02-13-2013, 10:15 AM
Shanghai by Dibakar Banerjee (2012)
This is too good a movie to recommend, which I suppose requires some explaining.
I was recently in the library looking for a decent Chinese or Indian movie. What I found was an Indian movie titled Shanghai. How could that go wrong? The problem is, it turned out not to be a typical musical dance-fest; it's a political thriller. In fact, it is based on the French film Z and the book by the same name. I've never seen that movie or read that book, so this was still a new experience.
In a nutshell, one political party wants to modernize an area of India, creating a thriving business metropolis that will surpass Shanghai. This of course requires callously displacing lots of poor people. A charismatic leader organizes the poor to fight this development, only to be run down by a truck. An investigator is called in to quickly close the case, but he starts seeing corruption and a massive cover-up, and he just can't bring himself to follow his superior's orders to close it.
The acting is superb, with the possible exception of Kalki Koechlin. But she is nonetheless mesmerizing, impossible not to focus on when she shares the screen with others. She is called the Donald Duck of Bollywood for good reason. Google image searches don't do her justice because virtually all those photos show her in front view. But in Shanghai the director recognizes the treasure he's been given and lovingly films her in wondrous profile. That's when you begin to realize she is not human. She is an alien pretending to be human. In front view she can almost pull it off. But in profile she transcends the human gene pool.
As mentioned, the movie is too good to recommend. But you might want to check it out just to witness the phenomenon that is Kalki Koechlin, irrefutable evidence that we are not alone.
This is too good a movie to recommend, which I suppose requires some explaining.
I was recently in the library looking for a decent Chinese or Indian movie. What I found was an Indian movie titled Shanghai. How could that go wrong? The problem is, it turned out not to be a typical musical dance-fest; it's a political thriller. In fact, it is based on the French film Z and the book by the same name. I've never seen that movie or read that book, so this was still a new experience.
In a nutshell, one political party wants to modernize an area of India, creating a thriving business metropolis that will surpass Shanghai. This of course requires callously displacing lots of poor people. A charismatic leader organizes the poor to fight this development, only to be run down by a truck. An investigator is called in to quickly close the case, but he starts seeing corruption and a massive cover-up, and he just can't bring himself to follow his superior's orders to close it.
The acting is superb, with the possible exception of Kalki Koechlin. But she is nonetheless mesmerizing, impossible not to focus on when she shares the screen with others. She is called the Donald Duck of Bollywood for good reason. Google image searches don't do her justice because virtually all those photos show her in front view. But in Shanghai the director recognizes the treasure he's been given and lovingly films her in wondrous profile. That's when you begin to realize she is not human. She is an alien pretending to be human. In front view she can almost pull it off. But in profile she transcends the human gene pool.
As mentioned, the movie is too good to recommend. But you might want to check it out just to witness the phenomenon that is Kalki Koechlin, irrefutable evidence that we are not alone.
I'm nobody's pony.
