Monday, January 25, 2010

3rd Person Singular Number


Mostafa Sarwar Farooki is one of the rising big shots and a veteran in Bangladesh TV and film media. I don’t doubt his genius and eccentric creativity for which he is specially acclaimed. But again, being a popular television drama director and a film director are totally two different things. His television dramas are fantastically unique and sometimes weirdly funny. When every other television dramas are full of monotonous cliché and disgusting imitation of Indian soap operas, Sarwar Farooki always comes with a promise of completely different sets of entertainment. When he first came up with his first film “Bachelor”, it was an unbelievably successful film in Bangladesh considering the response from the youngsters. And this film was made for youngsters. I would say, the film has done revolution in contemporary Bangladeshi films. But when he came up with the second film (“Made in Bangladesh”) it was unrealistically and unexpectedly an out of class film. Actually, there is nothing to talk about this one. This time, Sarwar Farooki came up with his third film which was long awaited “3rd Person Singular Number”. I had a chance to watch the film a few days ago. I don't care what others have to say…but I put my hat off to Mr. Farooki. He is indeed a master and a potential hope in our hopeless film industry. 

The story circles about a lone girl who has been misfortunate, exhausted and manipulated by the male dominated society of ours where every woman searches for physical and mental security. The protagonist is completely homeless and deserted her family as her husband remains in the jail for murdering someone and her mother stays with her second husband. The film starts with a real kick from the very beginning with dark and tensed sequences and keeps it intact. I am not a feminist but I shared the pain, misery and irony of the central character. There are fun and also disturbance in a good ratio. Some of the sequences are absolute cliché and average. In the character of the “husband”, Mosharraf Karim provides another very “into the character” performance. Topu also delivered an enjoyable and amusing role which was humorous and interesting. Cinematography was good as expected.

Some of the very bitter truths are exposed in the films as good films always do. The psychological and moral dilemma of the central character which Tisha played was gripping and sometimes suffocating. According to our society, ‘living together is not supported at all. Some viewers complained about it but I think there was nothing to complain about this issue because the film also does not support living together without marriage and it shows the evil outcomes of doing it in a conservative society like ours. But I didn't like the ending part that much. It reminded me of watching “Jules and Jim” and other European films which does not match with our socio-cultural and psychological structure. But a director should always have the right to escape to his imagination where reality ends. The most engaging factor is, the film has nothing sinister or shocking plot-line but simple yet meaningful way of showing things. That's the fact I liked most. 

To me, it was a film for matured viewers. You will not like the film if you are always looking for funny sequences like Farooki’s previous works. This is unlike his other works…with more depth, messages and reality. In a nutshell, it is a sensible and worth watching film.

Monday, May 25, 2009

The Lives of Others


German films have always their unique charms in their own aspects. May be I am wrong, because I always see the famous and good German films. Yet, "Das Leben der Anderen" is a movie which I started to watch at 4:00 am and finished at 7:30 without exhausting a bit and thinking about the fascinating theme.

Embedded on the of 1984 east Germany where secret police used to do surveillance on every suspected individual and a prominent writer and his wife was put under this scheme. The leader of the surveillance team started to be obsessed about their lives. I do want to mention the central woman character played by Martina Gedeck who is so sensational and sensual in the part she played that I desired her every second she was on the screen. The movie had a suffocating plotline which includes a variety of politics, corruption, espionage and adultery. Worthy for the ‘best foreign language film’ of 2007. Very much of a Thought-provoking film.  


Sunday, May 24, 2009

Playing by Hearts


After a long week of incessant workloads, l got a chance to watch a movie. A considerably old one- “Playing by Heart”. It was a star-studded movie with Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery, Gillian Anderson, Medeline Stowe, Denis Quide and some other people. The genre was good enough for me where the story was developed by all the complexities of these characters and intertwined with one another. Though sometimes, it felt mundane because of the chronological sequences coming after a short while. Each story of the characters was different but again they all had the same phenomena: troubled relationships.

 A soft movie which consists of lots of emotions. To some extent surprising and mainly, good to see all the stars at a time. 

Saturday, May 16, 2009

4 months, 3 weeks, 2days

I have never ever seen anything like this movie. Watch it to find out....4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days

Friday, May 15, 2009

Trpo de Elite



This movie can be called as a successor of “City of God” in many aspects and I was thrilled while watching it 3 days ago. It seemed to be a general movie of this genre but after a while, it reached the peak of my attention and the tension grew intense. It’s about the elite force police of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. One man fights against the societal corruption and the corruption amongst the police itself. The psychological struggle of the main character is outstandingly depicted. Storyline was gripping enough and violence was worthwhile. Utterly exciting. 

Monday, May 11, 2009

Casablanca

I am an admirer of drama with lots of tensed twists and turns in plot and simultaneously it has to be slow paced where each expression talks for itself. Considering this, “Casablanca” is such a memorable movie for me, it defines a considerable portion of a specific genre which is “love”.

I watched this movie long ago, when I didn’t have the slightest idea about relationship and love and the pain and passion attached to these feelings. But when I grew up and saw it several times, I realized the obsession of “Rick Blein” who isolated himself in chaotic Casablanca with his inner torments, for an injured and unsolved love, trying to be lost into his own oblivion in the backdrop of Second World War.

Similarly favorite but for the joyful enthusiasm, I loved “It Happened One Night”. The story is nothing unique still the characters specially humor put into the character of ‘Clark Gable’ was an outburst.

These movies have a never ending charm for which a viewer like me can enjoy it even half a century later and that is why these cinemas have a little title which is called “Classic”.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Taxi Driver


The name of one of greatest iconic protagonists of the history of cinema is named “Travis Bickle”. It’s a character which portrayed the ultimate individuality, loneliness, egoism, bohemianism and rebellion. The cinema I am talking about is “Taxi Driver” by Martin Scorsese.

A taxi driver who roams around the city, unable to sleep at night, bored to death about his mundane life and disgusted about the miserable happenings around him. Who hopes, “Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets”. He possesses a quiet reasoning which is uniquely eccentric and attractive at the same time. This is a character that we all envy for its honesty and courage.

The movie which proved Robert De Nero’s versatility in critical characters in later years such as ‘Once upon a Time in America’ by Sergio Leone. Although he was already a shaped actor from the character of ‘young Don Corleone’ in ‘The Godfather part 2”; this movie is a definitive one. One of my all time favorites. Incredibly personal and marvelous.

Thursday, April 30, 2009



When I was a kid, my dad used to take us to the movies and dramas and thus he intrigued our thirst for these things. There were always some movie festivals or some theatrical dramas or somewhere to go to buy books. I remember one evening in Public Library in 1999 with my father. There was an “Oscar film Week” festival going on where I enjoyed “The Godfather” for the first time. It was the last day of the festival. We two were impatiently waiting for the movie. Of course, he saw it before; but he too was excited to watch it with me. I first read “The Godfather” when I was in class four. I read the Bangla translation by “Sheba Prokashoni” and it was scattered into 4 parts. So, I had the second part in class six and the third and forth part in class seven. I have a friend whose name was Faruque and he was a steady source of books specially which are considered “forbidden” for us. It fascinated me so much; the world of mafia seemed so charismatic; I read this book again and again. The most qualifying factor about this movie is, the cinema itself was depicted just like a carbon copy of the book; greatest adaptation ever made. Actually, nothing to analyze or discuss about this movie except for the emotions and feelings related to it. When I got into college, I managed to see the second and third part of the movie. I loved both of them but the part two is indescribably splendid comparing to the third one. Specially, The young Robert De Nero was impossibly superb. “The Godfather” is my most favorite movie and since the godfather part one, Al Pacino is my most cherished actor. No movie haunted me so much as this trilogy did. And still today this trilogy chills me and thrills me just the same.  

Friday, April 24, 2009


It’s hard to describe how good this movie is....."Cinema Paradiso" is a movie of a lifetime. A movie which drives me in so many emotional states that I can't even explain. The best Italian movie I have ever seen (to some extent, far better than “Life is Beautiful”). A creation of a master......A cinema which exceeds all emotional boundaries about love, relationship, nostalgia and most of all: "CINEMA!!!" 

The cinema is about a boy living in a small city of Italy who eventually made a friendship with the local cinema hall-projectionist. The boy had an insatiable thirst for cinema and the story started with revealing the magical world of cinema. Depicting several decades of movie magic; the story continues the saga of a love story which I admit; one of the greatest of all times. This one will make everyone deeply nostalgic to the very root they belong………to love, to remember and to be lost again…………………  

Once you start watching this movie you would never want it to be finished…………when it will be finished, it will leave you silent………. 


Thursday, April 23, 2009


If you have tried to make a movie...at least planned; you know how hard it is to co-ordinate so many things at a time...but when I enjoy Roman Polanski’s “Death and the Maiden” 6 months ago; I thought is it really so easy to make a masterpiece?? Is it really takes 3 people in a room and making a movie that would make your heart ache with the anticipation and tension?? For the people who are already Polanski fans, I will tell them; if you miss it, you will miss it all. Again I met Sir Ben Kingsley with a most ingenious character and admitted his versatility. The movie was completely magnificent for its ultimately gripping storyline. The whole time I was thinking, “What a story!!!” The tension this movie will provide you is unforgettable……and it all happened in ONE room. 

People who ever tried or thought about making a film……for them; this is a bible…….incomparable!!!  

Wednesday, March 25, 2009


Have you seen the greatest revenge movie ever made? Several names are coming into your mind. You would have asked me, I would have done the same...but now if you asked me this question I will be hard as rock and firm as a saint in one name. The movie I am talking about is a hidden gem. Its name is "Old Boy".

Why I am calling it as the greatest revenge movie? Before I buzz you about the plot, I just want to say, all the credits of this movie goes to the storyline. The story of it is so intriguing that you will be glued to the screen from the very first shot..right after the opening credits.....During the entire movie, your mind will be searching for so many things that you cannot wait to see the end...you will be burnt by the question "what next?" and trust me you will never have the right guess.

The plot starts with a simple incident. A drunk man was kidnapped on his daughter's birthday and imprisoned for 15 years and then released.........that's it...
the rest is for to find out......this Korean movie dealt with some of the darkest chapters of human being......chapters that never come out.......it is an unimaginably shocking movie....I was a mess for a while after enjoying it......masterpiece....

Tuesday, March 24, 2009


I saw "Dancer in the Dark" a few weeks ago. Honestly speaking, this is my second film by 'Lars von Trier'. Before this I enjoyed his "Breaking the Waves" a few months ago. Both the movies are so enigmatically brilliant, I was haunted by them long after I finished watching them. Talking about the recent one, "Dancer in the Dark", I was amazed, awestruck and disturbed. 


"Dancer in the Dark" is a movie about a woman who considers her entire life as a musical and she loves to be into it. It's not a musical movie rather it has strict reality- reality so pathetic that it hurts. The central character was facing a gradual blindness and she knew it. She rehearses for a local musical; she works in a factory where she couldn't cope with all the machineries for she has a heart of an artist. She has a kid and a lover who is so devoted that never he asked her out..he waits before the factory for her and when she comes out, he politely asked if he could take her home and she declines every time.....I don't want to ruin the plot but to remember this as one of the most unique humane movie and most disturbing musical I have ever seen. 

Another astonishing thing is, the director showed the unbelievable charisma of working with the style of "hand held camera" technique. The screen moving along with the emotions, the close ups are so extremely meaningful that I felt I was a third person witnessing everything happening to the characters. A movie which melt my heart with stark reality and agony.  





Monday, March 23, 2009


I was watching "The Reader" last night for the third time and I was wondering about the incredible storyline of the movie. I remember, I marked this movie long before its release and I craved to watch it. The plot itself seemed to be so gripping that everyday; before sleeping, I searched for the torrent to download. The love-story of a young man and an elderly woman is not much of a unique one. But what makes this movie so memorable and shievering is the backdrop and the surprizing outcome of it.

You have a beautiful woman to make love when you are in school. All your lurid and pulp fantasies are becoming true, your obsession is controlled by strong physical satisfaction and you are addicted to a human being who provides a strange  affection towards you. Suddenly, you lost her. After a period of time you find her. During this time, you lost the taste of life and love. And when you find her, you realize that she is a war criminal and on trial. What an ecsentric storyline............such a heart-rending movie..........I can't really really explain how much I loved it.