classic movie reviews-Dances with Wolves

I am a fan of Kevin Costner for a long time. Amazingly, the movie I saw to become his fan was not a critically acclaimed one, like ‘The Untouchables’ or ‘The Bodyguard’ or ‘Waterworld’ or ‘Wyatt Earp’ or ‘Open range’ or JFK’ or many more, but a cheesy action flick named ‘3000 Miles to Graceland’. I saw it after a year of its release (2002) and immediately became a fan of this talented actor. The character he plays (Murphy) in the film is a memorable one to me, and I still remember how angry Murphy will be when one mentions any jokes about Elvis Presley in the film. He holds a ‘connection’ to Presley in the movie.

Well, this post is about ‘Dances with Wolves’ and not ‘3000 miles to Graceland’. Hence, we will see about the masterpiece movie which he has directed.

‘Dances with Wolves’ is originally a screenplay written by Michael Blake. In the book ‘Four screenplays’ by Syd Field, Syd writes about the film in detail. He explains about how the screenplay was written and how Costner kept supporting Blake while he finished it, and how Costner decided to make the film and asked Blake in turn to write the novel. Costner supported Blake coz it was Blake’s novel, named ‘Stacy’s Knights’ which was made in to a film, and it starred a young Costner, in the early years of his movie career.

Blake finished the novel after much struggle, and when it was published, it attracted a very limited audience. Then, Costner started to film the screenplay. It was the year 1990 when ‘Dances with Wolves’ was released. Costner made his directorial début. The film won 7 Oscars including the best director Oscar for Costner. Considered to be one of the epics on the Sioux tribes of the Red Indians.

The movie begins at a hospital. It’s the period of the American Civil war. We see Lieutenant John .J. Dunbar. His leg has to be amputated, since it’s badly injured. But, Dunbar looks at the other soldiers wriggling in pain after their amputation, and he runs out, steals a horse and heads straight to the field where the gun battle is on, trying to commit suicide by getting trapped among the gunshots.

Seeing Dunbar fearlessly heading towards the enemies, the union troops are rejuvenated, and they start attacking the confederates, ultimately winning the battle. Dunbar is awarded the horse and is named as a hero. He is then offered the choice of his favorite posting, by the union General.

Dunbar asks to be posted at the western frontier. The reason – he wants to visit and feel the frontier which will lose its nativity – the army is planning to launch an attack on the Indians. He goes to a Fort – Fort Hays – to report to the major about his posting, and the drunk major shoots himself after assigning orders to Dunbar. Dunbar leaves the fort with a wagon driver named Timmons, carrying fresh supplies of food and ammunitions to his assigned post. He has to report to one Captain Cargill at Fort Sedgwick which is in the western frontier.

Dunbar finds the Fort Sedgwick deserted. He asks Timmons to leave and starts to set up his own camp. He sees a wolf which he names as ‘Two Socks’, because of the color of its legs. Timmons gets caught and scalped to death by the Pawnee Indians in the frontier, and Dunbar, unaware of the impending danger, starts to explore his surroundings. Once, while bathing in a nearby pool, Dunbar sees a Sioux Indian – the leader of the Sioux tribe named Kicking Bird approach his camp. After seeing Dunbar running towards him from the pool naked, the Indian is frightened and runs away. Dunbar immediately prepares the camp to face the battle – he sets up guns and prepares hideouts.

The Indians try to steal Dunbar’s horse but in vein. After seeing all these ‘not so rosy’ incidents, Dunbar decides to visit the Sioux village to improve relationships. While Dunbar nears the village, he encounters ‘Stands with a fist’, an English girl who’s been brought up in the village by Kicking Bird and his wife. She tries to cut her hands and legs in order to follow a traditional custom of mourning for her dead husband, but faints since she has lost blood. Dunbar brings her to the village. The villagers are frightened by his arrival, and Dunbar leaves.

The leaders of the village hold a meeting to discuss about Dunbar and decide that he must be observed. The next day, Kicking Bird goes to Dunbar’s camp, and Dunbar greets the convoy with coffee. Eventually both the parties become friends, but there is one thing which stands as a barricade – the language barrier. Since ‘Stands with a fist’ was born English, Kicking Bird assigns her to translate whatever Dunbar says, and she reluctantly agrees.

Meanwhile, Dunbar helps the village when he tells them about a huge herd of Buffalos. The Sioux hunt the herd along with Dunbar, and Dunbar kills many buffalos with his gun, and this act of Dunbar makes him a hero among the tribes. The minute difference of Dunbar reluctantly becoming a hero among his people in the war, and now Dunbar happily becoming a hero among the Sioux is captured well in the movie.

Dunbar becomes an inseparable part of the Sioux from then on, and he slowly learns the language too, with the help of Stands with a fist. They both fall in love gradually, and Kicking Bird gives her permission to come out of her mourning and to marry Dunbar.

While Dunbar one day plays with ‘Two Socks’, the wolf, the Sioux see this and name him as ‘Dances with Wolves’.

While the majority of men from the Sioux camp go for a war with the Pawnee Indians, Kicking Bird makes Dunbar stay in the village as a protection for the women and children. One day, while a Pawnee army comes to attack the camp, Dunbar facilitates killing the army with the help of his buried guns at his fort. While Kicking Bird returns, he learns everything, and the marriage of Dunbar with ‘Stands with a fist’ happens.

While Dunbar finally reveals to Kicking Bird that the white men will soon start coming like waves to attack and kill the tribes, Kicking Bird plans to move the village to the winter camp. Dunbar, while shifting, realizes that he has left his journal back in the camp, which contains all the information about his tryst with the Sioux. He runs to the port, and finds a battalion of white soldiers. They kill Dunbar’s horse and they torture Dunbar, asking him to tell the location of the Sioux.

While Dunbar is taken to the Fort Hayes, the Sioux attack the convoy and they rescue Dunbar. Dunbar goes to Kicking Bird, telling him that Dunbar’s presence will always attract the white men, and it will be a risk to the Indians. Reluctantly, Kicking Bird agrees to leave Dunbar behind. Dunbar and his wife ‘Stands with a fist’ leave the camp and we learn that after some years, the white men indeed arrived, and the Sioux Indians were killed. The movie ends.

“Dances with Wolves’ is a film which talks about relationships. It shows us a heartening display of how a man who wanted to die became rejuvenated while being with people he didn’t even know about. The story of John Dunbar. It won seven academy awards including best film, best director and best screenplay.

This is the highest grossing Western of all time, with a domestic take of $184 million in the US. It achieved this figure without ever reaching #1 on the box-office charts. Also, this is the first western to win a best picture Oscar after Cimarron (1931) – about 50 years between these two movies

MICKEL JACKSON-A KING OF POP MUSIC

A.R RAHMAN-A LIVING LEGEND OSCAR WINNER,INDIAN MUSIC MASTRO,SOUTH INDIAN MUSIC DIRECTOR

Born - 6 January 1967
Achievements - AR Rahman holds the credit for totally overhauling the style in which music was being made in India. Though with a career spanning just over a decade, Rahman has already sold over one hundred million records world-wide and more than two hundred million cassettes. This has brought AR Rahman into the category of the world's top 25 all-time top selling recording artists.

AR Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman, who is better known as AR Rahman, is a world-class musician of India. Born as A. S. Dileep Kumar on 6 January 1967 at Chennai in Tamil Nadu, AR Rahman holds the credit for totally overhauling the style in which music was being made in India. Soundtracks and scores composed by him for Indian films have a strong impression of classical, folk, jazz, reggae, soft rock and other genres. Due to his creative brilliance, AR Rahman is often referred to as the Mozart of Madras by his fans in India and abroad.

The biography of AR Rahman's career spans somewhere over a decade, but he has already sold over one hundred million records world-wide and more than two hundred million cassettes. This has brought Rahman into the category of the world's top 25 all-time top selling recording artists. Though AR Rahman is the undisputed leader in Indian contemporary music in the present times, he has seen his share of struggle in the professional life.

His father, R K Shekhar, who was a composer, arranger and conductor for Malayalam films died when Rahman was just 9 years-old and his family rented out musical equipment as a source of income. Later there was a turning point when Dileep Kumar decided to rechristen himself as A R Rahman. This incident happened when Rahman's sister was very ill once. A Muslim friend suggested if he prayed in a particular mosque, his sister would recover and so did happen. This caused the entire family to convert to Islam.

The life history of AR Rahman's music career started scaling upwards 1991 onwards when began his own studio and started making music for advertisements, television channels and so on. Rahman got his very first break into the Indian film industry when film director, Mani Ratnam offered him a chance to compose music for his Tamil film, Roja at mere Rs 25,000. This movie turned out to be blockbuster hit andAR Rahman then there was no looking back for A.R. Rahman.

Roja debut made AR Rahman bag the Rajat Kamal award for best music director at the National Film Awards. This was a historic moment as for the first time ever in Indian film industry, this award was being handed to a first-time film composer. There was no looking back for AR Rahman after this as film offers just started pouring in. There are now an impressive number of music tracks created by Rahman and all of them have sold like hot cakes across India and even abroad. He has made songs for super hit films like Rangeela, Dil Se Taal, Rang De Basanti, Bombay et al.

world classic movies-CARANDIRU

What is our conception about a prison? The place where people spend their life for the crimes they committed; the place where immoral people live; the place where murderers, lunatics and psychotic killers roam around. The common man views the prison as something bad and gloomy. It’s like a place where the common man fears even to step in.

But, is this the reality? Are prisons bad to that extent? It’s true that people spend their lifetime inside the dark cells, for the crime they committed in that random second – when a flurry of emotional thoughts blocked the rational part of their mind – which prompted them to act wildly. As a result, he spends years and years behind the bars, repenting.The world of a prison is unique. There are very kind people inside the prison, too.‘Carandiru’ is based on a book written by a doctor – ‘Estação Carandiru’ (Carandiru Station) by Dr. Drauzio Varella, based on his experiences when he visited the Carandiru Penitentiary at Sau Paulo, Brazil, the biggest prison in Latin America.

The film begins with a fight. We see many people shouting from behind the bars, as two people violently collide. They are separated, and an elderly man, who seems like he is the boss, addresses the two men. He says this is a disgraceful act and it is a bad example. One of the fighters, named Dagger, says to the elderly man that the other guy tried to stab him from behind, and hence, he acted only to defend himself. The other guy, Lula, shouts in angst that it was Dagger who murdered his father, and Lula wants revenge. Dagger laughs and tells Lula it was his mother who paid him to kill his father, as he was physically abusing her. Lula cries out in anguish, and calms down after digesting the truth.
The elderly man, named ‘Black Nigger’, asks the two fighters to calm down, and he welcomes the doctor to the prison. The doctor, dealing in AIDS especially, sets up a small ‘workplace’ at the prison and starts diagnosing the inmates. While treating them, he comes to know that there are almost 7500 prisoners inside the prison, which is capable of hosting only 4000. And, most inmates have been afflicted with AIDS, due to drugs and homosexual activities prevalent inside.

The doctor converses with the inmates and they start to narrate their stories of how they came to the prison. We hear the story of the black nigger. He and his friend, ‘fatso’, hosted a jewellery theft without ‘spending a single bullet’, and even before dividing the loot, Black nigger kills the third guy who assisted them, out of sheer suspicion when he turns towards the black nigger with his hand covered with his coat. Fatso draws out his gun, and tells black nigger that they indeed planned to kill him, to divide the money with them. They dispose the body, and after two days, Black nigger is arrested for the murder, as fatso has revealed everything to the dead man’s brother.

Fatso too is arrested for the theft. The doctor asks the black nigger what happened to fatso, and he replies that while trying to escape through a tunnel they dug, fatso was stabbed by his friends since he was struck inside the tunnel.

While the doctor finishes his day and returns in the bus with his blood samples, he thinks he has to pick one of the two possibilities – either to return back to the prison the next day or to forget everything, like a bad dream. The next day, the doctor is back.

While the doctor treats the patients, we see some of the interesting members of the prison. We see Chico, a man with 18 children, waiting to be released to see all of them again – he loves makes huge balloons inside the prison. We see ‘Highness’, the drug dealer inside the prison, and we hear his romantic story of how he successfully wooed a white woman and a black woman and married them both, and how he was arrested – by accepting the charge of burning their house which was indeed done by the black woman when she burnt their house seeing him in bed with the white woman. We see Zico and Deusdete, two childhood friends, and how Deusdete killed two guys who attacked his sister and came to the prison. We hear the story of two friends in crime – two bank robbers. All the stories are shown in flashbacks.

We witness a love story between a transgender named lady ‘Di’ and a fellow inmate ‘No Way’. They both marry, at the end. We witness the black nigger complaining to the doctor he is unable to sleep, as he always has to resolve conflicts between the prisoners since he is their leader. The doctor says he has stress, and gives him medication. The doctor gradually earns the good will of the prisoners and becomes a man they can trust.
The ‘Visitors’ day’ arrives, where all the friends and relatives can visit the prison and can spend a day with the prisoners. We see the children of Chico, the two wives and the children of ‘Highness’, the black nigger’s family, Deusdete’s sister and many more. All the inmates happily spend their time with their families. We even see ‘Highness’ making fierce love with his white wife.

Zico turns mad gradually due to his addiction to drugs. He pours hot water on his childhood friend Deusdete and kills him, out of sheer lunacy. This act of violence infuriates the inmates and they kill Zico by stabbing him violently. ‘Highness’ talks to Ezequiel, a fellow inmate who owes a lot of money to Zico, to accept the crime, since he is an AIDS patient and if he accepts it, will be given a separate room and new cloths, till he dies. Ezequiel accepts the crime.
We see the doctor kick-starting a foot ball match between the inmates. While the match is underway, the doctor leaves the premises and we hear his narration – ‘When I walked in two weeks later, all I could see is the holes in the prison walls caused by bullets. It was silent everywhere, and it has been transformed in to a solitary building’.

We see what has happened. While the football match is going on, we witness a small dispute inside the prison caused by an inmate hitting the other, since he was drying his underwear near the other person’s cloths. This dispute sparks a huge war inside the prison, and everywhere, people attack everyone. The football winners enter the prison premises gleefully, and immediately on seeing the fight, most of them start to participate in the fight. We hear the doctor’s voice at the background – ‘Till then, there was humanity, and once the fight started, everyone became animals’.
The situation worsens inside the prison, and paramilitary forces are brought in. The warden announces everyone to stay calm and to end the fight. Some of the prisoners shout from their windows to the warden that they want peace, but most of the agitated inmates shout against the warden that they need more space and humanitarian treatment inside the prison.

The warden orders everyone to drop their weapons and to remain calm. We see a lot of daggers thrown out of the windows. Suddenly, a few agitated prisoners throw a flush toilet on the warden and the paramilitary forces, and there begins what is called in history as ‘Carandiru Massacre’.

The paramilitary forces enter the prison and start shooting whomever they see. All the inmates start to scramble for their life frantically and everywhere, we see blood. The military mercilessly shoot everyone, and we hear howls and gunshots all over the place.
‘Highness’, Black nigger, lady ‘Di’, ‘No way’ and many inmates hide in their cabins, and the military spares a few of them. The others are killed even after their surrender. It’s brutal killing everywhere.The military orders the survivors to assemble outside, naked. We see all the survivors seated at the open grounds, naked, all through the day and the night. It’s a heart-breaking sight when we see fellow humans seated and treated like animals.

The blood soaked prison floor is washed, and it’s a river of blood, flowing down the steps of the prison. We see a lot of corpses. A dog starts licking the pool of blood.

The doctor visits the prison after two weeks, and it’s empty now. The walls are pierced by bullets, and the huge open space between the blocks is now deserted, with broken down rooms. The doctor sadly looks around him. The guards open the prison doors for the doctor, and when he comes out, the film ends with the guards closing the doors.

We learn from the end credits that the prison was demolished soon after. We also learn that almost 111 prisoners died in the riot, and not a single military man was wounded.

‘Carandiru’ is a Portuguese film, directed by Hector Babenco and was released in 2003. Director Hector Babenco shot the film on location in the actual penitentiary, and in neo-realist fashion he used a huge cast of novice actors - some of whom are former inmates. The real Carandiru prison was demolished in 2002; it was transformed into a park with arts facilities. One block (#2) was left intact to be used as a museum. The film was the last thing they used the prison before demolishing 90% of it.

Carandiru is a very interesting film, which is way different from the 'prison-dramas' we usually see in english. This is how a prison will be, and it's very much realistic. The stories of the prisoners are interesting to watch. All through the film, humanity is the one thing the inmates want, and it’s the only thing they are deprived of. The emotional outbursts of the inmates during the visitors’ day touch our heart.

Carandiru was the highest grossing Brazilian movie of the year it was released (2003). The film was screened at many film festivals like Cannes film festival, Toronto Film Festival, Canada; the Hamburg Film Festival, Germany; the Edda Film Festival, Ireland; the Muestra Internacional de Cine, Mexico; the Sundance Film Festival, USA; the Bangkok International Film Festival, Thailand; and others.Try seeing Carandiru and get a hold of the life of the inmates, for, they too are human beings like us and all they wanted, is a hint of kindness.

world classic movie reviews-INDIANA JONES

The man with the hat is back – This time he is aged, accompanied by his son and his wife; Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the Crystal Skull has opened on 30th across India, and is receiving tremendous response all over. At the point of writing this article, it has grossed $359,881,000 world wide – it stands #116 in the world’s top grossing movies till date – that too, within ten days of release ! I’m sure it’ll gross even more and will stand on par among its prequels, in the days to come.

Okay. Having said this, how is the movie? Is it good like its predecessors? Nice question. The answer – If you are satisfied about a flick and if there are more parts of it to come, go see them with an open mind. Don’t always have the original one in mind and expect the sequel to be like the original. Sometimes, they do surpass the original & sometimes they don’t. Well, then what category does the new Indy adventure belong to? To me, I loved it. It was interesting, every scene of it. I never felt bored for even a minute. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Before writing further, lemme tell about what I felt about Indy all these years. I saw the previous 3 movies a few years ago. I loved the first one, hated the second and again loved the third. So, when I got the news that it’ll be released in India on 30th of May, 2008, I felt exited. I wanted to go see it the first show. ‘She’ booked the tickets in B’lore (Which again was a complete surprise – I never expected it), and off we went, to see Indy.

As soon as Indy was thrown out of the car’s trunk – his hat – the famous one – comes first, thrown in to the sand, and then we see Indy’s shadow, pushed to the ground and slowly rising, wearing the hat – I let out a huuuuuge whistle in the theater ! From that moment, began the adventure, filmed in great style. Throughout the movie, Indy is first reacting to the circumstances and then starts acting on his own. The film is filled with fantastic CGI work, with good camera (Spielberg’s regular ‘man Friday’ - Janusz kaminski). The screenplay is good throughout (David Koepp, again a Spielberg regular).
This film also has something, which also is a ‘Spielberg regular’ – The Alien! It comes in one scene, without dialogues. Spielberg’s love for the aliens is widely seen in most of his movies.

Harrison Ford is terrific as Indy. He looks like the same man from the previous three movies, without being worn down by his age. He is fit, muscular and casual. This time, he pairs with his son and his first heroine (from Raiders of the lost Arc), to uncover the secret behind a crystal skull. It has been filmed in such a way that the tone of the film is exactly like the previous 3 movies. It’s not digital, and it has the same kind of color shading. It figures that comic book kind of look also throughout. The stunts are also enjoyable. The chase inside the jungle, the final confrontation, the bike chase – every stunt has been well done.

Overall, this movie will make you smile – Go see Indy and cheer for him, as he exactly carries on from what he left 19 years ago - adventure in full throttle !

world classic movies review-THE SHINNING

Here is a film which is hailed as one of the scariest horror movies in English. This is a widely acclaimed film throughout the world, and is still being liked by many true fans. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, who is deemed as a perfectionist, ‘The Shining’ was released in 1980. The movie has been adapted from a Stephen King novel.

Imagine you are left inside a very large house with only your wife and your son. You have to stay there at least for another five months. Nobody is around - not even a single house nearby. Mostly the house will be surrounded by snow, all through the months. How will your reactions be, in such an environment? Will you come out successful at the end of the five month stint, or will you perish?

The answer to this question forms the bottom-line of ‘The Shining’.

The movie begins with a series of fantastic helicopter shots of a car moving on a hill-road. We see Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) coming to a Hotel named ‘Overlook’ for an interview. The job is to look after the hotel for five months in the winter, when the hotel is closed. Jack seems delighted that he has got an offer, and despite the manager’s warning that the previous caretaker chopped his family and two daughters in to pieces, stacked them and ultimately shot himself, Jack accepts the offer. He says the loneliness is very well needed as he is right now on a writing assignment.

At the same time, in Jack’s home, his little son Danny seems to be agitated. He has the power of precognition, and is aided by ‘Tony’, some kind of supernatural power which warns him of the future happenings. He says Jack has got the offer. Exactly at the same moment, Jack rings home to tell his wife Wendy about his new offer.





The family goes to the hotel, and the manager Stuart shows them all the rooms. The chef Hallorann takes Wendy and Danny inside the store room and the kitchen, and while conversing with Danny, Hallorann reveals to Danny that he is aware of Danny’s supernatural power, as he himself uses the power at certain times, and that he learnt it from his granny. Danny enquires him about the room no 237, and what has happened over there. Hallorann answers Danny that there are certain incidents which are not pleasant, and it will be good if Danny stays away from the room.

The next day, jack and his family are the only inhabitants of the Hotel. A month goes by. Jack gets busy in typing his material while Wendy takes care of the daily activities. Danny moves around the long corridors of the Hotel in his small cycle. Once, Danny sees the ghosts of the two girls of the previous caretaker. The phone lines are cut due to the snowfall outside, and one day Danny goes in to the room 237 which is open, at the exact moment when jack dreams about chopping his wife and child. After a while, Danny returns, with a dazed look. There are strains on his neck, and Wendy thinks it was Jack who tried to beat the child. Jack doesn’t reply, and he goes in to the ‘Gold Room’ in the hotel, and talks to a creepy man named Lloyd who appears to be the bartender. We hear Wendy shouting Jack’s name, and she comes to Jack, apologizing to him for having accused him for the son’s bruises. She tells him that Danny told her he was attacked by a lady bathing in the room 237.Jack goes in to the room, and he sees a nude lady in the bathtub. She comes near him, hugs him and kisses. Suddenly she turns in to an old lady, with decayed skin. Jack runs away from the room.

He goes to his wife, telling her that there is nothing suspicious about the room. They both argue about shifting Danny outside the hotel. Jack now returns again to the ‘Gold Room’ which is filled with guests now. He meets a person named Delbert Grady in the room. Jack recognizes him as the previous caretaker who murdered his family, but Grady denies it, tells Jack that Jack has ‘always’ been at the overlook Hotel and JACK is the caretaker! He further tells Jack to set right his wife and the child, as his child is trying to bring in a nigger from outside in to the hotel.

We see Danny sitting in the bed, doing some kind of a queer action, and we see Hallorann at Florida, miles apart, doing the same action as that of Danny. They both communicate mentally and Danny sends the message to Hallorann that something is queer in the hotel. Hallorann calls the telephone department and requests them to call the wireless of the Hotel frequently as the phone lines have been destroyed, just to make sure everything is alright and he starts to the hotel.

Back in the hotel, Wendy learns about what Jack is actually writing in his book, and with a baseball bat in hand, she comes to jack. She asks him to go away, and while jack tries to stop her, she injures him. She locks him up in the store room, and Jack tells Wendy that he has destroyed the wireless and their car so that no one can get out.

After a while, Jack hears a sound near the door, and it’s Grady. We hear Grady’s voice from outside that Jack has failed to do his duty. Jack tells him to give him one more opportunity, and after getting Jack’s word that he will do his duty, the door suddenly opens.

Danny is awake in the bed, and he repeatedly utters the word ‘Redrum’ – the reverse of murder and writes it on the door. Wendy wakes up, and at the exact moment, Jack starts hitting the door with his axe. Wendy and Danny run away inside the Hotel, and after a chase, they hide. Meanwhile, Hallorann too arrives at the hotel.

What happened at the Hotel? Was Jack the ‘perennial’ caretaker? What happens to Wendy and Danny? What’s the mystery about Grady telling Jack that Jack has ‘always’ been the caretaker at the hotel? What happened to Hallorann? Rent the DVD and see it yourselves.

Now, Stanley Kubrick – the world knows how methodical he was. He has directed award winning movies like ‘Spartacus’, ‘Lolita’, ‘2001: a space odyssey’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (the review will soon follow), ‘Full metal jacket’ etc.. He was an innovative director par excellence, and he used a creative tool which was discovered during his days with great efficiency in this movie – the Steadycam It is said that ‘The Shining’ was only the second movie to make use of the various nuances of the Steadycam. ‘The Shining’ has a lot of things to vividly talk about, and which have been discussed a lot by the movie fans. The camerawork is exceptional in the film, with smooth, clear and perfect shots giving the audience the satisfaction of watching a great film.

Jack Nicholson as ‘Jack’ has done a great role. It is to be noted that Kubrick considered Robert De Nero and Robin Williams for the role of Jack, but finally picked Jack Nicholson, as De Nero was considered not psychotic enough for the role and Robin Williams was considered too psychotic for the role. Jack Nicholson’s role demands an eerie sort of acting, and he has mastered the role. We get psyched out when we see him with an axe at the end.

The best thing about the movie is the way Kubrick has placed his shots. Both the magnanimity and the creepiness of the hotel are well portrayed, with the long shots and the low angle Steadycam shots. When Danny goes around with his cycle and when the Steadycam follows him, the music and the camera give a creepy feeling to the audience that anything might happen anytime.

This is the kind of the movie which doesn’t show ghosts but frightens the audience. The mastery of Kubrick is evident all over the film.

Overall, me and my friend, while watching the film yesterday night, were pretty sure that someone is gonna open the door anytime with an axe in hand. Njoy the film, friends, and post your feedback.

PS:- This movie might attract a few while some viewers might also get confused. Some might dislike it totally. Don’t come to any sort of a decision by reading this post, but rent it and try seeing it yourselves without any judgment.

classic movies-Hotel Rwanda

Genocides.

They happen because of the hatred people have towards each other. When abhorrence develops in the minds of a group of people against their opponent caste, the results are dreadful. We read in newspapers frequently about one caste attacking the people of other caste in our villages (and cities too). Look at what’s happening in Sri Lanka. It is happening in Palestine, Afghanistan, Kashmir... Everywhere. Just imagine we are a part of this genocide. Around us, people are getting killed, and we don’t know when our turn will be. Lunatics are waiting outside to kill us at any time. What will our reaction be, in such a dreadful situation?

Hotel Rwanda is one such tale against genocides.

Paul Rusesabagina is the manager of a hotel in Kigali, Rwanda - Hotel Mille Collines. There are two major castes in Rwanda – The Hutu and the Tutsi. The Hutus are in power in 1994, and their president is Juvénal Habyarimana. We see Paul purchasing groceries for the hotel, in the initial scenes. He comes to the Hotel along with his assistant Dube. While Paul is working busy in the Hotel, Dube and others hear radio news which tells the President Juvénal Habyarimana’s plane has been shot and the president has died in the crash.

The radio proclaims that the Tutsi caste is responsible for the crash as the president was a Hutu. The radio says the Tutsi’s are planning for an attack on the Hutus for a long time and now they have sparked the dynamite by assassinating the president. Tension mounts up in Kigali, and military is summoned to reinforce peace. The U.N also sends Colonel Oliver (Nick Nolte) with an army to Kigali. The colonel talks to Paul and says things are under control, and the government is trying to reinforce peace all over the country.

There is an armed force named Interahamwe which absolutely hates the Tutsi caste. They proclaim in the radio that the Tutsis are cockroaches and they need to be killed to keep the country clean. Paul’s friend tells him the military is very minimal, and it won’t be able to control the crisis, if it happens. He also tells Paul to flee from the country, as his wife is a Tutsi. Paul assures his friend that the military will be able to control the crisis and even the U.N is here. All the world media is looking at the situation, and hence nothing would happen.

One man who is the neighbor of Paul comes to him and tells that the Interahamwe has decided to launch a brutal attack on the Tutsis. The code world will be ‘Cut the tall trees’. If this word is issued in the radio, it means the massacre will start. Paul worriedly comes in to his house and searches his wife and children, and they all are gathered in a room, with many other neighbors. The neighbors are Tutsis and they have come for refuge to Paul, since he is the ONLY Hutu who can be trusted. There is no power, too.

Next day, Paul goes to the hotel, and while traveling in the car, he switches on the radio, and suddenly hears the proclamation of ‘Cut the tall trees’ getting repeated again and again. Terrified, he reaches the hotel. The crisis has already begun. He runs to his home, and there is military which finds out he is sheltering Tutsis and the military says all the Tutsis are to be killed. Paul offers money to the military general, and saves those Tutsis and brings them all to his hotel.

In the Hotel, there are a lot of foreign people staying, and rooms are being allocated to all the refugees. Everywhere, it’s havoc outside, and Tutsis are killed in bunches. A woman from Red Cross brings in many Tutsi children and asks Paul to keep them safe. Paul hurriedly enquires to her about his sister-in-law, her husband and her two children who live near the school where the children are rescued, and he asks her to bring them here. She tells she‘ll try and goes off. Later he learns that the house is severely damaged and the parents are missing. The children are with an old lady living near their house.

Meanwhile, we see an army coming to the hotel to kill all the Tutsis. Paul calls the Hotel’s owners and they (Jean Reno) talk to the high authorities and as a result, the army withdraws. News reaches Paul that the while people are going to be rescued from the hotel by their countries and the black people are left as castaways. All the white people slowly move towards the buses waiting for them, and some of them (The news channel camera man Joaquin Phoenix) react about their spinelessness to help the blacks. The buses start, and in a beautiful shot, the poor black people who’ve left behind, stranded in the hotel, are shown. Rain pours down, and Paul takes everyone inside.

General Oliver tells Paul that he has received orders that some black people have got visas and they will be taken to the neighboring countries. In the list he reads out, Paul’s name is at the last. His wife and children are relieved that they are safe. When the truck comes to carry the blacks, after placing his family inside the truck, Paul whispers to a friend to take care of his family, and suddenly jumps out. He says he can’t leave the refugees as such, and goes to them. His wife cries, and the truck moves.

Back in the hotel, Paul learns from the radio that it’s an ambush to bring the people outside the hotel. Hutu fanatics attack the truck, and General Oliver somehow manages to bring the truck back to the hotel.

Now, all the routes are shut. Everywhere, it appears bleak, and Paul doesn’t know what to do. A policeman tells him that soon, the higher officials in the military will be thrown out, and then, everyone in the hotel will be killed. Paul goes to meet his friend to get groceries for the hotel, and after collecting them, the friend tells Paul to help to kill the cockroaches present inside, and if he helps, then he will be spared along with a few of the Tutsis. He asks Paul to take the road by the river, as it is the only clean road.

While traveling on the river road, the car bumps as if it’s been moving on rocks. Paul stops the vehicle and when he comes out, he staggers on something. When he looks at the road, he realizes that the entire road is filled with bodies! Thousands of bodies are lying on the road, making it a bloody sight. Paul cannot withstand the sight of his fellow countrymen lying as dead bodies, and he rushes to the hotel. He cries in a bathroom, and he tells his wife that if something happens to him, she has to go the terrace along with the children and jump down, as suicide is better than being tortured and killed.

He goes to a general in the Hutu army, who initially was Paul’s friend. Paul threatens the general that USA is carefully assessing the situation and when it attacks the Hutu army for the massacre, the general must need someone to vouch that the general was helping the Tutsi refugees. Paul says he will vouch for the general. Reluctantly, the general agrees to help Paul and with his help, all the refugees are brought to the neighboring city, and from there, to Tanzania.

In Tanzania, Paul is able to find the children of his sister-in-law. That was the only happiness to his family, after the attacks.

The movie ends with a beautiful song sung by children, when Paul and his wife take some more children to be accommodated in the bus to Tanzania.

Hotel Rwanda is a thumping tale. It’s a true story which portrays the massacre of millions of Tutsis by the Hutu fanatics. It happened in 1994, and it is estimated that almost 500,000 people were killed in the genocide. To read more about the Rwandan Genocide, take a look at this link.

If we think about it, genocides happen all around the world. Paul asks Dube in this film about why are genocides happening, and Dube gives a beautiful one word answer. It’s all due to hatred, he says. Hatred towards fellow people. If this hatred spreads among a community, then genocides happen. But, as seen in a touching manner in the movie, the people getting killed are in no way associated with the attacks at all. Only the innocent people, women and children die in these genocides.

The movie presents a soulful solution to stop genocides. It’s Love. Love towards a fellow human. Paul risks his life in saving more than 1000 refugees, who belong to his opposite caste. What was the need? He could have easily joined forces with his caste members, to kill the refugees. But instead, Paul chooses to save them. At the end, all the people thank Paul for saving their lives, and Paul smiles seeing the smile on their faces. Love must be the only solution in this world, the only solution which can create miracles.

Hotel Rwanda was released in 2005. Its an English film starring Don Cheadle as Paul, directed by Terry George. It was nominated for three Oscars (Best Actor, best supporting actor and Best Original Screenplay). The real Paul Rusesabagina and his wife accompanied the director while he went to Rwanda, and at that time, many people have welcomed him at the airport. This shows the power of Love, isn’t it?

See Hotel Rwanda, and get a feel of a single person’s iron will to save thousand people who have come to seek refuge under him. Hotel Rwanda is a classic, spreading the message of love against genocides.