While 2010 wasn't a great year for cinema, with many hyped up biggies both in Bollywood (Tees Maar Khan) and Hollywood (TRON: LEGACY) failing to live upto expectations. There was momentary respite through brilliant films such as PEEPLI LIVE and INCEPTION. Closing out the year came the much hyped Darren Aronofsky's "BLACK SWAN"
What it is: As previously covered by yours truly, BLACK SWAN is Aronofsky's (Requiem for a Dream, the Wrestler and the Fountain) darkly told tale of a ballerina played by Natalie Portman, who egged on by her overbearing mother played by Barbara Hershey vies for the lead role in a new ballet production, by the leading ballet producer portrayed by Vincent Cassel, coping with her mother's ambitions, the director's sexual advances and the threat of another ballerina (Mila Kunis) usurping her role, Portman's character slowly slips into delirium and starts seeing terrifying visions..or is it all true??
What Works: Aronofsky who arrived on the global cinema circuit through the eery, claustrophobic "requiem for a dream" and inched closer to Oscar Glory last year when "the wrestler" got nominated, uses his trademark, mindf*ck style with claustrophobic camera angles, eery lighting, and did-i-just-see-that shots; and makes it all work! Black Swan plummets into the ardurous lifestyle of a Ballerina as we see Portman suffer broken toes, sleepless nights and anorexia to put up with her schedule. Barbara Hershey as her overbearing mother reinvents creepiness, and will make kids lock their doors from their mothers for a long time! Mila Kunis playing a sexually adventurous ballerina, sizzles with the right amount of oomph on screen and Vincent Cassel, thrives in his role as a lecherous ballet producer.
Me Fair....You Lovely??
What Doesn't: Aronofsky's cinema thrives on putting its protagonists in situation where their psyche is tried, tested and ripped apart. To this effect, he has often used the above mentioned camera angles and brooding lighting; and for someone who has followed his other movies, this comes across as a tad repetitive. But really, I am just nitpicking here.
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall..
Verdict: The Black Swan was a great way to cap off the cinematic year, and we may well see Portman, up on stage, come award time! Four FrEekies!
Chutney on the side: Aronofsky, first intended to have the Wrestler as a love story between a wrestler and a ballerina, however as that was considered too complex a plot, the Ballet story was hived off into..Black Swan
Whoever said three is a crowd, never ever chanced upon an installment of this blog's popular feature.....
UNHOLY TRINITY!: Trial and Errors!:
While our beleagured, beloved (you get the point) city of Mumbai, awaits the trial proceedings to decide the fate a certain Mr. Kasab who like other callous individuals before him, had tried to rip apart the complex fabric that is our city, and while it is far from this FrEEk to pass judgment on the actual need for said trial; join the FrEEk in sampling for yourself in some celluloid's finest attempts to portray trials and proceedings in court!
Trial No 1: Judgement at Nuremberg: Based on the true life Kaztzenberger trial and featuring a stellar cast including Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland and directed by Stanley Kramer managed to intersperse the terse proceedings of the Nuremberg Trials with that of the no-less charismatic Katzenberger case. The movie takes a fictionalised view of the trial of three judges at Nuremberg having been alleged of delivering judgements leading to mass genocides during the second world war. What is especially of note is that the script does scamper down the easy path of glorifying the misdeeds of the judges - rather it plays along much rather like a real trial would. The defense attorney played by Maximillian Schell (in an oscar-winning role) uses such diverse evidence such as studies conducted by American universities supporting eugenics ( and therefore genocide) and even audio clippings of Winston Churchill praising the methods of Adolf Hitler.
The prosecuting attorney played effectively by Richard Wildmark as an effective counter-punch shows in court footage of the corpses of the victims at various Nazi Concentration camps (what is significant to note is that this is the first time that this footage was released on a cinematic medium for audiences anywhere, and one can well imagine the impact that such visuals carried).
The movie, ends with a brilliant testimony by one of the convicted judges - Danning played by Burt Lancaster - where he admits upon his guilt but not before throwing in perspective the reason that he and the other convicted judges chose their horrendous path of action. You can check out Lancaster's testimony scene below:
Trial No. 2: 12 Angry Men What sets this apart this brilliant legal drama, is that while the movie revolves around the trial of a teen charged with the brutal killing of his father; the viewer never steps into the actual trial proceedings and is in fact ushered into the jury room - where the 12 diverse (in though, mind and action) jurors debate the guilt/innocence of the accused. What starts out as an seemingly easy verdict given the damning evidence against the accused, turns into a murkier tales of morals, misgivings when Juror # 8 (played superbly by Henry Fonda) attempts to convince the rest of the jurors about the possible innocence of the accused. What follows then is an epic battle of logic, empathy, bigotry (and all other mental maraudery that you can imagine) where one by one he attempts to have the jurors to deliver...or at least consider delivering a "not-guilty" verdict, until....(you'll have to watch it yourself!!) The movie most effective thrives on its claustrophobic setting (yes it is shot in just the one room!) and establishes that the outcome of a legal trial rests not in damning evidence or the slick statements of the lawyers; but in the mind of the juror who for that all-too brief period plays God for the accused on trial. A copy of this movie rests in the United States Congress building; and perhaps one should be resting in your DVD player...right now!!
TRIAL No. 3: M
Of all the trial movies that celluloid has ever churned out, M directed by legendary German Director Fritz Lang; stands out as perhaps the FrEEkiest take on the legal process.
Directed in 1931, M may perhaps be considered of latter-day crime thrillers such as Seven or even Primal Fear in its spine chilling tale of a un-named psycho (later referred to as M in the movie) in Dusseldorf who preys upon unsuspecting girls left upon by their parents to play in the neighbourhood park. luring them by offering to buy them balloons from a blind balloon seller, before committing his ghastly deeds. Lang's bleak lightning and the repetitive usage of the musical theme "Le Hallen du Roi de la Montagne" in no small way complement this dystopian tale. In a spine-freeking twist of events, it is the criminal element of Dussledorf, threatened by the beefed-up attempts of the police force to stop this pyschopath decide to take matters in their own hands, and arrange for a trial of M, a trial by you guessed it; the criminals themselves! In a celluloid blazing performance Peter Lorre's depicts the haplessness of a man driven by the urges of his distended mind to perform unpoken deeds. Watch then as Lorre's "M" tries to convince his "jury" of his inability to contain his ghastly urges!
So there you have it folks, three varied masterpieces, from varying times that till date stand the trials (yes, pun intended!) and tests of time!!
extra freeky: does the above pictured gentleman, really need a trial?
