Double the Excitement

The Devils Double follows the story of Uday Saddam Hussein and his Body double Latif Yahia,a soldier in the Iraqi army.Uday hires Latif to play his Fedai.The movies plot surrounds Latif and the anguish he faces in putting on the mask of a Psychopath that Uday is.

The movie chronicles the life of Uday in the Historical aspect as well as his personal side.Dominic Cooper establishes a perfect balance between the two characters by his Acting prowess. Ludivine Sagnier plays Sarrab,Uday’s personal courtesan.Philip Quast as Saddam Hussein not only resembles him in looks but also the behavior.

The movie switches between the sadistic life of Uday and the light hearted Latif.Uday is shown to be the typical example of a spoilt brat unlike his brother Qusay.Uday uses his power as Saddams son to kidnap school girls and rape them and also leads a Flamboyant lifestyle.Though they are two completely different Individuals the only thing that distinguishes them physically is Udays Teeth.

One notable scene is when Uday and Latif attend a wedding of an Iraqi officer and Uday goes on to rape the bride on the very same day and she later jumps to her death.Uday is sen to show no remorse in being the psychopath he is.

The only reason he doesn’t kill Latif even though many a times,He crosses the limit is his Obsession with himself a Narcissistic Characteristic of his.Despite the movie having real life characters it cannot be considered to be an actual biography of Uday as Western media often tends to exaggerate their vices and negative aspects.

The movie is definitely worth a watch and somewhere it reminds me of Syriana in its depiction of the Arab World.

A Testimony for an Epic: Lawrence Of Arabia

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did. -T.E.Lawrence

In the year 1962 Sir David Lean created a masterpiece in the world of Cinema,a landmark that modern Cinema would look for inspiration a movie that is nothing short of a Miracle by itself Lawrence of Arabia.A work in the world of cinema that stands unrivaled to this very day.The life of an Extraordinary man T.E.Lawrence told by the greatest Storytellers and portrayed by the greatest Actors of that time.

This is the Story of a Legend,a Traitor,a Hero,a Narcissist,a Great Thinker,a Bedouin,a British Officer and that of T.E.Lawrence. Lawrence’s life is nothing short of an adventure by itself from fighting wars to daydreaming in the desert to being the poster boy for the war in the Middle-East Lawrence was someone we all dream to be when we grow up.The movie follows this mans journey through the deserts of Arabia to find himself and what he seeks.Lawrence can be seen as the identity crisis of a Desert loving British Officer and a Bedouin,Two roles he adorns in his life and to which he must be loyal to is what forms the crisis.

The brainchild of David Lean the movie is a life of its own.I can imagine no other Director making Lawrence.The movies cinematography of the desert is breathtaking accompanied by the White Arab Clothed Blue Eyed British Officer.The mirage scene is definitely a miracle in the cinema of the past.

Maurice Jarre’s soundtrack brings memories of the desert and Lawrence’s life whenever it is played.A soundtrack that has no substitute.The greatness that this music piece holds in it cannot be expressed in mere words.

The Movie features an Ensemble cast of sheer Greatness with Peter O’Toole playing Lawrence,Alec Guinness as Prince Faisal,Omar Sharif as Sherif Ali,Anthony Quinn as Auda abu Tayi,Anthony Quaile as Colonel Brighton,Arthur Kennedy as Jackson Bentley,jack Hawkins as General Allenby and Jose Ferrer as the Turkish Bey.

The screenplay has been regarded as one of the greatest ever written.The exchanges take the viewer to a higher level of thought.Each of the movies dialogues are simply mesmerizing.

Steven Spielberg considers it to be his All time Favorite and so do I.If Cinema is Art then Lawrence is its Mona Lisa.

A few epic quotes from the movie:

T.E. Lawrence: The best of them won’t come for money, they’ll come for me.

T.E. Lawrence: There may be honor among thieves, but there’s none in politicians.

T.E. Lawrence: Ferraj. Wash!
Sherif Ali: Ferraj. El Aurens, truly for some men nothing is written unless they write it.

Sherif Ali: Have you no fear, English?
T.E. Lawrence: My fear is my concern.

Mr. Dryden: Lawrence, only two kinds of creature get fun in the desert; Bedouins and gods, and you’re neither. Take it from me, for ordinary men, it’s a burning, fiery furnace.
T.E. Lawrence: No, Dryden, it’s going to be fun.
Mr. Dryden: It is recognized that you have a funny sense of fun.

Jackson Bentley: Never saw a man killed with a sword before.
T.E. Lawrence: [scornfully] Why don’t you take a picture?
Jackson Bentley: Wish I had.

Jackson Bentley: You gonna be a democracy in this country? You gonna have a parliament?
Sherif Ali: I will tell you that when I have a country. Did I answer well?
Jackson Bentley: You answered without saying anything. That’s politics.

Sherif Ali: What is your name?
T.E. Lawrence: My name is for my friends. None of my friends is a murderer!

Jackson Bentley: What attracts you personally to the desert?
T.E. Lawrence: It’s clean.

Prince Feisal: There’s nothing further here for a warrior. We drive bargains. Old men’s work. Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men; courage and hope for the future. Then, old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men; mistrust and caution.

Auda abu Tayi: It is Auda of the Howitat who speaks.
Sherif Ali: It is Ali of the Harith who answers.
Auda abu Tayi: Harith! Ali, does your father still steal?
Sherif Ali: No. Does Auda take me for one of his own bastards?
Auda abu Tayi: No, there is no resemblance. Alas, you resemble your father.
Sherif Ali: Auda flatters me.
Auda abu Tayi: You’re easily flattered. I knew your father well.
Sherif Ali: Did you know your own?

Who was The Third Man

The Third Man,a 1949 British movie directed by Carol Reed is nothing short of a mystery thriller. The screenplay is by the one and only Graham Greene who also wrote a book of the same name from the script.

The movie begins with Holly Martins an American Western writer who comes to Vienna to meet his friend Harry lime to find that he has passed away and the mysteries that surround his death force Holly to stay in Vienna to investigate the events that lead to his passing with the help of Harry’s girlfriend Anna.

The plot that begins on a simple scale later elevates to that of a mystery through the course of the movie.The plot is well kept under wraps and revealed only after an hour into the movie.A classic none the less,The Third Man is a story of Love,Betrayal and Murder.

Joseph Cotten stars as Holly Martins and Alida Valli as Anna.Orson Welles makes the most brilliant entrance in the movie.Trevor Howard plays Major Calloway a British army officer who aids Holly in uncovering the mystery.

The Climax is a Fitting one combined with its twists and turns.The movie is completely shot with an aura of mystery in it.The long dark alleys and the subtle music adds to the suspense.There is not a heavy presence of people in the movie but manages to maintain that feeling of loneliness in the city,Vienna’s dark color is brought out through the movie and reminds the viewer of a ghost town rather than the musical town that Vienna is known to be.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

It is a classic par Excellence and stands as a testimony to Orson Welles acting prowess.

Taking you to Woodstock with It

Taking Woodstock is a creation of Ang Lee,No more words are needed to summarize this Movie.The movie takes you through the Festival itself but unlike the 1969 documentary Woodstock,the movie does not revolve around the festival itself but rather around the guy who made it all happen,Elliot Tiber a.k.a. Elliot Teichberg,The Bethel chamber of commerce president who persuaded Woodstock Ventures to come to Bethel for the Festival when they got kicked out of  Wallkill.

The movie revolves around Elliot and his miserly Jewish mom and his Dad who has to put up with her.The movie focuses on the individual That Elliot is in the backdrop of Woodstock. Demetri Martin plays Elliot,Imelda Staunton plays his miserly Semite mother, Liev Schreiber plays the role of an Ex-Marine, Transgender role perfectly, Jonathan Groff plays Micheal Lang and also resembles him too and Eugene Levy as Max Yasgur literally lives the role complete with the glasses.

To the world Woodstock was a Music Festival and a lot of other things but to Elliot it is where he discovers himself,Through the course of the festival accompanied by an Acid Trip Woodstock changes Elliot’s life forever.

The Beaver in all of Us

The Beaver, stretches beyond the level of a Walter Black’s(Mel Gibson) individual psychological torment into one that each one of us share.Our own fears of looking into our past and finding things we don’t like is quite the struggle the protagonist faces in the movie.

The Brit accent The Beaver puts on is quite funny to listen to,Jodie foster as the wife and the Director of the movie does justice to both.Anton Yelchin as the son fulfills the role of the Troubled teenager, Riley Thomas as the younger son,too young to understand the seriousness of a family and finally Jennifer Lawrence as Anton’s love interest and as a teen unable to cope up with her own brothers death blends in the role perfectly.

The Beaver who begins as a puppet and the last resort in the life of man whose got nothing to lose and turns into an individual itself with a mind of its own.The depressed individual that Walter is forces  him into accepting the Beaver as a necessary evil.The movie emphasizes on how fragile a family is and at the same time and that when a member of the family starts talking to a puppet, Rip that Puppet.