Windstruck - Review

It’s a South Korean fantasy-romantic film directed by Kwak Jae-yong (creator of “My sassy girl”).

The plot is very very thin and is about Kyungjin(Ji-hyun Jun), a police officer who falls in love with Go Myung-woo(Jang Hyuk), a physics teacher.

The first hour is filled with couples attraction, humor, cooking dinner, dancing together in rain and vacationing in the country side etc.,like every other romantice movie goes… But the second hour is definitely the stronger, and where things get more interesting after Go Myung-woo is accidentally shot and killed. She gets depressed by his death and attempts to kill herself, but he comes back as the wind and stays with her…

The heart of “Windstruck” is obviously Ji-hyun Jun for her excellent performance as a cop, lover... and dialogues of this film….“I won’t be so sad anymore I’ll believe that you’re always with me. If you miss me, come back anytime. Even as the wind, come back as the wind” are so touching..

Director takes a risk with a plot turn that does not allow a neat, predictable happy ending and it makes the film more convincing and relatively unique.

Verdict: Emotional romantic story

★★★★☆

Music within - Review

It’s a well natured English movie based on a true story, directed by Steven Sawalich and it has won many awards including AFI Dallas International Film Festival for best narrative feature film.

The plot is simple – “How a Hero Hears & Heals the World”

Richard Pimentel (Ron Livingston), a brilliant speaker and debating champion, returns from Vietnam severely hearing impaired, making his life more meaningful for working on behalf of Americans with disabilities and his efforts ultimately result in the creation of the congressionally approved Americans with Disabilities act.

The movie is perfectly constructed and performance of Livingston is one of the strength and also surrounded by a crew of ferociously individualistic characters like Michael Sheen, who played as a cerebral palsy character…

Verdict: Entertaining with Inspiring.

★★★★☆

The Motorcycle Diaries - Review

It’s an inspiring Spanish Biopic movie, taken from the legendary diary of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, directed by Walter Salles.

This movie is about the transformation of Ernesto Guerva in to a famous revolutionary “Che” Guerva and it has won many awards including Cannes film festival, BAFTA and Oscar.

The plot is very simple, Ernesto Guevara, a medical student, and his friend Alberto Granado, a biochemist, leave to discover their continent (Latin America) on an old motorcycle in the early 50’s.

The two best friends start off their journey from Argentina, with the same goals and aspirations in which they are looking for chicks, fun and adventure, but by the time the journey is over at Peru, it opens their eyes to social injustice, beautiful woman, human kindness and the true meaning of saddle sore…

This film follows an inspiring journey of self-discovery and traces the youthful origins of a revolutionary heart, “Che” Guevara.

All the landscapes are beautifully captured on camera with stunning background score.

Walter Salles has succeeded in producing a faithful and accessible tale that genuinely moves and conveys the truth.

Verdict: It’s pretty good.

★★★★☆

The Circle - Review

It’s a Iranian movie (Banned in Iran) directed by Jafar Panahi and it has won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000 and other international awards.

It is the boldest movie, which portrays the status of women in male dominated world of Iran and it is undoubtedly the universal story of women's plight for an equal share in an unequal society.

The movie starts in a maternity room and ends in jail and there is no main character or protagonist in this film, it is a sequence of incomplete short stories leaving the audience to imagine the ending.

Most of the scenes are unpredictable, Example a nurse announces the birth of a child and visitor waiting outside mourns the delivery of something other than a boy. Logically, the viewer prepares for the tale of the mother who has just delivered the wrong baby and the fate of her unfortunate child. But instead, story goes somewhere….like this it has many sequences…Most of the film is conveyed in images with a very few lines of easy dialogue.

The film is unable to decide whether it is a straightforward drama or a highly accentuated piece of world cinema, leaving the viewer more than a little narratively disoriented.

Verdict: Different treatment and can be watched once.

★★★☆☆

Le Grand Voyage - Review

An extraordinary French movie directed by Ismael Ferroukhi, who's a Moroccan-born director and this movie was nominated for Best Film Foreign Language - BAFTA Awards in 2004.

This movie is about relationship between old father and the young teenager son.

Plot is very thin and is about the Father who wants to go to pilgrimage trip to Mecca from France by road and demands his 18year old son to drive, who doesn't have a clue about the meaning of Islam.

Initially, there is an almost total lack of communication between Reda and his father, and as the miles roll by, they gradually learn to know each other and change their lives….fills the break between two generations.

Many scenes convey the truth of reality in life…. In one scene, father discovers son with a belly dancer at a hotel; dad storms off, with son beside him apologizing and asking, "Don't you practice forgiveness in your religion?"

It’s a typical road movie encounter many obstacles (always part of the journey) and knock heads with each other and meets memorable characters like mysterious old woman, sly talking man, pilgrims from different places…

It’s a visual treat as it travels From France, through Italy, Serbia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan to Saudi Arabia and this was the only film permitted to shoot during the Hajj by Saudi government.

The climax in saudi is fascinating and remarkabe, where pilgrims from different parts wearing white robes shows that they are in a different world.

Verdict: “Spritual rather than religious” and its defintely worth to travel.

★★★★☆

Children of Heaven - Review

It’s a captivating Iranian film directed by Majid Majidi. This was the first Iran film nominated for Academy award for Best Foreign Picture in 1998.

“Children of Heaven” is about a home without unhappiness and deals with brother(Ali) and sister (Zahra) who lives in typical middle class family in Tehran (Iran).

The plot is very simple and is about the brother who loses his sister’s shoes and tries to find it…that’s it.

But the way of telling is so natural and the acting, especially by the two children leads is highly apreciatable and amazing and you felt like you were Ali or Zahrah and you will feel deeply for these characters, which makes the success of this film.

Each and every character of this film conveys many moral things of life…honesty, sincere, keeping worries inside, benefit of education…etc.,

It has many wonderful scenes crafted by the director and he has to be lauded in a big way.

It’s definitely worth to watch, particularly along with the kids instead of allowing them to watch power rangers, Ben10 and playing violent play station….

Verdict: It’s a perfect movie packed with full of sweetness and innocence, mainly focuses on a humanistic story of great depth

★★★★★