Change Your Image
aktech
Reviews
Kohraa (1964)
A total rip-off of Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940)
But having said that - the cast here does a wonderful job of remaking the atmosphere that makes "Rebecca" an awesome movie. Waheeda Rehman is convincing as a newly-wed bride driven paranoid by the housekeeper (Lalita Pawar) and the mysterious specter of her husband's first wife...a thriller faithfully remade for the Hindi-speaking audience.
The overall cinematography is quite good. Most of the songs serve no purpose except for "Jhoom Jhoom..." which sounds quite appropriate as the recurring theme for the mysterious events occurring in the film. Lalita Pawar does an excellent job as the menacing housekeeper (Dai Maa) and is genuinely scary.
Biswajeet is the only weak point of the movie - but his role is existent for cosmetic purposes only - so much cannot be expected from him.
Overall, a good movie - but do not watch it at night!
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966)
Panache - redefined
This movie has style - in a very elemental way - so to speak. You get an idea of the deadly, dreary desert, the deadlier bounty hunters and the deadliest of 'em all - Clint Eastwood - the man with no name! The story is a simple one to follow and is brilliantly executed by Sergio Leone using just the right landscapes along with some pretty good sets too (like the one featuring the Civil War sequence). Some of the scenes were meant to be symbolic (especially the Civil War scenes) and they did their job well.
Eli Wallach is simply superb with his "Blondieeee!!!" screams and curses. Lee Van Cleef seems as deadly as the great Eastwood himself as "The Bad" guy.
Cinematography - not as continuous as one would like - but manages to convey the tension in the dueling scenes very effectively.
Also, the music - Ennio Morricone at his best! He has dished out some very innovative and brilliant stuff for all the three "great" westerns and this along with "For a Few Dollars More" seems to be his best.
Finally, the style! Sergio Leone can certainly teach a thing or two to Quentin Tarantino or The Wachowski Brothers - in fact Tarantino acknowledges Leone's great style. And then the epitome of style himself - Clint Eastwood - with a half-burnt cigar in his lips, unshaven face, tilted hat, ragged jeans, a worn out poncho and the sharpest scowl ever which can rub out any "Neo-with-million-dollar-goggles" off the face of the Earth.
Not genre-defining, surely - it was invented by Hollywood. But somebody from Europe really showed the world how to make westerns.
Instinct (1999)
Reveals a truth we all deny
Superficially, this movie might seem like a "Save the Nature" sort of movie. But it is not one. In fact, it hints more at saving humans from the clutches of civilization.
Its storyline is simple and highly effective. And the portrayal of the characters is just about perfect, though the jungle scenes have been a bit overdone.
What I really liked about this movie was the fact that though it displayed the natural beauty of the forests and the animals, it was also able to convey the feeling that how much we really do want to get out of the rut and feel free and one with nature. We live all our lives pretending to be alive and don't realize that till we die. This movie inspires us to experience reality and recognize the worthlessness of our pretensions.
And it raises another question very well. We humans take acceptance by other species as granted. Is that really true? Or are we just fooling ourselves?
Coming to the movie itself, the performances by Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr. are excellent. In fact, after watching this movie, I couldn't have imagined anyone else in their roles. The satirical and contemptuous look in Dr. Powell's (Hopkins) eyes and the questioning and awed look in Cuba Gooding Jr.'s are, in my view, exactly what the writer of this story might have imagined for its characters.
The side cast is also quite good. The background score is very appealing and does a good job in making the film powerful.
All in all, a very good movie and, as mentioned by another user, a film well ahead of its time.