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metallicmoor
Reviews
Bandit Queen (1994)
The hard hitting tale of a murderer messiah
Irrespective of the accuracy of facts, Bandit Queen is a true story, its true because the themes it deals with hold as much truth today as they did way back in 1994. This movie is violent, powerful and thought provoking.The protagonist is a woman of flesh and blood, whose adversity brought out the best(or worst) out of her. Keeping the subjectivity aside, there is no doubt that Phoolan's character from a young girl of 8, who is married off by her father to clear a debt(pun intended), to a gang leader who goes on to become a leader of the lower caste, has evolved into a champion in her own right. Her portrayal is so powerful that the viewer is even willing to forgive her for a massacre.
I can understand if the western audience is not able to appreciate this masterpiece, Bandit Queen needs to be 'studied' in the Indian context, and not just checked out in stereotypes. I may not be able to sell it on its universal appeal but its certainly a must watch for the Indian audience, its a shame that the movie had a delayed, overtly censored release in India.
Bandit Queen is the story of a woman who fought against two odds in India, being a woman and that too a lower caste, her rebellious nature and inability to just give in caused her the most horrible experiences in life, which only went on to strengthen her into a self proclaimed goddess. She responded to violence with violence and dint become the submissive woman society wanted her to be. Call it divine justice or judiciary failure, had she killed a single person she would have been hanged, she killed 24 and got revered, respected and glorified.
P.S # Whoever found her character "psychotic", needs to be sodomized at 8, gangraped by 10 men at a go and paraded naked. Then they should be asked- How normal do they feel?
The Center of the World (2001)
Truth as absurd it is
This movie is absurd, vague, slow, abrupt and incomplete. But isn't that how life is? I wont take any sides but one thing is certain that the director has been able to keep it as close to life as any of our lives could be. This movie is not about unreal heroes, super-hot babes & witty dialogs. It has a millionaire loser for a hero and a shy hooker for a heroine, and their love which is not your run of the mill happy ending love story but love which is free from any bias and desires of the flesh. Picture this - A really hot woman, dressed in exotic lingerie acting all horny in front of you, but you don't feel a thing. You don't feel a thing because you want her to undress her heart,her mind,her soul and not her body which you know could be bought by money. The brilliance of this movie lies in the fact that despite he is given what he wanted( at least what he bargained for), he still feels incomplete and we as viewers experience this by ourselves,and that goes for one scene and the actors life as a whole too. While she never lets her guard open(though baring all for him) but finds herself helpless in the face of the goodness and respect which she perhaps never experienced before. She denies its love because she doesn't want to complicate things or probably also realizes that their love is not to be, but the matters have complicated already. A poignant tale of absurd, incomplete love and the absurd, incomplete life of our internet world.
* Don't watch it for the sleaze, you might end up erecting your sensitive side instead.