Friday, May 30, 2008

MARUTHAYA

The untimely death of a defeated politician leads his wife and two teenage daughters spiraling into a world of poverty, shame and humiliation. The trio is shunned by friends and family and without a proper income the mother's only course of action is to become a prostitute. Lacking the formal education and training required for an administrative job, the mother sells her body for the betterment of her two daughters. But ironically the ill-fated daughters will follow in their mother's footsteps. This is the story of their tainted lives.

MARUTHAYA (The Storm) is written and directed by Vasantha Obeysekera and stars Sangeetha Weeraratne (the elder daughter), Yasoda Wimaladharma (the younger daughter) and Veena Jayakody (the mother) in the three main roles. The supporting cast consists of Asoka Pieris, Lucky Dias and Kamal Addaraarachchi.

Obeysekera seems to be a feminist at heart due to the reoccurring theme of
'The Plight of the Woman' in many of his films. It is commendable that he is one of the few Sri Lankan film directors who champion the fairer sex because it is apparent that sexual equality although preached in Sri Lanka is seldom practiced. Obeysekera uses this film as a tool to voice his opinions on prevalent sexual double standards, the hypocrisy of the religious institutes and the double-edged sword that is Sri Lankan politics. But unfortunately when directors focus on preaching, they tend to forget to pay attention to the all important plot. The story at times is truly ridiculous, are we to believe that the mother has absolutely no alternative but to become a prostitute? And didn't the daughters have more options besides following in their mother's path? It seems that logic in the plot has been replaced by far-fetched ideas. I felt as if the filmmaker was purposely leading me through increasing stages of depression. Although I did sympathize with the three female characters at the beginning of the film, towards the end I just felt annoyed with this boring self-pitying bunch of hookers. Surprisingly, Obeysekera has a knack for realistic dialogue, which is what made the plot tolerable.

Cinematography is second-rate with dimly lit shots and pedestrian frame compositions. The only thing out of the ordinary is the shots where the actors are in the foreground with a completely black background as if they are being interviewed.

Yasoda Wimaladharma and Veena Jayakody offer agreeable performances in their respective roles. But Sangeetha Weeraratne's performance is debatable. Although Weeraratne seems natural as her character's teenage version, it is during the scenes when she plays her older self that sheer absurdity comes into play. She can pull off a naïve but head strong teenage girl but lacks the depth to portray the disenchanted madam (her future self).

The only originality in direction is the use of overlapping dialogue while the actors look directly at the camera. It gives a documentary style to this narrative film. But that's the extent of this film's uniqueness. Obeysekera excessively uses the voice-overs of the two daughters, to a point where he simply begins to tell the story instead of actually showing it to the viewer. Cinema is fundamentally a visual art, this is forgotten. Deeper questions like, which is the lesser of two evils, political corruption or prostitution fall on deaf ears due to the two sisters constantly complaining about how bad and horrible their lives are. The mother's funeral scene was just absurd, why bring the deceased home if you are not going to let anyone into the house to pay their final respects? The entire modeling sequence was nonsensically inappropriate and unnecessary. I'm sure the director has his reasons for including these scenes but looking at the whole picture (no pun intended) this is yet another film that needs to be locked in the vault of Depressionism.

Rating: 2 COCONUTS

S. V. Fernando

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

INDIANA JONES & THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

After you’ve taken a fresh breath from the lengthy title, suck in the awe of the longest awaited sequel since STARWARS THE PHANTOM MENACE. After a near 20 year hiatus the master movie maker Steven Spielberg and his pal the Sci-Fi icon George Lucas have reunited. They were also able to get an A team of actors (Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchet, John Hurt, Ray Winstone), and a talented writer (SPIDERMAN, JURASSIC PARK). Then why DIDN’T it feel like a million bucks?

The story follows good’ol Indy who is still the lovable, geeky university professor who is aging in peace. When along comes the Russians who kidnap him in search of the mysterious Crystal Skull. Why you may ask? Set in ‘57 midst the cold war, of course… ‘power’! Thus the adventure begins.

The screenplay was done adequately but failed to create much interest. Indiana Jones films are full of corny but funny lines and moments. Those moments were replaced by a few jokes and slapstick that didn’t quite tickle. The characters were average and didn’t have any real charisma. They were not allowed to develop at all, but simply kept them at a 2 dimensional level to give time for all the ‘fun’.

The plot was simple and usually needs to be in adventure movies. But this was pretty weak. I don’t know if a lot of people will enjoy the twist of the plot(as there is a turn in the second act), but I for one thought it was alright. The Crystal Skull itself was a true Macguffin, not serving a real purpose. There was not enough exploration to each of the elements introduced, it simply announced the idea and just kept going.

The acting of Harrison Ford was as usual up to par. He truly was an aged Indy, but was not hiding the fact at all which worked well. The Shia Labeouf character (looking like Marlon Brando in THE WILD ONE) playing the side kick was good but never really matched the rest of the cast. He seemed to have walked off the GREASE reunion set by accident. John Hurt, one of the best British method actors was clearly underused. Ray Winstone who is known for his tough characters was also miscast. The only proven talent that matched was Cate Blanchet, giving a great over the top, icy, fun villain(with a delicious accent).

The Cinematography was good at times. The Amazonian locations were quite breath taking, and so were the first few chase/fight scenes. But the rest of the time it was substituted for standard quality CGI, which did not reflect well.

The directing was surprisingly average. There was nothing special about anything in this film. I felt Spielberg & Lucas were having so much fun making this film, they didn’t put their heart and soul. Harrison Ford is literally winking at the camera! There were many scenes where you are ‘supposed’ to feel amazed or excited…but just aren’t! They cut too many financial corners with CGI instead of stunts. That is what transforms an ‘adventure’ movie to an ‘action’ movie. There was so much CGI it ended up looking like THE MUMMY RETURNS!

If I had walked into an unknown adventure movie called THE CRYSTAL SKULL, without any prior knowledge of INDIANA JONES, I would have found this movie very satisfying and extremely enjoyable. But it's a series that's grossed more than 600 million, spawned a cult following, created cartoons, video games and memorabilia. As an avid fan I was disappointed.


The movie was fun and there is no one technical element that was lacking. But it is more of a spiritual aspect that only veterans like Spielberg & Lucas can bring. It’s that little thing called ‘magic’, which this movie had none of!


RATING: 3 COCONUTS

Pieries


TEASER

Thursday, May 15, 2008

IRON MAN

The blockbusters of the summer season have begun with IRONMAN. Directed by Jon Favreau of SWINGERS and ELF fame, this is his first big budgeted action project. Considering this is a Superhero movie the cast is filled with academy award alumni.

The story follows the path of Tony Stark a wealthy industrialist weapons producer who after surviving a near death accident is forced to build a missile against his will for a terrorist group. This needless to say is a life changing event for him.

The dialogue makes one forget that we are watching a typical superhero film. It is well written by the same people who gave us the drama CHILDREN OF MEN. The script has just enough depth to make Tony Stark (and the others) real but just enough humor to keep the subject matter entertaining. There’s plenty of funny and well timed one-liners!

The plot was well thought out and nicely adapted to current day. Smart use of Taliban-like villains and the issues touching on arms trade. Even the technical information of the suit is quite scientific. No direct explanation of the suit is given, only quick instructions within the action scenes instead of lengthy speeches of ‘how things work’.

Great use of quick introductions to future events, such as S.H.E.I.L.D, Rhodes' admiration of the suit, and plenty of hints to his ‘liquid diet’(future alcoholism), exploring these angles in the sequels will keep the story quite adult.
(For the Comic geeks there is a great little surprise…but you must be patient after the end credits roll to see that!).

The cinematography was well done for a flight/fight style film such as this. Favreau surprised me with his ability to keep all the action sequences clear, and not just simply action with fast swishes. Considering this movie only had 3 main action sequences, the excitement NEVER lets up. His first flight in the suit was somewhat of a ‘TOPGUN’ style thrill.

The acting was just a pleasure to watch with all concerned. Downey Jr. was perfectly cast as the billionaire playboy genius who has a change of life purpose, but not a change of personality. He keeps us cheering for him no matter how promiscuous or cocky he gets. His banter with Gwyneth Paltrow was smoother and more enjoyable than most of the romantic comedies this year. The ever talented and very funny Jeff Bridges surprised me with his villainous and larger than life presence as Obadiah Stane/War Monger. Even the chemistry with future sidekick Jim Rhodes played by Terrence Howard was very charming. Whether they are joking about transsexual hookers or admiring the stripper pole on his private jet, these two clearly translate as great friends.

Favreau still needs work as an action director, but has done a great job. He has brought to the big screen something of style and unofficially given Marvel a much needed reboot in their comic book based movies.

In the world of superhero movies I would like to think SPIDERMAN was Pop music; it’s catchy, wholesome, simple but fun. BATMAN was Opera; deep, dark, tragic, and masterly crafted. IRON MAN is without a doubt the 'Rock n Roll'; toe tapping, head’bangin, air guitaring, shouting along in the mosh pit FUN!

Rating: 5 COCONUTS

Pieries



TEASER