Some reviewers have opined that the initial scenes in the train and Sathyanath’s house were unnecessary or slow, and that the movie as a whole was not “racy”.

Usually, thrillers end with a twist. These twists do not appear out of the blue, and are usually supported by hints placed at various places in the script. The twist reminds us of those hints, and we are thrilled by the new meanings the twist gives to those hints. (Remember the visuals accompanying the second “ente khalbile” song in Classmates.) But, Passenger does not end with a twist - it ends with a message. And, many hints are scattered in the movie to support the message.

The movie’s message is to be less selfish and to be supportive towards others in need. The three major characters – Sathyanath, Nandan and Anuradha - personify altruism and care for fellow human beings. One method to highlight their virtues and underline the message is to contrast them with some characters having opposite traits. Thus, we have -
Train travelers who discuss various issues with gross apathy,

• An old lady who is more interested in Devee Mahathmyam than in news reports about a suspected sexual abuse victim or an averted massacre of innocents,
• A station master who is good-hearted but practical,
• A taxi driver who is highly suspicious of a night time passenger,
• Train travelers who ridicule Sathyanath’s request to help to save Nandan, who is in trouble, ironically, due to his attempts to save strangers, etc.

Interestingly, characters are not presented as “all good” or “all bad”. Rather, they are shown to have different thresholds for their readiness to sacrifice their own needs for the interests of others.

• Sathyanath, who is not ready to take his son to the selection camp because of the clashing dates with the temple festival, later sacrifices the same festival to help many strangers.
• The taxi driver, who initially ridicules Sathyanath’s request to go faster so that they can save a life, later becomes an active participant in the process when he realizes the seriousness of the situation.
• At a point, even Anuradha decides to hand over the clip and save Nandan. Later, she changes her mind when she realizes that the act cannot guarantee their safety.
• Even Anali Shaji has a change of mind when he realizes that Nandan is fighting for lives of thousands of strangers.
• So, the message is not exactly about developing empathy and altruism where there is none, but about reducing the threshold at which you start giving more importance to others.

So, all these “hints” related to the message had to be incorporated in the script. Most of them were presented as a part of the action (for e.g., Sathyananth’s plea to the travelers). But, the screenwriter did not succeed in incorporating some of them (like the old woman’s part) into the action, and they are being perceived as pace killers. But, they are not out of place, and serve a definite and important purpose of strengthening the movie’s message.

Besides, the opening sequence also helped to set-up the following elements:

• The back story of Anali Shaji.  This information about his history heightens whatever change of mind he has towards the end.
• The “programmed” nature of Sathyanath’s naps in the train – that makes his first meeting with Nandan more natural.
• Sathyanath’s craziness about the festival and his refusal to take his son to the selection camp. This information heightens his later sacrifice of the festival to help Nandan.

Still, the details of the distribution company officer, Anoop Chandran character’s entry to the train, the way Sathyanath gets the signature of the stranger, etc. could have been easily trimmed.

Some reviewers have commented about the lack of logic in certain portions of the story, and most of them are right. However, I am not aware of any thriller with a fool-proof plot. Look at the IMDB pages of some of the best thrillers like Shawshank Redemption or Silence of the Lambs – you will be surprised by numerous silly errors in these classics.

Here are my brief opinions on the 24 movies I watched over five days, in the order in which I saw them.

1. Magician by Ingmar Bergman
Brief synopsis: A travelling magician/healer and his team reach a city where the authorities are trying to expose the team as frauds.

A typical Bergman movie – like most of his stories, this one also takes place over a period of two days, without any flashback. Bergman reuses the same cast he used in most of his movies – Max von Sydow, Gunder Bjornstrand, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, etc. The story exposes the hypocrisy of both the magician’s team and the city officials. In the climax there are some interesting twists, of the kind usually seen in a Hitchcock movie rather than a Bergman movie.

2. We are Jazzmen by Karen
Brief synopsis: Few musicians try to promote Jazz in Communist Russia against oppositions from those who consider Jazz as bourgeois.

Had seen some online reviews calling this one a “gem”. Though there were some hilarious moments, I felt that this one did not deserve to be in IFFK.

Favorite dialogue:
“His name is at the tip of my tongue… It has some relation to meat…”
“Is it Porkov?”

3. Kanchivaram by Priyadarshan
Brief synopsis: a weaver of silk sarees wanted to drape his wife in silk on their wedding day, but fails because of economic reasons. When his first daughter is born, he promises that he will gift her a silk saree on her wedding.

After going through many previews and reviews, I was expecting Kanchivaram to be a melodramatic tale of poverty, exploitation, communist movement, etc. But, I ended up watching a true classic. Each and every frame is composed and choreographed brilliantly. The screenplay is excellently crafted. Hats off to Priyadarshan – I don’t know if any other filmmaker in the world can boast of such a range - both Kilukkam to Kanchivaram have been crafted by the same person!

The movie starts two day’s after Gandhiji’s murder, when Vengadam (Prakash Raj) is released from jail on parole for two days. He and two policemen board a bus to Kanchivaram. The movie jumps back and forth between scenes from the bus journey and flashbacks from his past life.

Favorite scene: (contains spoilers) In the flashback we see Vengadam’s wife dying in his hands. In the next shot we see people carrying a dead body. One by one they enter the frame from behind the camera and walk away and away from it. Then we see this crowd crossing the bus in which Vengadam and the policemen are travelling. A really smooth transition from flashback to the main story…

A long description of the movie’s historical premise is displayed at the beginning of the movie. It could have been avoided, as most of that info is weaved into the story at later stages, and as the movie would have been understood and enjoyed even without all that information.

4. Breath by Kim Ki Duk
Brief synopsis: A prisoner, who is in death row for murdering his wife and kids, attempts suicide for a second time. A young lady whose husband has an extramarital affair meets the prisoner and starts a relationship with him.

The fan base Kim Ki Duk has in Kerala is amazing – the queue for Breath was probably the longest in this IFFK. The crowd was so unmanageable that they closed the theatre doors half an hour before the screening, to be reopened only after a lot of discussions. And the movie validated all the rush.

Favorite scene: (contains spoilers) In a computer monitor which displays input from the prison’s surveillance cameras, the young lady and the prisoner are seen making love in the visitor’s room. Then the operator changes the display in the monitor to input from another camera, and we see the lady’s husband and their daughter happily making a snow man in the prison’s courtyard.

5. Yellow House by Amor Hakkar
Synopsis: A young man is killed in an accident. His father drives to town to collect the dead body and takes it to their village. He is also given a video tape with some message from his late son. Back home, the soldier’s mother is unable to cope with the loss. They purchase a TV and VCR to watch the video cassette, only to realize that they cannot use them as there is no electricity at their home. Then they meet the town officials, get electricity, and watch the cassette.

I heard many people praising this movie, and it even won an award. But, I felt nothing attractive in it, and still wonder how this one made it to the competition section.

6. Postcards from Leningrad by Mariana Rondon
Brief synopsis: The story of 1960s’ left upraising in Venezuela is told from a child’s perspective
The movie had an innovative structure, with occasional use of animation and TV footage. While we have seen a dead body doing the narration in Sunset Boulevard, here we have an unborn child narrating events like her parents’ first meeting and her conception. Though the story is told from children’s perspective, there are some scenes of torture and butchering of a pig.

7. Hafez by Abolfazl Jalili
Brief synopsis: A Quran scholar is stripped of his Hafez status when he peeps at the local priest’s daughter while teaching her to recite Quran
To be honest, I was not able to follow much of what happened in this movie.

8. Firaaq by Nandita Das
Brief synopsis: Some survivors adjusts to their new life about a month after the Gujarat riots.
Firaaq was one of the best movies of this IFFK (I would rank it just below Blindness and Kanchivaram). It has a multiplot story, with characters of various storylines occasionally crossing each other’s paths, as in Crash, Babel, Traffic, Yun Hota To Kya Hota, etc. It is similar to Crash in many ways, though less well made than Crash. And the relationship between different plots is not as interesting as in Babel. Still, it is a very food film.

Favorite scene: (contains spoilers) Some background info before coming to the scene proper– a Muslim youth whose house was burnt during the riots plans to revenge, and collects a gun and a bullet with help of his friends. One from the group fires a shot, police hears it, and starts following them. This Muslim youth is followed by a policeman through narrow lanes. In a wide shot, a person standing in the balcony of a big house is seen asking the policeman “who was it?” The police man answers that it was a Muslim. That man happily points to the policeman the way through which the Muslim youth had gone. After some time, the policeman is seen going back, unable to find the Muslim youth.

After some time, the Muslim youth comes out, and stops near that big house to take some rest. In the same wide shot we see the man on the first floor leaving the balcony and going into his house. Someone from the audience commented “He is going to call the Police.” After few seconds he reappears on the balcony, and drops something like a concrete slab to the head of the Muslim youth standing below, instantly killing him.

9. My Marlon and Brando by Huseyin Karabey
Brief synopsis: In the initial days of the US invasion of Iraq, an actress tries to cross Iraq border to meet her lover.

There have been many movies which tried to depict the condition of a country by following someone travelling through it, like Kandahar, Getting Home, etc. There was only one interesting aspect I noticed in My Marlon and Brando – In one of the first scenes the actress receives a video cassette from her boyfriend. We see the video in full screen -it is shot on a handycam, and contains his musings about his love for her. Further into the movie, whenever the couple talks over phone, the guy’s part is shown as if he is speaking to the handycam.

I was able to guess the climax about 30 minutes into the film (and I assume you have guessed it already)

10. The Photograph by Nan T Achnas
Brief synopsis: A struggling prostitute and a widowed photographer get close to each other
Another good movie from this IFFK. It had a Padmarajan touch. A theme that could have easily slipped to clichés and melodrama was handled in a subtle way, with magnificent cinematography and background score adding to the magic.

11. Short Sharp Shock Turk by Akin
Brief synopsis: a story of three friends, their crimes and their girlfriends
This one was like one of those commercial Hindi movies. I don’t know why they chose it for IFFK.
Favorite dialogue: (contains spoiler) The movie has a good last line. As one of lead characters is in his home preparing to leave the country after a murder, his father invites him to join him in the prayers, saying: “Like every film, every life is also going to end.”

12. Blindness by Fernando Meirelles
Brief synopsis: A city goes blind.
In last year’s IFFK I was enthralled by Sleepwalking Land. This time I was expecting more movies of that standard, but only Blindness came close. The director of City of God has come out with another magnificent work of cinema. The way Memento puts us in the protagonist’s shoes by saying the story from end to beginning, Blindness puts us in the blind men’s position by using faded, out of focus, black and white, under lit or over lit shots most of the time.

Blindness is based on a novel by Nobel laureate Saramago.

13. Dreams of Dust by Laurent Salgues
Brief synopsis: Mocktar joins a desert gold mine in another country to escape from the grief of his daughter’s death.

This one was another disappointment. Those who have not seen Woman of the Dunes or Lawrence of Arabia may feel that this movie has excellent shots of the desert. In one scene, the gold miners are seen watching television – and on the screen there is the song “Chalte Chalte” from Pakeeza.

14. Farewell, Gulsary by Ardak Amirkulov
Brief synopsis: A story about the ill effects of “nationalization” of agriculture by Stalin, told through the relationship between a communist party member and his beloved horse. This movie uses an interesting perspective to deal with a political issue, and clearly succeeds in it. The story on which the film is based is available at http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/b…..lsary.html

15. Machan Dir: Uberto Pasolini
Brief synopsis: Few unemployed Sri Lankan youth masquerade as National Handball Team to enter Germany.
The lead characters will remind you of Dasan and Vijayan. A really hilarious movie, which rightly won the Audience Choice award. It is interesting to note that the movie was made by a director from Italy.
Favorite scene: when the “National Handball Team” is learning the rules of handball, a Police jeep approaches and stops near the ground. One “player” mutters that we are going to end up in jail instead of Germany. Two policemen get out of the jeep, one whispers to the other that “these are the suspects”. Upon reaching the anxious players the policemen take out their own passports and visa applications, handle them over to the players, and join the “team”!

16. Tokyo Sonata by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Brief synopsis: Four members of a Japanese family cope after the father/husband lose his job due to outsourcing.

The father/husband hides the news of job loss from the family, and after trying to get another good job and eating free lunch from a charity for many days, joins as a sweeper in a super market. The elder son joins US army. The younger son diverts his lunch money and flunks classes to attend a piano school. The mother goes on a ride in her dream car with a thief and spends a night with him in a beach. One of the good movies from this IFFK. Though it is based on the usual-festival-movie-theme of the ill effects of globalization, the story was developed and told in an interesting way. The mother’s subplot was a treat to watch. This movie had won Jury Award in Cannes.

17. Two Legged Horse by Samira Makhmalbaf
Brief synopsis: A boy is hired to carry a handicapped boy on his back.
Another good movie. Iranian directors seem to have a special skill in getting excellent performances from child actors (remember Children of Heaven, Buddha Fell out of Shame, Turtles Can Fly, etc.) Can you start hating a handicapped young boy within the first few minutes of a movie? In this one, Samira succeeds in forcing you to do that.

18. Gulabi Talkies by Girish Kasaravalli
Brief synopsis: Gulabi, a separated Muslim woman living in an island, is a movie buff. She gets a TV and dish antenna in her hut, and the life in the island slowly changes.

One of the disappointing movies. Both the script and direction had many flaws. The screenwriter wants you to believe that listening to TV serial’s story can motivate a lady to elope with someone. The director takes some day-for-night scenes in which there are very sharp shadows and bright light over the sea when one of the characters reminds us that it is midnight.

Favorite shot: (contains spoilers) The movie had a good closing shot. When most ladies in the island crowd in the Gulabi’s hut to watch the serials, two old Hindu ladies stay away, saying that we cannot enter “their” place. In the climax, when Gulabi is driven out of the island, these two old ladies are seen entering her hut and sitting in front of the TV.

19. Parque Via Dir: Enrique Rivero
Brief synopsis: A house keeper tries to cope when the house in which he has been working for decades is getting sold.

Winner of the suvarna chakoram. This is a really unusual movie. The audience was very restless and had started hurling abuses in the first 30 minutes. Reason – all that happens in the first 30 minutes is that the house keeper is repeatedly shown doing his daily chorus – drying the clothes, mowing the lawn, cleaning the window panes, brushing his teeth, having food, passing urine, checking his weight, watching TV news while eating some snacks, going to sleep, getting up when the alarm rings, then again doing the same things once more… I myself would have walked out of the theatre if I did not already know that this movie has won an award in Locarno. But, after all these monotonous shots, the house owners get someone to purchase the house. The plot gradually thickens, till it reaches a surprise ending.
Favorite dialogue:
“How are my thighs? Aren’t they cute?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Why”
“Because they are the first things I am going to move apart”

20. Song of the Sparrows by Majid Majidi
Like Kim Ki Duk, Majidi also has a strong fan base in Kerala. The theatre was full, even though first screening of the movie was at 9 PM. Amir Naji, who acted as the children’s father in Children of Heaven, plays the lead role of Karim. Karim loses his job when an ostrich escapes from the farm in which he works. The movie is a series of small but interesting incidents which occur when he tries to make the both ends meet. Though Majidi has even used some magnificient helicopter shots in this one, I rate this one two points below Children of Heaven.

Favorite scene: When Karim rides a taxi in Tehran, he gets a chance to escape with a refrigerator. While he tries to sell it in the market, he sees few ostriches in a shop. The birds remind him of the previous job in which he was honest, he changes his mind, and returns the refrigerator to its owner.

21. Faro by Salif Traore
Brief synopsis: An engineer returns to his village to find his father and to educate the villagers about their blind faith in a water goddess.

Yet another tale dealing with the conflict between tradition and modernity, Faro was full of clichéd characters – a village drunkard, a villain who wants to become the village head, his son who desires the hero’s girlfriends, etc.

22. Three Monkeys by Nuri Ceylan
Synopsis: (Contains spoilers) A politician kills someone in an accident. He persuades his driver to accept the crime, in return for a huge sum of money that will be given when he returns from jail after nine months. The driver agrees. The driver’s son needs money to buy a taxi, and sends his mother to the politician to get some advance from the amount he is going to pay the driver. The politician and the driver’s wife become interested in each other, and they meet in her house. Driver’s son comes to know about this, but hides the news from his father. The driver gets out of jail, comes to know that his wife had visited the politician to collect the money, and suspects that the two may have started an affair. The driver’s wife wants to continue her affair with the politician, but he is reluctant. The driver’s son is aware of the raising tension in the family, and kills the politician. The driver requests a tea shop owner to accept the crime, and offers to give him a large sum when he returns from the jail.

Three Monkeys was a simple story told in a beautiful way, and it had won the Best Director award in Cannes.

23. Teos Voyage by Walter Doehner
Another tale of human love and national borders, like My Marlon and Brando.
Synopsis: (Contains spoilers) Teo, a nine year old boy whose father is in jail, has been living with his uncle. His father comes out of jail, takes Teo with him, tries to cross the border from US to Mexico illegally, and disappears when the group is attacked in the night. (Those who have seen Babel or Traffic will remember the desert in US Mexico border – it always looks great in films.) Teo reaches Mexico, tries to cross the border back to US with few friends, gets lost in the desert, and is rescued and taken back to Mexico by an army helicopter,. In the meantime he comes to know that his father has been actually trying to take him to his mother who is in Mexico. In the last shot we see Teo’s mother approaching him.

24. Kippur by Amos Gitai
I watched only the first half of the movie. It looked more like a documentary on a war. Besides, it was projected from a low-quality DVD, and the picture quality was poor.

Avoid Cliches

Making it visual