The Last Lear (2008) movie wallpapers and posters :
The Last Lear (2008) Movie Rating and Review :
Rating :
Acting – 7/10
Direction – 5.5/10
Screenplay – 4/10
Art Direction – 7/10
Cinematography – 8/10
Review :
Great Expectations
Going to watch The Last Lear is like an invitation to a five-course dinner.
First of all, there’s the man Amitabh Bachchan, at the peak of his career, albeit in his second innings. Playing the role of Harry the stage actor, Amitabh is awesome. Sombre. Brooding. Eloquent, when he wishes to be. Flamboyant. Like a Mexican condor in full flight. Larger than life. When he speaks the whole world holds its breath. Time stands still.
The rest of the acting cast is equally impressive. Arjun Rampal, as the director of the film within the film is the perfect foil for Bachchan’s histrionics. Reminiscent of Becket, ala Peter ’Toole and Richard Burton. He is underplayed but entirely, entirely credible. And to his great credit, not in one scene is he overshadowed by The Man.
And, then, of course, there is Shefali Shah, as Vandana, Harry’s live-in partner. One has always felt that here was this perfect little gem in Bollywood, who one always wanted to see more of. Even in the very brief appearances she has made in the past, Monsoon Wedding or 15 Park Avenue, for instance, she has glittered quite like a polished diamond.
As for Preity Zinta, she is more than pretty good. The rest of the cast is commendable. Prosenjit, in that one scene with Amitabh, is impressive.
Now to the technical aspects of the film. Barring the sound — actually one was left craning one’s ear to hear what Jisshu (Gautam) was saying in the early part of the film — it is again of a very high standard. I have always been an unabashed admirer of cinematographer (or is the term DOP these days) Abhik Mukherjee. One admired his visual opulence in Chokher Bali. Here he goes to the other extreme. His use of light, or rather, the lack of light, in certain scenes is breathtaking. I doubt if there is a more sensitive cameraman in the whole of India today.
Arghyakamal’s editing is masterly. You don’t even realise you are watching a film. So are the sets. You’d never believe they are sets.
But at the end of it all comes the one big question. Actually a film is very much like takeaway food. What do you actually take away at the end of it?
Is it an observation on the life and times of Harish Mishra, the legendary stage actor inspired by the great Utpal Dutt?
Is it the story of a great stage actor being tricked into acting in a film, which he thinks can’t hold a candle to Shakespeare, by this smart alec director Siddharth?
Or, is it a vehicle for the talent of AB to be displayed in full grandeur?
One doesn’t quite know. And for this the blame has to be pointed at the script. It is often laboured, self-conscious. What is meant to be a seamless weaving in of past and present in the first half of the movie makes you feel like taking a bumpy auto-ride through the bylanes of Calcutta.
And then there are the incongruities. Serious ones. How come Siddharth, the director who was so caring of the well-being of Harry, only the night before, turns into a heartless, cruel man, ready to physically throw this man down a precipice? How come this great actor with the fabulous ‘Brit’ accent suddenly starts speaking with the caricature of a ‘Bangali’ accent when he is drunk? I have a feeling when you are drunk you tend to throw your accent even more.
And, then, the question about why Harry quit the stage so suddenly when he actually did. He was about to do the greatest role of his career — play King Lear. And just a week before the premiere he drops the role, never to come back.
At the fag end of the movie, the script slips in the fact that he did it because somebody had said something uncharitable about his live-in partner. The kind of passionate, towering personality that he is shown to be one can’t possibly imagine him to return like a sulking dog, nursing his wounds in private. Rather, he would have broken the neck, and perhaps several other parts of the anatomy, of this offender than walk away from him.
By all means, do go and watch this film. The Last Lear is a film of great expectations. Then see if you agree with me.
Acting – 7/10
Direction – 5.5/10
Screenplay – 4/10
Art Direction – 7/10
Cinematography – 8/10
Review :
Great Expectations
Going to watch The Last Lear is like an invitation to a five-course dinner.
First of all, there’s the man Amitabh Bachchan, at the peak of his career, albeit in his second innings. Playing the role of Harry the stage actor, Amitabh is awesome. Sombre. Brooding. Eloquent, when he wishes to be. Flamboyant. Like a Mexican condor in full flight. Larger than life. When he speaks the whole world holds its breath. Time stands still.
The rest of the acting cast is equally impressive. Arjun Rampal, as the director of the film within the film is the perfect foil for Bachchan’s histrionics. Reminiscent of Becket, ala Peter ’Toole and Richard Burton. He is underplayed but entirely, entirely credible. And to his great credit, not in one scene is he overshadowed by The Man.
And, then, of course, there is Shefali Shah, as Vandana, Harry’s live-in partner. One has always felt that here was this perfect little gem in Bollywood, who one always wanted to see more of. Even in the very brief appearances she has made in the past, Monsoon Wedding or 15 Park Avenue, for instance, she has glittered quite like a polished diamond.
As for Preity Zinta, she is more than pretty good. The rest of the cast is commendable. Prosenjit, in that one scene with Amitabh, is impressive.
Now to the technical aspects of the film. Barring the sound — actually one was left craning one’s ear to hear what Jisshu (Gautam) was saying in the early part of the film — it is again of a very high standard. I have always been an unabashed admirer of cinematographer (or is the term DOP these days) Abhik Mukherjee. One admired his visual opulence in Chokher Bali. Here he goes to the other extreme. His use of light, or rather, the lack of light, in certain scenes is breathtaking. I doubt if there is a more sensitive cameraman in the whole of India today.
Arghyakamal’s editing is masterly. You don’t even realise you are watching a film. So are the sets. You’d never believe they are sets.
But at the end of it all comes the one big question. Actually a film is very much like takeaway food. What do you actually take away at the end of it?
Is it an observation on the life and times of Harish Mishra, the legendary stage actor inspired by the great Utpal Dutt?
Is it the story of a great stage actor being tricked into acting in a film, which he thinks can’t hold a candle to Shakespeare, by this smart alec director Siddharth?
Or, is it a vehicle for the talent of AB to be displayed in full grandeur?
One doesn’t quite know. And for this the blame has to be pointed at the script. It is often laboured, self-conscious. What is meant to be a seamless weaving in of past and present in the first half of the movie makes you feel like taking a bumpy auto-ride through the bylanes of Calcutta.
And then there are the incongruities. Serious ones. How come Siddharth, the director who was so caring of the well-being of Harry, only the night before, turns into a heartless, cruel man, ready to physically throw this man down a precipice? How come this great actor with the fabulous ‘Brit’ accent suddenly starts speaking with the caricature of a ‘Bangali’ accent when he is drunk? I have a feeling when you are drunk you tend to throw your accent even more.
And, then, the question about why Harry quit the stage so suddenly when he actually did. He was about to do the greatest role of his career — play King Lear. And just a week before the premiere he drops the role, never to come back.
At the fag end of the movie, the script slips in the fact that he did it because somebody had said something uncharitable about his live-in partner. The kind of passionate, towering personality that he is shown to be one can’t possibly imagine him to return like a sulking dog, nursing his wounds in private. Rather, he would have broken the neck, and perhaps several other parts of the anatomy, of this offender than walk away from him.
By all means, do go and watch this film. The Last Lear is a film of great expectations. Then see if you agree with me.
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