Category Archives: 1-By Laksh

All these articles are from Laksh’s desk

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 (1974)

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“The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3” (1974) based on John Godey’s eponymous novel is classic story telling at its best with no unnecessary frills or flashbacks or jump-cuts in narration. Just make sure there is a novel idea and get right into it…is the mantra. Throw in a few good actors into the mix, do your best with other departments (like the near perfect low light photography) and tell the story. It’s a bit like a routine subway ride where you know the start and end points and buckle yourself in and enjoy the ride, even if it were bumpy.

Speaking of subway rides and novelty, what if a subway train were hijacked and its passengers held hostage? This premise (back in 70s) makes sure there are enough bumps in the ride and the plot gets the required fillip. And, the film moves so effortlessly forward, with the bad guys appearing in the first few frames and then the reluctant good guy who ushers us into the new world of trains and control rooms. The tour of Japanese visitors in the control room is a terrific ploy to balance the act of show and tell and also to give the audience the feeling of an exclusive sneak peek into the new world.

There is something about a laid back protagonist who is slowly sucked into action, and who else can play it to perfection than Walter Matthau.  He is probably one of the very few actors, who without changing his physical appearance much (except may be in his later films like ‘I.Q.’ and ‘Dennis the menace’) delivers his usual understated yet effective performance.  And this movie is no exception.

Apart from the racial and gender based remarks/slurs (which might be considered okay during the time the movie was made, and the nature of the characters) and the less complicated denouement of the plot, the movie still holds interest even today. The script has the right kind of elements in place and fleshes out enough details about each character and you remember each one of them when the movie is over.

Every now and then, watching movies like these, reminds us that great movies are about good stories and great story telling. The journey from good to great begins with a genuinely novel idea and when it does, the train ride from paper/e-paper to the screen is guaranteed and so are the bumps (plot points) and the nosy/adorable passengers (characters). Most importantly, audience feel that they have an exclusive access into the happenings and thus immersed in the magic of cinema.

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

Save the Tiger…

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Childhood defines what we are in many ways. In psychology, there is the talk of repressed desires or deep desires that are not fulfilled, that actually push us to project our ego in huge dimensions on to the real world. ‘Citizen Kane’ explores this to great effect and the term ‘Rosebud’ is like a term for something one loses in her childhood and does everything possible to reclaim it but can never attain. The same motif of the protagonist losing something in childhood and trying to reclaim it or making amends for the loss, is oft seen in many movies and TV shows. Sometimes it’s like the longing for home (child-like destination of a safe and secure ambience far from the war-cries, blood and gore), like Maximus in the movie ‘Gladiator’ or the wresting the power from individuals who once erred you, and become powerful in the process like ‘The Godfather’. So in short, whether it is revenge or homecoming or helping others or destroying a world or coming of age or self-discovery…whichever aspect you take it all leads something happened when you were a child or young. And no matter how much world appears to have been stacked against you or one thinks it is the world that changed him, it is one’s inner ego that is tortured that shapes his journey.  In this manner of speaking every journey is inwards, like Joseph Campbell says.

‘Save the tiger’ is about saving the self of Harry Stoner, a successful businessman who has everything  till yesterday and now struggles with nightmares of losing it all. And when someone digs into the well of horrors, he sure finds his lost dreams from childhood, tucked deep in the trappings of his exterior world. So begins the journey of Harry Stoner (with a nightmare shaking him up in sweats just like Mr.Campbell wants it) into his deep recesses of his mind and soul, and his desperate attempts to save his business. As often happens in any good story/script, the inner and external journeys juxtapose which each other and so does the motive for his actions. For instance, while he is nonchalant about fixing up his client with a high end prostitute, and employing a professional arsonist to scrounge the insurance money, we get to see his motivation of doing such things.

Harry Stoner was Cuban Pete, an immigrant who wanted American dream and got it. And there is no way he could lose it now. Especially, not in the dreary middle age…where one is sized up first and then his resume read. There are beautiful dialogues about what’s important to him..”wanted to meet a payroll, instead of a pay-cheque” and ‘..god dammit, I live the American dream, don’t try to sell it to me.”

In a way the movie is about the road to damnation, if one could call it that way. Every reveal of plot and his character, makes you feel sorry for him, yet one gets to guess the real end, just like in a good tragedy film. Real tragedy is not death but lack of redemption. Harry Stoner knows it all along and so do we. There is no saving an extinct species, and definitely not this tiger. But life moves on and Cuban Pete survives to see another day, even if his young dreams of playing basket ball or a being in a band or asking that girl out…or next to impossible now.

Casting Jack Lemmon is a master stroke. Many have seen his comic antics and in this film he doesn’t anything different, an actor is an actor whether he is in a  comic role or in a serious role.  He is still his sublime self, giving a performance drawing from his own insecurities and success. But the script allows shining his motive in several scenes. For instance, in one poignant scene, his character breaks down after a neck message (like the one in ‘The Odd Couple’ which had a different effect) tearing his words through eyes..”if only, I had one dream…”. He truly deserved the Oscar for his performance.

‘Save the Tiger’ is a must watch for anyone who would like to see real characters or if you are a writer, make you characters real and their journeys appealing. In life there is no happy ending, only an irony or tragedy. But the legacy lives on, beyond one’s death, physical or metaphorical.

Tailpiece:

My father attempted a small and sweet short story based on a childhood missed dream, and used humour to good effect. ‘Sweet Nonsense’, it was called and link below.

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

The Verdict- Director’s commentary

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The Verdict film is a classic. But what’s equally brilliant is the director’s commentary that comes with the Blu-Ray. Sidney Lumet gives some terrific insights and interesting tidbits. Here are a few.

  1. Information about side actors, like one patient in the hospital scene who is infact a holocaust survivor.
  2. Paul Newman’s contribution to character building like using eye-drops etc.
  3. His overall theme of no bright colors and the larger than life locations to create the feeling that Paul Newman character is up against something very big and somber. More like he is way out of his league.
  4. How David Mamet turns a cliched scene over its head. Example when Paul Newman realizes who the head nurse was protecting, but hands over the paper to his colleague, who then does the reveal.
  5. How David Mamet builds the tension for the main character and keeps the audience glued to his struggle–just when he gets a hooray, he is pushed down by a few blocks and his mired in self doubt. Example, when he loses his star witness and makes the call to defence lawyer and when he meets his girlfriend in the hotel.
  6. His rehearsal method and how actors still give something on top of it during the actual take. Paul Newman realizing that after couple of weeks rehearsal, he still had some distance to reach during the shoot.
  7. The famous last scene was infact had to be shot again due to some issue with the film, and how Paul Newman delivered a superb encore.
  8. How Paul Newman very narrowly escaped an accident (near the window that was used as poster for the film, which was Paul Newman’s idea) when bright lights became incendiary with the damp wood of the windows dried up, but the gaffer or lighting person didn’t estimate the dried factor.
  9. About how actors internalize the character and bring things to fore, example when Paul Newman’s girlfriend struggles with her guilt and gets out to make the phone call.
  10. His economy in direction, saving close-ups for something important, and waiting to do it at the right moment. Example, the scene where Paul Newman meets admitting nurse in NY.
  11. Point of view shots as seem necessary and not from the star’s point of view. Example, when Paul Newman visits his star witness’s house and the reveal of the news from the butler.
  12. How David Mamet constructs the scene from ordinary to extra ordinary reveal and puts together scenes not just to move the plot forward but also show something new about the characters. Example, the scene in which Paul Newman’s girl friend meets the defence attorney, where the plot is given a jolt alright, but we also know the background and motivation of her.
  13. How some movies go beyond what was there on the script and how they take their life on their own and then it is all upto the instinct of the director, the film just rolls on.
  14. Paul Newman missed an Oscar as ‘Gandhi’ sweeped the Oscars that year.
  15. How David Mamet creates the see saw of possibilities, like whether the lead character would achieve his goal, but also sometimes throws in indicators that he might just pull it off. Example when his expert witness though disappointed with the outcome of his testimony, still breathes hope in Paul Newman and the audience, saying to the effect ‘how people react to truth might surprise us’.

Tailpiece: My father was not much in favor of elaborate rehearsals even for TV series. This, inspite of his stage experience is a surprising thing for me.