Ram's Movies

Some weeks ago, Ram was here. He gave me 2 DVDs with a buncha movies that he very
much enjoyed. It was an eclectic collection to say the least. As Far East as Kim
Ki-Duk from Korea to the typically occidental Richard Linklater, while passing
through a distinctly European Luc Besson and Brazilian Walter Salles.

So here I was reliving my college days as I munched on more than I could chew.
Having said that the recent brain damage that I have sufferred at the hands of
colleagues and superiors left me incapable of appreciating the highly visual East
Asian cinema. Something that has been common among the various Taiwanese and Korean
films that I happened to see in Ram's DVDs, was that the storytelling was highly
visual and the dialogues were always more of a background score than the main
substance of the movie.

There was a time that I could appreciate such movies, now I prefer if somebody else
does the thinking for me. Which is why I gravitated towards the Non-Asian movies a
lot more.

There were 2 movies by Linklater, related to each other if I might add. Before
Sunrise and Before Sunset. A lovely pair of movies about 2 people who spend one
night together and then meet again 9 years later. Beautiful locales, electric
chemistry and a narrative flow that never let us feel time.

A totally sexy actress Julie Delpy and her lilting French accent to boot made me a
sucker for these movies. Somebody please tell Karan Johar and Yash Chopra that this
is how love stories are made!

And the gals get a hot looking Ethan Hawke (The former Mr.Uma Thurman...a great
actor in his own right) in the first part. He still looks good in part 2 but he has
aged so much he looks sad...

And then there was Leon by Luc Besson (the genius who gave us The Fifth Element as
well!), which was the stunning movie debut for a precocious 13 year old Natalie
Portman. Then of course there was the quintessential French man Jean Reno as Leon.
Without a hint of perversion let me say that the two shared a chemistry that rivaled
Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawkes's chemistry in the Linklater movies.

Then of course there was the Brazilian Salles who helmed the impressive Motorcycle
Diaries. Awesome cinematography and a rhythmic spanish dialogues to boot. How could
I love the sound of a language that I don't know? This was a story about Che Guevara
and his motorcycle trip across the Americas in his youth. A trip that defined his
thought process as a revolutionary. There were no overt sermons but the very
experience of watching this movie questioned my very purpose of existence (bad
question...it only has wrong answers). Majestic background scores made sure that the
film experience lingers for a long time.

Ram! Buddy I love you for these 2 DVDs! Keep them coming!

P.S I will talk about the Asian movies later when I can get around to digesting all
of them!