My All Time Favourite English Movies - Part 1

I started watching English movies very late....But as thay say "when it rains it pours", I got my hands on a looooong list of good movies. Here is a list of my all time favourites across all categories. Some of these are huge money spinners, some are darlings of critics, some have a cult following, some are box office turkeys......but something or other struck me about each one of them. I am listing them just randomly...

1. Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights

I am starting with this one because of the simple reason that this is the film adaptation of a novel which shook me and haunt me from the day I read it when I was in college. Written by one of my favourite novelists-> Emily Brontë, this gothic romance novel has everything that can make me go week on my knees....Extreme Passion, Mystery, English Setting, Moor, Powerful Antagonist, Chilling Climax.......... aaahhhh I JUST couldn't take the character Heathcliff out of my mind eversince I got this novel from college library. Years later I was browsing through the movie list of my friend and...............there it was!!! I pounced at it and wasn't disappointed. W-H-A-T A M-O-V-I-E ♥♥♥
This is one of those few movies where the essense of the novel is not watered down by poor adapted screen plays/wrong castings. Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff won me over with his piercing eyes and mysterious aura. Infact I heard that he was cast as Amon Göth in Schindler's List after Spielberg viewed his performances in this movie. Since I am planning to come out with a separate page on this one I am controlling myself and stooping it here :) 

2. Scent of a Woman

A drama film that tells the story of a school student and a retired army officer, this film stands out because of one powerful factor: AL PACINO. As evident from the poster he is the life of the film. I got to know about this movie when it was included as part of class room lessons on leadership since the climax of the movie shows a speech by Pacino where he uses his rhetoric skills to advocate how leaders should be and the importance of nurturing the students to grow up to men of integrity. And....THIS is the film that earned Pacino his first Academy Award after all those powerful performances over the years!!! Better Late Than Never :o
I love the way Pacino rules the screen with his persona and Chris O'Donnell supports well by down playing his act beautifully. For me the highlights of the movie are the tango [which gave me goosebumps ;)] and the climax speech (which is still ringing in my ears).

3. Eastern Promises

A thriller-crime film, this tells the story of a powerful russian mafia in London and an under cover cop. I had not heard of this film and one day accidently bumped on to it. To be frank, after watching some initial scenes I was about to turn it off because of the extreme bloodshed. But luckily I didn't :) From the very moment Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel walked in.....I didn't take my eyes off the screen. Yes, their chemistry was so captivating....and I started liking Russian after listening to the way they used it in their conversation. The most catchy things about this movie are: the strong relationship between Voggo-Vincent, an earnest performance by Naomi Watts, use of criminal tattoos,  Kirill's oscillation  between good and evil, the use of Russian slang, the Godfather-like family bond, stunning twist at the end etc etc. But above all, this is the movie that introduced me to two extremely talented actors: Viggo & Vincent. After watching their stellar performance I collected many of their works and NONE of them disappointed me :)

4. Brokeback Mountain

The movie that broke my heart and left me in tears !!!And THAT in itself is QUITE an achievement [bigger yahn the Oscars I would say :p]. To tell you the truth, I am still in search for a "Normal" love story between a boy-girl which can create even half the impact made by this one on me. The mere sight of those star-crossed lovers with Brokeback Mountain as the backdrop fills my eyes even today and THAT is the power of well made movies. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal breathed life into their characters.  I picked this movie for watching because this was a western and that is one genre I love. But once I started, it turned out to be a romantic drama! Highlights: Well, EACH and EVERY scene I would say.....from the moment Jack & Ennis set eyes on each other, it is PURE passion. I am so fond of this movie that I can just go on and on. The shirt scene in the climax still breaks me everytime I watch it :( The movie ends briantly with Willie Nelson's soul stirring song "He Was A Friend Of Mine"  Eventhough the movie was highly controversial at the time of its release, it turned out to be a TRUE BLUE CLASSIC which brought into light for the first time what Heath Ledger is capable of ♥♥♥♥♥

5. The History Boys

A British film based on an award winning play, this movie struck me for its freshness and fine performaces by a group of young actors. I happend to got this movie from a friend and just engulfed in it. This is a short length, well-made film which tells what it intends to tell without any pretense. The story is set in a boys' grammar school and revolve around a bunch of talented students and their diverse teachers. This film will make you smile many times but will leave you on a sad  note. This film also contain under currents of homo sexuality. Dialogues are smart and witty, performaces are compelling, the boys are charming, their teachers are so contrastive in their teaching style... I particularly liked the characters of Hector, Irwin & Dakin.
                                                                                                                                            Continues.....

For The Love Of Films...

Love for everything associated with films

I sometimes wonder: "Where did it all start?"...
I am talking about my passionate love affair with films of course :) Being a Scorpion it is quite natural for me to be passionate about something....................and ESPECIALY to films which is a medium that run high on Passion.

So, like most of you out there I also fell for the irresistible charm of this medium which in my opinion is one of the greatest inventions by human beings to escape from our daily worries, to live with our fantacies, to understand cultures.......you can keep adding onto the list. Coming from a conservative middle class family where the remote control of TV almost always rest in the hands of elders and going to theaters was as rare as finding an honest beurocrat in a government office, the urge to watch more and find out more was there from childhood. It began with curiosity...developed into appreciation...and is a passion now. Although almost completely ignorant about the technicalities of Cinema, as in the case of any true film buff, it has never stopped me from enjoying/ understanding/ appeciating a good piece of work. Eventhough I didn't get much opportunities to watch as many movies as I would have loved to watch in my childhood, I made up for it when I started living on my own by collecting as many movies as I could [in as many genres, countries and languages] and crazily reading about anything that I could get. I particularly like Bollywood, Hollywood & French movies.

Everything about films - its glits, glamour, monetory side, political implications, cultural aspects - attaracts me. Before starting with a film I try to collect the basic plot line then just live with the characters & plot for the whole running time. Two main factors that decide my picking of movies are Actors & Genre. As a matter of fact, I tend to watch a movie irrespective of the critical/box office reports if it belongs to one of my favourite actors/genre. Being a true blue film fan I watch all genres with equal enthuciasm. But my favourite genres are: Epics, Dramas, Western, Fantacy, Mystery & Thriller. I somehow am not much enthuciastic about Sci-Fi, War & comedy films (but I do watch them sometimes). As for actors.....my love for them equals my love for their work. I appreciate Actors even more than the Directors (eventhoug I fully agree with the fact that ultimately a film is the baby of a Director) since film is a visual media and it is the Actor or more correctly the Character we see through him/her that we engage with during the course of time. Also the high amount of uncertainty surrounding their career, their life style, their physical features, their magnetism, their influence on public, their trend setting etc hook me to them. Some of my favourite actors are: Al Pacino, Alain Rickman, Ralph Fiennes, Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, Client Eastwood, Matt Damon, Bradley Cooper, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman etc from Hollywood and Amitabh Bachan, Naseeruddin Shah, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Vidhya Balan, Nargis Dutt etc from Bollywood.

I hope to interact, share thoughts and get information about some good movies from you all.......Thus starting and dedicating this blog For the Love of Films :)