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Reviews
The Kite Runner (2007)
Life imitating art imitating life
I saw this beautiful film sandwiched between "Charlie Wilson's War" and the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. I could not but help seeing the strong thread weaved between these events. Afghanistan has seen conquerors from time immemorial; all of them have been thwarted. Now with the backward Taliban wreaking terrorism, banning kite flying and stoning adulterers, it can be seen in (real life) where Pakistan has now become the battleground. In real life we had a beautiful, poised and throughly western politician in Benazir running against the buzz-saw of anti modernism, corruption and a military dictatorship. Charlie Wilson showed that a bull in a china shop shows some results but very incomplete. He will acknowledge that his influence in arming the Mujahhedins resulted in the Taliban, which begat the horrific laws that led to the wonderful movie the Kite Runner. The Al Qaida and Taliban fed on each other and intersected on Benazir's death.
Where this will end is surely not going to be influenced by outside interference.
Wordplay (2006)
You've got to be a geek!
This movie is a cross word fanatic's dream come true. How can somebody make a movie about crosswords? Well this movie may have a narrow segment appeal but I am sure there are many like me who wade into the Friday, Saturday and Sunday NYT puzzle only to see still more than half the squares unfilled at the end of the day. But like Bill Clinton says in the movie, art does imitate life since the puzzle theme is revealed sometimes well after 1 across remains unsolved. What struck about the movie is the humility of the top three puzzle solvers that most of us have heard of in crossword lore. Ellen Ripstein is satisfyingly geeky, even she knows it. Hal Sanders seems like just another suburban guy, blowing the 2005 contest because of a simple oversight. Tyler, the 2005 winner, is as dedicated to winning as was John McEnroe in tennis.
I too agree that there is not much focus on Wil Shortz, the puzzle master. I wish the movie maker had focused more on how does he do a edit a puzzle every day for the NYT.
En sång för Martin (2001)
Life imitating art
I guess I am a late comer to this wonderful movie. But the typical Scandinavian style of weaving a story really impressed me about this movie. Even more so was the fact that I read about Viveka in real life dying in the arms of her long-time companion, Sven Wolter, the protagonist in the movie. The true love that remains bright even under such dire circumstances that mirrored real life was indeed a beauty to watch. Perhaps as a latecomer I could appreciate life imitating art imitating life scenario. One could see Viveka's face brighten up even when she got a little bit of recognition from Sven's Alzheimer-ridden character. Yes, indeed, Alzheimer, is a terrible disease, robbing the person of his least vestige. But what the film makes clear is that the care giver's life is even more stripped and laid bare. Great movie.