12 YEARS A SLAVE (" OH NO DICAPRIO!!!")

January 31, 2014.

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano.

Director: Steve Mcqueen.

“I don’t think I have seen a story like that of Solomon Northup on film and I wanted to make damn sure if it was on film it was going to be done well”. This is the statement that Steve Mcqueen made when asked about 12 Years a Slave.

Nothing defines the film better than the above statement. The film starts off in New York in 1841 where Solomon (Chiwetel) is a very well respected musician who has a wife and two children. He is trapped and sold into slavery by his acquaintances.

From then on the director takes us on a 12 year journey in the life of Solomon. Solomon is first bought by Mr.Ford (Cumberbatch) who is a very decent man and at a level empathises with Solomon, yet helpless. When Solomon gets into a fight with one of Ford’s employees he is forced to move under the ownership of the cruel and abusive Edwin Epps (Fassbender).

The film takes on a realistic approach to the whole incident right from the beginning and violence and abuse have been portrayed in a very effective way that really disturbs the audience most of the time. Two such scenes that stand out and really give you an idea of the plight of the slaves are; when Solomon is left hanging from a branch for a whole day barely able to ground his feet so that he could stay alive and Patsy getting stripped and whiplashed brutally just because she wanted to use a bar of soap to stay clean. These two, especially the latter, appeal to anyone having a conscience when you watch it on screen, courtesy Mcqueen.

Though you can find traces of Inception in the BGM (which was also scored by Zimmer), along with sensible cinematography employing a variety of shots Mcqueen succeeds in capturing the essence of it all.

The cast, top league actors and newbies alike, offers a stellar performance. Though it’s difficult to rate the performances, it has to be admitted that the stand-outs are Chiwetel, Fassbender and the actor playing Patsy to an extent. Chiwetel portrays the pain, helplessness and uncertainty of Solomon in a probable Oscar Winning performance, with moments of beauty conveyed through facial expressions alone. Another point worth mentioning is the grit and hope that Solomon embodies making 12 Years a Slave much more than just a sympathising film on slavery.

One cannot feel nothing but sad for Leonardo Dicaprio; everytime he comes close to the Best Actor Oscar someone else swiftly comes along to claim the prize, this time being no different. With the looks of it the contest for the Best Actor should be between Chiwetel for 12 years a slave and Mathew Mcaunaghey for Dallas Buyers Club. Let’s wait and watch!

I am giving a 4 for 12 Years a Slave. It is a gritty film that you do not wanna miss!

IMDB Rating

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.

RUMMY ("NOT A GOOD GAME")

January 31, 2014.

Cast: Vijay Sethupathy, Inigo Prabhakaran, Gayathrie.

Director: Balakrishnan.

Rummy takes us into the violent volatile villages of the 1980s Tamilnadu, a bit reminiscent of Subramaniapuram. The story starts with Shakthi (Inigo Prabhakar) joining a college in Sivagangai where he falls for Meenakshi (Gayathrie) at first sight. His roommate Joseph (Vijay Sethupathy) comes from a poor background and very soon he also falls for a girl, who happens to be the daughter of a local gangster.

Being a village where outsiders who try hitting on the local girls are seen as criminals who deserve even death as punishment for their “crime”, the romance of the lead pair soon starts creating tension. The premise as it is can be related to a lot of the films that have come of late with Madurai and the likes of it as their background; hero meets the heroine; heroine happens to be the bad guy’s daughter and after a few tense scenes a tragic climax! We have already had enough movies of that sort.

Sadly Rummy is no different, even though it has the presence of the ever dependable Vijay Sethupathy who plays more of a second hero with lesser screen time compared to Inigo Prabhakar. One wonders why in the world he chose to be part of such a film.

The director has tried to make the film engaging with sort of a multi-layered screenplay which, though has to be appreciated, fails to hold the interest of the viewers especially when the film feels way too much longer than it’s runtime of 150 minutes. The songs are passable but when they keep coming a bit too frequently and at odd times as the film progresses the patience starts wearing out faster.

Most of the scenes offer decent acting with tinges of brilliance at times (the scenes involving Vijay Sethupathy) but sadly those are abrupt and incomplete and are more like pop ups appearing when we browse the net. The romance track also suffers from the same problem offering beauty only in parts.

Very soon into the second half the film spirals out of control and becomes utterly predictable and dragging and still the songs keep coming!

Coming to the climax, it is more funny than scary and just when I was thinking if I am being a bit hard on the film 90% of the audience started laughing; though the performances were earnest the fumble in the execution takes anything worthwhile away from those scenes.

I am giving a 2.5 for Rummy. Though it’s good in parts it’s long and tiring!

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.