Monday, May 16, 2011

Emagandam - Short Movie Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZexpAABB1HE

You can see short film video in the above link. Now the review. First scene is awesome. The camera stands still and we see just the legs running forward. Next shot shows the high court of karnataka. Metaphor for judgement? After a couple of shots there is a smooth transition in the story and the flow. Suddenly the camera starts moving slowly and we are into a flashback of which happened before half an hour. What else can we expect in a 6 minute video. We see the same guy who was chased in the previous scene, walking sheepishly towards his home. And the person who has chased this guy is introduced as the police man. And the guy in the shop asks why not in uniform sir? He says came on some other duty. And he again asks "enna sir emagandathula vanthirukenga? " He replies "policekaaranuku ethu emagandam ellam" Honestly speaking, I didn't like this sequence much. Two reasons why. I don't understand why all these policemen are in polos when they are not in their uniform. Starting from Saami Vikram to the recent Samuthirakani in Eesan everyone sports a polo tee. Isn't it clichéd? I have seen many policemen in my place not in uniform but never with polos :) Second thing why he is asking that not in uniform and all? Its understood he is not in uniform. His pant shows he is a policeman.

Next the innocent looking guy with a poor gait walks into his place and our funky police man watches over. Unwanted heavy music over here. Really disrupts the flow of the movie to me. Having said this, all the other places the music and editing were of top notch. Specially using that Saavu kuthu is amazing for the chasing. Harris Jeyaraj tried something similar in Khaka Khaka for a few seconds in a chase and needless to say even that's brilliant.

Out of guilt, the guy tries to suicide by hanging himself and the police man tries to save him. Next the flashback meets with the real time chase. After the chase, the music stops and we see the dead body of the guy who was chased. And the police inspector smokes a fag. This is funny really. Why would any person on the earth smoke a fag when he just sees the guy whom he tried to save was killed. Doesn't it look like a forced one?

Other than these minor qualms, it's a decent attempt. Great work by the editor and the musician. Not to forget the great fluid camera work. Direction is crisp and sharp with usage of metaphors like crushing the pen's nib, etc in many places shows a talented director. I only wish this would have had a little strong story. It didn't create a big impact on me as I wished.

Lets wait and watch how its getting received in Cannes!