Friday, May 21, 2010

bollywood / hollywood / experimental film

i admit to being foxed by the plot twist in 'jewel thief' although i had long suspected some devious plan afoot by the real villain i was distracted when vyjayantimala and ashok kumar also claim to have seen a lookalike in gangtok. other highpoints included not one, not two, but three vamps including helen in a cabaret; and two heroines-vyjayantimala rowing her boat through the mangroves and tanuja's schizophrenic seduction attempt alternately veiled and mysterious and suddenly strident and gyrating.

coincidentally the same day as i was downloading images of the chicago worlds exposition form the internet in iron man 2 the plan of a similar concentration of incredible achievements was the key to the discovery of a new element. i guess it might be an entertaining diversion to be able to read the film and its ambivalent relationship with big business. stark privatizes world peace while at the same time evil corporates stop at nothing to get their hands on destructive technology. meanwhile the american army's greed for firearms is softened by making the lecherous politician take the blame. robert downey jr is still as cocky in spite of being so close to death, gwnyth paltrow plays the secretary turned ceo with a smart sexiness that new entrant scarlett johansson cant even begin to emulate in spite of the very skin tight leotards, the so-cool attitude and a fabulous fight sequence.

i am curious about an avant-garde that harks back to a mystical indianness; and that too with a horror regarding its rituals and totemic symbols. the figure of an artist that killed himself is evoked through footage of him immersing an idol at chowpatty followed by a riff that replays the act through mirroring and masking the self. gas masks and sudden shifts from rushing through the streets of the city to walking the same streets in slow motion backwards continue these obsessions with the transcendental and mortality within the experience of everyday life.

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