tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post8653674190656229155..comments2024-03-18T19:46:10.130+05:30Comments on Jabberwock: 75 years old and still dancing - on Leo McCarey's Make Way for TomorrowJabberwockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-22596084265309423162012-05-29T03:42:57.060+05:302012-05-29T03:42:57.060+05:30Yes, I think Prem linked to your blog on his forwa...Yes, I think Prem linked to your blog on his forward. I can't read Malayalam having grown up in KSA. Bhimsen was a godsend. <br />MTV is a genius. I am a big fan of almost everything he does: novels, screenplay and films. His forte is definitely screenplay but "Oru cheru punchiri" is a great place to start sampling.<br /> And besides, it stars Odduvil Unnikrishnan. His profile on wiki does him no justice, btw.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-20553307149241269992012-05-28T10:45:21.486+05:302012-05-28T10:45:21.486+05:30Oh, interesting to know the film was by MT Vasudev...Oh, interesting to know the film was by MT Vasudevan Nair. I'm familiar with his book <i>Randamoozham</i>, though only through Prem Panicker's excellent English transcreation (I wrote about it <a href="http://jaiarjun.blogspot.in/2009/11/in-bhimas-voice-m-t-vasudevan-nairs.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>).Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-10094054633944274412012-05-28T10:29:54.745+05:302012-05-28T10:29:54.745+05:30I could only find a DVDrip Copy on YouTube. It has...I could only find a DVDrip Copy on YouTube. It has subtitles but there seems to be a lag and lapses in translation. The Malayalam film industry completely neglects DVD distribution and film restoration. And this being "parallel" cinema directed by MT Vasudevan Nair, may disappear altogether in a decade or so. I'm sorry if I come off as a south movie evangelist. Great blog btw!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-20637134308481601812012-05-27T12:43:57.598+05:302012-05-27T12:43:57.598+05:30soniajoseph: no, haven't seen it - will look o...soniajoseph: no, haven't seen it - will look out for a print that has subtitles. Thanks.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-47941398042775912522012-05-27T12:34:22.684+05:302012-05-27T12:34:22.684+05:30I was wondering whether you've had the chance ...I was wondering whether you've had the chance to see the Malayalam language "Oru cheru punchiri." I thought it handled the subject of aging and the accompanying creaky noises and embarassment beautifully. There was none of the daughter-in-law drama and mod grand-children playing video games 24/7 sequences. It was very sensitive and very forgiving.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-3740789589972494452012-05-07T08:29:11.436+05:302012-05-07T08:29:11.436+05:30I liked Make Way for Tomorrow even more than Tokyo...<i>I liked Make Way for Tomorrow even more than Tokyo Story</i><br /><br />shrikanth: I find it difficult to choose between them (partly because Setsuko Hara's face is high on my list of favourite things to watch onscreen) but I think I'd give the edge to MWFT too.<br /><br />What I liked more about the bridge-class scene though was the indulgent, interested look on the face of the woman sitting nearby as Lucy speaks to Bark on the phone, and the more ambivalent glances exchanged by the people on the other tables. Nice panoply of reactions there, including embarrassed sympathy and mild irritation.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-34223462925271433882012-05-07T08:12:39.977+05:302012-05-07T08:12:39.977+05:30An interesting interview which discusses the massi...An interesting interview which discusses the massive cultural shifts in western culture between 1960 and today that has resulted in the stagnation of White American underclass and loss of civic culture and social capital in American cities.<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q3zy4NRzz4<br /><br />Viewers who find <i>Make Way for Tomorrow</i> strangely remote from today's America ought to watch this video.shrikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03898755392584822638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-61171322803686369092012-05-07T08:08:40.973+05:302012-05-07T08:08:40.973+05:30I liked Make Way for Tomorrow even more than the T...I liked <i>Make Way for Tomorrow</i> even more than the <i>Tokyo Story</i><br /><br />Some of the scenes are among the best I've seen on film. Especially the bridge class scene where Bondi unwittingly becomes a likeable nuisance of sorts and an embarrassment to everyone in the room. In a Bollywood movie, a similar scene will be accompanied by a cruel retort by the daughter in law. No such vulgarity here.<br /><br />It is a remarkable movie that doesn't take sides. It empathises as much with the kids as it does with the old couple. There's also a scene at the end where a roadside advertisement billboard admonishes the old couple for not having saved enough while young.<br /><br />That would be a very unfashionable thing to do in today's America with its unwieldy social security and welfare programs which hadn't taken root in 1937.<br /><br />Today if an old American couple is struggling to make two ends meet, it isn't their fault. It isn't the children's fault. It is the government's fault!!!!!<br /><br />The expansion of government over the past 70 years has contributed greatly to the decline of the family and civic culture in the United States.shrikanthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03898755392584822638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-27569976339327646422012-05-04T08:02:48.087+05:302012-05-04T08:02:48.087+05:30Up until recently I was never a big fan of Criteri...<i>Up until recently I was never a big fan of Criterion movies.</i><br /><br />karrvakarela: well, there really is no such thing as "Criterion movies". The films released by them on DVD cover a huge range of films in different genres and styles from around the world. Glad you're enjoying them though!<br /><br />Don't think I mentioned it in the post, but <i>Tokyo Story</i> (which is probably the best known of the films about neglected old people) was influenced by <i>Make Way for Tomorrow</i>.Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-89890221105709873822012-05-04T01:24:50.449+05:302012-05-04T01:24:50.449+05:30Up until recently I was never a big fan of Criteri...Up until recently I was never a big fan of Criterion movies. But after I watched Ray's The Music Room and a few others (Edward Yang's Yi Yi, Alexander Mcendrick's Sweet Smell of Success, Kieslowski's Red) I realise how much fun they can be. I think they may be doing Ray's Agantuk in the future.karrvakarelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11564711886357771427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-74677416397915061972012-05-03T13:52:19.598+05:302012-05-03T13:52:19.598+05:30Dharamraj Yudhistra in another lifetime. Hilarious...Dharamraj Yudhistra in another lifetime. Hilarious! Along with viewer catharsis some snorting and chortling are served as dessert.Shwet Awasthihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04707072898697709519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-36056173746312295962012-05-03T13:40:06.463+05:302012-05-03T13:40:06.463+05:30Anon: oh well, I'm sure part of this post will...Anon: oh well, I'm sure part of this post will go into one of my official columns sometime - the <i>Vicky Donor</i> and <i>A Separation</i> ones did. Am writing for lots of places - GQ, Business Standard, Caravan, Hindustan Times, a couple of others. And a couple of longish essays I'm doing for one-off publications.<br /><br />As for film writing, at any given point I have unstructured notes on a hundred different movies (or ideas around movies). The challenge - an exhausting one - is to shape any of them into a coherent piece!Jabberwockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10210195396120573794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8204542.post-65361567527904087492012-05-03T13:27:50.583+05:302012-05-03T13:27:50.583+05:30Which publications are you writing for nowadays, J...Which publications are you writing for nowadays, Jai?<br /><br />Ever since the column on SG stopped, you've been writing a lot of personal posts about films, just like the good, old days. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com