v for vendetta. the lives of others. ivan the terrible. memories of underdevelopment. ploy . the apple . palace walk

the summer film festival goes on. from the super slick hollywood superhero film where natalie portman aids an abets what can only be called a terrorist- the mysterious ‘v’. in a future london where a neo fascist emperor loosely modeled on george bush (?) banishes homosexuals and muslims the masked man ‘v’ promises to blow up the houses of parliament to set england free. the building in all its victorian glory being the symbol of oppression par excellence. at the end the whole city stand up in defiance alongside v wearing masks. i hear the film flopped. i wonder whether this had something to do with the not so subtle take on the hyper active surveillance of the ‘war on terror’.

‘the lives of others’ on the other hand makes the stasi surveillance e of citizens in former east germany benevolent. here a cold german stasi agent while watching closely over the life and love of an author and his girlfriend begins to become rapidly more liberal. the transformation from cold hearted spy to savior (albeit a failed one- complete with redemptive hollywood end) seems pretty painless and unconvincing. this one won an oscar- not surprising considering the airbrushing of all things disturbing.

‘ivan the terrible’ played out parallel to the upa win around the country. this incredible epic switched between creating excuses for the tsars atrocities (his mother was murdered by the plotting boyars; his friend betrayed him- so did his aunt; it was for the good of the russian nation) shiv vishwanathan called the election victory a straight-laced western while everyone was expecting a russian melodrama and this was the latter at its best. expressionistic black and white shadow play, costumes and make up that multiply every gesture tenfold and acting that is about the pose and deliberate movement.

‘memories of underdevelopment’ plays with documentary and fiction as a playboy landlord contemplates cuba as it survives through the bay of pigs invasion up to the cuban missile crisis. as his family and friends leave for the promised land he stays roaming the streets of havana watching it struggle with ideas of identity, progress and development. i loved the film.

and then there was ‘ploy’- where a warring couple arrive at a hotel in bangkok. when the man generously offers to help a young girl waiting for her mother by offering her freshen up in the hotel room tensions between the couple explode. the frigid relationship between them is intercut with a love scene between a bartender and a maid with the main story line serving as a parallel line of sublimated desire. the real and the dreamt are interwoven until you don’t know which is which.

the easy cuddliness of iranian film often makes me annoyed. while the apple does fall clearly into the sweet little children- nice old people category it also tries its hand at some feminist posturing. locked up little girls are let out into the city where more sweetness ensues when other children offer them friendship. though the cynic cant stop the scathing criticism, i must admit that in spite of me, i liked the film having just finished naguib mahfouz’ palace walk where in world war 1 cairo three women are prisoners of sorts in their home while the men of the family enjoy the pleasures of the city. Cairo is made of these trellised prison yards and pleasure gardens with music and alcohol. like a good soap opera the story plays out with marriages and deaths and lustful looks across courtyard walls.