‘The Lives of Others” a German film written and directed by first timer Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck,gives us a srartling and satisfying perspective of humanism through the eyes of a Stasi captain(secret service of communist East Germany) in the early 90’s before the fall of Berlin Wall. The film is indeed crafted in a masterpiece way depicting a way where two men touch each other’s lives without ever meeting or sharing a word. This is not a story that depicts the oppressiveness or the truants of Communist East Germany in 80s but a story which makes us realize that even imperfect human beings (counting all of us) can sometime make themselves listen from their heart and make choices or decisions that will make them dwell among others ,as well as themselves ,to live their lives.
The film begins in a school or college, where a Stasi expert( Ulrich) was shown teaching to the students about different ways of interrogation – what to ask, how to ask etc. In no time, at the behest of Minister Bruno Hemp, Gerd Weisler( Ulrich) has been charged with a new assignment, to monitor the life of a famous playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend Christa-Maria , who has become an object of obsession for a senior government official(Hemp), even though the couple have a spotless record of obedience and compliance. So Weisler and his crew sets up, installing the necessary network bugging Georg’s apartment hoping to capture Georg doing something “subversive,” and to ultimately bring an end to the playwright’s work and freedom.
But the unthinkable happens, Weisler comes to know how conflicted Georg feels torn between politics and career . Weisler soon finds out that the real reason why Dreyman is being spied on is that the minister Hempf ,was totally infatuated with Georg’s girlfriend, which destroys his motivation .. Eventually he becomes consumed by their lives, falls into kind of love with the actress . Wiesler hears the way Dreyman fights to help his close friend – a theatrical director – get off the government’s black-list and back to work, and how that director’s eventual suicide leads Dreyman to break his silence and submit a political essay to a western publication.
And in a moving sequence of events, Wiesler's empathy for the writer and his girlfriend has grown over time, and starts editing his reports to cover their tracks, coming to the decision to risk his life in protecting theirs.
This isn’t the only story. “ The Lives of Others “ is also a story about a couple with secrets, too heavy to bear for themselves. It’s a story of how fragile humans are, how susceptible are they to fear ,their capacity for compassion and change. But , at the end, von Donnersm succeeded in bringing us a moment of boundless joy from a story which takes place in a joyless world.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thursday, October 4, 2007
the kite runner by khalid hoseini
Amazing novel, excellent effort ... don’t know where to start ,but onus to Khalid Hoseini for his first novel ‘The Kite Runner” where he has shown devastating truth about the universal aspect of life: family, love, respect, friendship, disloyalty and war.
A timely novel set in the background of Afghanistan’s turbulent history. It is weaven away in such sort that it compels you to cry while you are reading the book. You really feel like thinking is this the way I am leading my life? Living in the Afghanistan in the 1960s ,young Amir (the protagonist) was constantly yearning for the love from his widowed father ,but was at the same time enjoying his privilege of material comfort, luxury of learning and a playmate in the form of Hassan ,a hazara. Despite their social flux ,Amir and Hassan enjoyed their friendship in such a way that though Amir was deceitful of his servant friend Hassan, by taunting him in those story sessions under the pomegranate tree beyond those cemetries, Hassan ever remain faithful that he was even prepared to eat dirt for his friendship. Their friendship really came to a litmus test on that fateful afternoon of 1975 when Amir’s cowardly failure to defend his friend left him with guilt and causes great rift among themselves, that the scar doesn’t heal Amir even after twenty years. Russian soldiers invade Afghanistan and Amir and his father had to seek political asylum in America. There he discovered his two loves: literature and Soorya ,his jaan.
After living 15 years in America, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, and flies to Pakistan to meet him . From Rahim Khan ,he learns shocking truths about his father and Hassan. There he finds and opportunity to amend his guilt by going back to Afghanistan and rescue Hassan’s son Sohrab from an orphanage.
What’s so conspicuous about this novel is its language, there is no display of writing but only expressions and expressions. Hoseini has achieved in winning our hearts by expressing Amir’s determination to atone his youthful cowardice, which is quite dramatic but then it is worth.
I am moved , and it made me to tears when on the later part of the story , Hassan mentions about the pomegranate tree where they had spend hours of playing and reading as “ the tree hasn’t borne fruit in years”. Such a culvinism taste, Hoseini has brought its magnificience in my eyes when I read this book. And not to forget, the pluralism Hoseini had inscribed in the story on both the beginning and in the end. The novel begins with Amir’s memory where Hassan is running after the kite for him , and the novel ends with Amir running for Hassan’s son Sohrab, as he begins a new life in America. Hoseini has perfectly shown that human’s capacity of kindness is forgiveness.
This is a real masterpiece, and I recommend everyone to read. On literary circle , it has its own essence . 3rd highest selling book in 2005 in the whole of Northern America ( more than 3 million prints), 120 weeks in NewYork bestselling chart, printed in 38 languages worldwide, soon going to be a major motion movie......... what makes you stopping to read this novel. Go , get yourself a copy and entertain yourself in its simplicity .
A timely novel set in the background of Afghanistan’s turbulent history. It is weaven away in such sort that it compels you to cry while you are reading the book. You really feel like thinking is this the way I am leading my life? Living in the Afghanistan in the 1960s ,young Amir (the protagonist) was constantly yearning for the love from his widowed father ,but was at the same time enjoying his privilege of material comfort, luxury of learning and a playmate in the form of Hassan ,a hazara. Despite their social flux ,Amir and Hassan enjoyed their friendship in such a way that though Amir was deceitful of his servant friend Hassan, by taunting him in those story sessions under the pomegranate tree beyond those cemetries, Hassan ever remain faithful that he was even prepared to eat dirt for his friendship. Their friendship really came to a litmus test on that fateful afternoon of 1975 when Amir’s cowardly failure to defend his friend left him with guilt and causes great rift among themselves, that the scar doesn’t heal Amir even after twenty years. Russian soldiers invade Afghanistan and Amir and his father had to seek political asylum in America. There he discovered his two loves: literature and Soorya ,his jaan.
After living 15 years in America, Amir receives a call from Rahim Khan, and flies to Pakistan to meet him . From Rahim Khan ,he learns shocking truths about his father and Hassan. There he finds and opportunity to amend his guilt by going back to Afghanistan and rescue Hassan’s son Sohrab from an orphanage.
What’s so conspicuous about this novel is its language, there is no display of writing but only expressions and expressions. Hoseini has achieved in winning our hearts by expressing Amir’s determination to atone his youthful cowardice, which is quite dramatic but then it is worth.
I am moved , and it made me to tears when on the later part of the story , Hassan mentions about the pomegranate tree where they had spend hours of playing and reading as “ the tree hasn’t borne fruit in years”. Such a culvinism taste, Hoseini has brought its magnificience in my eyes when I read this book. And not to forget, the pluralism Hoseini had inscribed in the story on both the beginning and in the end. The novel begins with Amir’s memory where Hassan is running after the kite for him , and the novel ends with Amir running for Hassan’s son Sohrab, as he begins a new life in America. Hoseini has perfectly shown that human’s capacity of kindness is forgiveness.
This is a real masterpiece, and I recommend everyone to read. On literary circle , it has its own essence . 3rd highest selling book in 2005 in the whole of Northern America ( more than 3 million prints), 120 weeks in NewYork bestselling chart, printed in 38 languages worldwide, soon going to be a major motion movie......... what makes you stopping to read this novel. Go , get yourself a copy and entertain yourself in its simplicity .
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
"The Departed " Movie Review
The movie is a violent crime drama about a local mafia crime boss, and an undercover agent trying to bring him down, and a dirty detective. What makes this film so good is its absolute superb delivery of its material. The dramatic tension builds, then releases, and then builds and releases, and there really is never a dull moment. The movie seamlessly flows from one confrontation to another, one suspense building scene to another. "The Departed" is a tough movie with tough characters, and it looks it.
The Departed is a hard, visceral work, as unsentimental and shocking as anything the director has done. Adapted from the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, “The Departed” features an intricate plot, an epic scope and a cracking-good cast that includes prickly supporting turns from Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg and Ray Winstone besides the admirable ensembles of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, a Boston mob boss who's the target of a state police investigation into organized crime. He hand-picks young Colin Sullivan (Damon) at an early age to mentor then slip into the ranks of the state police. Colin swiftly rises through the ranks to a spot in the Special Investigation Unit, whose main focus is to take down Frank Costello.
Meanwhile, another police rookie, Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), is asked by two powerful men in that unit -- the caustic Sgt. Dignam (Wahlberg) and his level-headed superior Capt. Queenan (Martin Sheen) -- to live down to his reputation of a street hothead a cadet with family ties to several criminal bottom feeders. This makes Costigan ideal as an undercover mole. So there's a rat on the force, and there's a rat in the gang, and lies lead them both through a maze of deadly consequences. DiCaprio's performance here is perhaps more impressive than Nicholson's, given that we already know how well Jack pulls these roles off. I've never seen DiCaprio convey such intensity on screen. As his character passes through a complex range of emotions, from rage, to paranoia, to despair, DiCaprio nails each one. Four cheers to him.
There was these most perfect cinematic moment in the later stages of “The Departed”. Cut off from his handlers, feeling more alone than at any other point in the movie, undercover police officer Costigan ( DiCaprio) receives a call on his mobile phone. The phone is his only real point of contact with the powers that be Capt. Queenan(Martin Sheen), and yet - under the circumstances - he knows answering it would be a bad move.On the other end of the line is corrupt cop Sullivan (Matt Damon) — the yin to Costigan's yang. While Costigan's role is to infiltrate one of Boston's most prominent criminal gangs, Sullivan's origin rests in the heart of that very same group. Sullivan knows that whoever picks up the call is the infiltrator.Neither speaks. Time stands still. The tension is astonishingly tangible; DiCaprio and Damon both sell the scene with magnificent performances, worthy of actors.
The themes of forgiveness, misplaced trust, betrayal, and greed are all present here, and the film's emotional resonance is just as strong.
"The Departed" is a ferociously entertaining film.
The Departed is a hard, visceral work, as unsentimental and shocking as anything the director has done. Adapted from the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, “The Departed” features an intricate plot, an epic scope and a cracking-good cast that includes prickly supporting turns from Alec Baldwin, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg and Ray Winstone besides the admirable ensembles of Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, a Boston mob boss who's the target of a state police investigation into organized crime. He hand-picks young Colin Sullivan (Damon) at an early age to mentor then slip into the ranks of the state police. Colin swiftly rises through the ranks to a spot in the Special Investigation Unit, whose main focus is to take down Frank Costello.
Meanwhile, another police rookie, Billy Costigan (DiCaprio), is asked by two powerful men in that unit -- the caustic Sgt. Dignam (Wahlberg) and his level-headed superior Capt. Queenan (Martin Sheen) -- to live down to his reputation of a street hothead a cadet with family ties to several criminal bottom feeders. This makes Costigan ideal as an undercover mole. So there's a rat on the force, and there's a rat in the gang, and lies lead them both through a maze of deadly consequences. DiCaprio's performance here is perhaps more impressive than Nicholson's, given that we already know how well Jack pulls these roles off. I've never seen DiCaprio convey such intensity on screen. As his character passes through a complex range of emotions, from rage, to paranoia, to despair, DiCaprio nails each one. Four cheers to him.
There was these most perfect cinematic moment in the later stages of “The Departed”. Cut off from his handlers, feeling more alone than at any other point in the movie, undercover police officer Costigan ( DiCaprio) receives a call on his mobile phone. The phone is his only real point of contact with the powers that be Capt. Queenan(Martin Sheen), and yet - under the circumstances - he knows answering it would be a bad move.On the other end of the line is corrupt cop Sullivan (Matt Damon) — the yin to Costigan's yang. While Costigan's role is to infiltrate one of Boston's most prominent criminal gangs, Sullivan's origin rests in the heart of that very same group. Sullivan knows that whoever picks up the call is the infiltrator.Neither speaks. Time stands still. The tension is astonishingly tangible; DiCaprio and Damon both sell the scene with magnificent performances, worthy of actors.
The themes of forgiveness, misplaced trust, betrayal, and greed are all present here, and the film's emotional resonance is just as strong.
"The Departed" is a ferociously entertaining film.
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