The Man in the High Castle - TV show

I am currently watching this show. It is built upon the idea of alternate parallel realities, in fact, they use the word 'multiverse'* in it.

Based on a book file Philip K Dick, it is an exploration of an alternate dystopia where Germany and Japan won World War 2 and are in a cold war like situation. The characters are well formed. The cinematography and music are exceptional. I see higher than usual rate of lingering shots, with excessive glancing. I am not a big fan of this cinematographic style especially when implemented in excess (and lacking in taste, as in the Twilight** series.) Given that it is creating a futuristic world set in the past, a rather strange concept indeed, I am inclined to accept and appreciate it. Some ideas are typical of Philip K Dick, most seen in his various works.

*Multiverse - I should look this up. I am, rather, I was, under the impression that this is a word used in the comics world alone. I did not expect its use in the TV show to describe multiple alternative parallel universes, although that is exactly what it refers to. What is the history of this word? Perhaps next time.

** I have neither seen nor plan to see the Twilight series. 

Gulaal - 2009

I re-watched Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal recently.

I vaguely kept remembering snippets from Piyush Mishra playing a very interesting Prithvi Bana. One piece where he talks about people with round spectacles.. himself, John Lennon and others as a fraternity of enlightened souls was very interesting.

The re-watch did not disappoint me.

Anurag Kashyap, whose more recent work has not lived up to my sky high expectations, clearly got everything right in this movie. The cast is very capable. The various layers of college politics, national politics, caste politics, family drama, sexual politics and what not is presented in a seamless story with a simple narrative which holds your attention till the very end. Piyush Mishra, who has written the music excels and sets new standards for himself. The use of colour is delicately handled, as opposed to the garish collages that we often see in movies set in Rajasthan.

The entire cast is good, but Abhimanyu Singh stands out in a very well cast role.

Apparently, it was not very successful commercially. Although artsy, it is very much mainstream entertainment, and I am surprised why it fared poorly.

The cast is exceptional, direction good, cinematography complementary and a very enjoyable movie.

  

Now You See Me

I watched this movie on HBO recently. It has a rather big star cast and impressive credits. A tollerable watch, some thrills but not exceptional in any way. Apparently two more sequels are being planned. It was a commercial success.

Now You See Me

A frog in my garden

Siddhartha - 1972 - Conrad Rooks

Based on the Hermann Hesse novel of the same name, Siddhartha was controversial at its time because it featured a nude scene by Simi Garewal. I watched it a few days back. Unfortunately, I have not yet read the book.

Hesse attempts to both admire and criticise the Buddhist ideal of enlightenment under a tree.

I often mock the idea of attaining enlightenment under a tree when I speak. I have time and again felt that enlightenment is a process, a journey of great distance rather than a momentary realisation. Everyone is enlightened. Everyone is on the path. Everyone has a long way to go. Some may be a little further than others but it is not of consequence as each has his own path. The path is not a straight one. Not that it is crooked but rather that it is more of a maze that a path. There may be many ways out. There may be different ways for different people.

The movie itself is good. The controversy is dated as the the nudity in present cinema is clearly more than what we see in this movie. More over it is tastefully done. I think, the controversy was perhaps because of the poster. I do not know if the poster in the Wiki page is the one used originally, but I can see how it may cause some debate. Certainly not gratuitous, but the nude scene, perhaps, is not essential to the movie.

The movie is set in the time of the Buddha. The lead characters live in the context of buddhism, shramanism, jainism and perhaps upanisadic philosophies. There is no conflict or friction between these ideas but a natural flow of ideas. The flow itself is metaphorically represented as a river that the characters cross.

The cinematography is good but could have been better. It may have been due to budget constrains.

Visual and historical accuracy is clearly lacking. The use of bengali songs, modern chants, modern clothes as distracting to an informed viewer but do not affect the underlying message.

The actors do a good job. The direction is also impressive. The movie was a extensively restored in the 90's. Although it was distributed in the west I an unaware if it was ever commercially released in India.