Mystic River (2003)

Sean: So Jimmy, when was the last time you saw Dave?
Jimmy: Dave Boyle...
Sean: Yeah Jimmy, Dave Boyle.
Jimmy: That was twenty-five years ago, going up this street, in the back of that car.
.....
Sean: Sometimes I think all three of us got in that car......Reality is we're just 11-year old boys still locked in that car imagining what life would have been if we'd escaped.
Jimmy: Maybe you're right. Who the fuck knows?

Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins) is the dead man walking and he has never explained to anyone what happened to him in the cell when he was captured by two guys who were posing as cops. He comes back home, but he is just "damaged goods" and things are going to be very different. 25 years later, when Katie (Emmy Rossum) turns up dead in the woods, the three lost boys - Dave, Sean and Jimmy - are reunited again in very different circumstances that'd not make them call each other "friends" anymore. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is the father of the victim, Sean (Kevin Bacon) is the detective investigating the case and Dave is one of the guys who saw Katie last in a bar, and hence a suspect.

When Jimmy's thug friends start an investigation by themselves, even they sense something's not quite right about Dave. Who better to turn out as a pedophile or the killer of a 19-year old girl than a guy who has himself been a victim of child abuse and has so many secrets that his "mind doesn't work right anymore". Even though Sean can see it too, he doesn't want to believe it could be Dave and seems bent on redirecting the investigation towards Brendan (Tom Guiry), Katie's boyfriend. Somewhere in the mind of Sean lies the guilt of what he thinks he could have probably stopped from happening 25 years back. If only....

Clint Eastwood's Mystic River is as much a crime thriller as it is a drama centered on the lives of three kids from the same neighborhood brooding over lost innocence. While Dave relates to the werewolves and the vampires that he watches on TV to find meaning for what stirs inside him, we only get to know in the end what exactly he was trying to say all the time and never found anyone who'd understand. If only....

Rating: 8/10

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

Carl [to Hachi]: Look, you don't have to wait anymore. He's not coming back.

Long time back when I was a kid, I had read a story in  the Around The World section of Times of India about a dog who never moved from the place where his master had left him even after 8 years. I immediately thought if this was the story. However, the incident on which this story is based actually happened in the late 1920s.

Parker Wilson (Richard Gere) is a Music professor who finds an abandoned puppy at the station when he is on his way back home. As there are no takers and he doesn't feel comfortable leaving him all alone, Parker takes him home temporarily until the rightful owners reach out to him. As days pass, no one comes to take Hachi back. As Parker's wife, Cate (Joan Allen), seems hesitant in adopting the dog, she also realizes the bond formed between her husband and Hachi  is unbreakable and she doesn't want to play spoilsport. As Hachi grows older, he follows Parker to work and then keeps waiting at the same place at the Bedridge Station to take him back home. Until one day when tragedy strikes.....

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom, Hachi is a heartbreaking story of a dog's devotion towards his master. It's a must-watch for all dog-lovers, and also for the ones who seem to prefer the company of cats. 'Cause the latter would never be able to come up with such a true story. It's a beautiful tribute to undying love and friendship. Be sure to have a few tissues around while you watch this.

Rating: 8/10

Caché (2005)

Georges: Know what, you're sick. You're sick like your father. I don't know what dumb obsessions he fed you. But I can tell you this...you'll never give me a bad conscience because your father's life was sad or a failure. I'm not to blame. Do you get that? If you ever try to hurt me or my family, you'll regret it. I can guarantee that.
Majid's son: Ah, yes. Threats...you're very good at those.
Georges: Do you expect me to apologize?
Majid's son: To whom? Me?
Georges: So what more do you want?
Majid's son: Nothing anymore. I wondered how it feels, a man's life on your conscience. That's all. Now I know.

Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil) is a TV book show host who has a successful and a happily married life. Anne Laurent (Juliette Binoche) is his equally successful wife and they have a teenager kid, Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky). What could be the story of the perfect family is interrupted after the couple start receiving video tapes to let them know they are being watched. As we move further and the plot thickens, we see those are not just surveillance tapes but they are also linked to Georges' childhood.

When Georges takes a trip back to his childhood days, he feels haunted by the thoughts of how he had wronged Majid, the adopted son of his parents. Having initially kept that part of his childhood from his wife, Georges is confronted by Anne when another tape arrives that has recorded the conversation between him and Majid (Maurice Benichou). Even though Georges is convinced Majid is out to take revenge, a look at the tapes and the behavior of Majid suggests nothing along those lines. When Anne isn't so sure about Majid's involvement and feels that Georges must have done something to rob Majid of his childhood, cracks appear in their marriage and also in their relationship with their son.

The movie's ending is highly debatable and the million dollar question remains who sent those tapes. Although just viewing it as a story on domestic trouble wouldn't give one enough reasons to sing praises of it, there are quite a few interesting explanations that only the French would know in more detail. One such explanation being that it talks about the history of the French-Arab relations in the country and how the wrongs once committed by the French are now coming back to haunt the country. Chickens coming home to roost? Well, I'm not sure if the chicken scene is itself a form of symbolism, but this explanation definitely sounds plausible. And as explained by one comment, the last scene showing a crowd of people is symbolically asking the viewers to look through the "noise" and concentrate on the details. And when you do, you get the message - Trust no one. The last part being just my interpretation and I'd love to discuss/argue my point on this.

Depending on what actually was the intention of the director, Michael Haneke, this could be pure genius....or not.

Rating - 7.5/10