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| Bits and Pieces .::. |
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Thursday, May 01, 2003 Class Act. Oscars' state of affairs makes me feel bad. The premise is simple. Being related to Hollywood, Academy Awards couldn’t have been any natural (if that's what one unknowingly looked for), but it seems to take patrons for a ride. When Lagaan competed for the winner's spot, things became ever so apparent. As is typical of the show, the makers of the movie were made to stretch beyond their means to even get the kind of recognition that they finally got. Business-wise it made sense (later I could find Lagaan in Hollywood store's shelves), but it seemed to belittle artistry and creativity in some way. The point is, while taking a tightrope walk between popularity and purpose, it seems to have slipped somewhere. Although I am no expert of the show and its scheme of things, I am talking about stuff that is for everyone to see. Sundance Channel screened "No Man's Land" yesterday. Although I missed the first 30 minutes of the movie, the fact that it was the winner in the Best Foreign Language Film category (2001 Oscars), made me and my roommates sit through the rest of it. Must say, we enjoyed every minute of the movie (that we saw). Never seen a war movie with so much of humour in it. Apparently, it was so made to make a point, as the Director of the movie later noted: "We are the only region to have a good sense of humor, Bosnians. I think it's a way of surviving. Humor gives you a distance. So we laughed a lot during the war. It was our secret weapon. So I thought why not treat a subject that was serious with a good sense of humor. It eases up certain things. Because if you make a film that is too difficult to watch, nobody is going to watch it." The movie kindled my curiosity, as to what really is happening in the region (former Yugoslavia). Made me explore pages of its history. And yes, the Director succeeded, both in his presentation and in making an average viewer like me sit up and take notice of the issue in hand! I cannot say if the movie is a worthy winner, coz I have not seen the other movies in its category (except Lagaan of course), but one thing's sure, Oscar helped bring this piece of art to me. It is this pristine purpose that, I feel, is slowly taking a plunge. In essence I would want Oscar be like what Merc is to cars. Follow-through: >> Sad note - Actress' death. >> Strange interview with a strange director. This man confuses me. But he made an interesting observation: "And then every *!#@ing person thinks he can make a film. I don't understand why is that? I would never dare make an operation on an open heart. You could try but then the patient dies. And that's why you have so many films that die, they should never be made. Because everybody thinks he can do it. I'm sorry. I've been studying this @#%*ing thing for ten years and working it every day. Being a film director is not just about walking down the red carpet. It's a way of living. It's a way of being." Did someone force him to watch recent Tamil releases? posted by pradeep | Permalink | (0) 0 Comments: |
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