Midnight Oil:Movies and More



“Monsoon Wedding” (2001) gives a glimpse of  a wedding day in modern-day India that has lots to say about the institution of marriage, families and India as it is today. Director Mira Nair lovingly constructs a multi-layered picture of an extended middle class family as it goes through the Hindu ritual. The gathering of the clan and the awkward introduction of two strangers who are soon to be husband and wife present the perfect opportunity for both flamboyant display and clandestine concealment. moviescreenshots.blogspot.comMultiple revelations take place during the course of the film. Some are funny and fun and some stumble upon the great tragedies and imperfections of life as it really is. Nair’s film is enjoyable because it captures “the way things really are” today in a specific state in India. The movie reaches beyond the frivolous and the cliché because it simultaneously reveals “the way things have always been” on a universal level. Who’s to say that the torrential downpour of a monsoon would not be the perfect ending of a grand celebration of a very imperfect life? It’s a different way of looking at things. It might just be a very lucky thing.

Be sure that you don’t miss the SNAM Interview dedicated to examining the intricacies of “Monsoon Wedding”.

Also shown on Saturday Night at the Movies was “Father of the Bride” (1950) , another movie along the wedding theme previously reviewed on Midnight Oil.

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>>Real Life Story: Shawna went from the fairytale wedding to disappointment in her marriage to real happiness.

 See the official trailer for “Monsoon Wedding” (2001). I decided some words of explanation (in English) were necessary to tell the story even though this video clip does an great job of capturing the visual story of the film through colour, texture, song and dance.

“The Bicycle Thief” (1948), is a small masterpiece on celluloid that captures the human drama of a family man struggling to maintain his livelihood and his dignity by recovering a stolen bicycle in post-war Rome. This Italian language film by Vittorio de Sica maintained my interest even with the English subtitles. Taking in a film through translation may be akin to listening to a symphony orchestra through a tin can telephone. One is sure to miss something in the translation. However, the acting on the part of the father and son duo (played by Lamberto Maggiorani and Enzo Staiolo respectively) is so convincing both through dialogue and the non-verbal, that one can forgive the ongoing necessity of the subtitles. Following the everyman character about the streets of Rome in his desperate search for his bicycle gives us the full range of an emotional workout and a depth of sociological analysis that the “official bus tour” of the famous Eternal City would never afford.

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See a trailer for "The Bicycle Thief" (1948)

"Went the Day Well?" (1942) , from a short story by Graham Greene, is a wartime propaganda film with some surprises up its sleeve. The film, set in a sleepy English village, depicts the responses of ordinary folk to the extraordinary situation of having some German paratroopers land in their backyard posing as a British engineering detail. Watch out for dithering sweet little old ladies who serve tea and crumpets while secretly wielding an axe against unsuspecting German servicemen!

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Catch the video trailer of "Went the Day Well?"

visit videodetective.com for more info

"West is West" (1987) is a bit of an unusual mix. A young Indian man from Bombay shows up in San Francisco intent on gaining admission to the country and to the University of California. Things go terribly amiss and Vikram (Ashutosh Gowariker) ends up living the less than desirable version of the American dream as an illegal immigrant. Bollywood and its stylized vision of life in India is never far away from Vikram's imagination. The American girlfriend, played by Heidi Carpenter, somehow gets incoroporated into the mix (or should I say mix up) and goes from gothic to glamourous (Bollywood style). But it all works somehow.

It should work because Ashutosh Gowariker has been able to make a success of himself back in India going from actor to writer/director/producer with much critical acclaim. While "West is West" may not be the greatest movie ever, it certainly tells an important story about the immigrant experience that is perhaps not heard often enough in North America.

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View the TVO Saturday Night at the Movie Interview segment dealing with the immigrant experience "East Meets West" featuring video clips from "West is West" (1987)