in spite of all my reservations about the over-hyped ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ it is the one moment in ‘the wizard of oz’ where something magical really happens. the rest is a fantasy, distracting enough, about a girl trying to find her way back to the safety of home with three allegorical figures- a man of hay with no brain, a man of tin with no heart and frightened lion. someone should show them ‘the rat trap’.
there is no film like ‘the rat trap’ that makes the sweet domesticity of the rural home into such a claustrophobic space. the only way elder sister rajamma an escape its tightening grip is by falling ill and being rushed out while her brother has to be carried out by villagers and dunked into the family well.
then there are all the detective stories beginning with ‘m’. a child killer cant help himself from murdering little girls. the underworld and the police chase him through the streets of berlin as the city drives itself insane with paranoia and suspicion. no identifiable heroes or villains except for the man with the overcoat marked by the letter.
raymond chandler co-wrote billy wilder’s ‘double indemnity’ and even though the film begins with the confession of sorts the suspense is terrific; a murderous plot in noir black and white and a plot within a plot with a gorgeous blonde with evil in her heart. the poor shmuck insurance salesman who falls for her hard has really no chance.
taking the possibility that israel was never formed and the jews of europe were settled in sitka, alaska michael chabon makes ‘ the yiddish policeman’s union’ a strange desolate story of a dead junkie messiah, a detective at the end of his sanity and career (much like a chandler hero) and a jewish plot to take back jerusalem by blowing up muslim monuments.
unable to articulate what exactly i love about reading walter benjamin ‘one way street’ managed to get many scholars to tell me. how the fragments of experience can be collected to make meaning- partial but profound or the act of collecting moments and making each account for so much more. like a poetic or a psychoanalysis of the everyday.
'hearts and minds' was numbing beyond a point until the shocker of a moment when a man is shot on screen. it passes by so quickly you hardly notice it but it stays with you perpetually. unforgettable documentary about the vietnam war. strangely later in the day i saw ' across the universe ' the new film that takes beatles songs to tell a story about lovers torn apart in the 60s by war and protest. great songs.
and aargh! the ultra cool so annoyingly wannebe clever ‘love aaj kal’. this particular kind of bollywood makes no sense ot me where everyone is hep and colour coordinated in foreign locations. i felt like slapping all concerned. only deepika padukone looks better than the film. otherwise – yuck!
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