Hostel Ordeal

'Hostel' is one of the recent releases from Bollywood, not to be confused with the horror classic by Eli Roth, and it deals with sensitive subject of ragging in college hostels that is still rampant in many parts of the country, despite major outcry against the barbaric psycho-sexual abuses that the freshers are subjected to, by their sadistic seniors.

The film stars Vatsal Seth, Tulip Joshi, Mukesh Tiwari and several others, and is directed by Manish Gupta. We have had several real-life cases in colleges of India, where students have been brutally tortured and harassed in the name of ragging, which used to be just another name for initiation rite for the newcomers. Some of the victims committed suicide, some have succumbed to deaths which have often glossed over as accidents, and some have been maimed or psychologically scarred for life.

Yet, there was much hue and cry over the profanity content, the nudity and the sexual abuse filmed in 'Hostel' and the makers had to battle it out with the censors to retain the gritty content and get the film released. There was an apprehension that the film might never see the light of day and languish in the cans forever. Thankfully, the film has finally been released after a prolonged ordeal. However, it has only had a limited release till now; many of the cities are yet to screen it.

After having seen the film, I have to say that I was not really ecstatic with the execution and the screenplay seemed to suffer from naivete. Yet, the grim reality of the torture, the humiliation and the stigma hit me hard. The scene where Vatsal is stripped and paraded was really quite unnerving. I hope it strikes the viewers with the desired effect, and not titillate them.

Lezione Ventuno / Lesson Twenty-one

Greetings....
to all my readers.....
This is my return to blogging after yet another prolonged absence,
despite my promise to keep up with posts with a regularity, I had to abstain
from blogging, one of my passions, due to unavoidable reasons.
Today I would like to talk about a film that I have seen very recently.
It is a rather obscure film, not seen by many in this part of the world.
Lezione Ventuno/Lesson Twenty-one (2008) is a film by Italian director Alessandro Baricco.
It is not an easy film. It is - in my opinion - a unique film that combines several unorthodox techniques.
It is at the same time a lesson in art, music and transliteration.
The literary feel can make the viewer jittery and even abandon the film midway.
Yet, if one is patient, and even laborious, one is likely to be rewarded with a keen insight and a marvelous musical journey that is more verbose than musically captivating.
The musical underpinnings are captured effectively through an astounding piece of cinematography that the film is - richly capturing the wild, snowy outdoors as well as the outlandish sets with gregariously costumed players.
In spite of seemingly offering an intellectual treatise on the Ninth Symphony of Bethoven, it actually explores the constituents in the man deemed both an artistic genius and an eccentric oddity.
A deep reflection helps us fathom the different points of view, that are presented to us.
There are strange ideas, beautiful dream-like depictions and paradoxical sensations that are thrown at us from the opening frame of the film, and which culminate in the final monologue of the professor played by John Hurt. Hurt is wonderful as Professor Mondrian Kilroy who, though not loved by his colleagues at the University, is much appreciated by students. Lesson 21 is his deliberation in which he attempts to dismantle the myth of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with particular reference to the 'anthem of joy'. It is the students themselves who perpetuate the memory of that particular lesson.
On 7th May, 1824 Beethoven had held the first public performance of his much acclaimed Ninth Symphony in Vienna. The symphony was conducted by the deaf composer and it is much debated how much cherished it became after the first performance. In the winter of that very year was found, in a frozen lake, near Vienna, the corpse of a violinist who died of hypothermia while playing. His hand shook so hard the handle of the instrument that it was not possible to remove them.
Professor Kilroy had a student favorite, Martha. She is the one who seeks exploration for herself as well as for us viewers. And that forms the crux of the film.
Other than John Hurt, the cast includes: Noah Taylor, Clive Russell, Leonor Watling, Tim Barlow, Natalia Tena, Andy Gathergood, Daniel Tuite, Rasmus Hardiker, Phyllida Law, Adrian Moore, Matthew Reynolds, and Franco Pistons.