Lucia

Are you within illusion? or illusion is within you?

Are you into the body? Or is the body part of you?

Is space within the house? Or the house within space?

Or are both space and the house within the seeing eye?

Is the eye within the mind? Or the mind within the eye?

Or are both the eye and the mind within you?

The movie begins with these lines from the Kannada poet Kanakadasa. You know that you can expect something different, considering that this movie has quite a bit of trivia involved. Director Pawan Kumar(of Lifeu Ishtene) was disillusioned by the industry, and it's proclivity towards 'profits', 'commercialism' rather  than 'good, clean cinema'. Inspite of his first movie having got good reviews, no one came forward to support 'Project Lucia', let alone listen to the script. Everyone was playing it safe, betting on remakes and big stars. You can read about the background in his blog post : Making enemies. Pawan decided to make the audience the producers, to make this experiment a crowd funded one (The 'Production' credits roll 2000 names). Read more about this here.

The result has been nothing short of a roaring success, as the movie goes beyond barriers and shows what is possible, if one believes in himself. Lucia demands your full attention from frame one. Frames switch between colour and black and white. Characters live two lives, one in the real world, and one in their dreams. Some shots are of the first person view and some, as an observer. There is one sided love, heartache, and there are songs. We are happy to see Nicky live the life of his choice in his dreams, but we are sad too, as we know reality will hit soon. Dream and reality are shown parallelly, and we brace for the ending, when the truth in unveiled in a beautiful way :) That is all I can disclose.

Life runs on hope

There are some really heartwarming scenes towards the end, as Nikki tries to revive Shankranna's Talkies, come what may. Songs act as accessories for the moment, rather than taking away the crux of what is meant to be conveyed. And that's the way it should be.

Sathish Neenasam, who plays Nikhil, deserves a big applause! He has played both his characters in this movie with aplomb. His acting is very real and believable. Shruthi Hariharan is bubbly and fresh, and has come a  commendable job. The cinematography and editing are top class and really mesmerising, they deserve a standing ovation for such fine efforts! There are some really wonderful moments in the movie, and the editing is top class. And I cannot recollect many movies with better casting.

There are some beautiful messages in the movie, one being - "Your little life is someone else’s biggest dream”.

You cannot simply 'review' a masterpiece like Lucia. You just have to go and watch it. It does not matter which language you speak, or which part of the world you live in. This is good cinema.

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*

Revolutionary road

Revolutionary road is a movie based on Richard Yates novel of the same name. Directed by Sam Mendes (of American Beauty fame), the movie is about a young married couple living in the 1950's, in Connecticut. They are a couple trying to come to terms with life and its realities.

From the onset, the movie paints a tense atmosphere between the couple. Somehow they are not content with things around them, and that manifests into rapidly- escalating situations where they say things that they do not really mean. She is grappling with her dreams of becoming an actress, and he is in a dead-end job. He thinks that they are meant for a more grand life and she paints a picture of a new beginning in another city. For a brief while there is hope, but can they overcome their doubts and insecurities? Both of them cheat casually, maybe to seek temporary outlets to their problems and situations. There are some brilliant performances here, one worth mentioning is from Michael Shannon, who plays John Givings. He plays an insane, who speaks truth stripped of all pretence, and through the masks. The couple cannot face his harsh sermons, and we witness some stand-offs.

The times have been beautifully recreated by the cinematography and costumes department, it is a joy to watch and observe people and their manners of another age. The background score is heart warming, and it accentuates the mood of the moment.

Di Caprio and Kate Winslet act together in a movie for the first time post- Titanic. And their performances are stellar! Kate is devastatingly beautiful as April Wheeler, and has put her soul into the role. She has emoted the varying moods of her character wonderfully well. Di Caprio has done a great role too, that of Frank Wheeler. He is all charm, and we see Frank's insecurity in his eyes.

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*