Friday, February 13, 2009

(Sniff)

I have always laughed at people who told me that they came out of a theatre weeping as I've never understood how anyone could "feel" so much. Even my mother (my OWN blood) carries a pack of hankies with her whenever she sees a movie (on TV or in a theatre).  Initially I thought that it was some kind of a fad or something which would make you "cool" (amongst the girls... If a guy did that, he'd be labled "wimp" for life!).. but then I realised that grown up men too would hold back a tear in some cases. For instance, a friend of mine (name withheld as I dont want to be responsible for him being called a wimp) said he was "moved' when he saw Taare Zameen par... For the life of me, I couldnt figure out what was so sad about the movie but I guess he has his reasons. This is when I realised that everyone has a "threshold-level-movie" at which she/he gets "moved".  After all, I did come out BAWLING after seeing Krish.

Apart from Krish (reasons for my crying have been extensively blogged about), I saw a movie today which moved me beyond a point that I have ever been moved...(phew.. so much for an elaborate justification). The movie in question is ''The boy in the striped pyjamas" - a film centred around the time when Nazi occupied Germany was just about to start WW-II. I wouldnt term it as the best film I've ever seen, but it sure got me "feeling" (and the first one at that). Again, it is clearly a low budget movie without any big star or exotic locations so dont blame me if you dont like the film. The movie is centred around an 8 year old boy (son of a highly ranked Nazi officer), who happens  to befriend a small jewish boy of the same age, who is staying in the POW camp. I wont play spoilsport and blurt out the rest though I must say that there isnt much in the story as most of the scenes have been shot inside a house or at a POW fence. (as seen in the promos pic) But the screen play has been done to perfection. No overacting, no unneccessary melodrama -  just the right amount of drama for my liking. 
The movie depicts the horrors of the Nazi POW camps. Though such attrocities have not been graphically displayed (as in some earlier Oscar winning movies), if one is aware of what happened to the jews during that period, the viewer will suitably shocked! 
The only grouch I have with the movie is similar to one of the MANY grouches I had with slumdog millionaire and that is, the protagonists all have a distinct British accent. Dont get me wrong, I love the accent. But since this was a movie which portrayed Nazis and Jews, a less distinct accent (or an accent that Germans have when speaking English) would have probably increased its effectiveness.
I wont say much more now... Do watch the movie if you get the chance (I think there is a DVD rip on torrents)... I go back to being jobless for now..

Hiel Hitler....


3 comments:

Prasoon said...

Seen it. And was moved beyond words.
You call the viewer suitably shocked? The room they show after all is done with clothes hanging and viewers left to guess - that is literally shattering.

Jayded said...

More than that last scene, i was always touched when they showed "Schoomle" eating those puffs and cakes... AMAZING acting... Thats the fundamental difference between Hollywood and Bollywood. The kids dont overact!

Anonymous said...

Hey Dude,

Nice to knw that u can differentiate b/w the brit and the german accent ...highlight it in the CV...
nice one overall.