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Reviews
Ondanondu Kaladalli (1978)
Probably the best movie I have ever seen..
A haunting movie that reverberated deep in my psyche. I saw this movie as young boy. And still can here the sound of jungle and its lush settings. The songs in the movie were 'minimalist" as are the costumes. These and many other cameos in the film enrich the rural/tropical village/jungle background so clearly. I remember the simple food that the two children bring the Shankar Nag in a leaf, which clearly adds to the subtle aura of a dated period setting in the film.
Many years later (1990), I happened to go trekking in Dandeli. The rural background has not changed much among the thatched huts in the area. They offer jaggary ( a mound of brown sugar) and water to all passers by, and brought back memories of the film. The action sequences in Kalari (martial art) are choreographed so realistically and occasioned by fears/insecurities so well that I consider it an equal to Kurasawa's Yojimbo, which I believe Karnad aimed for.
A must see.
If you are really hooked to this one, you should see Boorman's Emerald Forrest. Has the same mystical and ethereal feel.
Fanaa (2006)
Great Movie - Copied though
Great movie with breath taking scenes and good songs. Seems original too. But that is where it ends. See: "Eye of the needle" with Donald Sutherland and Kate Nelligan. You will see the immediate connection. The isolated Kashmir background mimics storm island. The WWII German role of Donald mimics Aamir's struggle as a Kashmiri living on "foreign" soil. The role played by Rishi Kapoor as the heroine's father is similar to Kate's husband in EOTN. The role played by the isolated colonel who dies at the hand of aamir is similar to the lighthouse event in EOTN.
In fact the final struggle is also similar. A helicopter awaits aamir and a German u-boat waits Donald.
Train de vie (1998)
Great Movie ..
I saw this movie on Showtime, after a late night shift. Never went looking for it. I found the movie reveting.
I saw some comments about "Life is Beautiful", and the comparison. A more apt comparison would be, I believe to "Fiddler on the Roof". In the same sense, perhaps not as musical though, the story seems to weave through the life and times of a community facing oncoming winds of change.
In a way, with the arguments of the imitation Nazis, and the "revolutionary" communists, the pattern of life is both touchingly human, and comically sarcastic of how men are "seemingly" separated with each other.
Although the Jewish communal environment seeps through the wonderful story, the later union with the gypsies who are also seeking a haven, relents to truly human and comic parody of the WWII era.