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Reviews
Passages (2023)
Challenges your morality
This is a very grounded film that challenges the viewers morality and values. The "Peter Pan" protagonist is a hedonistic director fumbling through love and life and refusing to "grow up". He thinks everyone will accept his choices because he assumes the world is on the same page: reality hits very differently. I like the exploration of queerness in this film and the torments of fluidity.
The performances are quite spectacular, especially by Adèle Exarchopoulous. Time and again she proves to be sexy, vulnerable, exquisite in every frame.
Franz Rogowski has a very Phoenix brothers quality to him and portrays the complex and haunted character very effectively, navigating from sexy, commanding, vulnerable to selfish and self-centered.
A very simple film about very complex humans. I think the cinematography, the casting, the writing, the direction all point to a masterful filmmaking that delves deeply into the contemporary human condition where we all still have a very long way to go before accepting each other for who we are.
Brick Lane (2007)
A remarkable film
From the rice fields in the opening scene to the claustrophobic Brick Lane flat, the powerful cinematography sucks you into this masterfully realized film production. I think Sarah Gavron has given life to an otherwise ordinary novel. The Bangladeshi community was apparently up in arms against the production.However, Mz Gavron has created a film that will convert even the toughest and most immovable heart of "brick" into "mud under your feet". The characters are unforgettable and the acting flawless. Tannishtha Chetterjee delivers a winning performance and carries the film by herself. Satish Kaushik tries to stay true to the caricature of a character that Monica Ali created in her novel but seems to have similar unidimensional personality problems to the character of "George" in "East is East". Overall the film is moving and sensitive. It is a delicious voyeuristic window into the life of an immigrant family and the havoc that is created in the family dynamic and the traditional power structure. You will never walk by another sari-clad woman the same way. Beautiful film. Bravo!
Rendition (2007)
Perhaps the most important film of the year
I think this was the most outstanding edge-of-your-seat thriller that I have seen in a long time. The research for the film was thorough, the writer Kelly Sane has left no loose ends. The cast was seasoned (fantastic performances all round). Omar Metwally was outstanding.
The cinematography is poetic, music enchanting and the overall effect highly satisfying.
Rendition goes into territory that even the media fears to tread. It is really a wakeup call for those involved with espionage and the legal web that is the "War on Terror".
A woman walked out of the theater and asked me "does this really happen"? That in itself speaks of Gavin Hood's masterful achievement.