The Phantom of the Opera

An out and out Bollywood story. The young lovers who want to be togther. The villian in love with the girl, trying everything in his power to get her. The flashback is in color and the current day is shown in black and white. I think that is pretty interesting. The lead girl Emmy Rossum is very pretty and a beautiful voice. She fits the role of Christine very well. Minnie Driver as Charolata is hilarious. The movies begins in flashback with Christine, an orphan singing in the Paris Opera House. One of the mentors of the opera house Raoul is Christine's childhood sweetheart. They fall in love all over again. But there is a phantom that haunts the opera house. People die, bad things happen if the directives of the phantom are not followed. He has also been the secret teacher who has taught Christine music and trained her wonderfully. He starts to get protective and jealous when she starts loving Raoul. Slowly the story is revealed that he is not really a Phantom but is a human in flesh and blood. I loved the movie. This was my first exposure to the Phantom of the Opera. But then I always loved musicals like Evita and Chicago. The music is very nice with the stamp of Andrew Lloyd Weber all over the place.

Up and Down (Horem Padem)

This is a Czech film. Here is the thing I know about most European films. Most Hollywood movies start with a story, slowly build to a climax and bring it to an end. European movies don't have that. Most of the times there is no sense of closure to the movies. Its supposed to be more realistic, like life goes on and things like that. This movie is a fun one though. Just see it with the right expectation : Don't expect the Hollywood cliches. The story starts with a couple of crooks transporting a bunch of illegal immigrants across the border (Indians actually). There is a misunderstanding and a baby gets left behind in the truck. The way the film starts is pretty funny. The crooks are making some inane conversation at a gas station about battered and fried bat :S. Its just funny the way it is potrayed. The second story is about a couple who can't have a baby, and they can't adopt a child because the husband has a federal record. He was arrested for rioting in a scoccer match. The wife instictively steals other people's babies. So when she hears there is an abondaned baby she clears her savings and buys the baby. The have to be extremely careful and not take the baby out otherwise people would know something is wrong. Even though these two stories start first they are not the integral story. The main story is about a family a man and his wife seperated for a long time, and an estranged son who lives in Australia. He has a 18 year old daughter from his mistress. I am not going to give out the rest of the story since its the crux of the movie. There are many sub-plots in the movie, some that are relevant and other that are not. I guess you could say thats real life, but sometimes you get bored if they drag too long. The humor of hte movie is dark and funny; I don't think the drama is so exciting. But the moment that really gets you is when the son returns to his wife and son in Australia. It explains a few things about the complexity of his relationship with his parents. This is a good change from the regular Hollywood fare. I would say this movie is a good experiment to vary the flavor.

The Merchant of Venice

A film adaptation of William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. It has Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio and Joseph Fienes as Bassino. The movie is very beautifully cherographed and extremely well acted. You would expect nothing less with a star cast like this. But the adapation too dark for the play. This is not a Macbeth or Hamlet. Shylock is a victim of anti-Semitism. The European Jews were not allowed to own property, so they became money lenders. It was against the Christan law at that time to take interest. But thats what Jews would do to earn a livelihood. Bassino is in love with Portia but he doesn't have the money to go seek her hand. His very good friend Antonio comes to his rescue by loaning from Shylock. The terms of payment are Antino has to pay the money in three months or Shylock can have a pound of his flesh. Bassinio marries Portia, Antonio comes accross some back luck and can't pay his debt. Shylock wants to take his revenge for all the insult he has ever faced. You end up sympathized with Shylock since he is the victim of society. Even the end which is supposed to paint him the a-la villian fails. I think in all the opulence of the movie the essence of the play is missing. In the scene where Portia and Nerissa are chastizing their husbands for losing their wedding rings seems too forced. This should have been a scence that makes the audience forget about the sad things that have happened and laugh about the mix up. Somehow the zing is missing. It does have Shakespeare's beautiful literature. My favourite is Shylock's soliquoy : If you prick us, do we not bleed? .. and if you wrong us shall we not revenge. Its worth a watch if you really are into Shakespeare. Don't if you are not into it.