Call Register is a British short film made in 2004. The film starts at the point where Kevin, played by Martin Freeman, is planning to call a girl- whom he met in a party-for a date. He uses his buddy Julian’s cell to call because Kevin wants to play safe. Julian’s cell recognizes the number as Amanda’s number and Amanda happens to be Julian’s old flame with whom he had broken up and Kevin didn’t know that! From here on starts the plot building, back and forth phone calls among all three characters. The film might seem predictable towards the end, but twist in the tale is not the point here. The film scores primarily on the brilliantly written dialogues and on the wonderful performance of Martin Freeman. Especially towards the end, when Kevin wrongly smells victory, his gloating is extremely funny and real. The film is about how one seemingly trivial decision- in this case deciding to call from a friend’s cell -could seal the fate of one party and rekindle an old relationship of another. Or perhaps this wrong call was just an excuse, and sooner or later things would have gone that way in any case. Perhaps the wrong call was a blessing in disguise for Kevin, even though he doesn’t realize it now.
The short also proves once again that if the story, the acting and the dialogues are really good, the whole film could be shot in one room with great results!!
Our Time is Up is a very clever short film. What I found really interesting in this short was that even after the main character encounters the tragic news, and the story shifts entirely, the tone of the film remained the same till the end. Also, notice that how well this short demonstrates the character arc for each character in the film. Not only the doc, but every single character in the film changes. The central theme of the story, that how impending death can change an emotionally cold person, was not really very novel for me. But, the short still worked for me because of the way the story was told. Each of doc’s patients was an interesting character and I think the dialogues were crisp, very funny and insightful. The production standards and the lighting enhanced the tone of the film. I have always believed that good films are about few moments which work so well that they always stay with you. In this short, the Asian girl’s predictament about how to wash the soap which washes the main soap to remove bacteria was one of those moments for me.
Sacha Baron Cohen is one person whose company, I suspect, most people wont enjoy much; especially when he is masquerading as Borat, an uncouth Kazakh or Bruno, an aggressive Austrian gay fashion designer. He manages to insult every group he could: gay and straight, black and white, Kazakhs and Americans, Jews and Christian evangelists, New-yorkers and Southerns, celebrities and middle America, stage parents and terrorists. But even after he insults us so much, I still believe we really need him. Not just because he is supremely talented- perhaps the best comedian of our times- but more because we do need somebody really courageous who pushes all limits and holds a mirror for us to see our not so beautiful face.
The 10 minute short film below, ‘The Lunch Date‘, is one of the most profound, clever, amusing and humane films I’ve ever seen. The film, directed by Adam Davidson, went on to become a worldwide success after it was made in 1989. In 1990, it won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for best short film, and, in 1991, an Oscar for Best Short Film. The film explores prejudices and racial tension through a chance encounter between an old white woman and a black man.
“We’re living in a period where cinema is a product; movies are becoming more and more commercialized. Short films are one of the last real places for artistic freedom—they’re important to celebrate just for that.”—Juan Solanas
Six Shooter is one of the short films from the collection Cinema16: European Short Films, a DVD of quality short films. The film won an Oscar in the year 2006 under Live Action Short Film category. I think the film is brilliant. This short is also available free on you tube. Since my review after the videos below is more like an analysis of the film rather than a proper review, I suggest that you first watch the film below before you read my review. The film is little over 25 minutes, so watch it only if you can spare that much time or perhaps you can also watch the film in intervals.
As if it was not enough for Farhan Akhtar, the director, to charm us with his cool films, he has now also donned a role of an actor with films such as Rock On and Luck By Chance. I didnt like Rock On much; I thought that even though the film was well made, it was quite predictable and safe in the end. Luck by Chance, however, I found very rich and well crafted. The mind behind Luck By Chance,Zoya Akhtar, goes introspective by turning the cameras on the industry she has grown up in (Zoya is the daughter of legendary writer/lyricist Javed Akhtar & the talented screenwriter Honey Irani & she is also the sister of Farhan Akhtar) and in the process tells us a story set in a world where destiny, talent, egos and little chances all converge to make or break people.
Coen Brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy teases you. The film teases because you cannot decide when Coens are serious and when they are spoofing. If you start taking the film or it’s characters seriously, you might realize that you, just like the main character Norville in the film, are being taken for a big ride by the Coens; and if you relax and treat it as a spoof, soon you start getting this uncomfortable feeling that you are missing many layers beneath the ‘dont take me seriously’ narrative. Actually, Coens, as is their wont, are doing both. It’s your prerogative what you prefer to see in the movie.
Since some years now, Bollywood, along with it’s usual masala fare, has been also churning out some decent low budget films; films which dont have big stars but which are well scripted, realistic and reasonably entertaining too. I guess Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! comes under that category.
Revolutionary Road is a very important film. It’s about dreams awakened by reality. Director Sam Mendes, of American Beauty fame, jolts you out from your daydreams, painfully reminding that how, for most people, dreams remain just dreams! Or is it really? I mean it could also be that those dreams are not really solid dreams but mere fantasies to deny the everyday humdrum existence of life. Let’s see…
Billu Barber is a story of an extremely ordinary life led by an extraordinary man. Everybody else around this man Billu (his family, friends, other village folk) want much more from life than what life can ever give them. But, Billu is like a Buddha in this modern world; in complete harmony with both his inner and outer world. Yes, on surface, he looks and acts very ordinary; struggling to make ends meet, bluffing his way to get around paying his kids’ school fees, not always friendly with people and so on. But, that’s deceptive. In reality, he is living his life as perfectly as it’s possible in the circumstances he is in, circumstances which are extremely harsh to say the least. He successfully goes through his tough life with the help of his extreme wit and intelligence. He jokes away harsh realities of his everyday life and also has the intelligence to see through the guile of some people around him (for ex, he politely refuses to borrow any money from the conceited landlord). He hasn’t given up on life and will prefer people making fun of his problems rather than sympathizing with him.
On another end of the story’s spectrum is Sahir Khan, a film superstar, who is living the most extraordinary life possible; life of extreme wealth, fame and power. On surface, he is calm & composed and handling his success and fame pretty well. But deep inside, he feels very uncomfortable because he knows somewhere that he has been just extremely lucky to be in that position. So, to undo that discomfort in him, he tries to give back to the world as much as it’s possible. He is very similar to Billu in the sense that both go through their very different lives with same wit and abandon.
