My take on 'My five' favorite movies ever made, which came on The Hindu Metroplus recently.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro
It is 1944 in Fascist Spain and little Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) who is fascinated with fairy-tales and fantasies is sent along with her pregnant mother to live with her cruel stepfather who serves the Spanish army. During a night at her new home she meets a fairy who takes her to an old faun in the centre of Pan’s labyrinth. The faun gives her three tasks to prove her royalty as he claims her to be a princess. If she fails in them she can never get to see her true father who is a king. The movie follows the mysteries and adventures of Ofelia through the labyrinth to a jaw-dropping end.
Black Friday
Anurag Kashyap
Black Friday is perhaps the beginning of the neo-realistic genre of films being produced in India. Banned and then re-released in 2007, Black Friday revolves around the bomb blast that rocked Bombay on March 12, 1993. The docu-drama based on the book of the same name by Hussain Zaidi portrays the police investigation led by DCP Rakesh Maria (Kay Kay Menon) in tracking down the suspects, Badshah Khan and Tiger Memon who are said to have perpetrated the blasts across the city.
Se7en
David Fincher
This Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt starrer is a film about two detectives in search of a serial killer who justifies his killings as absolution for the world’s ignorance of the seven deadly sins. What makes this movie work is the dark and chilling atmosphere it creates throughout and the surprises that bring about the climax.
Amelie
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Amelie is a modern-day fairytale of the girl who works as a waitress in Paris and who is charmed by the little things around her. A bright and colourful film, Amelie is a classic that stars the charming Audrey Tautou in the lead. With perfect comic moments and a flawless narration Amelie brings alive the child in every one of us.
Let The Right One In
Tomas Alfredson
In the suburb of Blackeberg in Stockholm, 12-year-old Oskar is a lonely boy who gets bullied at school. He befriends his neighbour Eli who only appears at night in the playground of their building. Oskar finds out that Eli is not just a girl his age but a vampire almost 200 years older than him. Its captivating storyline and the inherent innocence of its lead, may have inspired The Twilight Seriesbut the film is a far greater piece of work than Stephenie Meyer’s saga of romance.
Those that almost made it
The Lives of Others: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
The Godfather: Francis Ford Coppola
Seven Samurai: Akira Kurosawa
Finding Nemo: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Cinema Paradiso: Giuseppe Tornatore
Company: Ram Gopal Verma
