Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Review:
As can be expected from the title, this is they biography of Gandhi, one of the most influential people of the 20th century and a hero to millions. It tells his life story from early days in South Africa until his death shortly after Indian independence was reached through his approach of non-violent non-cooperation. Naturally, as a title card in the beginning states, such a film can never tell the full story, yet despite the more than three hour runtime, many of the stories feel significantly underdeveloped, especially with regards to collaborators or even Gandhi’s wife. This is, existentially, the “Ben Kingsley as Gandhi” show, which is well worth watching, but is not nearly enough to understand the man.
Random Observations:
Gandhi at the IMDb
Another film that begins with a death and a funeral (albeit one featuring 300,000 extras!), before moving on to tell the story. However, since this is a biopic, the ending is known anyway.
The resemblance between Ben Kingsley and Gandhi is really quite startling. They look so much alike, legend has it that during shooting, local extras thought they saw Gandhi’s ghost.
I always thought it somewhat inappropriate that the most famous Indian of all time was played by a Brit. Then I discovered that Kingsley’s name is actually Krishna Bhanji and that his father is/was Indian. I guess that somehow makes it more adequate.
Considering the film was made almost 25 years after Gandhi’s death, a little more weight could have been given to the aftermath of his life’s work and the violent rift between Pakistan and India that continues to this day. It would have nicely shown that one man, however influential and adored, is always soon forgotten. Then again, the film might not be the forum for that.
Second entry in “Western Asian Week” - European or American films set in Asia. One more to come!
Tags: 1982, Alyque Padamsee, Amrish Puri, Athol Fugard, based on true story, Ben Kingsley, Bernard Hepton, biography, British Film, Candice Bergen, Drama, Edward Fox, english, Gandhi, Geraldine James, Günther Maria Halmer, Harsh Nayyar, history movie, Ian Bannen, Ian Charleson, Indian Film, John Briley, John Clements, John Gielgud, John Mills, Martin Sheen, Michael Bryant, Michael Hordern, minute movie review, movie review, Movies, Nigel Hawthorne, Om Puri, Richard Attenborough, Richard Griffiths, Richard Vernon, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth, Saeed Jaffrey, Shreeram Lagoo, Trevor Howard, true story, Virendra Razdan, Western Asian Week
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Review:
When I first read that Guy Ritchie, the guy behind the vastly overrated gangster comedies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, was making a Sherlock Holmes movie that would focus on the action hero aspect of the character, I expected something terrible. But due to great casting (Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law AND Mark Strong? You wouldn’t even need to add Rachel McAdams, I’m in!) and good advance word, I actually wanted to see this film. A big mistake. The film is every bit as horrible as expected, a generic action thriller with nary a good moment. Holmes detecting mostly consists of smelling stuff, hitting men bigger than him and being outsmarted by every second person in the film. There are 60 original Holmes stories, so there really was no reason for the film to create some crazy conspiracy story that barely makes sense and is riddled with plot holes. That Ritchie’s directing is at best mediocre I expected, but it was actually painful to watch how he managed to reduce the great cast to horrible actors. No matter how you feel about the real Sherlock Holmes, avoid this film. How it ever came to be successful is a mystery that would have even intrigued the great detective.
Random Observations:
Sherlock Holmes at the IMDb
Hans Zimmer’s score is nominated for an Oscar. It was certainly very effective in calling attention to itself, but I wouldn’t consider that a good thing. If you notice that the music does not fit the scene, you are taken out of it. Also: who the hell thought that some Irish folk music would be good for the end credits?
I have to admit that there was one redeeming factor to the film: the exchanges between Holmes and Watson were often quite entertaining. But that was not nearly enough to save the film from being horrible.
There are many more bad things about this film I want to address, but I fear that I might have a heartache if I continue thinking about the film. So for now, be warned to stay away.
Tags: 2009, action movie, American Film, Anthony Peckham, Arthur Conan Doyle, based on previously published material, British Film, Comedy, Eddie Marsan, english, franchise film, Geraldine James, Guy Ritchie, Hans Matheson, Hans Zimmer, James Fox, Jude Law, Kelly Reilly, Lionel Wigram, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Mark Strong, Michael Robert Johnson, minute movie review, movie review, Movies, Oscar, Rachel McAdams, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Maillet, Sherlock Holmes, Simon Kinberg, Snatch, Thriller, William Hope, William Houston
Posted in Minute Movie Reviews, Movie Reviews, Movies | No Comments »
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