100 years of Guru Dutt and end of month round up

I watched many films this month, so I decided to review them all. 

 Spirit of the Beehive

I started the month of with a screening of Spirit of the Beehive at the Asian Film Archive. It was a weekday night screening, so I was already relatively tired and the slow pace of the film did not help. I nearly dozed off several times in that dark theater room. That is hardly a detriment though, because the film operates on a dream like magic realism that becomes more effective when you're in the dream state between consciousness and unconsciousness. The quirky adults surrounding Ana, the soft warm glow of evening light streaming through the stained glass windows and the meditative pace helped me to relax. With the way I'm talking about this film, you would never guess there is political subtext, and I didn't either. I figure that the handling of it is virtually impenetrable to someone with no knowledge of Spanish history. 

Cache

The next film I saw was Michael Haneke's psychological thriller and the most talked about festival film of 2005, Hidden. A story about a man whose past slowly catches up with him, but how exactly that happens isn't really the point. What was initially a mystery thriller becomes an exploration of how we deal with guilt, anchored by Daniel Auteuil's portrayal of a cagey, haunted man. Like the very best horror films, Haneke lets the camera linger for extended periods of time, such that we pay attention to everything that happens within the frame. I am unable to comment on the implications about France's colonial past that people seem to have noticed

The Breakfast Club

As part of my coming of age films project, I couldn't miss a John Hughes classic right? I tend to find Asian teen films more in tune with what I experience, so I was about hesitant about this one. Well, firstly like many crowd favourites, this one is a what I like to terms as a screenwriter's film. Reliance on script and actors rather than cinematography, which I don't really like in general because I strongly believe that film is a visual medium. Putting that aside, there is both good and bad here. As its reputation suggests, the character's interactions could credibly be real life ones among teenagers, particularly in the way sex inevitably finds its way into every conversation. A real highlight was the conference scene at the climax of the film, where Anthony Michael Hall's character tearfully says that he would still consider all of them as his friends when they came back to school on Monday. John Hughes understands what are the primary concerns of people at that age, and shows them without any judgement. That said, some jokes have not aged well, the teacher's behaviour would certainly be unacceptable today and Allison's makeover at the end kind of undermines the film's whole message about daring to be yourself. 

Paper Flowers:

Guru Dutt treats filmmaking with reverence from the outset, framing the movie studio and sets as something almost untouchable. It tells the story of a film director who makes very successful films, to the point where he has complete creative control. However, his personal life is a wreck, with his parents in law disapproving of his choice of career and losing custody of his daughter. Basically, he is that artist that devotes themselves to their art at the expense of everything else. This is his life, until one rainy night, where he meets young woman by chance. He sees his muse within her and against the protests of producers, casts her as the lead in his new film. Artistic connection soon becomes a romantic one, but family strife comes back to bite him, and he loses his newfound happiness as soon as he found it. He soon succumbs to alcoholism and other vices, and his pride would not allow him to make another film, even at the behest of his former lover. 

The film is highly theatrical, with gorgeous chiaroscuro lighting that highlights all the ups and downs of Suresh Sinha's (the director's) life. The camera feels like it has a life of its own, diving in and out of scenes, alternating between wide shots and intimate closeups, and even flying through series of doors, as if eager to show us a new and magical world. Cynics might say its trite and overly melodramatic, but goddamn it Dutt will make you believe: The film's only interest is in the pain and the joy of creating art, commercial interests be damned. Despite this, he doesn't simply abandon the musical numbers that are traditional in Indian films, in fact one of the most potent scenes in the film is when Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman's character are sitting at the back of the truck and singing along to the song without a care in the world. All good things must come to an end however, and this once great director's legacy is soon washed away by the tides of time. But was there ever a time where artistic integrity ruled over the commercial? Suresh and Shanti could only reach out to each other in spirit, and perhaps even that was too much our world to bear. 

2025 marks 100 years since Guru Dutt, regarded as one of the best Indian filmmakers ever was born. Like Suresh Sinha, all his films save for one were profitable, thus successfully melding both artistic and commercial interests in his films, which for any filmmaker is the holy grail. This was in spite of his films being introspective and deeply personal, which often ran contrary to what was popular at the time. While his career took off, his personal life was a mess. He suffered from mental health problems and sleep deprivation, often taking copious amounts of drugs and alcohol. His relationship with Waheeda Rehman didn't help his marriage either, and unlike the women in his films he was rather controlling of his wife. So, if Paper Flowers is meant to be autobiographical, Dutt certainly excised or underplayed some of his less desirable traits. Nevertheless and unlike Suresh Sinha, his legacy remains assured. 

Linda Linda Linda:

Honestly, this one was kinda boring. I was quite surprised given that I enjoy "slice of life" anime and this one basically looked like live action K On. But in hindsight its kinda obvious they would be different because the characters in K On aren't meant to be realistic. This film however, strives toward realism, and reality is, high school life is quite boring! Wow what a surprise, as if I couldn't tell. As a result, I wasn't too invested in the characters or the success of the band, but what caught my attention was the framing. Shots are long and detached, often observing the minutiae of life from a distance. We see the comings and goings of characters you would meet in school, like classmates, festival organising committee, and of course the endless nights of practice with your friends. It's a time when you could strike up new friendships just as easily as you breathed, and you could do anything with the help of your friends. A scene that struck me was when the band could simply find pick up any student who happened to pass by they would agree. No judgement and no need to care about any responsibilities. But this style prevents us from getting fully immersed into their world, and instead evokes that intangible sensation of the fleeting nature of youth. Playing with your bandmates for the school festival can seem like the most important thing right now, but how are you going to look back on these moments a few years down the road? Will you even remember the faces you once met everyday? But you know what? Maybe we should put all that aside and live in the moment after all. 

12 Storeys:

Kicking off my Singapore film month was this 1997 classic from our first auteur, Eric Khoo. I was initially skeptical about how well he could capture HDB living given that he is the son of literally the richest man in the country, but he does an admirable job. The film follows 3 storylines, one following the breakdown of relations between 3 siblings, same thing between a local yong tau foo seller and his PRC wife, and the last about a loner haunted by memories of her mom. The former had a superbly annoying Koh Boon Pin as the overbearing brother who is clearly meant to be a jab at our men in white, but the role itself is underwritten and the vague psychologizing doesn't help. The latter story spent so much time wallowing in misery and verbal abuse that I started to think that Eric Khoo had a fetish for it. Unfortunately he also feels the need to share it all with his audience, such that there was a point where I was on the verge of walking out. Thankfully there is a point to this, in a brief conversation that brings class divisions to mind. The last story had a buck toothed Jack Neo and Quan Yi Fong playing the stereotypical materialistic wife straight out of a soap opera, and Khoo brings all its cliches along too. The only real interest was historical and a surprisingly great piece of acting from Quan Yi Fong at the very end of the film. Ultimately the film is about urban alienation and superficial relationships, highlighted by the detached and lingering shots, people unable to even meet each other's eyes and the irony of a communal living space being the site of so many societal divisions . I just thought that there were better films that already explored this phenomenon in greater depth, but I concede still an astonishing achievement for a Singaporean film to even approach this topic seriously.