I don't really care enough to write movie reviews for the most part - apart from a brief paragraph or two on Facebook, but sometimes, some movies, on rare occasions, drive me to think more and write about them.
Turns out, this is my first Kannada movie I wanted to review.
After a long delay and failed schedules, I finally got to watch Lucia at the cinemas yesterday. Watching a Kannada movie, on a Sunday evening in a multiplex was a bit of a surreal experience for me - I rarely watch Kannada movies (I just find them repetitive, formulaic and too masala-laden to interest me), and when I do, it's usually at a cheap local "talkies". But here I was, at 4 pm, and the movie was running to a packed house, the third week or so of it being at the cinemas - another shocker for me.
As for the movie - I loved it. It wasn't perfect, and it could have done without the masala song-and-dance sequences (but that's a personal preference), but I guess it was necessary to draw in the general audience. And since I'm not a fan of Yograj Bhat, my excitement with the songs was so-so. On the other hand, the slower tunes were beautiful - something I kept humming long after the movie was over. So, it's a fine balance I guess.
The movie has its flaws with the script and storyline - it's not perfect, but it's well-paced, and the story moves along smoothly, without much hitches. There are points where the director, Pawan Kumar sacrifices logic and continuity in favor of drama and "artistry", but on the whole, these are negligible and don't really make a noticeable dent in the movie.
Visually, the movie has some fantastic camerawork in parts - Shot on a shoestring budget (It was Kannada's first crowdsourced movie after all), it manages to achieve some impressive and eye-catching shots very well. The lighting and colors so vibrant in one story, contrasted with the black-and-white sequences of the other sequence, offer a subtle visual metaphor for the moods and themes of the story. Personally, I fell in love with the camerawork more than anything else in the movie.
The performances are very good - as long as we're talking about the main characters - Sathish Ninasam as the insomniac protagonist, Nikhil, Shruthi Hariharan as Shwetha, his love interest, and Achyuth Kumar, Nikhil's mentor and friend. The three main actors' acting is just impeccable, with Satish Ninasam delivering a very convincing and powerful performance.
While the rest of the cast have tried, I personally felt their performances were barely convincing, and overly done. Their acting seems hammy and is a bit painful to watch. Thankfully, their roles are limited and not very consequential to the movie.
As for the story, it's probably not the most original of stories, but I believe it's a first for the Indian cinemas. The story/theme appears to have a wide range of influences, from movies like Inception, The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor. Of course, the themes of dreams and reality seem to be rather popular in Hollywood, given our penchant for escapist entertainment. Stylistically, I saw quite a bit of influences from one of my all-time favorite movies, Requiem for a Dream (if you haven't watched it already, don't miss it). The capsule-preparation scene reminded me of the heroin-injection scene from Requiem.. And I guess I'm a part of the minority, but while I was pondering this, during one scene, there's a very brief flash cut-scene sequence with a TV showing a paranoid Ellen Burstyn from a wide-angle distortion scene from Requiem. I nearly squealed out in glee during that one brief moment. I suppose, to my obsessed mind, this was a tiny bit of a validation. I know it doesn't really make sense, but then again, neither do I, for the most part =/
Personally, while I absolutely loved the movie, I am still ambivalent about the ending. I know we Indians (or anyone in the world I suppose) are suckers for happy endings, and hate it when a movie leaves on an unresolved note. I, on the other hand, love to keep guessing, and don't mind unresolved (anti) climaxes. I suppose it's one of the reasons I utterly love No Country For Old Men.
Anyway, back to Lucia. I'm impressed by the movie. And the performances. The music too (the parts I loved anyway). And of course, I doff my hat to the director, Pawan Kumar for this wonderfully enjoyable movie.
If the directors in the Kannada film industry went ahead and made more enjoyable movies like this, rather than the "rowdy-turned-hero" or "boy-girl-fall-in-love-end" or "college-kids-romance" or "poor-boy-rich-girl-bad-dad" kinda formulaic movies, or worse, remakes of movies from other languages, I'd gladly watch more Kannada movies.
Turns out, this is my first Kannada movie I wanted to review.
After a long delay and failed schedules, I finally got to watch Lucia at the cinemas yesterday. Watching a Kannada movie, on a Sunday evening in a multiplex was a bit of a surreal experience for me - I rarely watch Kannada movies (I just find them repetitive, formulaic and too masala-laden to interest me), and when I do, it's usually at a cheap local "talkies". But here I was, at 4 pm, and the movie was running to a packed house, the third week or so of it being at the cinemas - another shocker for me.
As for the movie - I loved it. It wasn't perfect, and it could have done without the masala song-and-dance sequences (but that's a personal preference), but I guess it was necessary to draw in the general audience. And since I'm not a fan of Yograj Bhat, my excitement with the songs was so-so. On the other hand, the slower tunes were beautiful - something I kept humming long after the movie was over. So, it's a fine balance I guess.
The movie has its flaws with the script and storyline - it's not perfect, but it's well-paced, and the story moves along smoothly, without much hitches. There are points where the director, Pawan Kumar sacrifices logic and continuity in favor of drama and "artistry", but on the whole, these are negligible and don't really make a noticeable dent in the movie.
Visually, the movie has some fantastic camerawork in parts - Shot on a shoestring budget (It was Kannada's first crowdsourced movie after all), it manages to achieve some impressive and eye-catching shots very well. The lighting and colors so vibrant in one story, contrasted with the black-and-white sequences of the other sequence, offer a subtle visual metaphor for the moods and themes of the story. Personally, I fell in love with the camerawork more than anything else in the movie.
The performances are very good - as long as we're talking about the main characters - Sathish Ninasam as the insomniac protagonist, Nikhil, Shruthi Hariharan as Shwetha, his love interest, and Achyuth Kumar, Nikhil's mentor and friend. The three main actors' acting is just impeccable, with Satish Ninasam delivering a very convincing and powerful performance.
While the rest of the cast have tried, I personally felt their performances were barely convincing, and overly done. Their acting seems hammy and is a bit painful to watch. Thankfully, their roles are limited and not very consequential to the movie.
As for the story, it's probably not the most original of stories, but I believe it's a first for the Indian cinemas. The story/theme appears to have a wide range of influences, from movies like Inception, The Matrix and The Thirteenth Floor. Of course, the themes of dreams and reality seem to be rather popular in Hollywood, given our penchant for escapist entertainment. Stylistically, I saw quite a bit of influences from one of my all-time favorite movies, Requiem for a Dream (if you haven't watched it already, don't miss it). The capsule-preparation scene reminded me of the heroin-injection scene from Requiem.. And I guess I'm a part of the minority, but while I was pondering this, during one scene, there's a very brief flash cut-scene sequence with a TV showing a paranoid Ellen Burstyn from a wide-angle distortion scene from Requiem. I nearly squealed out in glee during that one brief moment. I suppose, to my obsessed mind, this was a tiny bit of a validation. I know it doesn't really make sense, but then again, neither do I, for the most part =/
Personally, while I absolutely loved the movie, I am still ambivalent about the ending. I know we Indians (or anyone in the world I suppose) are suckers for happy endings, and hate it when a movie leaves on an unresolved note. I, on the other hand, love to keep guessing, and don't mind unresolved (anti) climaxes. I suppose it's one of the reasons I utterly love No Country For Old Men.
Anyway, back to Lucia. I'm impressed by the movie. And the performances. The music too (the parts I loved anyway). And of course, I doff my hat to the director, Pawan Kumar for this wonderfully enjoyable movie.
If the directors in the Kannada film industry went ahead and made more enjoyable movies like this, rather than the "rowdy-turned-hero" or "boy-girl-fall-in-love-end" or "college-kids-romance" or "poor-boy-rich-girl-bad-dad" kinda formulaic movies, or worse, remakes of movies from other languages, I'd gladly watch more Kannada movies.
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