This film from India is
divided into two acts. Act One
introduces Madholal, a poor man who lives with his family in a small
apartment. He laments eating potatoes on
a daily basis, desires to have a dowry for his college aged daughter can marry,
and longs for a better job. Yet he finds
some contentment in the family, some buddies with whom he spends his long
commutes to Mumbai, and his neighbors, particularly his friendship with a
Muslim neighbor. But it all comes apart
when his train is bombed by terrorists.
Act Two shows Madholal, once vivacious and talkative, now a shell of a
man, racked by fear and depression. His
family and friends struggle to cope with his change, but his loss of faith in
God and life sinks him deeper, dragging all along with him.
Madholal Keep Walking
uses songs to provide commentary on the action:
A literal chorus. I perhaps did
not connect the action on the screen with the lyrics of the songs (subtitles
are provided for both), and so I did not fully appreciate the filmmakers'
intent. Madholal comes across as stagnant story, rather than a walking
one. While I appreciate the unhurried
pacing of foreign films, this film seemed to stay settled. Once the characters and their wants are communicated,
they hardly pursue their goal. The shift
in tone between acts was jarring (but I suppose that is reflective of
life: Things changing suddenly and often
dramatically). I see the entirety of the
first act as set up for the second, but the second shows us the pains of
Madholal over and over, compounded by instances that worsen his
depression. The final resolution brings
the film's message home in a ham-handed way.
However, that message of having courage to live in the face of terrorism
is very important in our day; even more for us Americans: One character says, in so many words, that India faces terrorists' actions on a daily basis, as opposed to the U.S.
and London who deal
with an occasional attack.
I'm giving Madholal
Keep Walking an additional star because of its overall message, and the
idea that life, with all its changes and surprises, must be lived without fear.
Also, I'm slowly realizing the
filmmakers' methods, and why the story was not as active in its conflict
resolution as I've come to expect.
Screens Sunday, April 19 at 8:00 pm.
Get Brunette
Three of four stars
Before abandoning her, Mascha Solntsevi's mom told her that
she'd be irresistible to men. So the
fetching brunette uses her feminine wiles to get food and other needs for her
and her two brothers. But when the money
runs out and their brokedown seaside shack goes beyond repair, Mascha decides
to snare a rich Frenchman who could support her and her family. But just before she leaves to join her new
fiance in Moscow,
the shack blows up, her brother's accused of rape, and the entire family is
implicated in armed robbery. Mascha and
the boys make a run for Moscow,
with two cops and three badass neighbors on their tails. And Mascha is on the run from a handsome
census taker who's smitten with her. But
does she really want to run from him?
Get Brunette is a
comedy out of Russia in the
vein of Penelope Spheris' Hollywood
comedies. Coincidentally, Get Brunette is written by a trio of
women, one of whom is also director.
Perhaps they aspire to be like Spheris:
Slick yet balanced camera work and a soundtrack filled with pop tunes
(in Russian) and a jazzy comic score puts it in the vein of a Hollywood
comedy. A pretty routine story with
routine quirky characters, but there are enough hi-jinks to keep you laughing.
Two of four stars
Three of four stars
