REVISITING CLASSICS-1

-



One of the things that the lock down did offer to me was revisiting classics across genres, language and cinema of the world too. This might be an opportune time to write piece by piece. I may have watched these classics at least 10-12 times earlier and every time one gets to see it; there is a new way to look at the movie. We start the week with a classic Spielberg; SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (SPR). Released in 1998,  to me it has to be one of the best war films. There are many war films that may come close and some may even dispute the claim that there is a Full Metal Jacket or Apocalypse Now or Platoon or Deer Hunter or Pan's Labyrinth which could be ranked better. But to me SPR still has too be the definite movie on war and why so?

The movie starts with the classic Normandy landing and then veers into a sequence where war becomes a backdrop. A dedicated set of 8 men will have to scourge through platoons to look for Private Ryan after orders comes right from the top about finding him come what may. Private Ryan's all the other four brothers were found to have been killed in the war and it was pertinent to find him and get him back to his estranged mother. The war as a backdrop plays pivot to the rest of sequence and at the end when our antagonist is found; the war suddenly looks so desolate and inconsequential in its servitude. The film opens at the Normandy Cemetery and takes us back to flashback of the Normandy landing and eventually sets the tone for the rest of the action. 

Spielberg sets the tone of the film and the characters in the first 10-15 minutes; from Captain Miller (A brilliant Tom Hanks) and the entire commandant landing on the Normandy beaches in one of the classic scenes shot over a month. The brilliance of SPR is in the setting of the context so early in the film and it was all so important in a scale so mammoth as the Normandy landing and WW2. For Americans and American history Normandy landing is an important part of their history and the narrative of the war that got changed thereafter. The film had to create a moment out of the event that plays on. As the 8 men set out to look for Private Ryan through their eyes and experiences one gets to see the side of the war which has always remained dark, disturbing and often tests human endurance. The scene where their medic, Wade (played exceptionally by Giovanni Ribisi) is shot and is dying in the arms of the 6 remaining men, captures the ethos of the war and acts as a conscience keeper for all except their Captain, Miller; who knows inspite of all this they need to find Ryan. In the end when they find the right Ryan, even Ryan believes that even though his remaining brothers are killed; yet he has to save his post and cannot afford to leave his platoon behind. And perhaps that is rhetorical for Captain Miller too, who all along was playing to the rule book. In the entirety of it, perhaps Upham (Jeremy Davies) always stood out and was the devils advocate questioning the edifice of a war. 

There are numerous moments that make SPR an iconic film. The detailing in the scenes, the screenplay (imagine there was none in the Normandy landing sequence though), the storyline and most of all the characters stand out in a film which is hailed in AFH annals as one of the best war films. 

For film aficionado SPR needs multiple viewing and it cannot do justice by watching once or even twice. My favourite scene remains the opening sequence of Normandy landing and the last where Miller is dying and whispers into Private Ryan's ear; "you have earned it". And rightly so; because amongst the 8 in the search party only one survives (Private First Class Reiben) and he was the most critical of the lot.

SPR is available on both Prime and NETFLIX.  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dhoom 3: Overrated, Over-hyped, and an over the top Aamir Khan

-
Image
Coming back to writing a piece after a very long time. I think about 3 months. Unfortunately, there was not a single film worth mention that released between now and September that is worth a shot. For that matter there is nothing in 2013 that is actually worth a mention. There were so MANY films and so much of hype and so much of marketing built around these films, but each one was a disappointment and perhaps a bigger one preceding the other. We come to that in a recap of 2013, probably as a next piece. But for now, it is Dhoom 3. What to write? What to say? Frame after frame it is Aamir Khan and not one but two, did I give out the suspense? Well nothing much in giving it away, as there is nothing at stake in the movie to give it away. YRF, Vijay Krishna Acharya, and everybody involved in the process of making the movie seems more enamored than anything else with the lead star. Makes you feel bad for Jai Dikshit and Ali. And as luck would have it, the only parts of the movie wh
Read more

Ramu Kaka, the family Physician, Kheer, Silk Gown et al...

-
Image
  Cinema is a medium to convey a message; message which are verbal or visual based. It has the power to alter narrative or perhaps the discourse too. In the 50's 60's and even more pronounced in the 70's and 80's film stars commanded a huge influence on the audience. Hair style, clothes and accessories were copied by audience blindly. The Sadhana Cut became a famous hairstyle or the bouffant of Asha Parekh or the Sharmila Tagore style eye liners; even the men folk were not left behind. The ear hiding hairstyle of Amitabh Bachchan or the bell bottom or the unbuttoned shirt (only the first 2-3 buttons) went on to be cult classics. But, this rage was/is actually a global phenomena. It happened across the world and it still continues to create a sense of dystopian world which audience are more than happy to lap up.  In more recent times, two Hindi films, Dil Chahta Hai and later Zindagi Na Mile Dobara went on to change the way how youth looked at lifestyle and travel. Infac
Read more

Buno Haansh: If you have read the story, don't go

-
Image
Like I said in the title, if you have the read the original, which I think came out in the last or last to last year, Sharodiya Shonkha, do not watch the film as it is a complete let down. But if you have not read the original by Samaresh Majumdar, the movie is worth a dekko. The way different characters starting from the protagonist Amal to the characters, Shohag, Rijula and even all sundry characters develop are no where close to the original. What further adds to the agony, the climax scene which has been altered keeping Dev's image into account, which is unfortunate. The film to put it simply lacks the desired drama and the suspense, which if one has read the book will understand. It looks like a narration currently and there are moments where the film falls in a trap of trying to do justice to the book and the creative license it wants to use. Perhaps, this trap always remain when one tries to adapt a story or a classic novel into a cinema format. Some of the classic n
Read more