Infernal Affairs (Cantonese: Mou Gaan Dou)

Movie: Infernal Affairs

Year: 2002

Director: Andrew Lau and Alan Mak

Language: Cantonese

Synopsis: The Prologue opens with the introduction of Hon Sam, a Triad boss and the primary antagonist of the film. Sam is sending a number of young, green gangsters to the police academy as moles—amongst them is one called Lau Kin-Ming. At the same time another person named Chen Wing-Yan is shown joining the police force. Although he manages to impress the Superintendent Wong Chi-Shing and the police academy principal Yip, Yan is expelled from the academy. In reality Yan becomes an undercover reporting directly to only Wong and Yip. Yan's undercover job becomes stressful while Ming quickly climbs the ladder in the police department. A cat and mouse chase begins between the two moles as they cross paths.

My own take: The movie shot Hong Kong movie industry into instant fame and was their biggest grosser. To top it Martin Scorsese made “Departed” in 2006 and gave another round of fame to the movie. The first word that strikes you when you watch the movie is- slick. The movie builds in a fascinating intrigue and thriller fashioned with a lot of twists and turns. The real good part of this movie is that contrary to gangster movies which somehow give you a feeling that there is an element of virtue and halo effect in crime; it builds on the basic premise that it’s a business. The pace at which the story moves is amazing and the editing is awesome. Without breaking the bubble for you just a note: watch out for the Morse code scene and the lift scene :). I am sure you will itch to watch part 2 and 3 also.

Sex and Lucia (Spanish: Lucía y el sexo)

Movie: Sex and Lucia

Year: 2001

Director: Julio Medem

Language: Spanish

Synopsis: The movie begins with Lucia trying to console Lorenzo who is depressed. By the time she gets back home, he is gone. The movie then travels six years back when Lorenzo had met Elena for a night and they had shared exactly 3 piece of information with each other. They part ways and have no means of meeting again. Lorenzo is sitting at a café where he meets Lucia and she professes her love for him. They move in and start living together while Lorenzo starts a new book. Fate takes a turn when Lorenzo realizes that he has a daughter in the same city. He tries getting close to her through the nanny. I better not tell anything beyond this as it will spoil the fun :)

My own take: To say that the movie is complicated is an understatement. The strength of the movie lies in the plot. The story as it unfolds is like spaghetti has characters playing multiple roles in each others life. Though we have seen this concept in movies like “Crash” yet its different here. The characters are not ones in the outside of the other story but are an integral part. Somewhere in the story Lorenzo says that there is a hole in the story from which the story remerges at the top. Somehow the movie is also like that. Paz Vega is amazing in the movie

Samsara (Tibetan)

Movie: Samsara

Year: 2001

Director: Nalin Pan

Language: Tibetan

Synopsis: Tashi has been raised as a Buddhist monk and is on his way to become a monk of repute. When he gets erotic phantasms as an adolescent, his master tries to get his mind away from his desires. On one of his trips to the village he dreams of the host Pema coming to her. Once he is told his hottest dream was real, Tashi decides to leave the monastery and marries Pema, who was actually engaged with local stone-mason Jamayang. The ex-lama soon becomes a rich land-owner himself, and makes a killing from his harvest by bringing it to the city instead of selling at half price to the local merchant Dewa. He raises a bright son, Karma. Life continues and he gets more and more engrossed in worldly matters till one day he commits infidelity, that day forces Tashi to reconsider his life.

My own take: The tagline of the movie is "Satisfying one thousand desires or conquering just one...". In many ways the enigma of the movie is in the way it would use the zen way to unfold the story. The movie starts with a kaon on how to make a drop of water infinite. And as the movie progresses the answer emerges. Time and again the beauty of the movie is in the dialogues which are unspoken and hints which are subtle. Those familiar with concepts of Hindu Mythology will find this movie more like a story told on what is "Maya". Definitely a movie for those who like a certain amount of spiritual involvement yet haven't taken the plunge to depths of spiritual discussions. The locales are breathtaking.

Children Of Heaven (Iranian: بچه‌های آسمان Bacheha Ye Aseman)

Movie: Children Of Heaven

Year: 1997

Director: Majid Majidi

Language: Persian

Synopsis: Ali takes his sister Zahra's shoes to the cobbler for repairing and loses it on his way back. What follows is their attempt to hide this fact from his dad who is a labourer and cannot afford a shoe immediately. Zahra has morning school and Ali has day school so as per Ali's advise they share a pair of shoes. Small adventures and mishaps keep happening during the course of the days and finally a window of opportunity comes when there is a race that Ali takes part to win the third prize which is a pair of sneakers

My own take: When we were kids and our elders used to tell us stories and there was this particular story which we found so amazing that everytime we would want to hear the same story. The elders would be bored yet we wanted to laugh exactly the way we had last time. and it was a genuine laugh that would start everytime we heard the story :) Children of Heaven leaves you with a very similar feeling. Its a story of nice people, who do the right thing always. there is a dad who instills the right values in his kids at every point. There is a brother who cares for his sister's comfort, his dad's problems, and his neighbours. The story leaves you with such a warm feeling that you actually feel the emotions of the movie moving you completely. The beauty of the story lies in its simplicity and the narration. A must watch if you like heart warming stories.

Caramel (Lebanese: سكر بنات Sukkar banat‎),

Movie: Caramel (Sukkar banat)

Year: 2007

Director: Nadine Labaki

Language: Arabic

Synopsis: Somewhere in Beirut you have this small beauty salon run by these three ladies Layale, Nisrine and Rima. Each one has a problem: Layale is stuck in a dead-end relationship with a married man; Nisrine is no longer a virgin but is set to be married and in her conservative family pre-marital sex is not accepted; Rima is attracted to women; Jamale, a regular customer and wannabe actress, is worried about getting old; Rose, a tailor with a shop next to the salon, is an old woman who had devoted her life to taking care of her mentally unbalanced older sister Lili, but has found her first love. As they share their happiness and their sorrow you find a beautiful support system which leaves you with a warm nice feeling

My Own Take: Chances are very high that you might be mesmerized by the beauty of Nadine Labaki. I surely was. I was trying to search on the net if the movie is semi-autobiographical to understand how the flow of the movie is so very smooth and pleasing. But haven't found anything supporting my view. If you have ever been in a relationship that you knew would never work out, but you were clinging on to it for fear of losing it, you will know what Layale goes through. I know its easy to hear somebody say to you that its a sign of being weak and that you must stop treating yourself like a doormat etc. but when the familiar horn beeps and you see Layale run your heart goes out to her. Or when the cell phone doesnt ring and you see her checking the network you would know what i mean if you have been there. The way the story is told is so subtle and with such minimal antics that it makes you feel good. And the most important fact is that the movie ends on a note of hope :). strongly recommended for a sunday afternoon watch.

High and Low (Japanese: Tengoku to jigoku)

Movie: High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku, literally "Heaven and Hell")
Year: 1963
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Language: Japanese

Synopsis: Kingo Gondo is almost ready to make the final kill to acquire "National Shoes", the company he has seen grow and believes is in wrong hands. The corporate battle is almost in its final stages with Gondo ready to take over the stocks he wants with his life's saving. Everything to the last piece of furniture is at stake in his amazing hilltop mansion overlooking the vicinity. 50 million yen is what he needs to realize his dream. This is when his fate takes a twist. His son is kidnapped and the kidnapper demands a ransom of 30 million yen. In the battle between son and dream his son wins and Gondo is ready to pay the ransom. But wait....before the payment is planned it surfaces that Gondo's chauffeur's son has been kidnapped and not his. The mistake is where the ethical dilemma begins. Blood of an innocent versus dream of a lifetime. To make matters worse there is a trusted associate who back stabs as he sees his mentor falter in the corporate game. He now stands to lose his house, his job and has to save the son of his chauffer. And to make matters worse the kidnapper is a very smart guy who is able to see everything in the house. What continues is a beautiful story of dilemma, hope and basic human values. The end is almost a detective thriller packed with all elements of a chase, shadowing, secret symbols, signs, smoky bars, etc.

My own take: The beauty of this movie is in the dilemma it forces its characters to go through. All major characters are shown torn between whats good for them and what will make them look good to others. I think this movie is an excellent watch in case you enjoy dramatic movies. People who love locales and grand sets this movie will not impress you. The first half of the movie is almost shot in a room the second half also has minimal outdoor shots. I feel I lost out quite a bit because of the translation because in many parts the dialogues were huge and the translation was a small one liner :). But i definitely feel that as a movie its definitely one that can be enjoyed even after 45 years.