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 Chameli has been on my list of films to watch for a long time now…I just never got around to it. I finally watched it last night, and I was impressed.... | Chameli has been on my list of films to watch for a long time now…I just never got around to it. I finally watched it last night, and I was impressed. Some thoughts…
My first introduction to Kareena Kapoor was Poo in KKKG. Bad, bad, bad…she has held the title of “most overrated actress” on my profile page ever since. After watching Chameli, I’ve decided to reevaluate that. I thought Kareena was wonderful. She created a character that (as Chameli herself said) was not Chandramukhi, was not Umrao Jaan, but something else entirely. Cynical, disillusioned, crass…perhaps not completely realistic, but she came close (besides, realistic wouldn’t necessarily make for a good story). She established a facade with cackling laughter, blunt propositions, and harsh honesty, then cracked it with brief glimpses of fear, compassion, and dreams. No one is one dimensional, least of all prostitutes, and Kareena really emphasized that. The bright red lipstick comes off, the pallu is adjusted more modestly, she becomes a sister, a friend.
So far, I’ve only seen Rahul Bose in this film and 15 Park Avenue, but he’s definitely someone that I want to see more of. He’s such an understated actor…it does a lot with a little. His characters are deep and rich in complexity…his appearance, his movements, his voice, his pacing…he’s a chameleon. He reminded me a bit of Dilip Kumar in Madhumati…
The cinematography was also exquisitely beautiful and extremely creative. The constant rain, the water distortions and filters, the darkly lit set all worked together to create strangely beautiful shots. I also loved the staging of the first half of the film. It looked like a play (does anyone know…is this based on a play?). All the action took place in a rectangular area with people entering and exiting rather than the scene changing. Chameli exits the “stage” with the police officer. We KNOW what’s happening…we don’t need to see it. What isn’t seen is just as effective, if not more so, as what is. The tension in the first part of the film builds and builds…there are no breaks. It’s like water rising…slowly, deliberate, unstoppable. Chameli uses the strengths of cinema AND the strengths of theater to its advantage.
The weaknesses of the film, as others have noted, are all in the second half. The tension of the first half is diffused in a mess of excess characters, crowded scenes, and confusing, underdeveloped action. This was supposed to be the climax, but to me it just felt like excessive falling action. I knew it all had to come back to that covered walkway…the police station, the hospital, etc felt like detours…both geographically and narrativelly. Simple and understated are the strengths of the first half, but the second moves to far away. |
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1 year ago
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 While I can't say I loved AHAT as much as many of the other reviewers, I thought this was a good film and more importantly a solid film. I enjoyed... | While I can't say I loved AHAT as much as many of the other reviewers, I thought this was a good film and more importantly a solid film. I enjoyed that the writers and director took a plot that could easily have been pure fluff, and infused it with substance and meaning. I enjoyed seeing it and debating it with fellow viewers on the Bollywhat forum. I guess for me, my main criticism is that the film was made up of moments. That is to say, that throughout AHAT there were numerous wonderful scenes that touched me, that were well acted, well scripted, etc, but which didn't come together to make a fantastic movie. The phrase "he/she/it is greater than the sum of his/her/its parts" is no doubt familiar. This movie for me is the opposite--its parts are greater than its whole.
Other main pluses for me included:
Manisha Koirala--I'm normally not the biggest fan, but I thought she was excellent. She put a lot of emotion and variety into her character. She succeeded in making me love Kiran and share her pain in the first half, and then making me dislike her in the second half. That's not so easy, and it made such a difference. It’s such a treat to see such a well rounded, realistic and complex character.
The Scripting--so well done. The lines were realistic, appropriate, exciting, all around very exemplary—thus the absence of fluff.
The Kid--So gosh dang cute! |
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2 years ago
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 I have really mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, I think the filmaker's aproach to showing the everyday life of Iraqi's is commendable.... | I have really mixed feelings about this film. On the one hand, I think the filmaker's aproach to showing the everyday life of Iraqi's is commendable. Ignorant people around the world assosciate and stigmatize the Iraqi people because of the actions of insurgents and terrorists. Mike Shiley does an excellent job of showing that this stereotype is incorrect. The majority of people in Iraq are hardworking, devoted, loving people who long for safety, security and peace. Seeing their suffering was heartbreaking.
On the other hand, however, I find it upsetting that the synopsis of this film (see above) states that this documentary is free of spin and doesn't push a political pov but rather lets the camera roll. I don't know where people get the idea that cameras tell the truth. This is dangerous...it is important to ALWAYS remember that camera's have a gaze and a pov. THEY ARE NEVER OBJECTIVE. There is spin in this, there is an agenda. Recognize that and judge for yourself. Don't think of this as truth, think of it as an argument, then make up your own mind. |
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2 years ago
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I’ve recently become very interested in gender roles and social gender norms, so as soon as I saw the title of this film, I jumped on it. I wasn’t at... | I’ve recently become very interested in gender roles and social gender norms, so as soon as I saw the title of this film, I jumped on it. I wasn’t at all disappointed. First, the dancing was beautiful. The film would be well worth watching if only for that. Second, “Dance Like a Man” is just so well constructed. The director, Pamela Rooks, skillfully cuts between past and present to very subtly, and effectively make her point. One idea blends into the next, building on each other, and fleshing out themes. It all comes full circle.
I kept coming back to the opening quote of the film. “A woman in a man’s world may be considered progressive, but a man in a woman’s world is pathetic…” This line reminds me so much of a conversation with my father, a man in a career dominated by women. He told me that men in such careers tend to get pushed to management or authoritative positions, whether they want to or not (“Still a Man’s World” is a book on the subject if anyone’s interested). It as if society expects (my words not his) men in such positions to prove their masculinity by being better, more powerful, than women.
Gender is about power and about maintaining the hierarchy of power. For a man to be subordinate in a woman’s profession, as Jairaj attempts to do,…unthinkable! Despite all the struggles of Jairaj and Ratna, all the attempts to defy convention, they end up right where society wants them—living out gender roles, and utterly destroyed by them. Likewise, their daughter Latta does the same. She gives up a dance career to be a mother. “Dance Like a Man” simultaneously exposes the destructive nature of gender roles on certain individuals while simultaneously reinforcing the inescapability of them. It’s utterly heartbreaking. |
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2 years ago
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2 years ago
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2 years ago
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2 years ago
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