Ondskan (Evil) (2003)

Headmaster: Never, I repeat never, in all my years as headmaster of this school have I met a more vicious pupil than you with such a brutish level of behavior. ERIK PONTI! Now you listen to me! The fact that some teachers happen to defend your academic ability does not make up for your behavior. In fact, it makes it even worse. It's beyond understanding. It's deeply worrying. There's only one word for people like you and that's "Evil".

Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson) has always been a trouble child - getting physically abused by his step-father at home while taking it out on other kids at school. He is not a monster - as the opening scene would make you believe - but just another rebellious kid who hasn't got his priorities right and has a taste for needling authority of any kind. As Erik gets expelled from school due to one of his violent acts, his mother arranges for a private boarding school that can offer him the only chance to mend his ways. After learning that his mother has sold some of their belongings to pay for his school, he promises not to mess up again.

Well.....some things don't change for some people. Being someone who is easily worked up by any kind of injustice towards the weak, Erik doesn't quiet warm up to the "rules" set by the senior students at his new school. He manages to make a couple of good friends in his class, specially, Pierre Tanguy (Henrik Lundstrom), but none of them  being the kind who'd stand up to the seniors. Tanguy advises Erik not to stand out from the crowd after Erik manages to beat some of his seniors at swimming. Tanguy, on the other hand, is a bookworm and the perfect guy who can sail through without being noticed. And as he himself puts it, "No one would want to hurt a coward". Erik also develops a liking for one of the kitchen staff, Marja (Linda Zilliacus), and there's some nice chemistry between the two.

Soon enough, Erik becomes the victim of two of his sadistic seniors, Silverheilm (Gustaf Skarsgard) and Dahlen (Jesper Salen), and is forced to carry out a few humiliating tasks for not having obeyed them initially. As the strain between them seems to escalate, we see the seniors pushing all limits of cruelty by targeting Tanguy in order to make Erik suffer.  As Tanguy drops out of school following the constant torture and humiliation, Erik is faced with two alternatives - lie low and manage to pass through school without any further trouble or avenge the injustice meted out to Tanguy and risk being expelled and thus disappoint his mother.

Mikael Hafstrom depicts the story with great intensity and some of the scenes of cruelty will make you cringe with pain. Up until the ending, the movie is extremely realistic and shows how much of a pain can life be for the outcast and the one who dares to stand up to the so-called "leaders". However, I was a little disappointed with the ending since it took the easy way out by making it very Hollywood-like. The one reason I love foreign cinema is because, unlike Hollywood, it's not obsessed with "heroes" and is not afraid of steering towards the truth. The truth being, rebels, more often than not, will be crucified. Having said that, any reservations I may have regarding the movie's finale would be just a subjective point of view and hence in no way should affect the rating.

Rating: 8/10

American Psycho (2000)

Patrick Bateman : There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman...some kind of an abstraction. But there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and may be you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable...I simply am not there.
..........
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly blood lust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a 27-year-old investment banker at Pierce & Pierce who deals in "murders and executions". Being narcissistic and extremely self-obsessed, he finds it annoying when people always get his name wrong or if they haven't heard about the firm where he works. Picking hookers off the street and regaling them with expensive champagne and his knowledge of the 80's music scene comes as easily to him as killing them later and dumping their bodies in upscale New York where nobody notices anything.

There isn't a real plot in the movie, even though a police officer, Kimball (William Dafoe), is on his trail after a co-worker of Bateman, Paul Allen, mysteriously disappears. There are numerous scenes where all these self-obsessed Wall Street types are getting each other's names wrong and never really listening to what someone else is saying. The whole movie is a satire on the superficiality of New Yorkers in the 1980s where people are more concerned about the "Silian Rail" lettering on their business cards or the Valentino suits. Even when Bateman confesses in front of his friends, "I like to dissect girls", nobody gives it a second thought. A similar scene where he is explaining to his girlfriend, Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon), about how he messed up while trying to kill a hooker while drawing the whole scene on the white sheet on their table, Evelyn isn't really concerned about what he is saying. When Bateman starts to fall apart while thinking his alibi on the night of Paul Allen's killing may not hold, he finally confesses to his lawyer about the 20-40 people he has killed. Only that his lawyer laughs it away saying Bateman is a "spineless lightweight" who never had it in him to kill someone. At which Bateman gets even more frustrated while shouting, "I'm Patrick Bateman". In the final scene as he sits with his friends with his back against a door that says, "This is not an exit", he wonders to himself-

There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, the mayhem I have caused, my utter indifference toward it, I have now surpassed. My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. And even after admitting this, there is no catharsis. My punishment continues to elude me. And I gain no deeper knowledge of myself, no new knowledge can be extracted from my telling, this confession has meant nothing.

A lot of people categorize this movie as a thriller where the ending is left open-ended to suggest Bateman might have imagined it all. While, on the contrary, there are lots of scenes to suggest that it isn't so. And once you read the book by Bret Easton Ellis (I'm still in the middle of it), the whole theme becomes pretty much clear. Even though the sequence of events in the movie does not exactly follow that of the book's and most of the gory details of the killings have been left out in this movie, the director, Mary Harron, does a brilliant job of bringing the controversial and much talked-about character of Patrick Bateman on screen. I had read somewhere that DiCaprio was also considered to play the lead character, however, I feel Christian Bale did have a slight edge on playing this role and was rightly chosen.

Rating: 8/10

The Words (2012)

Dora: Rory, what the hell? What's the matter with you?
Rory: I...I don't....How the fuck do you end up here? I mean..I look at my life, I look at your life, I look at his life, I look at my father's life, I look at everybody's life, and I don't have a fucking clue how anybody ends up where they do...I don't know
Dora: You don't have to know. There's so much time, Rory.
Rory: I'm talking about my fucking life here
Dora: What about your life?
Rory: It's not right! Nothing's right!
Dora: How's that supposed to make me feel?
Rory: I'm not who I thought I was. I'm not. And I'm terrified I never will be.

The Words (in the movie) is a book written by an accomplished writer Clay Hammond (Dennis Quaid) about a plagiarist who acquires all the fortune and the adulation that he wished for, but only to be troubled by the truth. Rory Jansen (Bradley Cooper) is just another young writer who after months and months of rejection finally finds an admirer in a publisher, only to be told that his book is "too interior" and the world might not be ready for it. As chance would have it, he happens to find the unclaimed work of some unknown writer and somewhat unconsciously plagiarizes the story, word for word, since he so badly wanted those words to be his own.

When Rory's wife Dora (Zoe Saldana) reads his book, she feels there were parts of him in the novel that she had seen were there but that never came out. On her insistence, Rory lets his boss (at the literary agency where he works as a supervisor) read the book. Rest, as they say is history....But there's just one glitch....The old man (Jeremy Irons) who actually wrote the book pays him a visit only to let him know the actual story behind the story. The old man's intention is not to blow the whistle on Rory, but to let him know about "the joy and the pain that gave birth to those words" and when those words were taken, so was the pain.

Although there isn't anything original about the story, the concept could have taken a much deeper, darker path, but the directors, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal, probably lacked the boldness. Somewhere along the way, they lose the plot about whose story they really want to tell. Is it Rory? Is it Clay? Or is it the old man? The only great parts are when Jeremy Irons appears on screen, while the rest of the cast leave much to be desired. Turning the plot to the story of Clay makes the story bland, thanks to the poor acting by Dennis Quaid. Dennis Quaid is just good for action/thrillers, and the role of a middle-aged successful writer writing about the dark corners of one's mind is just too much for him. And combined with the fact that he is also supposed to play a skirt-chaser at the same time lets the plot go completely haywire. And why is even Olivia Wilde a part of the story? Anyone could have played that role. Is she the same "13" that we so loved to watch? I kept waiting till the end thinking there still might be a twist that would link her to one of the other characters. But, no. She plays just another dumb, pretentious, Columbia graduate who's there to have a fling with a successful writer. Bradley Cooper, although is interesting for the most part, still lacks the ability to convince while playing a man who has failed himself and is caught in a quandary between morality and the lives of others.

Rating: 6/10
(At the start of the movie, I so wanted it to be a 8/10)

Before Midnight (Much awaited....)

Can they still create the same magic?

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Darius: What makes you think there's something wrong about him?
Jeff: Because he thinks he can go back in time.
Darius: Was there something wrong with Einstein or David Bowie?

When the eccentric, paranoid Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass) posts an ad for a companion for time travel, senior writer Jeff (Jake Johnson) feels he has a story for the Seattle magazine he works for.

Darius (Aubrey Plaza) is an intern at the Seattle magazine who has always been awkward with people. In her own words, while in high school she felt like "that mouse that gets dropped into the snake cage and just sits there, frozen,  and trying to blend in". And now, she just expects the worst to happen and doesn't keep her hopes up. While Arnau (Karan Soni) is the stereotypical Indian PhD who's bright, but still a virgin. Jeff takes both these interns to help him out on his story and they set out to the address listed on the ad.

After Jeff is not able to win Kenneth's trust, he asks Darius to trap him by playing coy because "girls know how to do that shit". We also know the real purpose of Jake's visit to that town - reigniting an old flame who he has tracked down on Facebook. As Darius starts trying to win over Kenneth, he slowly starts letting his guard down and lets her in on his plans. Kenneth wants to go back to 2001 when apparently his girlfriend was killed in an accident involving some drunken guys. The time travel mission for him is about "regret" and he hopes to bring her back alive. When Darius mentions she would like to go back when she was 14 and stop her mom from getting killed, they strike a chord and we can see Darius is actually falling for Kenneth.

How come no one ever gave her a lead role before?

Safety Not Guaranteed is neither a sci-fi nor a romantic comedy, but has elements of everything sprinkled into it that makes it so likable. A little sad and lots of fun at the same time. For no apparent reason, it reminded me of some other movies such as Dead Men on Campus and Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Jake Johnson molds into the role of the "jerk" really well while the strong chemistry between Duplass and Aubrey is something to look out for. Colin Trevorrow has given his audience a light-hearted love story that is actually so much more than just a love story. With a brilliant touching ending, it shows that sometimes all you need is a little belief.

Rating: 7.5/10

P.S. - Aubrey Plaza, when recently asked in an interview about how she'd like guys to approach her, mentioned how she often wondered why some guy just doesn't come over and kiss her. Hmmm...I wish.

Disgrace (2008)

Professor David Lurie: So what kind of creature is this Lucifer?
Melanie's boyfriend: He does what he feels like. Doesn't care if it's good or bad, he just does it.
Prof. Lurie: Exactly. Good or bad, he just does it. He doesn't act on principles but on impulse. And the source of his impulse is dark to him. "His madness was not of the head but heart...". A mad heart. What is a mad heart? Note that we are not asked to condemn this being with a mad heart. On the contrary, we are invited to sympathize. For though he lives among us, he is not one of us. He is what he calls himself, "a thing",   that is, a monster. Not possible to love and condemned to solitude. 

Professor David Lurie (John Malkovich) - 52, divorced, aloof and haughty - lures a vulnerable student, Melanie Issacs (Antoinette Engel), of mixed-race into a physical relationship because he believes, "A woman's beauty doesn't belong to her alone, its part of the bounty she brings into the world". After being caught, he refuses to repent for his actions and pronounces himself guilty of everything he has been accused of, without even caring to read Melanie's statements. After being dismissed from his position and his subsequent fall from grace, he moves to the Eastern Cape to stay with his daughter, Lucy (Jessica Haines). Lucy owns a farm along with co-proprietor, Petrus (Eriq Ebouaney), an African who stays there and helps Lucy at odd jobs.

Although life for Lurie seems to look better after the humiliation he suffers at the university, there's still more to come, as if its God's way of making him accept defeat and repent for his past actions. After letting some black youth into her home in an act of kindness, Lucy gets raped by them in the presence of her father. Lurie is attacked too and locked in the bathroom, almost left to burn to death. Lurie uncomfortably insists on reporting the full crime to the police while Lucy is hesitant because she is the one who has to live there and bear the shame, even though she does a good act of putting up a brave front. Even in the face of defeat, Lurie is stubborn and at no point tries to play the victim and unleashes his own form of violence when he catches one of the black kids spying on his daughter.

This movie is a good depiction of racial tension in post-apartheid South Africa and also speaks about the treatment of women in the hands of men from both the white and the black race. John Malkovich gives an excellent performance in this Steve Jacob's adaptation of J.M. Coetzee's novel of the same name. Jessica Haines does a brilliant job too of being the victim. There are times where it seems to suggest she is able to rationalize her whole ordeal as punishment for her father's acts. I had read the novel a long time back and hardly remember any of the details to make any comparative judgment whether the movie does justice to Coetzee's novel. This ain't a movie for those who are looking only for "entertainment", but for those who love Coetzee's prose, this is a chance to fall in love again with his depiction of human nature which goes beyond the realms of good and evil.

Rating: 7.5/10

It's All Gone, Pete Tong (2004)

Reporter: Frankie, can you really DJ as a deaf man...how is that possible?
Frankie: I'm an honest man. And I can tell you that this album was made completely without the aid of my ears. Next week, I'll be DJing as a deaf man. And if you don't believe me, well.....F**k you! Because, I have got nothing, nothing to prove to you sluts. 
Max: Listen....listen to me....Frank loves sluts. I think what he is trying to say is even if he feels he has nothing  to prove to you, he'd be happy to prove anything you want to you. 

When I started watching this supposedly true story about the tragic life of legendary DJ, Frankie Wilde, there were two things that confused me. One, who's Pete Tong if this is about Frankie Wilde? Two, why did this tragedy win some award at the US Comedy Arts Fest (whatever that is)? After the end of an uplifting movie on the rise, fall and redemption of DJ Frankie, I did a quick Google search to learn this is just a mockumentary. Oh, I get it. Probably that's why I had never heard of this guy, even though I initially thought it could be because I was never into this kind of music.

Frankie Wilde (Paul Kaye) is the reigning king at the clubs of Ibiza and he has all a showman could ask for - cash, parties, women, drugs. When the good times roll, his trophy wife, Sonya (Kate Magowan) and his manager, Max (Mike Wilmot), are always there for him. But the occupational hazard of being too close to the noise in the clubs takes its toll on him. Frankie slowly starts to lose his hearing until he is completely deaf. As his wife abandons him and his manager doesn't want a deaf DJ on the label, his life falls apart. He immerses himself in a pile of cocaine and self-pity and regresses into his own world and makes no public appearance for a year. Having turned his world into a prison, he finally gathers himself up to make a fresh start by giving up drugs and appointing a lip-reader to help him "hear". His lip-reader, Penelope (Beatriz Batarda), helps him make a comeback and once again, Frankie sets the stage on fire. As we see different DJs and friends commenting on the turn-around Frankie made, we also learn about his subsequent disappearance after creating gold in his final album, Hear No Evil. The movie ends with different speculations of his possible whereabouts and a suggestion of finding true love in Penelope.

Director Michael Dowse creates a well-knit story in a way that would remind you of Citizen Kane. Paul Kaye easily gets into the character and creates a mystery that makes the whole journey worthwhile. Having said that, there's nothing new about the story, and it's only selling point is "people love a good tragedy". Even though I don't have a taste for house music, the soundtrack kind of helps you to sail through the movie. And you can only watch it for Paul Kaye's brilliant performance.

Rating: 7/10