It's Black!!!
Sitting in the theatre watching Black and hearing women sobbing (and men trying not to) left me wondering whether I was the only hard hearted brute around.
Well, the people's verdict's out - Black is "Oscar material". No doubt that it is a well made film with high standards of film making in every department. Yet when the film ended, there was a big void in me that yearned to get filled. No, I am not going to compare Black with Sparsh.....I am not going to compare Shah's sensitive performance to Rani's histrionics....I am not going to compare a low budget,straight from the heart film to technical gloss.....my issues with Black are more fundamental (and personal) in nature.
a> The focus of the film is more towards the teacher than the student. The perpective should have been on how a physically challenged person got through her disabilities. The film only touches briefly (read very very briefly) on the character's 'fight to self-dependance'.
b> The film leaves you with a feeling of sadness rather than hope. One feels "so very sad for these blind people" - I would have wanted to leave the theatre with a feeling of "the human spirit can overcome all odds". The film should have been a celebration of the un-dying human spirit rather than a heart wrenching tearjerker. The film should have filled one with a sense of truimph rather than grief.
And that's what a Forrest Gump or a My Left Foot or a Seabiscuit or a Men of Honor does - it does not make you feel sad for the disabled character....it shows you that they are equal to all.
Think about it.
Lastly, one just wonders on the use of English throughout the film.....do Indian films now need to be made in English to have a chance at the Oscars? Is the new trend 'let's make an oscar movie'?
Well, the people's verdict's out - Black is "Oscar material". No doubt that it is a well made film with high standards of film making in every department. Yet when the film ended, there was a big void in me that yearned to get filled. No, I am not going to compare Black with Sparsh.....I am not going to compare Shah's sensitive performance to Rani's histrionics....I am not going to compare a low budget,straight from the heart film to technical gloss.....my issues with Black are more fundamental (and personal) in nature.
a> The focus of the film is more towards the teacher than the student. The perpective should have been on how a physically challenged person got through her disabilities. The film only touches briefly (read very very briefly) on the character's 'fight to self-dependance'.
b> The film leaves you with a feeling of sadness rather than hope. One feels "so very sad for these blind people" - I would have wanted to leave the theatre with a feeling of "the human spirit can overcome all odds". The film should have been a celebration of the un-dying human spirit rather than a heart wrenching tearjerker. The film should have filled one with a sense of truimph rather than grief.
And that's what a Forrest Gump or a My Left Foot or a Seabiscuit or a Men of Honor does - it does not make you feel sad for the disabled character....it shows you that they are equal to all.
Think about it.
Lastly, one just wonders on the use of English throughout the film.....do Indian films now need to be made in English to have a chance at the Oscars? Is the new trend 'let's make an oscar movie'?
posted by Raconteur at 4:43 AM
5 Comments:
I don't quite agree with the second part of your views. How and what a director wants to say I think should be solely left to him\her. We are justified in commenting "how" he\she should have treated it and whether or not the entire narrative is coherent. For example, it will be illogical to debate whether clint Eastwood should have made a "happy" film and let he character of Hillary Swank survive the ordeal. But, one could argue that the manner in which Swank opted to die instead of fighting was not in character as we had initially seen her as someone who was ready to battle it out. Or one could also argue that Eastwood failed to give some convincing reasons for the character opting for ethanasia. I don't think a director is under any compulsion to give a "happy" or "positive" message in his film. That said, I would say I quite liked Black and it is definitely Oscar material in its technical and sensitive treatment of the subject. Of course, there are some embarrasments like Rani's strange Chaplinesque walk, but then they are minor flaws in one brilliant tapestry.
Welcome to the club of those-who didn't-like-Black-so-much-but-thought-it-was-wrong-to-say-so. I'm so glad we think alike about this. Black left me cold, really. I knew deep down inside that I ought to feel very, very miserable, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do so. A lot to do with Rani Mukherjee’s Charlie Chaplin walk I think. I cringed each time I saw that. I wanted so very much to love this film, and was so disappointed when I just couldn’t.
The only issue I have with your views here is your comment about the use of English in the film. I think a lot is lost in many films by not using the kind of language that the characters in screen look like they would use. I mean if you take people like you and me and put them in a film, it would be ridiculous not to make us speak in English at least part of the time. A lot of authenticity is lost that way, isn't it? And these people in Black were an Anglicised, Anglo-Indian family -- typically upper middle class and sophisticated. Which other language do you see them talking in?
I think it's a greater mistake when directors compromise on authenticity of language for the fear of not being understood by certain sections of the audience.
Whew!
Haven’t seen Black so no judgement here: but yes, agree with Tridib that the only thing that matters is whether the narrative is consistent with itself.
BTW, regarding what you say here: “do Indian films now need to be made in English to have a chance at the Oscars?” It actually works the other way around. For a film to be eligible for the foreign language film Oscar, at least 70 per cent of it has to be in a language other than English. So if Bhansali really had the Oscar in his sights, he’s screwed up big time.
You didn't say this but I read somewhere that someone had a problem with Black because Rani was breaking bone china and not other blind people got to do that...if the director wants its protagonist to break bone china then so be it...do all films on physically challenged people have to show that they are from the lower strata of society?
In the same way if the movie was more focussed on the teacher then whats the problem? Can we not see a blind person's story from the teacher's point-of-view?
If the movis is well-made and there are no flaws in the narrative then whether the focus is on the teacher or the blind student, whether it's positive or negative, whether the language is english or hindi, is the director's prerogative...
Bhansali was not making a documentary on blind people and therefore is under no compulsion to make the movie with the focus on Rani...
The fact that Rani finally got her degree should have made you feel positive?
If you could justify Devdas, then I don't see why you can't do the same for Black.
Tridib, Roshomon - cool down!!! I understand that you guys have really loved the film and therefore have completely missed my point.
I never said that the film's narrative or treatment was flawed.I never said that it was not a well made movie. I never said that any director is under any compulsion to give a 'happy ending'....in fact Black does have a happy ending if you come to think of it - Rani getting her degree, finding her alzheimer ridden guru who also seems to be getting his memory back.
My point was completely different -and entirely personal.
My point was that the film leaves you feeling sad and miserable (which in all probabilities is what the director wanted and nothing wrong with that either)for blind people rather than filling you with a hope that the human spirit is un-beatable.
That's all folks.
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