Of Movies & Cinemas
I have to admit something first. I do not write this article with a purpose. It’s just that I am so passionate about Cinema that I had to write abt it. Btw did u notice something? I have been using the word 'Cinema' & not ‘Movie’ all the while . Did that strike u? If not then at the risk sounding rude, I would not encourage u to read further!!! . Now why do I stress on this.? The reason is that the term 'Movie' has come to be associated with the numerous commercial flicks that r being mass-produced these days without much rhyme n reason. Please note that I am not here to deride those movies. Honestly speaking I do enjoy many of those flicks. In fact some of those may actually fall into the category of 'Cinema' as I define here. I use the word 'Cinema' as the all encompassing term for the cinematic work which has been the product of a genuine effort to tell a story. The story can be of any genre fiction/non-fiction, comedy/horror, biography etc. That is not important. What is important is the manner in which the story is told. How deftly the characters have been sketched? How beautifully the era in which the story is set is brought out through the sights & sounds that appear in the work? And last and most importantly how relevant are the dialogues? The dialogues should not only be situational as it normally is. The dialogues should play a greater role in bringing out the ‘character traits’ of each and every character. Their faiths/beliefs/interests/likes/dislike etc. It should also be relevant to the times in which the story is set and hence should also throw light on the influence of the social, political & economic environment of individuals of that time. The dialogues should also help in portraying the essence of the relationship shared by the characters in the story. Now having laid a basic framework of what constitutes cinema according to my definition lets take some recent cinematic works as example and corroborate this fact. In this process I think we shall be etching out the difference between ‘movie’ & ‘cinema’ as intended, better.
Let’s start with the popular work ‘Mr. & Mrs. Iyer’. See although the work is more inclined towards being ‘commercial’ & ‘mainstream’ it still falls into category of ‘Cinema’ . The reason as I mention now is obvious. First of all see how ‘distinctly’ n ‘honestly’ the characters have been sketched. Both the main protagonists are straight out from the real society. They do not have any pretence. Also the narration is simple and free flowing. So are the dialogues. Their conversation is lyrical in nature and captures the ethos of the turbulent times that the story is set in. There were flaws also. It is bound to be there. But the work was a genuine effort in story-telling and a fairly successful one at that.
Another popular work of mainstream cinema of recent times, which wasn’t a huge commercial success but was nevertheless a product of deft cinematic mind, is ‘Finding Neverland ’ The work was not received as warmly as it should have been is because of more ‘imagination’ then required. But then we do have to give credit to it for being able to effortlessly drill into the audience the relationship between the male protagonist and the child characters. The situations used for this were at time spontaneous but the end effort was laudable coz it served its purpose. The air of romance between the lead characters was felt by the audience without a word being shared by them. That’s what brilliant direction is all about.
I think through the above two work as example I have to a certain extent made it clear what constitutes good cinema according to me. I have taken one Bollywood and one Hollywood cinema to avoid any verticals. As a student of sincere movie-making it is very important to me. Other movies which I could have discussed here are ‘The Forrest Gump’, ‘The English Patient’, ‘As Good as it Gets’, ‘Jane Eyre’ , ‘Hazaron Kwhaise Aisi’, ‘Chokher Bali’ , ‘Page 3’ etc. Another point which needs to be made clear here is that when I say serious cinema I do not necessarily mean the work of art houses. However, if we see the current trends of movie making the lines between art and commercial cinema is totally blurred. I do not want to discuss the works of Ray or Kurosawa here (although I would have loved to !!). Because I do not think I am ‘qualified’ enough to do that. It would be like biting more than one can chew’. I speak here based on my limited knowledge that I have gathered as a follower of well-acknowledged good cinematic works. Experiencing the work which is the product of genuine cinematic effort gives me pleasure. It is the same pleasure that I derive when I read a well-written book. It is something to express which I do not have words in my vocabulary. As I mentioned in the beginning this piece is without any purpose and since its going no where I better stop.
Let’s start with the popular work ‘Mr. & Mrs. Iyer’. See although the work is more inclined towards being ‘commercial’ & ‘mainstream’ it still falls into category of ‘Cinema’ . The reason as I mention now is obvious. First of all see how ‘distinctly’ n ‘honestly’ the characters have been sketched. Both the main protagonists are straight out from the real society. They do not have any pretence. Also the narration is simple and free flowing. So are the dialogues. Their conversation is lyrical in nature and captures the ethos of the turbulent times that the story is set in. There were flaws also. It is bound to be there. But the work was a genuine effort in story-telling and a fairly successful one at that.
Another popular work of mainstream cinema of recent times, which wasn’t a huge commercial success but was nevertheless a product of deft cinematic mind, is ‘Finding Neverland ’ The work was not received as warmly as it should have been is because of more ‘imagination’ then required. But then we do have to give credit to it for being able to effortlessly drill into the audience the relationship between the male protagonist and the child characters. The situations used for this were at time spontaneous but the end effort was laudable coz it served its purpose. The air of romance between the lead characters was felt by the audience without a word being shared by them. That’s what brilliant direction is all about.
I think through the above two work as example I have to a certain extent made it clear what constitutes good cinema according to me. I have taken one Bollywood and one Hollywood cinema to avoid any verticals. As a student of sincere movie-making it is very important to me. Other movies which I could have discussed here are ‘The Forrest Gump’, ‘The English Patient’, ‘As Good as it Gets’, ‘Jane Eyre’ , ‘Hazaron Kwhaise Aisi’, ‘Chokher Bali’ , ‘Page 3’ etc. Another point which needs to be made clear here is that when I say serious cinema I do not necessarily mean the work of art houses. However, if we see the current trends of movie making the lines between art and commercial cinema is totally blurred. I do not want to discuss the works of Ray or Kurosawa here (although I would have loved to !!). Because I do not think I am ‘qualified’ enough to do that. It would be like biting more than one can chew’. I speak here based on my limited knowledge that I have gathered as a follower of well-acknowledged good cinematic works. Experiencing the work which is the product of genuine cinematic effort gives me pleasure. It is the same pleasure that I derive when I read a well-written book. It is something to express which I do not have words in my vocabulary. As I mentioned in the beginning this piece is without any purpose and since its going no where I better stop.
posted by joy4uda at 3:10 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home