In the "ZONE" - A review of Andrei Tarkovsky's "STALKER" (1979)

There are Films and there are Films. Some Films move you,some evoke extreme emotions,some make you smile,some make you laugh out loud,some are just feel good and some provoke outrage through their content. A few even manage to make you think without taking the mickey out of you.

Rarely (If ever) does a Film make you remember the day you watched it for the first time. That happened to me but curiously enough, it did not end there. Long after the credits rolled, it lingered on....Indelible and breathtakingly spectacular images flashed fleetingly before my eyes ....Immaculate in their conception,startling in their beauty. I dismissed 'em away as the workings of an unusually romantic mind which was bizarre as I was (still am) anything but a romantic. I am an uncompromising realist. My curiosity was thus piqued but I was still grappling for reasons for me "coming back to the Film" time and again.

And then I dreamt of the "Zone"......

A long time ago, it was speculated that a meteorite fell on the Earth thereby sparking a mini holocaust. People passing through that area mysteriously disappeared.

Sounds like the start of a conventionally "exciting" but run o' the mill Sci-Fi, innit? But what follows is something inexplicable and thus best left experienced.

A provocative and spiritually rewarding odyssey, "Stalker" is the kind of Film that talks through its images. Images of matchless, ethereal charm that somehow manage to evoke an indescribable,almost incredible sadness and nostalgia. The eerie,haunting Soundtrack bores its way into your soul evoking feelings of a long,weary journey of a Man on the lane to nowhere. The plot is best left unrevealed (Nothing much to "reveal" anyway).

There are some stupefying,jaw dropping sequences. Tarkovsky dared to go where no one even dared to go before/after. He held shots - long enough to seem like an eternity to the uninitiated but those who were willing to share his journey and vision were/are/will be rewarded beyond belief.

No matter how many times you see this Film, it will provoke different feelings every single time. For in the absence of a "plot", Tarkovsky urges you to "feel" and understand that in a seemingly meaningless existence, the "journey" provides the meaning and is its own reward.

Dark,dank and forbidding landscapes in the Film perfectly mirror the minds of the 3 "seekers" who search for the "Room" that will ostensibly make all their wishes come true.

I have watched this Film a few times and each time, I drew a different conclusion.

Tarkovsky made other Films - deeply personal ones, spiritually moving ones, metaphysical ones, speculative ones. Kubrick made the uncompromising, devastatingly cynical "2001: A Space Odyssey" which is justifiably hailed as a Masterpiece and one of the greatest Sci-Fi Films of all time.

They all pale in comparison to the experience that is "Stalker." A Film that made me wonder...

A Film that drew me into a World where time stood still.....into a world where I took in everything,blinked and questioned the reason for existence.

Time for me to go back to the "Zone".......

The Wild Bunch (Director's Cut) [1969]

1969. The "Western" genre had just been given a new lease of life by the irascibly eccentric Sergio Leone and the landscape had changed forever. Extreme close ups, the archetypal loner who looked out primarily for himself and wasn't too fussy about how he went about his business,twanging Soundtracks accentuating the grim mood and the uncompromising atmosphere that pervades the "Spaghetti Western"....These were to add a new dimension to the structure of the Western Film. Leone and Morricone brought the European flavour into the equation and Clint Eastwood was in the right place at the right time.

However, American Cinema (especially Westerns) was still trying to escape from the stereotypical limitations plaguing Hollywood at that point in time. While they made some excellent Films, the Violence was still muted and very rarely was the "feel good" factor transcended. The Studios were unwilling to compromise and this was the scenario in the late 60's before Leone's "Dollars trilogy" began to break down barriers.

The time was ripe for an uncompromising Auteur who wanted to make his point and make it his way. And in came such a man. A man,adorned in faded jeans and bandanna. A man who looked at the world through tinted glasses to hide the wild glint in his eyes. A man who drank hard and pulled no punches. A man who was unafraid to lay bare his soul in front of the world. A man with supreme movie making skill. That man was Sam "Bloody" Peckinpah and "The Wild Bunch" is his most provocative and enduring Masterpiece.

Right from the unrelenting OST and the first scene where a group of children gleefully watch a scorpion eaten alive by a group of ants, Peckinpah tells a timeless and haunting tale of a bunch of Outlaws who desperately try to do things their way without compromising on their time tested ideals and complex codes of honour.

Set during the Mexican revolution, the "Bunch" go about doing what they do best but realise that the times are changing and the old order is rapidly giving way to the new. There are countless memorable scenes of almost "beautiful" violence (A Peckinpah trademark) and stunning cinematography but it is the quiet moments that stun you as a Cinephile. No once portrayed male bonding more poignantly than Bloody Sam and scenes of the Bunch having a quiet chuckle and laugh amidst the unrelenting violence hits right on the spot.

Ironically, for a "difficult" Director; Peckinpah had an unbelievable amount of talent to work with in this Film. Bill Holden and Ernest Borgnine (Oscar winners both - Not that it matters) are in top flight here and this Film is easily the high water mark of their illustrious careers. Ben Johnson with a perpetual grin pasted on his face and the seedy Warren Oates add grit,depth and a lot of heart to this classic. Add Robert Ryan and the dusty,weather beaten Peckinpah regulars L.Q.Jones and Strother Martin and you have a cast to die for.

Nothing needs to be said much about how "influential" this Film actually was and still is. The special edition DVD contains some remarkable documentaries which gives us a sneak peek into the making of this great,great Film.

But if for nothing else, this Film has to be watched simply because it has the greatest Film climax of all time IMO. Pike (Holden) looks at his comrades and the "look" makes any speech obsolete. As Pike growls "let's go" under his breath much to the delight of the rest of the Bunch, we know something is going to happen. What follows is the best of what Cinema can offer as a medium.

The "Bunch" start the walk, grinning but knowing fully well that this was the bloody finish, eyes staring ahead with burning intensity,shoulders thrust forward and their self dignity on the line. The infamous "ballet of death" scenes are stupefyingly beautiful in their execution and symmetry and the guns rattle,growl and thunder before dust settles down on the bloodied earth. This wasn't gratuitous violence nor was it condoning it. This was Peckinpah making his observation on a Bunch who wanted to go out in their own way,justifying the kind of lives that they lived and the choices that they made. They were willing to pay the price and in a strange way, the violence that was spewed was just and appropriate (If that's possible). That's what makes this Film, a pure one-off. The Bunch went away (as they had to) but not before going out in a blaze of glory.

On screen violence will never ever be the same again.

A blood and guts Film that accentuates all the qualities of its enigmatic Director, "The Wild Bunch" is a "tone poem written in adrenaline" as one reviewer puts it. Watch it and be grateful for the experience. Watch it for the man they called "Bloody Sam" and to know what the fuss is all about. The special edition DVD is also, one of my most treasured possessions.

They don't make 'em like 'im anymore.

On Raymond Chandler - Author non pareil

The past few nights had been dark and wet with robust winds chilling the bone and whistling through the trees. With time on my hands, I did what I enjoy doing best - pick up a book that was waiting to be read.

Rubbing my hands together to create a bit of heat and get the blood flowing, I started with a short story. It started like this:

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."

I was intrigued, even a trifle taken aback. I have read a few Authors in my time but the vivid imaginative thrusts here had already penetrated the lackadaisical feeling of comfort and inertia that I was feeling. I sat up, jerked wide awake. As expected; the book began to crackle into life soon enough, took on a shape all its own and started to bite. I intuitively understood that I was reading an Author rather special in more ways than one. The Author being the great Raymond Chandler.

Now I have read Classics and a wide variety of genres save for the Romantic genre which I find to be incredibly boring,insipid and incapable of evoking honestly strong emotions and thus I don't put it on par with other great works of most genres. A lot of people who read "Classics" tend to dismiss "whodunits" as merely "escape" Fiction. There is a grain of truth in that for there is a huge mass of mediocre "whodunits" which prowl the market and it is incredibly difficult to write great, even very good detective Fiction. For a detective Novel usually revolves around murder, theft or other crimes and most people do not warm to it or find it to be endearing. As opposed to the so called archetypal "Classic", detective Fiction generally concerns itself with seedy,selfish Conmen and layabouts who'll slit their mothers' throats for a buck and world weary,cynical Private Eyes who know all the answers. So essentially, a "hard boiled' Author has a rather restricted canvas.

Yet, Chandler's "Philip Marlowe" is a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. In fact, he leaves 'em both in the shade. For unlike 'em, he was a guy who was acutely aware of himself,his limitations and his surroundings and though he despised what he saw; he did what he had to do anyway with his scathing,razor sharp wisecracks acting as a "release"; his touch with reality. He is the one against whom all the subsequent PI's are judged.

To rise above the manifold limitations of the genre and write novels that actually transcend the genre and stand toe to toe with some of the best works of the past century is almost impossible. Yet, that was EXACTLY what Chandler achieved. His "The Simple Art Of Murder" makes enlightening reading.

And best of all, he wrote words that pulsate and gyrate with a bizarre,quirky rhythm all their own. They leap out of the books; creating dense,byzantine patterns that leave the reader panting for more. The metaphors and allusions breathe, hinting at a mind that is at once sharper than a dragon canine and fiendishly creative.

The Chandler prose is justifiably, one of the zeniths of 20th Century Classic American Fiction. Gotta love the man.

On Jean-Pierre Melville and "Le Deuxième Souffle" A.K.A. "Second Wind" (1966)

Among the galaxy of geniuses who have donned the Director's cap in Films, there are 3 who occupy a special position in my list of favourites. One is the incomparable Akira Kurosawa and other is an irascible,uncompromising and brilliant Auteur who went by the name of "Bloody Sam" Peckinpah. The last one in this triumvirate might be construed to be a curious selection by some but there is no doubting the coruscating brilliance of Jean-Pierre Melville and the complete control he had over his awe inducing Film Masterpieces.

Melville was evidently inspired by early American Noir classics but his own Films transcend the immediate effect that evocative Noirs have on the viewer. Peerless specialist of the "existential" Crime epic, no one mastered the "Crime Drama" genre and turned it inside out like Melville did.

The opening sequence of this brilliant Crime Film highlights the hold that Melville held over the medium. Three men crouch at the top of a prison building in forbidding darkness, grimly working out the chances of escape. Then follows a chain of events that is jaw droppingly brilliant in its precise cinematic execution, its slow escalation of hysterical tension and economy of movement.

Like his celebrated "Le Samourai" and "Le Cercle Rouge", this Film is the epitome of a "minimalistic Epic." Hunched shoulders, trench coats and wide brimmed hats appear frequently on the screen, adorning persons navigating with intent; thereby hinting at pre-occupation with problems that will take some solving. The Melvillian protagonist is a curious animal: ostensibly a simple,ruthless Criminal but one that swears by peculiar personal codes of loyalty, honesty and professionalism. His matter-of-fact, pre-occupied demeanour is consistent with the dour shadow of fatalism that pervades the Melvillian universe.

But the thing that makes a Melville Film such an aural and visual delight is his construction of impeccable set piece sequences. The Heist sequence in this Film is one of many highlights in a distinguished career.

Melville was also blessed with some of the best Actors going around at the time. The protagonist's role was tailor made for Lino Ventura. Eyes conveying brooding intensity and a mask of a face hinting at a raging inferno underneath; Ventura scorches the screen. Marcel Bozzuffi (Of "The French Connection" fame) and the redoubtable Paul Meurisse (Remember "Les Diaboliques"?) add depth and vitality to their respective roles.

A MUST-WATCH for any Cinephile.

Advaita Vedanta - A sneak peek

People who know me and my views fairly well might be aware of my interests in the great vEdAntic tradition of Advaita which when translated correctly, is "Non Dualism" and not "Monism" as is popularly known.

Personally, this great tradition has been the "solace of my life" as the German philosopher Schopenhauer once famously put it when he was asked about the Upanishads.

Throughout history, man has sought to find out the reason for existence. Why are we born and why do we die? What's the point? Our mundane and busy lives rarely allow us to pause and ponder on these questions but at one point or the other, we are bound to grapple with it.

Various men came up with various theories on the same as time went on. Some of them were accepted, some weren't. Great civilisations came up and a "way of life" soon became the norm.

However, we will focus chiefly on the Indian sub-continent here . Curiously enough, theology and philosophy became inseparable for within the vEdic framework; various schools of thought came into vogue. This is a particularly distinct trait of Indian philosophy.

To this day, the views of Advaita Vedanta have been regarded as the "summum bonum" of Indian Philosophy and thought and rightly so. For here, the onus is on the Individual himself to chart his own destiny. It is here that Mankind has reached its speculative/philosophical zenith. It is from here that I draw unfathomable mental and spiritual strength as I wade my way through the daily machinations of life.

I will be posting a Series containing my thoughts on the great and hallowed tradition of Advaita Vedanta and other allied schools. Although I'm doing this for purely mental satisfaction, I did get a few requests to put my thoughts across and I'll try to keep it simple. But as Einstein said once "Make things simple but not simpler."

I offer this humbly at the holy feet of the only man I ever idolised in my life.

श्रुति स्मृति पुराणानामालयं करुणालयं|
नमामि भगवत्पादशंकरं लॊकशंकरं ||

The Good,The Bad & The Ugly (1967)

Got a Blu-Ray of this timeless epic. There's a bit of a history with this Film so here we go.

Some 14 years ago, I was a young Kid; perpetually on the go as most kids that age and restless enough to make my Mom wince and quite often at that.

It was a typically lazy Sunday afternoon and my dad opened that VCR of ours,putting on a Film that he insisted I'd love. I was and still am a natural skeptic so I was waiting for evening to get in a Cricket game and work up a sweat. Films weren't really a passion then quite obviously so I wasn't really expecting something that'd make a 10 year Kid gasp, much less introspect.

But,right from the opening credits where that all too familiar OST (Probably the most famous OST of all time) hits the ear drums; I was captivated. The eerie,wild and jagged sound was fiercely evocative even then! The first extreme close-up shot was something I had never seen or experienced before and right from that moment on, I was a dead Mackerel - hook,line and sinker! I had left the heat and dust of Madras for the deserts and was a faceless observer of cynical,leathery men preoccupied with survival; their lives fueled and obsessed by pure,unadulterated greed. It'd mystify the mind of any 10 year old bloke. It mystified mine.

I don't need to wax eloquent on the merits of the Film. By ANY yardstick, it has to be one of the greatest Films of all time. For the next 3 hours I was glued to the tube. In more ways than one, it opened up a whole new world.

After the Film was over, my dad grinned at me. I grinned back. That says it all I guess. ;-)

In The Heat Of The Night (1967)

Saw it after a good 3 years and the Film still packs a helluva wallop !

There is no denying the fact that Jewison scores a home run with this brilliant,multi layered Film that hits all the right notes with the precision of a Sten gun and then some.

That it won a clutch of Oscars is almost besides the point. The American South was still a pretty lousy place for the blacks in the '60's and to come up with this complex, ultra realistic tale on the inter-relationships between the two races was and still is, a staggering achievement.

Any Film having a clean shaven,almost handsome Oates has gotta be somethin' special ;-) :-D.

But the Film is primarily driven by stunning performances by Steiger and Poitier. Steiger's ripping effort is a study of the human condition laid bare. There he was, now furiously chewing gum....Now rolling eyes and grinning...Temper building to a burning crescendo to mask his all too human failings....He was all over the damned place ! Little wonder he snagged the Oscar !

Contrast this with Poitier....The grim,no nonsense Black who sees eye to eye and never backs down. He is smart enough to know when he's licked but that piercing glint hints at an irrepressible urge to assert himself...The vestiges of a colonial hangover.

The Direction is sharp as a tack and atmospheric. There ain't a flaw in this crackerjacker of a Film.

Fab. fab. fab. !!!