Powerful scenes with women!

There are often scenes that are etched on our minds even after the viewing experience has long since passed. When one thinks of powerful scenes, they are flooded with movie frames with some of the most memorable dialogues and sometimes frames devoid any dialogues. There is the 'you can't handle the truth' moment in A few good men (1992), the musical marvel of the famous shower scene in Pyscho (1960), and The Godfather (1972) scene that features a horse head on a bed (with lots of blood!). Some honorable mentions have to be that of Jaws' (I know, I just can't get enough of this one!) 'you need a bigger boat' moment and Deep Blue Sea's Samuel Jackson's death scene. They are scenes that were packed with power. The power was wielded on account of the emotions these scenes could manifest in the viewer. The sheer fear when we see the dead horse or, a bodiless hand with a knife going at Janet Leigh when she's at her most vulnerable, and excitement of feeling what Tom Cruise feels at that gotcha moment have made these scenes remain etched on our minds for as long as they have. 

But there are other scenes which have just struck a chord with me simply because of the subtlety with which certain sensitive and necessary themes were handled, and social issues implicated. The scenes I mention here all star women and (unfortunately) do not pass the Bechdel test. In spite of not passing the test, in no way do these scenes skirt away critical issues of feminism. 

The first one I must mention is from a Tamil movie, Varane Avashyamund (2020) in which the protagonist is an already engaged Nikki who has a meeting with her soon to be mother in law who informs her that her son wishes to call off the wedding because Nikki had a romantic relationship prior to meeting him. A shellshocked Nikki tries to reason that his father may not have liked her, to which the older lady responds succinctly that she had thought her son was like her but turned out to be like her husband. She says, 'I am glad you are not coming in our home, you will not be happy'. This scene took me by surprise. Each and every dialogue is heavily laden with feminist critique. When Nikki tries to reason, she does not fault the guy, but seems to feel some kind of guilt, as though she indeed was impure for having loved more than once. The older woman is the surprising voice of reason who stands tall against the typical trope of a strict and protective mother in law, who calls out her son's fault but sadly cannot do much beyond protecting the protagonist to some extent. The two women are never shown in the same frame throughout this scene. It's as though they belong from different sides of the narrative, and yet they are not shown face to face,  butting heads- very contradictory. (Of course this reading of the frame maybe my projection and naive interpretation as an inchoate movie buff, but I could not help but notice this!) 

The other scene is from the super famous Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). In this scene we see Katherine Hepburn who after just having found out about her daughter's decision to marry someone from another race, is met with her employee from the art gallery. The employee encounters Sidney Poitier and Katherine Houghton and is visibly shaken to see them behaving as though a romantic couple. She immediately calls on Hepburn and calls her a 'poor dear' when they are out of hearing distance from the rest. She asks, 'what are you going to do about it?'. Hepburn (Oh the brilliant Hepburn!) in, I believe one of the most fabulously acted scenes, stops her mid sentence and gives her the most clear instructions ever. She seats her in the car and instructs her to go to the art gallery and write herself a cheque and remove absolutely everything from the office that could remind Hepburn of her and 'permanently get lost'. Phew! It gives me a rush even as I write this! Such a brilliant scene. It had me laughing, smiling and crying all at once. The scene ends with Hepburn's classic hand wave to direct the car away. Hepburn till this point in the movie had voiced neither support nor disdain towards her daughter's relationship. But at this very moment, we see her stance and we heave a sigh of relief, thinking that all is not lost. Till this moment, the audience wonders, are the parents genuine liberals, and at this moment that debate is put to rest to some extent. Through the rest of the movie we see her as a thoughtful woman with an opinion who stands tall in support of her daughter often chiding her husband and calling his double standards out.

Both these scenes stuck with me because they caught me by surprise. I did not see the women's responses coming. And the classic belief that women often reproduce preexisting social inequities amongst their brethren, are challenged in some ways through such nuanced screenplays. Of course, there are other great scenes which do not showcase as much hope. One example is from the Hindi movie Thappad (2020) in one of the concluding scenes where the protagonist has one last conversation with her mother in law. 

These scenes may not go down in history as academy award winning moments, but they are true to human spirit. These are not moments of outright women empowerment, but they stand as instances of dissenting women in the face of rampant social inequities. They hold the power to move any woman or any empath who holds the power to gauge human suffering. I may have missed out other great scenes, but these were the ones that I must emphasize demand a viewing (along with the movie of course!). 

Jaws: Much ado about nothing?

There have been many horror movies on sharks. But have they all been as great as the one that started it all? There can be no answer in the affirmative for that one! This Steven Spielberg directed film is one in a million, where the villain does not make an entrance until the second half. Of course, Alfred Hitchcock paved the way for this genre with his brilliant 1963 film 'Birds', but it was Jaws that set the stage for the creation of a genre that now has taken a life of its own. I will not be discussing the lesser known and some terrible movies from this genre like the Sharknado series or DinoShark or even The Meg (although it definitely is better than the others). But I believe there is a film that comes a distant second to the Jaws with regard to holding true to all that an authentic horror film can and should offer. The Deep Blue Sea is the 1999 slasher/horror film that boasts of bigger and scarier sharks- this time three. While not being the best, it leaves a movie buff like me happy and satiated with the time I have spent on the couch watching this one. These are classics in their own right and so I am assuming that there aren't too many spoilers for you dear readers. However, in the event that you haven't watched one or either of them, mark this to be a humble spoiler alert for what is to come.

Through the innumerable rounds of watching both these movies I cannot help but observe some glaring similarities and some wonderful differences. In so many ways Deep Blue Sea is the answer to all the questions that Jaws can leave us with. The world renowned film critic Roger Ebert in a much enlightening review discussed how dialogues and shark attacks in the dark waters suggestively hint at the lurking 'killing machine' shark and successfully make us feel startled when the shark finally makes its appearance. This amazing screenplay helps to compensate for the lack of special effects. There is more- John Williams' scary , haunting and now super famous score makes a debilitating fear sink in our hearts of the approaching death scare. Deep Blue Sea having been created more than two decades later, has at its disposal technologies and special effects to make the shark look terrifying. But it still chooses the Jaws way- making the 'world of gliding monsters' suggestive. This makes Jaws mark up above the Deep Blue Sea.

Although Jaws can be deemed as an immortal super hit blockbuster, I cannot help but be critical of a few things that have troubled me over the umpteen number of viewings of this movie that I have awarded myself with. The three main characters we see in the film are- Brody (Roy Scheider), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Grey). They seem to represent three points of a pyramid. Brody is the naive and scared of the water Common Man. Hooper is the scientist who uses technology to learn about about sharks and loves them. Finally, Quint is the working class hero, embittered Second World War returned veteran who claims to know the waters and yet falls short at the most trying time. He is tragically bitten in two by our villain. The last scene with Brody and Hooper swimming back to the island with the help of the buoys is telling of the alliance between Common Man and technology that finally prevails. It is this bitter ending of Quint and the strong allusions to have faith in technocracy are what I am not too keen on. 

Technology cannot act as a silver bullet. Movies like iRobot and Transcendence have explained this well. Let me be clear, I have no peeve with technology, but I only implore you to look at the greys. As John Ruskin said 'there is no such thing as a free lunch'. This holds true for technology too and blind faith in it can translate to technocracy. This issue I believe, is at the heart of Deep Blue Sea. It shows us the grey. The protein complex developed in the brain of these Mako Sharks can help cure Alzheimer's. However it comes at a cost- human lives. We are introduced to these sharks in captivity. Technology has enabled and necessitated fettering of these sharks and all they seek is freedom. In Jaws the killing machine is nothing but just that. It kills without any reason. Humans and sharks are at loggerheads. Are they really? Deep Blue Sea gives us a plot that delves into considering the question of conscience. Conscience of not only us humans but also of the so-called villain in the shark. There is a power struggle and the tables turn. So while in Deep Blue Sea we see a villain in the shark, we also witness the not so ethical ways of technology. The characters are definitely not as memorable as in Jaws. But we see the dawn of a new survivor. The survivor of the fittest (Carter, the strangler) and the most religious (Preacher, the chef). Samuel Jackson represents the big buck owning tycoon who is proud of his adventurous travails, playing with fire and life, Stellan Skarsgard and Saffron Burrows represent the arrogant scientists, while Carter and Preacher would rather play it safe and not disturb nature. Deep Blue Sea succeeds in unraveling the not so good facets of technocracy that Jaws embraced and this is where this film wins my heart. 

This discussion cannot discount how much I love Jaws and I will continue to enjoy it in my future viewings. But the lesser known Deep Blue Sea deserves the much needed appreciation for what it has to offer and that which the former failed to acknowledge. Would you agree or do you think all this is much ado about nothing? Consider giving these movies another watch to agree or agree to disagree with me. 

The VERY Talented Mr. Ripley !

It’s been long since a film affected me to the extent this one did. Only recently The Talented Mr. Ripley  has been doing the rounds on Netflix. The film, boasting of an excellent cast and with a very benign and unassuming trailer piqued my interest. I decided that this would be next on my watch list. Little did I know what was in store! I was in for an emotional ride that would send shivers down my spine.

This 1999 psychological thriller directed by Anthony Minghella is based on the novel of the same name written by Patricia Highsmith. It is nothing short of a masterpiece. Matt Damon starring in the titular role of Thomas Ripley is the seemingly innocuous working-class hero trying to make ends meet. He takes up odd jobs, passes off as a Princeton graduate and seamlessly plays the piano. In short, he is not the typical muscular working-class protagonist. He is an oddly charming individual who skillfully seals the deal for himself when an opportunity to travel to Italy comes by. Jude Law’s character of Dickie Greenleaf is an eccentric jazz lover and his stance throughout the film reeks of entitlement. The camaraderie between Greenleaf and Ripley is an interesting reflection of the power dynamics in play on account of the class differences. Gwyneth Paltrow, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett and Jack Davenport form the rest of the cogent cast. Every actor does their due to be remembered in this excellent endeavor. A special mention of Paltrow is must. A scene where she shares the screen with Damon is a treat to watch (or rather to not watch!). I was barely able to sit through the scene as I was too scared of what was going to happen next. Paltrow’s expressive face portrays fear, horror and hesitation all at the same time. That scene had me holding my breath.

There are two scenes that I wish to write about in particular as they had an immense impact on me. But first, a well-meaning warning before I head right into it- As I gush over the scenes, it is exceptionally difficult to not give away spoilers but I shall try my level best. Either way, notwithstanding my heartfelt attempt in ‘spoiler-free writing’ if you can actually guess what I don’t want to allude to but unknowingly end up alluding to, please forgive my inchoate writing skills.

First, the boat scene. The brilliant screenplay from the previous scene is comparable to the stillness of a night before a storm. Greenleaf’s evasiveness and Ripley’s insistence forebode that something is about to happen. What happens on the boat is not as shocking as it is disturbing. The first signs of our titular character’s repressed sexual awakening is hinted at. And the way it is done is absolutely brilliant and yet shocking.

The second one is of course the final scene- shot again on the ocean. One of the characters who Ripley has come to admire lays on the bed as we, the audience realize to our sheer horror what is about to happen. Yes, a murder takes place. But we do not get to see it. The sounds seem to enunciate the feelings of shock in the audience even more. There is no closure to be had-neither for us and nor the titular character. The scene reeks of Robert Bresson’s influence. The ability to express with sounds without showing anything else makes us imagine in our mind’s eye. This makes it an even more disturbing experience.

Both these scenes are on the ocean, first on a dangerously bobbing small boat and the other on a ship far more stable, yet in the danger of sinking. They portray Ripley’s evolution- from his trepidations and hesitation to the final acceptance of his true self. Yet his thirst to be someone else is far from quenched, which finally spells doom for him.

Shot for the most part in the quaint cities and towns of Italy, the cinematography is soothing to the eye. The warm color palettes in every scene seem to portray a sense of calm- as though trying to mislead us from the forthcoming bedlam. But what does forebode this, is the hauntingly beautiful background score interspersed with melancholy music- every scene is teeming with tension.

The director uses the tool of foreshadowing judiciously. The screenplay is exceptional as nothing gives away the imminent chaos. The film leaves breadcrumbs for us to pick up on in our later viewings of the film. This is a brilliant piece of art that deserves a second watch.