Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Kaduva is a typical men-centric industrial Malayalam movie – overstretched, clichéd and fixated on establishing a male protagonist’s superhuman power.
The traditional Chinese language might have constructed the Nice Wall of China, however might they’ve saved their mundus on via a full-fledged combat scene in a Malayalam movie?
The eighth Surprise of the World that has not acquired the worldwide consideration it deserves is the mundu, the white/cream sarong-like unstitched garment from southern India. As a toddler born and introduced up within the north, I’d spend my faculty summer time holidays in Kerala questioning how the mundus worn by Malayali males don’t fall off since they don’t put on petticoats underneath them. Once I lastly requested, I used to be informed that some males use belts to safe the mundu across the waist, however some – maintain your breath! – don’t. It took about 20,000 employees to finish the Taj Mahal. It takes one Malayali hero to maintain his mundu intact whereas walloping dozens of opponents in a number of confrontations via the two hours and 35 minutes of Kaduva (Tiger).
Okay, don’t get mad at me. You’re proper – I’m being flippant. However to be truthful (to me), how is an earnest critique attainable for a movie through which the sound of a Massive Cat growling within the background is the main man’s signature, he repeatedly poses – Pulimurugan-style – like a feline crouched on the bottom poised to pounce on his prey, his swagger stretches from his stroll to his mannered speech, and he soars via the air whereas bashing up his foes ?
Kaduva is directed by Shaji Kailas – blockbuster machine of the Nineties and early 2000s – and written by Jinu V. Abraham. It’s a typical men-centric industrial Malayalam movie fixated on establishing a male protagonist’s superhuman power and prowess.
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Within the background, overshadowed by fisticuffs and speeches, is that this story. In a church in Kerala, two highly effective parishioners conflict. One is a wealthy businessman, Kaduvakunnel Kuriyaachan a.ok.a. Kaduva performed by Prithviraj Sukumaran. The opposite is a politically well-connected, high-ranking policeman, Joseph Chandy, performed by an unexceptional Vivek Oberoi whose profession Malayalam cinema appears intent on resurrecting since he kind of fizzled out of Bollywood.
Kuriyaachan’s habits are a topic of native lore: he drives a Mercedes, smokes cigars, wears solely mundus and white kurtas. He’s additionally feared for his monitor document of violently disciplining wrongdoers. He struggles via a lot of the storyline, however we all know he’ll in the end outwit his enemies as a result of, properly, he’s the hero and that is that sort of predictable movie.
The plot issues little right here. Dominating the narrative as a substitute are lengthy – oh soooo lengthy! – stretches of Kuriyaachan beating up teams of males, typically in sluggish movement; Kuriyaachan strolling in sluggish movement; Kuriyaachan delivering grandiose dialogues that appear to require him to talk in sluggish movement; low-angle pictures of Kuriyaachan perched on a automobile’s bonnet and crossing his legs in sluggish movement; close-ups of Kuriyaachan’s eyes going via the pure blinking course of in what looks like sluggish movement; close-ups of Kuriyaachan’s hand with a hoop topped by a tiger sculpture, as he clenches his fist in (guess what?) sluggish movement.
Simply to be clear, movies that includes unattainable motion and an incidental story might be enjoyable. However not when the stunt choreography is being recycled from a zillion different movies and the identical restricted inventory performs in a loop all through, because it does in Kaduva.
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The media has reported that Kaduva relies on a real story of a businessman in Kerala who went to courtroom accusing the movie of doubtless defaming him. A life that conjures up a movie should absolutely have been thrilling, however Kaduva is barely often so. For probably the most half it’s clichéd, too reliant on Prithviraj’s display screen presence, has no time for girls and is full of gifted actors akin to Samyuktha Menon who’ve subsequent to nothing to do. The movie might additionally function a supply for a Museum of Underpants as villain after mundu-clad villain is distributed flying within the air or crashing to the bottom in positions that put his knickers on show.
That mentioned, Kaduva is way from being the worst we’ve seen from this style of cinema in varied Indian languages or Malayalam particularly. Kuriyaachan doesn’t, for example, equate sexual harassment with courtship or deal with girls like property. Kaduva is loud however not deafening, and its all-pervasive fights are, surprisingly, not grotesque and blood-spattered.
Given this, Kaduva may need earned the outline “innocent” if it weren’t for a passage through which the hero, supposedly a religious Christian, states that he doesn’t consider within the New Testomony of the Bible and prefers the “eye for a watch” dictum within the Outdated Testomony. Christianity stems from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, that are chronicled within the New Testomony the place he’s quoted, amongst different issues, as saying: “You have got heard that it was mentioned, ‘An eye fixed for a watch and a tooth for a tooth.’ However I say to you, Don’t resist the one who’s evil. But when anybody slaps you on the fitting cheek, flip to him the opposite cheek.” This passage within the Bible drastically impressed Mahatma Gandhi’s doctrine of ahimsa (non-violence). At a time when mob violence is being overtly inspired by Indian politicians, such a line from a well-liked star taking part in a hero, not an anti-hero, can’t be taken flippantly.
If it weren’t for this, Kaduva might have been thought-about innocuous, mass-targeted fare. Its many passages of boredom however, there are a few locations at which I laughed out loud on the filmmaker’s audacity in portraying such improbabilities with conviction and at Prithviraj’s capability to drag off such exaggerated dialogues and gestures with a straight face. It’s also exhausting to not be swept away on the tide of Jakes Bejoy’s infectiously energetic Pala Palli Thiruppalli to which Kuriyaachan and an enormous crowd dance with homosexual abandon at an enormous church pageant shot spectacularly by Abinandhan Ramanujam.
Some bits of Kaduva are even unintentionally amusing or insightful. Such because the dialogue amongst senior clergy about giving a delinquent priest a punishment posting in Uttar Pradesh or elsewhere in north India. Take that every one ye within the north who view transfers to the North-east as the last word authorities reprimand for an errant, dishonest bureaucrat. Ha!
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There’s a number of bodily motion in Kaduva – fists and legs swing throughout the display screen, automobiles pace and overturn, our bodies spin in mid-air. Shaji Kailas’ storytelling although stays frozen in time, again within the Nineties when he first shot into the limelight, as unmoving because the mundu tucked round Kuriyaachan’s waist.
Score: 1.75 (out of 5 stars)
Kaduva is now in theatres
Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and writer of The Adventures of an Intrepid Movie Critic. She specialises within the intersection of cinema with feminist and different socio-political issues. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Fb: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial
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Directed by Michael Gracey. Starring Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Frazer Hadfield, Tom Budge, Anthony Hayes, Jake Simmance, Jesse Hyde, Liam Head, Chase Vollenweider, Rose Flanagan, Jack Sherran, Karina Banno, Asmara Feik, Leo Harvey-Elledge, Elyssia Koulouris, Frazer Hadfield, Chris Gun, Ben Hall, Kaela Daffara, and Chase Vollenweider.
SYNOPSIS:
Follow Robbie Williams’ journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.
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During a conversation exploring the possibility of a biopic, British popstar Robbie Williams told well-regarded musical director Michael Gracey that he saw himself as a monkey performing for others. That became the window into telling the story of this singer/songwriter with Better Man, a film that, as the title implies, also shows that Robbie Williams is self-aware of his flaws, mistakes, and shortcomings without being afraid to put them front and center. Yes, rather than go through the arduous casting process, Michael Gracey ran with that comment literally, making the creative choice to have the pop star played by a CGI monkey (voiced by Jonno Davies, with Robbie Williams lending his vocals.)
It’s a smart move to roll a short clip of subject and filmmaker conversing before the film starts proper, not just because other parts of the world might not be familiar with Robbie Williamss music (consistently accidentally reading it as a biopic about musician Robin Williams if you’re anything like me), but also since this is such a bold concept for a biopic that it’s helpful to get an idea of what this man looks like and the personality he puts out there before it’s all monkey business.
Going one step further, this turns out to not fall into the trappings of a flailing gimmick but ties into themes of pressures of the music industry, fame causing stunted behavior, family drama, and an unflinching portrayal of self that doesn’t smooth over any rough edges. Better Man is an invigorating biopic; a shot of adrenaline to the most overplayed, clichéd genre. After this, no one should be allowed to make biopics (at least ones about musicians) unless they have an equally creative angle or some compelling X factor behind it. Simply put, this film puts most recent offerings from the genre to shame, especially the ones that get trotted out at the end of every year as familiar awards bait.
Even though the life trajectory and story beats aren’t anything new to anyone who has ever seen a biopic about a musician before, it gets to be told with boundless imagination, typically coming from several dazzling musical sequences. Not only are they dynamic in presentation (whether it be jubilantly unfolding across the streets of London or something more melancholy regarding fatherly abandonment), but they are sometimes highwire concepts themselves; Better Man has one of the most thrilling, fantastically clever, visually stunning, and exciting takes on battling one’s demons.
The characters (including Robbie’s family, friends, lover, hell, and even Oasis) don’t interact or react to Robbie Williams as a monkey. It’s a visual treat for us (this film would fall apart without the astonishingly expressive technical wizardry from Weta, who already have proven themselves as outstanding in this field when it comes to the recent Planet of the Apes movies) but another personal, self-deprecating, honest interpretation of how Robbie saw himself during these life stages. Initially, this feels like it will end up as a missed opportunity for further creativity or humor. One of the more surprising elements here is that the filmmakers (with Michael Gracey co-writing alongside Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson) are playing this material straight and not going for laughs. That confidence pays off, allowing a maximalist, melodramatic side to come out with sincere, absorbing emotional heft.
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That story follows a standard rise and fall structure, with Robbie Williams finding inspiration from his initially supportive singing father (Steve Pemberton), exhibiting a relatable drive to make his grandmother (Alison Steadman proud, getting his start in boy band Take That before his insecurities and worsening substance abuse and egocentric behavior gets him kicked out, stumbling into a rocky relationship with Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno), and then not only finding the courage to put some meaningful lyrics out into the world through a successful solo career but managing the anxieties that come with performing in front of humongous crowds while constantly struggling with drug addiction.
Some of those aspects feel glossed over and aren’t as explored as they possibly could have been (the film is already 135 minutes, but some of it is given a broad strokes treatment), but it’s affecting anyway due to the creativity, artistry, musical numbers, and blunt honesty enhancing those character dynamics. Better Man is a biopic that starts with a confessional about being a narcissist and having a punchable face and ends up somewhere beautifully moving that perfectly captures the essence of that title. There is also a healthy dose of Frank Sinatra here, given that he was a major source of inspiration for Robbie Williams, so let’s say he and Michael Gracey did this biopic their way, and the result is something no one should want any other way.
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Robert Eggers’s take on the 1922 F.W. Murnau film “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” has long been a passion project for the director, in various stages of development since he broke out with 2015’s “The Witch.” Now that the film has finally made its way to screens, Eggers has the opportunity to shine. And like any of his films, “Nosferatu” has mood and style to spare.
Eggers’s movies always have great attention to detail, but sometimes the style can outweigh the story and “Nosferatu” is no different. “The Witch” was about setting a moody atmosphere and “The Northman” was about showing off the muscularity in his filmmaking and in between he made arguably his best movie, “The Lighthouse,” which is a bizarre, fever dream kind of experience.
In the first frames of “Nosferatu,” Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) emerges from the shadows with tears running down her face. She is calling out to something, but nothing is there. What is making her body move in such unpleasant ways? Who is the mysterious voice calling out to her? From the shadows emerges a silhouette of Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård), who is haunting Ellen.
Years later, Ellen is in a relationship with Thomas (Nicholas Hoult, who is having a busy year between “Nosferatu,” “Juror #2” and “The Order”). Thomas is heading to Transylvania to meet with Count Orlock, foreshadowing a great deal of dread in the movie. Back home, Ellen is not doing well, constantly haunted by the looming presence of Count Orlock, who will not let her know peace.
Not only does Count Orlock hang over Ellen’s life, but his existence hangs over the entire movie. Eggers effectively uses the character sparingly, shooting him in shadows and only revealing his face every so often. It’s best to go into the movie surprised by the design, because Eggers certainly doesn’t settle for recreating the well-established imagery from the original film. Skarsgård, who is becoming a horror film regular, is nowhere to be found in his performance, completely disappearing behind the character.
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Depp delivers the strongest performance of her young career, as she is required to run the gauntlet of emotional and physical pain. Her suffering helps bring some emotion to the movie, which can occasionally feel cold and distant in service of emphasizing the film’s craft. Individual moments of dread feel palpable, but the movie goes through plodding stretches (including with superfluous characters played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Emma Corrin; Eggers regular Willem Dafoe also plays a role), where the emotionality of Depp’s performance and the grim appearance of Skarsgård become sorely missed.
Even when the movie is choppy, it’s hard to not get lost in the impeccability of the craft. Egger and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke partially use natural lighting to establish the mood, while production designer Craig Lathrop transports viewers to 1838 Germany. Getting lost in the world of “Nosferatu” isn’t hard — though sometimes being moved by it as a whole is a tough task.
Sudeep in ‘Max’.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Inspector Arjun Mahakshay a.k.a Max takes charge unofficially a day before his suspension ends. A huge blunder inside the station puts Max against powerful men, who come for his life. As he is faced with the improbable task of saving his colleagues and coming out unscathed from the problem, the daring cop pauses to prepare a cup of tea.
Director Vijay Kartikeyaa’s debut project is driven by a protagonist who keeps you guessing about his next move. Even if Max aims to provide unhinged ‘masala’ entertainment, the movie’s leading man isn’t a one-note character. Since the events unfold during one night, and he has limited time to cross a series of hurdles, Max puts his sharp brain to quick use. And once he enters the risky zone of facing the criminals head-on, he unleashes the beast inside him.
Storyline: A day before reporting for duty after a two-month suspension, inspector Arjun Mahakshay faces an unexpected situation. Can he save the day?
Max is a celebration of Sudeep, who oozes style in his aggressive portrayal of an all-conquering officer. If you saw him as a subdued yet classy cop carrying a deep pain within him in Vikrant Rona (2022), Sudeep cuts loose in Max to cater to his fans, who were hungry for ‘mass’ moments involving their favourite star.
The one-man show is great fun to watch to an extent. Director Vijay scripts an old-school world where the hero emerges as the ultimate saviour of distressed people. However, as a whole, Max leaves you wanting more as you expect the protagonist to face the heat of a mighty antagonist.
Sunil, essaying the main villain, is undone by a toothless character. Varalaxmi Sarathkumar’s character of a cop with a negative shade shows promise early on but gets fizzled out eventually as she fails to make any difference to the plot. Right from the beginning, it’s apparent that both the characters are bracing for an inevitable onslaught from Max.
It’s also quite shocking how Max has an almost incompetent team. When they aren’t blindly following the instructions from Max, the junior-level officers are scared and clueless. Ilavarasu, playing an experienced officer, delivers a measured performance. The rest of the cast, including Uggram Manju, Samyuktha Hornad, Sukrutha Wagale and Vijay Chendur, are too loud in their respective portrayals.
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One can’t blame the actors as their characters are designed to artificially amp up the tension. With a highly dramatic plot in hand, the director’s decision to showcase stronger emotions than what’s necessary dents the film.
ALSO READ:‘UI’ movie review: Upendra’s political commentary is a one-of-a-kind experience despite its flaws
The core idea of Max might remind you of Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Kaithi (2019). With so much happening in a short span of time, it’s tough to emotionally invest in the proceedings. On the other hand, Max’s racy screenplay keeps you curious about the events on screen. A superb fusion of Chethan D Souza’s action choreography and Ajaneesh Lokanath’s ensures an adrenaline-pumping experience.
Max is a star vehicle with admirable experiments from the makers. With Vikrant Rona and Max, Sudeep has deviated from traditional commercial films. The big stars of Kannada cinema are seeking change, and that’s a good sign.
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