A LETTERED SOUL, BOOK 2- MUSINGS ON ART AND CULTURE

THE HORROR AND THE HUMANITY- PART 2

THE KING OF COMEDY(1983)

Inner strength is certainly in short supply in our world where almost everyone practically goads us to be selfish and see opportunity as a means to an end.

Martin Scorsese deals with an abrasive source of self-congratulation and belief here in THE KING OF COMEDY; such that the consequences only bode well in service of sociopathy. He is a filmmaker who is particularly adept at training his lenses on a soullessness that has led to our present state.

Robert De Niro's smarm, overconfidence and refusal to let go of his half-baked dreams is as much a product of internalised misogyny as it is of an establishment where rejection can often come in brutal ways, informed by polite society and its protocols.

The lens here is directed at the smarmy tones of those at the upper echelons too who often disappoint with their lack of reception or even compassion. But then even that can be fuelled by mob mentality that is feral and bottomless, one where the cult of celebrity is sought rather than craft or even the enhancement of real talent and something approaching sincerity. The question of who becomes famous and under what grounds is raised here.

Infamy has become a pronounced cult where mere 'shock value' is enough. Invoking both Sidney Lumet's NETWORK and the future role-reversal of a social outcast and a talk-show icon( Joaquin Phoenix and De Niro respectively) in JOKER, THE KING OF COMEDY is memorable in the way it brings to light urban darkness and anti-social mechanisms.

You will remember a candlelit apartment and its psychotic owner, a man pushing make-believe to extreme limits, a corporate network's detached involvement with prospective entertainers, the verite shots canned amongst real New York City crowds and the final stand-up routine. It's all laced with black humour and an anticipation of the 'Big Brother' phenomena proliferating the here and now. Jerry Lewis, Shelley Hack and Sandra Bernhard are unforgettable here besides of course De Niro.

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MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO(1988)

This Studio Ghibli classic finds giddy innocence of childhood, the unbreakable bond among siblings, innate curiosity and wonder inform a family's move from the city to the countryside.

Director Hayao Miyazaki employs a world of colours here and the comfort of nature envelops his eye for detail. The translucent water of a stream, puddles during monsoons, a grand old tree and the dampness of muggy days all are treated as naturally as one sees them in real life. As for the titular creature, it becomes symbolic of childhood imagination, the natural world and its treasures as well as the cure for an unit grappling with the real possibility of loss.

It takes its sweet time in building up the two sisters' new awakening to the expanse of verdure, their new home and the warmth of relationships established with their human neighbours. It's for the best. MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO is essential viewing to instill hope and a gentle, unhurried rhythm to our sensory selves.

***

MASS(2021)

Violence, its aftermath and its generational dynamics are exhumed in this chamber piece that very naturally establishes three people contend with a meeting between two couples who have let loss accrue its massive weight for six years. The sense of awkwardness, sincere efforts to ensure this meeting's smooth sailing and toying with the right way to approach the issue are at home in this stirring screenplay.

Then the two couples- both set of grieving parents- arrive. Hence a lifetime's regrets, horror, fear and pain get distilled in the hour and a half employed to look at the power of reconciling with truth and our share in the world we see for and around our children.

Stirring and unadorned by musical cues or technical interventions, MASS has the purity of a play, with the spare room and limited movements accommodating suppressed rage, emotional implosions and a genuine sense of getting to know the other side. Except one couple's son was the perpetrator while the other one's a victim among several other teenagers.

To forgive and forget as an idea weighed down by a common history is presented with tact here. The cast members are all attuned to that inner churning which is affecting so many parents and children worldwide. That shot of an open field in Idaho is haunting for the memories it stirs, for invoking the sense of space and time that scars us adjunct with the actions that define our mental map of the world.

*****

WOMEN TALKING(2022)

Violence, misogyny and an order of subjugation are such recurring markers of our modern world that it's hard to believe we have moved thousands of years ahead of brute force and feral instincts.

This work finds an outlet for addressing grave issues by letting women congregate, exchange views, pros and cons, anger, rage, compassion and a worldview for the future. It's a revolution because to escape from a colony built to enslave them and batter them physically is an open option. Even that freedom hasn't made imprisoned minds subservient to internalised misogyny seek this group.

Comprising of stellar performers covering every possible age and experience, real-life precepts become a way to let them and one enlightened man look at the complexity of lives governed by violence and silent churnings.

Sarah Polley stirringly brings it together where the final shot of an extraordinary exodus of women and children is spiritually awakening.

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