adam_ahmad

Anything remotely foreign, different and comparatively simple must always be hailed by the esteemed crtics as bright, intelligent and noteworthy. This is the most basic rule of thumb which the film communities practice today. Many of you reading this must definitely realise this.

I'm going to carry out a very basic comparison between 2 Oscar nominated movies i.e. Chocolat and Gladiator.

Chocolat - A look into the human weakness of stereotyping people (apart from lusting over gooey chocolate, of course) who are different and unique. Using religion and ridiculously high standards of morality to stamp out an alleged evil from the good, wholesome townsfolk during the festival of Lent. As all or most of you already know, the alleged evil is represented by none other than Binoche, accompaniedby her adorable, sinless little Anouk. The latter sounds like it came right out of some Star Wars-ET like I-love-cute-Aliens flick. The other notable characters are Judi Dench, a displaced diabetic granny whose daughter (Carrie Ann Moss) has forbidden any contact whatsoever between her son and granny, Lena olin, a battered wife who seeks refuge in the wicker sanctuary run by you know who, Alfred Molina, the over-zealous and sanctimonious mayor and of course, Johnny "21 Jump Street" Depp, the drifting Irish gypsy. To cut a long-story short, everybody realises after a number of morally questinoable events (arson on a gypsy boat, a zealot's face covered in "cacao", the death of a 70+ year old diabetic whose grandson has immortalised her in a portrtait and has the uncanny ability to stick spoons to his nose) that the human soul must be entitled to enjoy the harmless fruits of life, to appreciate God's beauty and gifts. Goodness comes out of the deeds of people and not their staunch abstinence. We must never misunderstand people for their uniqueness. At the end of the film, it feels like we've sat through a sermon of sorts albeit with some tasteful, foreign, mouthwatering humour. Sounds terribly exciting doesn't it?

Now consider Gladiator - Russel Crowe, a Roman General (Maximus) who once commanded legions for his emperor, a man who fought and won ancient barbaric battles, suddenly suffers betrayal by the son (none other than Joaquin Phoenix) of the late caesar (Richard Harris). Joaquin then orders the slaughter of Maximus, his wife and their son. Maximus escapes, discovers his dead wife and son, and swears revenge. On his quest, he meets a courageous back slave (Djimon Hounsou) and Proximo, the once gladiator turned rich trader in flesh (the late Oliver Reed). Maximus is then sold into Proximo's school of Gladiators where he stuns everyone with his combat and leadership skills. Then come the gladiatorial fights in various arenas, followed dramatically by the Collisseum, before all of Rome's ancient decadent splendour. A romance takes place between Maximus and the reigning caesar's sister (Connie Nielsen) and this leads to her aiding his escape. His escape foiled by the caesar, he is now destined to face the evil emperor in the arena as a gladiator forced to fight for justice despite suffering a lethal stab. No lessons, no morals, no simplistic comedy. Just drama, edge of your seat excitement, great sets, wonderful cinematography, great scoring and of course, passionate performances from a talented cast.

And the movie you would choose is.............

Anything remotely foreign, different and comparatively simple must always be hailed by the esteemed crtics as bright, intelligent and noteworthy. This is the most basic rule of thumb which the film communities practice today. Many of you reading this must definitely realise this.

I'm going to carry out a very basic comparison between 2 Oscar nominated movies i.e. Chocolat and Gladiator.

Chocolat - A look into the human weakness of stereotyping people (apart from lusting over gooey chocolate, of course) who are different and unique. Using religion and ridiculously high standards of morality to stamp out an alleged evil from the good, wholesome townsfolk during the festival of Lent. As all or most of you already know, the alleged evil is represented by none other than Binoche, accompanied by her adorable, sinless little Anouk. The latter sounds like it came right out of some Star Wars-ET like I-love-cute-Aliens flick. The other notable characters are Judi Dench, a displaced diabetic granny whose daughter (Carrie Ann Moss) has forbidden any contact whatsoever between her son and granny, Lena Olin, a battered wife who seeks refuge in the wicker sanctuary run by you know who, Alfred Molina, the over-zealous and sanctimonious mayor and of course, Johnny "21 Jump Street" Depp, the drifting Irish gypsy. To cut a long-story short, everybody realises after a number of morally questionable events (arson on a gypsy boat, a zealot's face covered in "cacao", the death of a 70+ year old diabetic whose grandson has immortalised her in a portrtait and has the uncanny ability to stick spoons to his nose) that the human soul must be entitled to enjoy the harmless fruits of life, to appreciate God's beauty and gifts. Goodness comes out of the deeds of people and not their staunch abstinence. We must never misunderstand people for their uniqueness. At the end of the film, it feels like we've sat through a sermon of sorts albeit with some tasteful, foreign, mouthwatering humour. Sounds terribly exciting doesn't it?

Now consider Gladiator - Russel Crowe, a Roman General (Maximus) who once commanded legions for his emperor, a man who fought and won ancient barbaric battles, suddenly suffers betrayal by the son (none other than Joaquin Phoenix) of the late caesar (Richard Harris). Joaquin then orders the slaughter of Maximus, his wife and their son. Maximus escapes, discovers his dead wife and son, and swears revenge. On his quest, he meets a courageous back slave (Djimon Hounsou) and Proximo, the once gladiator turned rich trader in flesh (the late Oliver Reed). Maximus is then sold into Proximo's school of Gladiators where he stuns everyone with his combat and leadership skills. Then come the gladiatorial fights in various arenas, followed dramatically by the Collisseum, before all of Rome's ancient decadent splendour. A romance takes place between Maximus and the reigning caesar's sister (Connie Nielsen) and this leads to her aiding his escape. His escape foiled by the caesar, he is now destined to face the evil emperor in the arena as a gladiator forced to fight for justice despite suffering a lethal stab. No lessons, no morals, no simplistic comedy. Just drama, edge of your seat excitement, great sets, wonderful cinematography, great scoring and of course, passionate performances from a talented cast.

And the movie you would choose is.............

I first viewed this film in England and I was blown away by its awesome use of slow motion shooting scenes and violent imagery. Admittedly, I and a lot others who have seen this picture are not experts on Yakuza violence. Being ordinary law abiding citizens, we wouldn't really know what exactly represents true scenes of mob violence, would we? However, we may be able to visualize how such images might be like given the literature and news which we are frequently exposed to. The action in the movie and its consequences are very believable given the true life accounts we have read about, seen or even heard. The character Beat portrays is after all a quiet yet serious individual whose loyalties are unwavering and who would do anything to perpetuate survival. Those who have watched the film will however, discover the great irony of this need to perpetuate survival, at the film's tragic yet liberating ending.

There is also a very touching love story between the unfortunate cop and his ailing wife. As a sub-plot, this love story is engaging as Beat hardly utters a word to his obviously devoted wife and then suddenly takes her on a vacation at a very quiet and scenic Japanese destination. The cinematography and colours during this part of the film are magnificent. While the couple are finally living their lives, Beat receives an unexpected visit from his Yakuza creditors who are all efficiently disposed of in Beat's usual merciless style. Those with some sense of humour would no doubt appreciate the manner in which Beat transforms a car into a police vehicle which he subsequently uses to perform a bank robbery. The robbery scene is itself a farce of what is normally portrayed by mainstream film makers. The movie would preferably have to be watched more than once in order for its understatedness to be fully understood.

Yet another feature of the film that had me gobsmacked was its soundtrack. The music is unnervingly sad and stirring with brief infusions of excitement depicting the more passionate moments shared between "Beat" the husband, and his wife. These passionate moments are then quickly superseded by the despair which dominates the rest of the film's already surreal ambience. This has undoubtedly got to be Beat's finest moment to date and must be watched by all those who pride themselves as being true afficionados of cinema.

Truly a landmark in film making and a fine reason not to spend good hard-earned money on Hollywood (and especially Bollywood)insults.