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Reviews
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
A documentary one must watch before his death!
If you ever believed that you are a very very insignificant person to bring a big change to the system- you are correct. But if you wish to know what difference you can make if you try to do that- then you must watch this documentary based on real life. The filmmaker Kurt Kuenne made the film on the life of his friend Andrew's parents. When 28-year-old Andrew Bagby (Doctor by profession, year 2001) started dating 40-year-old Shirley Jane Turner, Andrew's friends and family was unhappy of this strange woman. He was loved for his goodwill and humor, Andrew agreed with his well wishers to break up with Turner one night before heading over to a friend's house. The next day his dead body was discovered. He was shot with bullets, Turner absconded to Canada to avoid prosecution. Bewildered Kuenne packed up a camera (almost without any experience on movies) and took off on a tour of Andrew's dearest friends and family, traveling continents to reach out to loved ones who wanted to share their feelings on Andrew Bagby. It was evident that Turner was having psychological problems. Andrew Bagby's parents wanted justice. What they found was a poor justice system in Canada . Surprisingly it was sympathetic to Turner . It not only granted bail for Andrew's baby, as Turner was pregnant. Bagbys found a whole new reason to love a woman they hated for little Zachary. After his birth little Bagby was very similar in his behavior & looks as compared to his father. He always preferred his grandfather & grandmother over his mother, which always disturbed Turner. One day she killed the baby & committed suicide. From then Andrew Bagby's parents started thinking from past apart from blaming their fate & they found the legal system to be guilty of this sad catastrophe. They moved to the court & they proved to be correct. The court of Canada took action & punished juries, judges & consultant psychologists for their lenient attitude towards the case. They will never get their son & grandson back but they ensured no one gets through once again in similar situation with legal system in his stride. The movie is an outstanding presentation of lamentation,grief & determination after one's . Portrayed poetically by to say goodbye to Andrew. The story of Andrew Bagby is tragic beyond words, it will keep you glued till the end.
Aarekti Premer Golpo (2010)
Rituparno Ghosh delivers one of the best performance ever in Bengali language film
The film is about filmmaker Abhiroop Sen(Rituparno Ghosh) and his bisexual photographer Basudeb (Indraneil Sengupta).They are from Delhi, into a homosexual relationship & come to Kolkata to make a film on Chapal Bhaduri,the theater & 'jatra'(popular folk-theater) artists who was a master of playing female characters in his golden days,when females were not allowed from Bengali families to join theater.In reality he is homosexual,from his very earlier stage of childhood he realized his female soul in a male body.The film tells us his sad story of his life- how he was never understood by his surroundings, how everyone deserted him, how his beloved ones bulldozed his feelings throughout his life & how he spent his life for those who ditched him. While doing the film Rituparno relates Chapal with himself. He plays dual role in this movie. As a director & Chapal Bhaduri's youth role. When their life story intersects -they realize the cruelty towards homosexuals.Chapal features as himself in the movie.He is one of the very less known, great actors of Bengali cinema. The famous director Rituparno Ghosh, delivers one of the best performance ever in Bengali language film.The film has a very good script,camera work, direction & acting team. It has portrayed tender touches for human relations with vivid & minute details. Though it was made focusing on homosexual audience but it has won heart of millions throughout the globe.
Nayak (1966)
When the legendary actor meets his alter ego
Nayak is one of the most unique, underrated, & comparatively less known Ray movies. Where a lady reporter (Aditi, played by Sharmila Tagore) discovers the undisclosed & vulnerable life of a legendary film hero in the hands of his industry, fans & his success, during a train journey. Satayjit Ray has used allegory through train (viz. Pather Panchali, Aranyer Din Ratri) several times in his movies. This journey eventually takes place from east to west, that was the direction world civilization used to move at that point in time, best work is most appreciated & sun, still sets today. After introduction with the journalist the hero looks back at his past from the peak of his career (like the afternoon sun) to recollect phases & people in his life (like rising of the sun). With his larger than life profile, magical smile, mesmerizing voice, killer looks - he soon becomes a very lonely & ordinary man to us. The fans of 'Arindam'(The protagonist played by Uttam Kumar), like whom all other men wanted to be, even becomes sympathetic to him.
Several characters makes a nice collage in the film. The script so amazing that one can hardly dare to take a break during this 120 minutes. The dreams shots are at par with the best same kind shots of Luis Bunuel & Ingmar Bergman. Editing, background music & sets are also magnificent. The light & shadow has been used to portray good-bad, past-present in a shot as good as never before in Indian panorama when 'Arindam'(protagonist) meets 'Mukundo Lahiri'(his past rival) after his success. Human emotion, greed, ambition, selfishness, simplicity has been portrayed with delicacy & satire. Ray was the maestro in extracting the best performance of an actor. Hence acting quality of all actors was splendid & Uttam Kumar, the Bengali film legendary romantic hero, delivered the performance of his life keeping the everlasting discussion-topic how underutilized he was by all other directors of his time!