks Georges if he isn't worried about spoiling his image in her eyes at this age. You see that they still have stories to tell each other; they still have so much to talk about. 

The cruelest part of being in love is falling out of love. Soon after Anne is incapacitated, the focus shifts to her; almost as if Georges has suddenly become a supporting character in the life story of Anne. Nobody asks him how he's doing anymore. And here's where Riva slowly begins to steal Trintignant's thunder. It's the performances that make this film as good as it is. 

Some people complain about the smell of old people. Well, do you think old people like the smell of old people? Human dignity and pride takes a hit. It is hard to come to the realization that they are slowly growing incapable of doing the most basic things. It's like life truly has come a full circle and they are ending up where they started. 

We love our babies unconditionally. There are these stray moments when we lose a grip on ourselves or are pushed just a little too far. I once deliberately hurt my baby nephew and that's one of the worst things I have ever done. I thought about it on the bus today and I think about it a lot of times. I cannot take back what I did.

I haven't seen many old couples up close. Coming to the next closest real-life example I can try and relate the film's observations about with, I have to choose my parents. I think Hope Springs is a more timely movie to compare their life to, but their relationship is in a far better place. They are totally in love and anyone can tell. I have this cynical belief that most arranged marriages are full of compromises. But even after being together for 28 years, my Mom still cries when we go to send off Dad at the airport. He gets choked when Mom returns back to Chennai. I think this distance is what keeping it so vibrant. I look at them and I just want them to be together. I secretly hope that when the time is right, they will pass away together. I can take it but I do not want either of them to grieve the passing of the other. I should stop rambling already. 

Isabelle Huppert. As she talks about her dwindling financial situation, is she basically asking her parents to do what old people do and die the fuck already? The final scene with her inheriting (!) the house, a house with so much character and history, is very unsettling. 

Amour is brutally real in its storytelling and often kept me appreciating all the little things. Yet in the end, I wasn't washed over by a sense of loss. Like the story young Georges tells his childhood friend, one day, just the thought of Amour will rip my heart out. But today is not that day.

Headhunters (2011)

Roger is a successful headhunter working in the recruitment industry who moonlights as an art thief. He has a supermodel wife who he views as just another one of his costly art pieces- a trophy wife to make a statement about his masculinity. He's fearful of losing her, always keeping an eye when she is talking to men much taller than him. He makes himself feel better by screwing around with a woman who is in his league. In this drive of his to keep her content with material possessions, he goes a little too far.  

It is tightly written and should hold up well even on second viewing, though it doesn't require one. The problem with Headhunters, which is not even a problem to begin with, is that it wraps up so neatly. I have been spoilt by many recent thrillers where drawing our own interpretation is a necessity. Suddenly, the good time the film offers is not enough and I feel a tad underwhelmed when there's nothing to rack my brains with after it's over. 

Granted that Roger goes through a very bad time, but the end is almost too cheery and upbeat. It may work for people who were, like, totally rooting for him but I didn't even like the guy. Short guy with a huge complex.. heck, he should have been my champion of sorts. But there's something so repulsive about him that I didn't really what became of him. I even did a celebratory fist pump when Jaime Lannister fucked his wife. You keep going, bro!    

The film has that European feel to it. What is it that lends these films such an atmosphere that American films lack? I guess it's how there's equal amount of city and nature, whereas the typical American thriller plays out in a concrete jungle. There's nothing inwards to ponder over. It's all those twists and turns that keep it going. You can also tell that the film has been adapted from a book. There's a lot of dark humor with many twisted characters... the guy working for the domestic security company, the two identical fat cops, the dog which simply wouldn't stop coming back. Some of them must have had a much bigger role in the book. Nonetheless, it is a very well made film- fun and fast paced. 

Fireworks Wednesday (2006)

Just like most people in the west incorrectly consider Slumdog Millionaire to be the de-facto portrayal of present day India, I had my own image of Iran in my head- filled with goats and desert. A Separation was a real eye-opener showing a well-educated, middle class family living in Tehran. Fireworks Wednesday, which released 6 years ago, appears to have been cut from the same cloth as A Separation. 

I think everyone will agree that it worked just fine as a thriller. After establishing the primary conflict in the opening scene, it quickly moved on, peeling off its layers with no intention of offering you a moment to breathe. Even the ending offered no respite. It had me deep in thought for days. Fireworks Wednesday progresses similarly, but unlike the former, it reaches its pinnacle fairly early. I wouldn't say it's all downhill from there, but the tension surely eases.

Our eyes and ears in this world is a young maid named Rouhi, who is soon to get married to a person who is madly in love with her. She inadvertently gets embroiled in a conflict happening on the most critical day of another couple's married life. As the clutter in their house gets cleared, the problems in their marriage keep worsening. It just occurred to me Rouhi's chador was the source of much of her troubles on the day.

During its course, the movie often suggestively points its finger at various characters, blaming them for the situation. As I was in the process of convincing myself of that and beginning to believe it, my suspicions were allayed making me look foolish for jumping to conclusion. This happened with A Separation as well, when I looked down at the maid's husband just because he wasn't educated.

Farhadi's fascination with maids is another thing. My Mom often says this: if you want to let people in your neighborhood know something, talk about it when your maid is around. I am sure he agrees as it can be seen from his films. Or maybe women working as maids is another essential component in Iranian milieu.

Infidelity has existed and shall always do, irrespective of the place, and no amount of religious curtains can hide it. Handling such an issue, especially in a volatile, charged society must be a real challenge. The topic of religion is inseparably wound with Iran. The women fear going out without donning their chador, strangers wish each other with a salaam - these elements and mannerisms which may appear normal to native Iranian eyes stand out for someone like me.

The promise of marriage shines bright for everyone but the love soon fades away. Making relationships work in our modern day society is incredibly hard and most of them end in divorce, and the ones who stick together are only compromising. I hope this cynicism-laden reading of the film's message is not true, but I fear it may be correct. Ultimately, your faith gets partially restored when Rouhi's fiancee comments how she looks even more beautiful after threading her eyebrows, when you fear he might flip out.

I have yet to see About Elly but I suspect Farhadi has made a trilogy of sorts with his last three films, primarily dealing with truth as his subject. This one too is open ended but not very unsettling. It is very good film but doesn't match up to its successor's magic. 

A Separation (2011)

The opening scene of the movie shows Nader and Simin putting forth their case for separation in front of a Judge. They are educated, middle-class Iranians hoping for a better quality life outside the country, but not at the liberty to achieve it due to familial commitments. The 'divorce' sets things in motion, but the story deals with issues far more critical. It is very much a whodunit beyond that point. It made me want to scream, “Say the truth dammit!”, but if I were in their place, I'd probably do the same thing, and honestly believe I did the right thing. It's like sitting and watching your earphones get entangled, as the movie complicates right in front of your eyes. No one is wrong, and no one is right.

The movie pushes you against a corner and dares you to make up your mind about the happenings and defend it if you could. You see reason behind decisions made by every single character. One more thing I noticed was how the movie puts kids in really hard places and asks them to make pretty tough choices. The unpredictability of the movie is overwhelming; with every passing scene, new revelations come up making you question everything you believed in till that point. If you pay close attention, you can actually try and put the pieces of the puzzle together, as in trying to find who did what.

The ensemble cast's performance is brilliant. The entire look of the movie is so natural, it feels as if you're watching a family through a hidden camera. The characters are brutally real and it has one of the greatest screenplays. It is heartbreaking and hard hitting at the same time when it talks about truth, religion, morality, pride etc. It is truly Iranian in spirit, yet universal and accessible.

It subtly speaks volumes about stereotyping of people with less means by the ones who are well to do. Every few minutes, it makes you look at your own self and see who you really are. Taking into account the socio-political scenario in Iran, I suppose this must have been a very hard movie to make. It is fascinating to see characters staunchly abide by the Sharia law, the Islamic moral code, and fear the prospect of committing a sin. I may not be religious but I sincerely respect unshakable faith. 

I had the good fortune of watching this on the big screen with an audience who, I suspect, were really looking forward to watching it. There's this scene where a character punishes himself. It was such a powerful moment and the entire theater erupted with applause. The conclusion is disquieting, but most suitable, nonetheless. It makes me want to be a better person. Please watch it and ask others to do the same.