Cinema

The visual medium has the power to affect us in ways unimaginable. Movies can make you happy, sad, elated, queasy, disgusted and sometimes all of these at the same time. I still cannot forget how I felt watching Mufasa die, while watching my first movie, The Lion King. It was extremely powerful and definitely at least in a small way, a fire, signifying my love for cinema, was lit. To that fire, a lot of fuel was added today.

There are three types of good cinema. First, are those made with the aim of entertainment. Most of good Hollywood and Indian cinema comes under this category. Many of the movies I love fall into this category. I can probably watch Andaaz Apna Apna 'n' number of times and still love it. It ligthens my heart everytime I watch it. However these movies don't make your emotions go crazy. Then there are movies which tell a great story. Again, for most of these movies, I would have loved reading it in book form, then watching them. Case in the point being The Blue Umbrella. While the movie was brilliant, the book was just a notch higher as the aim of the movie was to faithfully depict the story in a visual form.

And then there are the powerful movies. Movies that churn your insides. The movie I saw today "A Separation" was a film that falls exactly into that category. Not because they have a great story, but the way the visuals are created takes it to the realm of brilliance. The underlying tension through the length of the movie cannot be described in words. If the director of the movie was at the screening I would have begged and pleaded to take me as an assistant and given up on my studies if he had said yes. The way the screenplay was written was just fantastic. Among the Indian movies, Siggappu Rojakkal is an example where the screenplay made you go Wow! 

But above the screenplay there were several small things that the director did that a lot of people would have noticed. The places where the scenes were cut. The use of the car rear-view mirrors for a different perspective. Brilliance! 

I watch a lot of movies and like a lot of what I watch, but rarely am I shaken. Today was one of those days. More power to cinema. May it continue to amaze us forever, and after that!