Well, lockdown is back in Bangalore, does it
make a difference. No. We are anyway hunkered down in our flat and doing
everything possible to be safe, I think more importantly feel safe. The way
things are going our status quo will not change much for next 2 month – which
means it will be 6 months till we 4 go back to our own cities. That has been
the case since last 2 yrs.
I was reflecting on the same, while we keep
reading about how corporate culture will change, there will be a big shift in
the family dynamics. Lockdown has taught us many things: Let us do it on our
own. sharing responsibilities, giving space, being more patient, managing with
less are the positive ones. Children are identifying the passive and active
parents – seeking them out for their need. Yes, there are moments of
hopelessness when the only inhouse cycle breaks or you know that ‘you will miss
your last yr in boarding’ and adolescence lexicon enters our life – hug pile or
was it cuddle pile(which is all dirty cloth piled up in their bed which they
remove to throw).
Corporate world chugs along: Two, most (ab)used
words in the lexicon of business is green shoots & pent up demand – I have
not heard it as much as I have heard the same in all my last 25 years. And we
have all kind of curves – the recent being a V curve recovery. Office time
extends from 7 – 8 – 9pm. It’s amazing how people can so casually say ‘’anyway
you are at home and not going to office, just take out some time and do it on
Saturday?”. This is a definitely a V curve increase in work time.
1 Dud 1 enigmatic, 1 loud musical & 1 Oscar
worthy movies which kept me on the edge this week.
I choose my books & movie with care, except for the family sit downs like Dil Chahta Hain, Andaz Apna Apna & Abba – which I have lost count how many times I have seen. I am always on the watch, I go thru reviews like a maniac, add them to my Google Keeps & all 3 OTT channels . For me it’s not a hobby, it’s my stairway to heavenly bliss.
So after doing all that I had to frantically finish Atlantic By Column McCann, it was frustrating. The start was gripping: Bangalore, heavily overcast, cold, a wet feeling which refuses to go, a novel based in Ireland which also has similar weather or worse, it is end of WW 1 19 19, 2 pilots decide to cross the Atlantic in a re-modelled fighter – The book and the reality merged and I finished the first 100 pages without a stop. It’s a true story of Jack Acklok & Arthur Brown who are the first pilots to cross the Atlantic FROM Newfoundland to Ireland – and the story built around it or connected to it is worth a read but there are large portions of novel where the authors just meanders like the chapter on George Mitchel who is brokering peace in Ireland in 19 78. Till the end I could not figure why was the chapter needed. A highly acclaimed author – I must have picked it up for a bargain from Blossoms & yes of course it must have been one of the lists ☹
Read about it here https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/books/review/transatlantic-by-colum-mccann.html
& if you have the courage you can start with his first book – Let the Great
World Spin. I do not have the courage to do that.
On the other hand, A movie based on a similar premise (true story again) kept me on the edge for 2 and half hrs. Ford vs Ferrari starring a brilliant Matt Damon & Christian Bale. Everything about the movie was exceptional, the production value, sound, editing. Although it got nominated in most award’s they did not get the key awards. It was tough film especially all the technical stuff about the engine, power, torque etc – Both of them were very convincing.
Both the book & the movie was
about taking risk, let me clarify life risk – it’s not about a start up which
fails. We are talking a non-stop flight across the Atlantic in 19 19, if
anything happens in the plane you are dead and in the movie we are talking endurance
driving for 24 hrs – where one extra turn or a mistake by a driver & for no
fault of yours – you are dead. What does
it take to do that, bravery, arrogance, challenge – I think all but above all,
commitment to the cause – nothing else matters. These are outliers & they
change the world. We write blogs and are happy 😊
Hamilton – the much-hyped musical from Disney (playing on Disney Hotstar) was thrust on me by my daughters. I love musicals, the sheer energy & the extensive co-ordination needed amongst the huge no of people and the sets always bowls me over. I did not need much convincing.
Hamilton is not a movie musical but a play production which
was shot and converted to a quasi movie. Read about it here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_(2020_film)
; https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/movies/hamilton-review-disney-plus.html
My younger daughter has been
listening / singing the songs for last 1 week (now that the blog is delayed by
a week) listening to it. While we plug in our headphones. I found it a bit
loud, also not used to musicals which had rap songs (we had to put the subtitles
on). It had all the ingredients of a musical – excellent co-ordination (I am
always in awe of the co-ordinated actions by all the people on stage & how they
remember all their lines), a range of emotions from some of the most talented
folks I have ever seen. It is long – thrust on a Friday evening after any other
working week when everyone thinks this is Armageddon – I had to slight headache
by the time I hit my bed. See it when your mind is relaxed n free so you can
absorb all the up’s and down’s of the movie.
Potrait of a lady on fire (a French film) was nominated for Palme D’Or in Cannes last year and won the Queer Palm, has a rotten tomatoes rating of 98% and imdb rating of 8.5. In recent days I read raving reviews by 2 of the Indian bloggers I follow, Jai Arjun & Mint. You can read some more here. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/movies/portrait-lady-fire-celine-sciamma.html
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/mar/01/portrait-of-a-lady-on-fire-review-celine-sciamma
I was a bit flustered by the end
of the movie, I had a similar reaction when I saw ‘Blue Is the Warmest Colour’
another French movie which won the Palme D’Or in 2013. While Portrait of a lady
on a fire was subtle to some extent on the lesbian relationship between the
lead pair, Blue is the Warmest Colour was an out n out erotic movie. Portrait
had excellent screenplay which I really admired and very subtle acting by both
the lead pairs (the fact that the movie is based in 18th century) –
very little dialogue, very slow & lot of expressions which did the talking.
But that was it, maybe I missed something. A tick on the list, nevertheless.
No comments:
Post a Comment