Wuthering Heights (2009)

Among the classics, Wuthering Heights has always been one of my favorites. I was contemplating reading it again on my Kindle, however, later I thought it'd be best to download a movie adaptation. Among so many adaptations of the novel, there were two that caught my interest - one starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche (1992) and a newer version starring Tom Hardy as Heathcliff. I settled for the 2009 version as I've become a recent fan of this actor. And he didn't disappoint in the role.

He is an orphan. I found him on the streets of Liverpool where he'd have died with his mother. He'll not tell me his name, so I'm going to name him myself....Cathy, Hindley, this is Heathcliff.

One of the best characters ever created, an antihero driven by vengeance, Heathcliff has been well portrayed  by Tom Hardy, specially after he returns a rich man. Though some of the other characters do not really fit as per the novel, if my memory serves me right. Charlotte Riley also does well to bring out the flaws in Catherine's original character. Her jealousy after seeing Heathcliff return, while she's married to Edgar (Andrew Lincoln), has been played really well, which makes Isabella (Rosalind Halstead) remark upon her as a dog in the manger. There definitely is that element of tension all the time in the movie, just as it was in the novel.

I'm not too sure of the ending though and why would they want to tweak the story. As I remember the novel, Heathcliff dies after hallucinating about the ghost of Catherine and not by committing suicide, like the movie makes us believe. And that's what I confirmed from the web too. I guess, after all, I'll have to read it again!

Rating - 7/10

2046 (2004)

Whenever someone asked me why I left 2046, I gave them vague answers.....I once fell in love with someone. After a while she wasn't there. I went to 2046. I thought she might be waiting for me there. But I couldn't find her. I can't stop wondering if she loved me or not. But I never found out....All memories are traces of tears.

2046 is not in the same class as In the Mood for Love or Chung King Express. This story casts Tony Leung in the role of Chow, a womanizer who, after a failed affair in Singapore, leaves and falls in love with the Hong Kong way of life and one-night stands. Apparently, it seems to be the same Mr. Chow from In the Mood for Love as he mentions, "I was in love with a Su-Lizhen once and never dreamt I'll meet another Su Lizhen here" (Su Lizhen is the character opposite Chow in that movie). We see him with three different women on the Christmas eve of three consecutive years. Even though he loses touch with the women around him, they keep appearing in stories he writes about a place in time, 2046. Every passenger who goes to 2046 has the same intention - to capture the lost memories. Nothing supposedly changes in 2046. Though no one knows if it's true as no one has ever come back.

More than the story line, this movie should be watched for the color themes and recurring images combined with an awesome background music. Good acting by most of the cast, and Zhang Ziyi's performance deserves a special mention. However, the movie keeps running in circles and the length can be a little tiring. Worth a watch if you are a strict Wong Kar Wai fan.

P.S. - Although Norwegian Wood has been made into a movie, for some reason I kept thinking, while watching this one, it'd be great if Wong Kar Wai adapts the book.

Rating - 6.5/10

The Barbarian Invasions (2003)

Remy: All my life I went to bed with the world's most gorgeous women. Then one morning I awoke realizing I'd fallen asleep dreaming of the Carribean. I'd grown old. Women had deserted my dreams....We can't decipher the past, how can we know the future? No one ever knows what'll happen to them. Except me, now. I know.


Nathalie: Are you scared?


Remy: Sure am. I don't want to stop living. I loved life so much.


Nathalie: What was it you loved?


Remy: Everything. Wine, books, music, women. Above all women.


Nathalie: Were there many of them?


Remy: Yes


Nathalie: Don't they begin to seem the same?


Remy: A bit, yes.


Nathalie: The trips you dreamed of, did you make them? 


Remy: Nowadays there are tourists everywhere.


Nathalie: It's not your present you cling on. It's your past life. That life is already dead.


Remy: Perhaps.

Remy (Remy Girard) is a 50-something professor who is on his deathbed and succumbing to cancer. This brings him together with his estranged family and old time friends. Sebastien (Stephane Rousseau) is very unlike his father and works in capitalistic London. Looking at his son, Remy remarks, "The barbarians everywhere, tomorrow...their Prince approaches". Though they had never seen eye to eye, Sebastien makes sure all his father's wishes are granted.

This movie explores a man's lust for life who refuses to come to terms with his impending death. He's been searching a meaning for his life and "feels as helpless as the day he was born".  In the end, the father and son resolve the tension between them as Remy says that he'd want for his son to have a son as fine as him. 


Denys Arcand manages to blend the humor, the sadness and the nostalgia all so well, it'll leave you with an experience that you can't explain, almost like an emptiness after it's over. 


Rating: 8.5/10

A Separation (2011)

He doesn't even ask me to stay. He doesn't even refuse to divorce. After having lived together for 14 years....

Simin (Leila Hatami) describes Nader (Peyman Moadi) as a "good, decent person". Yet she wants a divorce as she wants to leave her home country and settle down abroad. While that's not a choice for Nader, who has to look after his father who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Asghar Farhadi's A Separation is a drama that's set in contemporary Iran and takes a look at how two perfectly nice people can end up not wanting to stay together anymore.

As the magistrate denies the divorce due to lack of sufficient grounds, Simin goes off to her mother's place for two weeks, while their 11 year old daughter would stay with Nader. Nader arranges for a caretaker, Razieh, who'd look after his father while he is away during the day. Razieh is a pregnant woman who has to commute a long distance for the job. She comes along with her little daughter, Somayeh (Kimia Hosseini) as she tries to support the family while her husband (played by Shahab Hosseini) is unemployed.

While this would be true of any ordinary family, a sequence of events follow that spiral into an absolute mess.    As a conflict arises between the two families following Nader's accusation of Razieh for stealing, we also get to witness a class war amongst other not-so-trivial matters. While all the characters have good intentions, being completely honest is not such an easy choice they are faced with. To lie or not to lie...

As the events unfold, we again see the couple faced with the possibility of divorce. Only the roles have reversed and there's more misunderstanding. One person's offer of help can be a question of honor for another. Overall, A Separation is a brilliant portrayal of how often miscommunication and ordinary interpersonal conflicts can spiral completely out of proportion while destroying trust and relationships. Easily, my movie of the year!

Rating - 9/10