I, Frankenstein

Did you know that there are 200 titles with the name “Frankenstein” in them? I am not joking.  Here is the link if you don’t believe me - http://www.imdb.com/find?q=frankenstein&s=tt&ref_=fn_al_tt_mr.  I can tell you I expected 15-20 of them but 200!!! That’s a whole lot.

12 Years A Slave

My first experience with Steve McQueen (the director not the actor) was with a movie titled Shame that I saw nearly 2 years back during my trip down under.  I was a novice at reviewing (marginally better now) and didn’t quite take too kindly to the bold moves that McQueen confronted us with (http://kartikr.blogspot.in/2012/02/shame.html) and of course his favourite actor – Michael Fassbender.

La Jaula de Oro (The Golden Dream) (Spanish) (Mexico)

I was in two minds on the 20^th October 2013 if I remember correctly.  I could have seen Bad Hair directed by Venezuelan director Mariana Rondon or I could have picked up another Spanish movie but one of Mexican origin – La Juala de Oro (The Golden Cage aptly retitled – The Golden Dream).  The “Uncertain Regard” tag on the latter and a newsletter from MIFF calling out the top 20 movies moved me towards this one.  I didn’t regret it one bit.

Le Capital (The Capital) (French)

“Money is a dog that doesn't need to be patted. Throw a ball again and again and it will keep fetching it back” is what Marc Tourneuil (Gad Elmaleh) declares at the beginning of this financial drama by acclaimed director Costa Gravas.  I could not get around to watching the special screening of “Z” on the last day. But Le Capital was not a bad way to start of my experience with Gravas.

Giraffada (Palestine)

Once again we find a topic that has never been experimented with to date.  How many of you would have thought of making a movie or being able to watch one that was based on a principal character of a Giraffe? Now juxtapose that into a setting that is the strife ridden state of Palestine and you have a movie that is not just a great concept but definitely endearing as well.

12 ans d'âge (60 Going on 12) (French)

Who is to say that life doesn’t begin at 60.  We live through decade after decade and keep saying, “Life begins at X (read 30, 40 or whatever)”.  I am going to be saying exactly that in about 15 months from now when I turn into a quadragenarian (40 years old for those who are unaware).

Locke

This is why I really really really would have wanted to be introduced to the world of film festivals earlier.  While I knew they existed, I could not make time for them with my “busy” schedules and I always thought they were boring fora where people come to promote “Art for Art’s sake”.  But over the 17 movies that I saw in MIFF, not one fell into this category.  In fact, some were outstanding to say the least.

Ilo Ilo (Chinese) (Tagalog) (Singapore)

Now this is what I call a truly international movie.  It is shot in the Little Red Dot (Singapore if you weren’t aware of this name).  It has a cast that has a Singaporean actor to begin with – Tian Wen Chen.  It casts a Malaysian actress – Yann Yann Yeo – as his wife.  And then it adds in a Filipino maid for good measure.  Who should that be played by? Of course a Filipino actress.  Therefore Angeli Bayani is cast for the role.

Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw) (Japanese)

My knowledge about cinema (or clearly, the lack of it) came to the fore when I was walking into the show of Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw), a Japanese movie, at Liberty Cinemas, Marine Lines.  A co-viewer and coincidentally, fellow reviewer asked me, “You’ve come to see Miike”.  I can assure you that my expression was worse than that of a toddler being asked to identify the capital of Swaziland.

Gloria (Chile, Spanish)

Celebrated director Sebastián Lelio, first burst into the limelight with his 2005 films La Sagrada Familia.  LSF received several awards over that year and Lelio has made 3 movies since.  The third in line was one that I had the good fortune of watching at last year’s Mumbai International Film Festival (2013).  I know I am late with this post but better late than never right?