Spanish Movie Review: El Crimen Del Padre Amaro (2002)

Cast: Gael Garcia Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancon, Sancho Gracia, Angelica Aragon, Luisa Huertas


Padre Amarro (Gael Garcia Bernal), arrives in a small Mexican town as a fresh-faced priest in training. Sent by the bishop of the region, from a well-meaning priest he gradually succumbs to life in the parish. At the beginning Amaro sees that padre Benito (Sancho Gracia), the head priest, though living under the facade of celibacy has a clandestine lover. He sees how drug, crime money is being poured into church projects under the justification that bad money becomes purified when used for a good cause. Slowly Amaro falls to the wayside. A young parishner, beautiful Amelia's (Ana ClaudiaTalancon) devotion to the church and her admiration for Amaro turns into a steamy love affair between them. Amaro also becomes an aide to the bishop's political maneuvers inside the church. From an observer, Amaro turns into an active participant in the milieu. What's so striking about the movie (The Crime of Padre Amaro) is how dexterously the plot unveils characters of whom it's difficult to judge or categorize as good or bad. The audience is pulled in to empathize and see through their choices subtleties and ethical dilemmas that follow those choices. Even if a celibate priest, the structure imposed by an institution does not sheild him from the travails of the human condition.


Rating: Four of 5 stars.

Hindi Movie Review: Ishqiya (2010)

Cast: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Salman Shahid, Adil Hussein

Ishqiya (New Hindi Movie / Bollywood Film / Indian Cinema DVD)
There've been very few Hindi movies in recent times that I'd clamour to see twice. Ishqiya by Vishal Bharadwaj qualifies as such a classic. Well characterized and portrayed with strong performances, the dialogues and the soundtrack also emerge as clear winners. Composed by Vishal Bharadwaj, tracks like Ibn Batuta, Badi Dheere Jali, Dil to Bachcha Hai stand out for their lilting melodies as well as for being weaved in perfectly to match the storyline.
The plot revolves around Kalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) small time crooks on the run from their master hooligan (Salman Shahid). On their escape route, they take shelter at another conman Vidhyadar Verma's (Adil Hussein) home in Gorakhpur. We gather his fate has met a cruel end and is survived by his widow, Krishna (Vidya Balan). A talented classical singer and a beautiful woman, Krishna's living the quiet life of a homemaker in the vestiges left behind by her late husband who's errant ways she'd tried to mend. Kalujaan soon gets taken in by Krishna's allure, her singing, her softness, and rustic elegance. Babban follows suit. Only Krishna is not who she seems. We discover Krishna through Kalujaan and Babban as the plot plows on energetically.
By far this has been my favorite film by Vishal Bharadwaj. Although Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and all other characters have performed outstandingly, it is Vidya Balan who shines in her refined portrayal. This film's a definite must-see! Characters like Nandu, the general confusion of outlawness, scenes in the background of street dogs, an icecream cart hawker, an old lady on a charpoy, little wayside temples, roadside eateries, ubiquitous cellphones are all telling sights of today's burgeoning small city landscapes in India.

Rating: A 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Hindi Movie Review: Phoonk 2 (2010)

Cast: Sudeep, Amruta Khanvikhar, Ahsaas Channa, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rishabh Jain
Phoonk 2 (New Horror Hindi Film / Bollywood Movie / Indian Cinema)

Phoonk 2 the sequel takes off from where Phoonk ended. For those who watched Ram Gopal Verma's Phoonk, they'd recall how Rajiv's (Sudeep) soured relationship with his business partner Madhu (Ashwini Kalsekar) triggered dangerous consequences with Madhu performing black magic and voodoo to attempt at destroying Rajiv's family. With the aid of black magic, Rajiv averts her intentions and Madhu is killed in the ensuing faceoff.
In Phoonk 2, Madhu's ghost returns to haunt them. Rajiv, his wife Arati (Amruta Khanvilkhar), and their children (Ahsaas Channa and Rishabh Jain) move into a new bungalow with their live-in help. From the start there are signs that things are not right. The family seems to have moved into the house without ever having seen it before. Having emerged from the wake of a Phoonk, the viewers would only wonder why the family has picked on a house in a deserted area right next to a thick jungle all to scare the bejesus out of them. As the movie progresses, you see that eerie scenes apart, while it gets through to the audience that the inmates should leave the house, the family oblivious continues to inhabit and ignore the signs. All of a sudden, we learn that Arati's body has been possessed by Madhu's vengeful spirit. The spirit that until now seemed perfectly capable of doing away with two people (a hired help and Rajiv's friend) in spirit form suddenly needs to possess Arati's body to embark on a killing spree.
Compared to the well-made Phoonk, the sequel suffers plot amnesia. Without any preface as to why or how, Arati is found to be possessed and on a rampage to finish all in her path. It almost looks like the editing room broke loose and plugged scenes out of sequence. At any rate, the makers have ensured the ending leaves room for a Phoonk 3.

Rating: A 2 out of 5.