Contempt : Alberto Moravia

Anurag Kashyap's film Dev D is a modern day adaptation of Devadas, a Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya. The movie brings a new perspective into well known characters of the novel - Devadas, Parvathi and Chandramukhi all were debased into a psychological modern day interpretations. I was thrilled by this radical change and setting of the movie. Kalki, who plays Chandramukhi happens to be reading a book "Contempt" by Alberto Moravia. I got interested as I normally have a predilection towards books - particularly literary books. So at once I googled about it and found out that the author writes about existential motifs and alienation. I immediately downloaded the book and started reading. I also found out that the book was made into a phenomenal movie by Jean-Luc Godard. I queued that movie in torrents.

The story is about a married couple which involves gradual failure of their complicated relationship. The husband who dreams to become a theatre writer, is forced into writing film scripts for money. He is deeply analytical and psychoanalyses every detail of his life. The couple used to love each other. But Molteni, the protagonist of the novel feels that his wife is not loving him like before. He is narcissistic and imagines himself to be an epitome of lofty ideals. The other main characters as he thinks are always inferior to him. Battista, a film producer is portrayed physically ape-like and is money minded. Rheingold, a German director whose smile is false and gives a psychological interpretation to Odyssey. (I think most of us have read Homer as part of our High school English syllabus. But we might never have thought it to be other than an adventure novel.) Emilia, Molteni's wife has a working class background. The novel is entirely in first person narrative and I felt I was being ripped off by the psychological depth of the protagonist. At first I was deeply moved about his problem imagining it to be genuine. But he turns out to be unreliable narrator as the story proceeds. 

There is a scene in the novel where Molteni spends an afternoon at Pasetti's home who is a fellow script writer. The behaviour of Pasetti's wife and the Molteni's analysis about it is worth mentioning.

The heat and intenseness between Molteni and Emilia relationship is overwhelming. The modern day consumerism is evidently shown in the conjugal affair. Molteni's over analysis and intelligence leads to strain the relations with his wife.

Battista offers Molteni to write a film script for Odyssey which is to be directed by Rheingold. He suggests they all go to Capri along with his wife where they may work on the script. And then what happens there and how Molteni tries to reconcilliate the differences between him and his wife becomes the next part of the novel.

The conversation between Molteni and Rheingold about the interpretation of Odyssey is so interesting. Rheingold has a Freudian concept of why Ulysses takes so long time after Trojan war to return to his wife Penelope. Molteni, on the other side likes to keep the epic poem pure as such and says that the beauty is to let the viewers have their own interpretation instead. Molteni is distressed by the director's view which reflects about his relationship with Emilia. 

The language is simple and dialogue is minimal. It is overall a new experience and the straightforward approach about sex is admirable. But I was quite intimidated by the length of passages merely because Molteni's analysis at times becomes tedious. He is absolutely contemptuous and despicable character, but at times I felt truly sorry for him. Being too conscious also is a disease. I was intrigued as the writing resembled of Albert Camus, particularly the novel "The Stranger". The reference of the book in the film Dev D is I think to point out about the Freudian interpretation of the Devdas Anurag Kashyap has made. The Bengali book is popularly known for the portrayal of pure love.

I recommend the book for those who have patience and also have a taste for philosophy and psychological analysis. It raises quite a lot of questions to ponder upon.

My busiest idle period of my life!

Well I'm gonna jump into a professional mode of life from March 1st onwards. Preceding this I had nearly spent a life of a recluse. No particular time for me to wake up or to go to bed. Nor there used to be any pressure from my parents and sister if I go on for maximum 4 days without having to wash myself of my dirt. Don't come into an agreement that I'm in favor of this way to live. But I don't know why I used to be like that. There can't be rational explanation for everything in this world. Sometimes lethargy takes lead in our lives and drags us, which can lead to many different situations. It can be a disaster or a profoundly life changing period. As for me I'm forcefully being thrown out of this circle by the hand of my employer. Thanks to TCS!.

I think these periods of intense self-abasement may result due to combination of various reasons. They usually follow after a highly productive and creative life or a period of systematic education after which you get a long period of interval(this may be my case) or when personal lives are hurt(again this happens due to 'n' number of reasons).  

Well as I have stated earlier these kind of periods may change the apex of your life. I was drawn into literature. I have read many books during this time. 'The Idiot', 'Crime and Punishment' and 'Notes from the Underground ' by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 'The Stranger' by Albert Camus, 'The Death of Ivan Ilych' by Leo Tolstoy, '1984' by George Orwell, 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka, 'Siddhartha' by Herman Hesse, 'The Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger, 'Candid' by Voltaire, Short stories of Anton Chekhov. These were the ones which were completed.

'Sons and Lovers' by D.H. Lawrence, 'Robinson Crusoe' by Daniel Defoe, 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee, 'Moby Dick' by Herman Melville, 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell, 'Walden' by Thoreau, 'Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert Pirsig, 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo were the ones which were started by me and still to be completed. 

I have had seen many movies which were so many that only some can be mentioned now and each movie can in turn be turned into a blog post. I had crossed the boundaries of Hollywood and started to experiment with different kinds of world movies. Japenese,German,Swedish,French were some of the languages of the movies I had seen. Worth mentioning ones were - 'Apocalypse Now', 'Amelie', 'Annie Hall', 'Fargo', 'Groundhog Day', 'In Bruges', 'Rashomon, 'Rear Window', 'There Will Be Blood', 'The Life of Others', 'American History X', 'Once a upon a time in America', 'Once a upon a time in the West'. I have to stop the list or else it goes on. All are thought provoking and are so beautiful. As I have already said, I'll plan to write about some of them considering one at a time. These movies span different genres like comedy, war, drama, thriller,etc. Some movies have a philosophical perspective.

I was introduced to different kinds of philosophies and perceptions of life. One philosopher whose influence is profound on me is Nietzsche. Also the absurdist philosophy proposed by Albert Camus and  also had a deep impact on me. The human condition described in the writings of Franz Kafka and Dostoevsky are so powerful. As a whole I came to perceive life differently. This made me think that I should have taken literature instead science. But anyway I still can proceed my study without any systematic education which may not be possible in the case of science.

As for my parents, they were so deeply concerned about me that I have lost all the eagerness to work and have become so lazy that after I moved into job that I may suffer due to the drastic change in the routine. But I was so unconcerned and adamant that I never used to listen to them. I know that I have to face all the hassles of my new professional life. There goes a Telugu proverb "We can wake up a man who is sleeping but not the one who is acting ". Frankly, there was also a time when my parents got disgusted about me due to my way of life. 

 I started learning guitar and I enjoyed a lot in practicing it. My sir's way of informal teaching encouraged me. I am also taking a course on .NET just to be sure that I should be in touch with that technology.

Well this sums up my idle period of life with mixed results with hard inclination towards depression, over-weight and a bad routine. On a positive note I have purchased an Android phone and using this I can calculate the calories burned when I do exercise. Due to this motivation I have exercised some days but have taken equivalent content of food which balanced everything. Damn!  

[Edit]
How did I forget music? I have explored different genres of music ranging from  metal(black, death, thrash), R & B, rap, hip-hop, electronic, folk rock, industrial rock and metal, pop rock, space rock, Western Classical music, etc. It would be unrewarding for me to list all the bands and artists here.

American History X

"American History X" is a powerful movie. Its so deep enough that its ideas revolve in your head for a good long period.

This is a movie about a man who tries to save his brother from falling into the same wrong path by which his life has been ruined. The casting is amazing. Edward Norton is so natural. I have seen his performance in "Fight Club" and became an ardent fan of his acting. Edward Furlong is believable as a disillusioned teenager.

It deals with the controversial ideas like white supremacy, Aryan Brotherhood, and Neo-nazism. When the protagonist(Edward Norton) loses his father while doing his job as a fireman, he becomes so emotional and thinks that his father died due to racial related problems. He believes that black, Hispanic, Asian and other cultures ruin American life. He is misguided by a writer who believes in white supremacy. The writer takes advantage of his hatred towards other cultures and inputs all the negative ideas in his mind. He praised Adolf Hitler as a hero. He dramatically changes his appearance by inscribing Nazi and Aryan Brotherhood tattoos on his body and shaves his head. He becomes physically strong. Then he organizes crimes against other races at their super-markets in his neighborhood. The writer motivates him to influence other white people and they subscribe to these wrong revolutionary ideas. His behavior becomes violent and his family suffers a lot. Then he kills two black youths so violently who tried to break into his car. He gives one of them a "curb-kick". This kick is so violent that I could not get the image of the killing out of my mind for a long time. For this he gets jailed for 3 years.

He becomes a hero for his younger brother and his people in his circle worship him. His younger brother also cultivates the same wrong ideals. During his prison term, Norton gets raped by fellow cellmates for his individuality and not buying their ideas of brotherhood. He feels that they are not fighting for the cause. He gets radically changed by this abuse. He befriends a black prison during his term.

When he gets out of prison, he is shocked to find his brother in the same path lead by him. He fights with his people and tries to change them that they are following wrong ideals. But they reacted violently and called him a traitor. He leaves in belief that he could not change them. He tells his brother about all the things that happened to him in prison. He also reveals how bad it is to preach white supremacy. When he gets home, he removes all the Nazi, and Hitler posters and throw them out. The boy writes an article about Hitler's "Mein Kempf". His English teacher makes him to write another article throwing that into trash. His assignment was to write about his brother's trail and his change of behavior. Next day, the boy gets killed by a black student because of an argument he faced with the black boy the previous day. This scene is so emotionally moving that we feel for the boy as he will be killed after he changes his bad routine.

The movie is narrated in a non-linear style and the flash back episodes are filmed in black and white. Edward Norton plays his character amazingly brilliant. His portrayal of the two different shades, one of the Neo-nazi and the other a changed individual is truly brilliant. There's an Abraham Lincoln quote said at the end of the movie. That is: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Spielberg never ceases to amuse me!!

Today morning after I came back from jogging I felt like watching a movie. Scanned my pc to find out something interesting.

Spoilers ahead, Beware!!!
Then I started watching "saving private ryan". A group of US army men were assigned a mission to find out Private James Ryan who was somewhere in German captive France in WW2. Private Ryan lost his three brothers in warfare. It was(and still) US army's policy to send back the lone surviving family member in war. It is a good will sign to promote others to serve in the army back at home.

The Omaha beach encounter at the beginning of the film left me spellbound. The war scenes are so realistic, I felt as if I was in the battlefield. They were horrific and violent. Blood spilling,skull crushing. Man,I've never seen anything like that. There is one scene where a soldier picks his amputated limb as if it will be useful in future. A medic tries to save his fellow wounded soldiers, but the Germans just won't stop shooting. War is real bad man!!

Then the mission of finding Ryan is given to Tom Hanks and his men. His men are skeptic and complain about the mission. Tom Hanks lived the character of John H Miller. The character "Upham" is a portrayal of regular guy who is not yet prepared for war. I connect with Upham in lot of things when it comes to war. Tom Hanks is perfect as a guy who just obeys the orders of his seniors. Everything about the movie is legendary. Spielberg is so good in making audiences weep. I wept like anything at many parts of the movie. I'm sure many will weep. The emotional intensity in the war scenes at climax are historic. There's a scene where a German soldier nicely digs a knife into an American soldier's chest. Man,that is horrendous and shocking. I cant stop crying, it is so difficult to watch.

Matt Damon is perfectly cast as Private Ryan. At the ending of the film, Tom Hanks calls Damon and says "Earn It". That scene is deeply moving and gratifying. The movie left me with intense thoughts. I'm sure that it leaves an indelible mark in your life. It raises many philosophical issues. Its easy to give orders. But on the battlefield, those who carry out them should pay their lives. It shows the importance of leading a good and fulfilling life. The war scenes are intentionally made violent to reflect the actual sufferings of soldiers on the battlefield. It is not a feel good film. It requires courage to watch such unspeakable scenes.

"Saving Private Ryan" is one hell of a ride. It is a master-piece. The best movie ever made on war to be precise.

First Post!!!

Well I've been thinking of starting a blog from a long long time. But due to some priority issues it got postponed. Also I'm quite lazy to type actually. But as I gave a profound thought, it occurred to me that I feel good when I write some shit. As I watch a lot of movies, my instinct tells me to first start the blog as my own platform to express my views about movies I've seen. As I proceed to write more, I could get into more detail about my life and all the things I see through my frame of reference i.e., my mind. Then, I may use some profane language to express myself. No hard feelings and no offense to those who read my blog!!