Rating: *** (out of 4)
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne
Director: Alex Proyas
Did our world happen by coincidence or by a well-laid plan? This is the debate of determinism vs randomness. In determinism, it is believed that the universe come into being as a creation by a ultra being. As such, things that happened are all part of the plan, and hence a prophecy does exist.
In randomness, it is believed that the universe come about solely as a coincidence, and hence we have things like the big bang theory. Everything that happened is just a coincidence, and hence there is no plan involved and no such thing as a prophecy.
The human society is probably split between the two schools of thought. What is my side on this debate? I don't know for sure. The answer to this will probably remain out-of-reach to me for a long time.
It is good to see a movie like 'Knowing' that is made with this philosophical debate as its core. The movie is told from the eye of John Koestler (Nicolas Cage), a MIT astrophysics professor who is a firm believer in randomness, until he stumbles upon a message from 50 years ago in the form of a numerical pattern, that accurately predict the major disasters that had happened in the past 50 years. The discovery challenges Koestler's belief to its depth, and as viewers, so do ours.
'Knowing' is a sci fi thriller of the philosophical sort. It is thought-provoking, intriguing and at times creepy. It is not perfect; the character acts implausibly at times, and so is the plot. Nevertheless, it is a lot better than many of the hollow special effect extravaganza that is simply forgettable. This one keeps you thinking right after you leave the cinema hall.
The direction, by Alex Proyas, isn't as convincing as his 'Dark City', which masterfully blends sci fi in a noir-ish metropolis. Still, the premise of 'Knowing' is no less intriguing. I just have a feeling that it would have been better if Alex Proyas has made it in a more low-key mode as in 'Dark City'.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Talentime
Rating: *** (out of 4)
Director: Yasmin Ahmad
They say that some filmmakers have only 1 story to tell. Well, I hate to say this, this is the feeling I got after watching Yasmin Ahmad's latest feature film, 'Talentime'. It felt like Anthony Minghella revisiting his theme of war time drama in 'Cold Mountain', years after making the Oscar-winning 'The English Patient'.
'Talentime', like 'Sepet', again deals with interracial relationship. The feeling of deja vu is re-inforced by Harith Iskandar 'reprising' his role as 'Ah bah' of the girl's family. Again, the girl came from a liberal-minded family. Again, the family has a maid who is more like a part of the family. Adibah Noor features again, although in a different role.
With ‘Telentime’, Yasmin seems to be filling in the gap left over in ‘Sepet’. If 'Sepet' is said to be under-representing Indian characters, this time she make amends by having an interracial relationship between an Indian boy and a Malay girl. Yasmin filling in the 'muhibah' quota? Seems so.
Another criticism of 'Sepet' is that it over-simplifies matter by having 2 liberal-minded families in its story (Ironically, this is also partly the reason why 'Sepet' works so well). Here, Yasmin counters to that by having a rather 'racist' mother for the Indian boy. A darker version of 'Sepet'? Seems so.
All the above is meant more as an observation, less as a criticism. Yes, 'Talentime' is rehashing old material. But such material remains highly controversial that it deserves a retelling, with a fresh perspective. I remain a fan of Yasmin's work; 'Talentime' gracefully took a swipe against those who are 'racist' in the Malaysian Society, the re-conciliation between Hafiz and the top scorer Ka Hoe in a musical performance on stage is beautifully done, so is the scene when Mahesh's mother comes to relization that her dead nephew has deep regret over his failed relationship with a Indian-Muslim girl, due to Mahesh's mother objection. The story is told with down-to-earth sincerity as in the Taiwanese ‘Cape No. 7’. So, it is not that commercial.
And yes, the town of Ipoh remains so beautiful in Yasmin's celluloid images.
Is it better than 'Sepet'? Probably not. The characters in 'Talentime' is not as engaging as in 'Sepet'. What Yasmin is doing is probably to give the material a more weighty interpretation. She deserves credit for that.
Director: Yasmin Ahmad
They say that some filmmakers have only 1 story to tell. Well, I hate to say this, this is the feeling I got after watching Yasmin Ahmad's latest feature film, 'Talentime'. It felt like Anthony Minghella revisiting his theme of war time drama in 'Cold Mountain', years after making the Oscar-winning 'The English Patient'.
'Talentime', like 'Sepet', again deals with interracial relationship. The feeling of deja vu is re-inforced by Harith Iskandar 'reprising' his role as 'Ah bah' of the girl's family. Again, the girl came from a liberal-minded family. Again, the family has a maid who is more like a part of the family. Adibah Noor features again, although in a different role.
With ‘Telentime’, Yasmin seems to be filling in the gap left over in ‘Sepet’. If 'Sepet' is said to be under-representing Indian characters, this time she make amends by having an interracial relationship between an Indian boy and a Malay girl. Yasmin filling in the 'muhibah' quota? Seems so.
Another criticism of 'Sepet' is that it over-simplifies matter by having 2 liberal-minded families in its story (Ironically, this is also partly the reason why 'Sepet' works so well). Here, Yasmin counters to that by having a rather 'racist' mother for the Indian boy. A darker version of 'Sepet'? Seems so.
All the above is meant more as an observation, less as a criticism. Yes, 'Talentime' is rehashing old material. But such material remains highly controversial that it deserves a retelling, with a fresh perspective. I remain a fan of Yasmin's work; 'Talentime' gracefully took a swipe against those who are 'racist' in the Malaysian Society, the re-conciliation between Hafiz and the top scorer Ka Hoe in a musical performance on stage is beautifully done, so is the scene when Mahesh's mother comes to relization that her dead nephew has deep regret over his failed relationship with a Indian-Muslim girl, due to Mahesh's mother objection. The story is told with down-to-earth sincerity as in the Taiwanese ‘Cape No. 7’. So, it is not that commercial.
And yes, the town of Ipoh remains so beautiful in Yasmin's celluloid images.
Is it better than 'Sepet'? Probably not. The characters in 'Talentime' is not as engaging as in 'Sepet'. What Yasmin is doing is probably to give the material a more weighty interpretation. She deserves credit for that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
