Monday, March 27, 2006
Anger Hibernation
Why isn't there a medicine that can induce hibernation (or some ways of slowing down a person, by voice/movement) when the person gets angry? 90% of the human induced 'disasters' would not happen then. The "count 1-10 before you act" is a good self heal solution, but someone or something needs to induce that act.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Easy Words
"She asked the driver to park under the gulmohar tree and waited at the portico. Silence and jasmine petals fallen off young girls' hairdos, lay embraced on the steps that lead to the verandah. The evening sun and the shadows gave finishing touches to her face" *
Divine. The writer may be a sheer romantic here, but I have no other words to describe Padmarajan's work. I have not read anything as poetic a prose as above, including works of Sylvia Plath. If Plath and Eliot (primarly poets, which Padmarajan is not) were highly imaginative in expression, they were not as simple. It is like classical music vs light music. Mass appeal, but still pure.
There was a lot of 'pop' in Padmarajan's creations which was ideal for films. And was eventually used by filmmakers. He wrote 36 scripts in 15 years (and directed 18 of them). Almost as fast as Fassbinder. But not all classics, nor did they have innovative cinematic techniques. But they all had a compelling feature - simple poetic story telling. In my opinion, truly, art for the masses.
I have tried narrating some of his films to people who weren't really aware of the social/regional contexts. But the fact that they absorbed it completely is a sign of 'universality' of his themes.
As I said earlier, I haven't read anything like that before or after Padmarajan (He died at 45 in 1991 during the screening of his 18th film). It would be nearly impossible to write like Padmarajan. The casualness and lightness of his writing is the most moving and the most difficult to achieve. As they say, "It is easy to be difficult. But difficult to be easy"
* Nakshathrangale Kaaval, 1971.
Divine. The writer may be a sheer romantic here, but I have no other words to describe Padmarajan's work. I have not read anything as poetic a prose as above, including works of Sylvia Plath. If Plath and Eliot (primarly poets, which Padmarajan is not) were highly imaginative in expression, they were not as simple. It is like classical music vs light music. Mass appeal, but still pure.
There was a lot of 'pop' in Padmarajan's creations which was ideal for films. And was eventually used by filmmakers. He wrote 36 scripts in 15 years (and directed 18 of them). Almost as fast as Fassbinder. But not all classics, nor did they have innovative cinematic techniques. But they all had a compelling feature - simple poetic story telling. In my opinion, truly, art for the masses.
I have tried narrating some of his films to people who weren't really aware of the social/regional contexts. But the fact that they absorbed it completely is a sign of 'universality' of his themes.
As I said earlier, I haven't read anything like that before or after Padmarajan (He died at 45 in 1991 during the screening of his 18th film). It would be nearly impossible to write like Padmarajan. The casualness and lightness of his writing is the most moving and the most difficult to achieve. As they say, "It is easy to be difficult. But difficult to be easy"
* Nakshathrangale Kaaval, 1971.
Mother Sitting
My sister is having a baby, and I am in Kerala. And I am to stay home as my BIL will have to take leave from work later. Now, the rule is that I am not allowed to go farther than 15 minutes away from home. So I am kind of finishing all the small stuff that I never had time for earlier. Such as reading old novels, scripts, catching up on Mallu movies of the last 2-3 years, migrating the tsunami response project to wordpress and eating!! I will write about some, soon. (The wait is still on. The baby is expected today. Fingers crossed. God bless.)
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Hits and Misses
Crash winning a few including the best picture. I didn't expect it, as academy prefers 'sagas' than stories. For me Brokeback wasn't a great movie. For example, replace one guy with a girl and the movie becomes pretty ordinary. Success of storytelling is in making you want to watch the movie over and over again, Brokeback definitely doesn't fall into that category. But with Crash, I can watch it 10 times in a row. But I still didn't expect it to win the best picture. And Crash also got the best screenplay. Like Sideways, I love an underdog winning.
But for a few disappointments -- Matt not winning for Crash, or Felicity not getting the best actress for Transamerica being the top ones -- everything went as expected. All special effects & sounds to King Kong, Camera & Art to Geisha. Hoffman's speech as Best actor was stupid, and Resse was so silly and childish. The best speech was by the guys who made March of the Penguins, and Director of Tsotsi, best foreign language film.
I am disappointed that Felicity didn't win the best actress. I had predicted that though Felicity should, the one thing that could go against her is that it was a woman who played the role of woman trapped in a male body. But looking at the other nominees I was fairly sure that she would. Resse of all the people?? Come on.
One thing I always wanted to ask -- What did George Clooney do in Syrianna to win the best supporting actor? Yes, his facial expressions when his nails were being plucked out were good - LOL - but seriously, did I miss something in that movie that made him win the Oscar and the Globe? I am disappointed that Matt didn't win for Crash, but I am more disappointed that Clooney won.
Another disappointment (little too old to mention) was that Begin the Beguine didn't even get a nomination for best song (and they nominated only 3 songs this year). I thought Sheryl Crow was outstanding in that song. And who wins it? 3-6 Mafia for a rap song. Ha, give me a break. Dont they have an exclusive category at the Grammy's?
But for a few disappointments -- Matt not winning for Crash, or Felicity not getting the best actress for Transamerica being the top ones -- everything went as expected. All special effects & sounds to King Kong, Camera & Art to Geisha. Hoffman's speech as Best actor was stupid, and Resse was so silly and childish. The best speech was by the guys who made March of the Penguins, and Director of Tsotsi, best foreign language film.
I am disappointed that Felicity didn't win the best actress. I had predicted that though Felicity should, the one thing that could go against her is that it was a woman who played the role of woman trapped in a male body. But looking at the other nominees I was fairly sure that she would. Resse of all the people?? Come on.
One thing I always wanted to ask -- What did George Clooney do in Syrianna to win the best supporting actor? Yes, his facial expressions when his nails were being plucked out were good - LOL - but seriously, did I miss something in that movie that made him win the Oscar and the Globe? I am disappointed that Matt didn't win for Crash, but I am more disappointed that Clooney won.
Another disappointment (little too old to mention) was that Begin the Beguine didn't even get a nomination for best song (and they nominated only 3 songs this year). I thought Sheryl Crow was outstanding in that song. And who wins it? 3-6 Mafia for a rap song. Ha, give me a break. Dont they have an exclusive category at the Grammy's?
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