[Just a casual little post, of the sort I haven’t been putting here in a long time – these updates end up going on Instagram, or less frequently, Facebook. Will try to post a few more here]
------------
Two incredible faces, holding the frame in a number of arresting close-ups – in two films I just watched on big screens. Above: Kirk Douglas in Lonely are the Brave; below, Om Puri in Ardh Satya. Both play characters (on opposite sides of the law) who are dealing with alienation, humiliation, and uncertainty about how to move forward, or where to go, in a world that seems unable to accommodate their value system.
I have had mixed feelings about Ardh Satya earlier, and that continued here (though this was easily the best print I have watched) – while it is full of powerful little moments and performances, something has always felt a bit off to me in the pacing; a few loose-limbed moments detract from the intensity of the central narrative, it isn’t anywhere near as tight as my favourite Nihalani film Party (though in fairness I haven’t watched that one in a long time, so who knows how I will feel about it now). Also, I have many sharp things to say to people who hold this film up as a shining beacon to run down the more mainstream angry-cop films of the period – but this is not the space to vent about that.
And about Lonely are the Brave, watched in my new screening room in Panchshila Park with a few friends… this was a super experience, one of the most unusual transitional Westerns from a period that bridged the classical and post-modern versions of the genre, between Ford/Hawks and Peckinpah/Leone. I was afraid it would be too low-key for a big-screen viewing, but it wasn’t – it is marvellously shot (in Panavision, 2.35:1) by Philip Lathrop, and with some beautiful landscapes and a final scene in the rain that’s comparable in its framing with the great last shot (another Kirk Douglas close-up) of Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole.
Bonus pic below: one of the Ardh Satya posters gifted to me by Manjula Padmanabhan, who did those superb drawings of Om, Smita, Amrish Puri and Sadashiv Amrapurkar. (The dedication says "With many Jellyfish" - a reference to the essay Manjula wrote for me for The Popcorn Essayists.)
P.S. an old post on Nihalani and Om Puri is here. And another great poster by Manjula can be seen in this post.
No comments:
Post a Comment