Movie: Papillon

Watched Papillon. What a magnificent movie! I was totally sucked into it and enjoyed every moment of this well crafted movie. I knew this was a movie about prisoners but I was expecting a world war film . I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed when I realized at the beginning that this was not a prisoner of war movie. But the disappointment soon gave way to awe and I was fully absorbed into the movie. While it was bad to see the predicament of the prisoners the setting was simply exotic. The movie takes place on a beautiful tropical island in French Guiana. Steve McQueen is the heart of the movie and gives a solid performance. Dustin Hoffman is equally good. What I liked about this movie was the grit of the characters, the feeling that I was watching one of the movies from 70s when they made big screen adventures, breathtakingly beautiful locales and the twists and turns the movie takes. I will give it a 8 on 10. I feel it surely qualifies to be called a classic.

Bill Clinton's Speech at DNC 2012

Bill Clinton is a Rock Star. His speech today was a rousing hit. People stood up frequently and for the last 20 minutes of his speech the were on their feet. 

The die hard democrats were anyway going to vote for Obama. What was not guaran

teed was the votes of the undecided and the independents. His objective today was to convert this group to votes for Obama. He did this convincingly by explaining Obama's ability to work with his Republicans as well as opponents within his own party.

He also listed Obama's achievements in simple but convincing words. He made a powerful statement when he said 'no President, not me nor any of my predecessors could have fixed the mess in 4 years". It was a good way of saying that he needs 4 more years to do the job.

He also strongly rebutted the allegations of Republicans by providing facts to prove his point. He drove home the point that Democrats have created more jobs than Republicans even though Republicans had the white house for more years.

Even 12 years after his retirement Bill Clinton talks like the most powerful politician. He is perhaps the most charismatic President we have known.

Movie: A Separation (2011, Iran)

A very nice Iranian family drama. 8 out of 10.

Last night I watched 2011 the Iranian movie 'A Separation'. It i a beautiful movie. This is my first Iranian movie and so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Iranian society is quite modern. Contrary to the perception one gets from media (at least in America) Iran is not just a country that is making a nuclear bomb and threatening world peace. As can be seen in this film, they too have trials and tribulations of ordinary decent people. This movie tells the story of a wife who is seeking separation from her husband who on the other hand does not want it. The wife walks out and goes to her mother's home. The husband and a 12 year old daughter stay back. 

The husband also has to take care of his dad who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. So he gets a helper. Without giving away the plot, after the first day he has an argument with the helper and dismisses her from employment. This leads to a complicated situation. The rest of the movie handles how these characters deal with their situations which is a trying situation for all.

The movie has excellent acting and smooth editing. The Photography captures the Iranian life in an interesting manner. The film brings out the subtle but complex phenomenon of how the human psyche can swing from the good side to the other side.

The writer cum director Asghar Farhadi should get high marks for creating a very rich and highly intricate social drama. The movie stays away from sentimentality and takes a lot of care to keep the story and situations real. There is not a frame which makes you shake your head in disapproval. 

It is a movie worth watching for people interested in world cinema. I will give it 8 out of 10.

Poem: Secret

Lost in deep thought,
I missed my way this morning, 
as I drove with my daughter. 
As we reached school
taking a longer route 
she said in a hushed voice,
"Appa let us not tell anyone,
this is our secret short-cut"

Look up

I look up at the start of the day,
it is cloudy and dull.
But only so, until I take my

first grader to her school.
Hand in hand, we walk
with other kids and parents.
In the play yard in front of the class room
Children play joyfully,
Parents are chatting too.
Then the first bell goes off,
all the kids line up,
wait with excitement,
one behind the other.
Then the second bell goes off
and out comes the wonderful teacher
and stops at the first child in the line.
With a smile she says "hello, good morning, how are you?"
The kid beams with pride and says "I am fine"
But the next one adds "How about you?"
The teacher greets each child and reaches the end of the line,
where a little girl is looking afar, lost in thought.
She smiles and puts her arm on the child's shoulder
and says "Look up.That is where you should be looking"
She points to the blue sky with cotton ball clouds and says
"You should be looking at the clouds"

Back to School Night

I attended 'Back to school night' at my 7th grade daughter's school. Back to school night which happens at the beginning of the school year. iis when parents go and sit in their child's class and listen to their teachers. For an hour and a half, each teacher kept taking classes of 10 min duration in their own classrooms. My daughter had listed the order in which I need to attend all her 7 teachers' classes. I also had a map of the school. 

At 6.15 in the evening, I attended the Life Sciences class. The teacher had 10 minutes to tell us about herself, how and what she plans to teach and what are her expectations of the students. Her motto was to get students to try stuff on their own. At the end of 10 minutes the bell rang and the teacher stopped the class. All parents hurriedly got up and went and sat in the another classroom to listen to another teacher teach World history. In this way many groups of parents kept going from class to class getting to know their child's teacher and what to expect during the new year. 

I enjoyed this experience. The thing that struck me most was the enthusiasm of the teachers. The history teacher was smiling with energy when he described a project in which the students make African masks. The Spanish teacher was standing at the door of her class and animatedly waving at parents and inviting them to her class ' Hola, espanol ,aqui' ("Hello, Spanish - here"). The Journalism teacher had plans to bring out a news paper during the semester. He wanted each student to learn how to work with others and learn how to get what they wanted from difficult team members. 

It was nice to sit in my daughter's classroom and experience the fascination of learning new things. I attended 7 classes and found out a lot about the teachers and their methodology. It was evident that for the teachers, teaching was not just a profession but it was their life's passion. It was a great event put up by the staff of the school. The fact that hundreds of parents were seen briskly going from one class to another was proof of the success of the event.

Title: A Dangerous Method
Starring: Kiera Knightly, Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fasbinder, Vincent Cassal
Directed by: David Cronenberg

Verdict: Slow paced interesting movie.
Score: 6 out of 10.

Two reasons made me watch it. I like David Cronenberg's movies and I heard about it in the critcal circles. Another reason is that it is about Freud and Jung the fathers of psychology. (Frued's theories are now debunked). There is lot of interesting discussion on psychoanalysis and dreams. The movie is well made and interesting. Viggo Mortenson plays Freud. His performance is somewhat dull. I am not a fan of Kiera Knightly's mannerisms. She looks odd. But Micheal Fasbender ('Shame') is superb as Jung. He has the charm of yesteryears. Vincent Cassel (Irreversible) gives a great performance in his small role. The film is beautifully photographed in Vienna. Cronenberg maintains a slow pace. The film is of academic interest. I think it could have been more interesting. I would give it a 6 on 10.

Trailer of A Dangerous Method