AND THE OSCAR GOES TO ……..

The Oscar telecast is on Sunday, March 7, and this should be an interesting year. I'm a pure cinephile who merely enjoys chance after chance at discussing film, and what better occasion than on film's biggest night (and the month preceding it)? Since I’m hardly immune to Oscar fever, which is why I’ve went ahead and put together this list of my picks for the winners at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. I’ve highlighted the predicted winners in bold and then offered a few thoughts on why I arrived at that conclusion. .Also i thank my friend K.S . Jayan who was instrumental in getting me all the Oscar nominated films in spite of his busy schedule.


1. Best Picture
"THE HURT LOCKER"

Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," story about a bomb-disposal expert in Iraq, opened in July to great praise, but was considered a dark horse because of its low budget, lower profile and earlier release date. Then it started sweeping up year-end awards, and many more people saw it. I think it's the current favorite.The crucial factors may be "The Hurt Locker's" recent victories in two guild elections: It has been honored for best direction. In many years, the Directors Guild winner is a predictor of best picture.James Cameron had already won best picture for "Titanic" in 1996.



2. Best Direction
Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker,"-

If James Cameron by chance gets the Oscar for best picture but I’m betting that the Academy will recognize his ex-wife; Kathryn Bigelow. The film delivers a powerful message about war and the men who fight it. Critics went nuts over the film. If Bigelow wins, she’ll be the first woman to do so. Also she has already won the prestigious Director’s Guild of America award for best director which makes her a sure bet in this category,



3. Best Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart”

I’m thrilled to see Jeremy Renner nominated for 'Hurt Locker’. But without a doubt, Jeff Bridges will pick up his first Academy Award for portraying an aging country musician in Crazy Heart. Jeff, a five-time nominee who’s never won, already has a Golden Globe, Broadcast Critics, and SAG Award on his mantel for Crazy Heart. But Beware of Jeremy Renner pulling an Adriane Brody (Adriane Brody, the star of The Pianist shocked the Kodak Theatre by winning the Best Actor Oscar over presumed front-runners Jack Nicholson and Daniel Day-Lewis in 2003) it’s a long shot, but he’s the only one who can upset Jeff Bridges.


4. Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side”

Great to see Meryl Streep getting her 16th Oscar nomination. But this time Sandra Bullock will win. She has come a long way from the days of driving a bus in Speed, to various average romantic flicks, and finally settling in a role that calls for plenty of gravitas, which she pulled off wonderfully.This is her first Oscar nomination .She had already picked the Golden Globe But you can never count out Meryl Streep, who certainly has legions of fans in the Academy, who may be sick of seeing Bullock beat her. Carey Mulligan, for 'An Education' has an outside shot .But age (20 y) and experience factor is against her.



5. Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds”

With his calculated tenacity, dead accuracy for scene-stealing dialogue and for the most convincing Nazi ever, the award goes to Christoph Waltz! He has already won a Golden Globe, Satellite Award, Cannes Film Festival Award, and SAG Award for his portrayal of the brilliantly efficient Colonel Hans Landa.





6. Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Mo'Nique for "Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push' by Sapphire”

Mo’nique had already picked up a Golden Globe and SAG. The film 'Precious' is likely to lose five of the six trophies it’s up for, but not this one. There’s no way she’s losing. Somewhat surprised that Maggie Gyllenhaal crept into the mix. She has not been hitherto nominated at any other function.




7. Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"Up in the Air," Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

2009 was the year of economic recession. A screenplay based on the ill effects of recession on families and employees will be surely recognized by the academy. Also this will be a chance for the academy to recognize a promising new generation talent named Jason Reitman.


8. Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
"Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino

This may just be the toughest race to predict. It’s definitely between Mark Boal ('The Hurt Locker')and Tarantino('Basterds').If the Academy wants to recognize someone(Tarantino !) but don’t feel their film will win the top prize, this award often serves as a compromise. Also since the screenplay of ‘Basterds’ used the power of cinema to rewrite history, so I go with Basterds.


9. Best Animated Feature Film
"Up”

Up is also nominated in the Best Picture category and the Academy does seem to have a Pixar bent as of late. So how could it not win this award?



10. Best Art Direction
"Avatar,"- Art Direction by Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg


11. Best Cinematography
Mauro Fiore for "Avatar"


12. Best Foreign Language Film
Das weisse Band (The White Ribbon), Germany

Dealing with themes of war and terrorism, it’s just the sort of message-oriented film that the Academy loves. Plus, it already won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and Palme d'or at Cannes. There is a slight possibility of an upset here, since Hollywood doesn't give Oscars to Cannes festival winners. But it is high time that a great director like Michael Haneke, who has been a force to reckon with in the festival circuit, should be recognized by Hollywood. This will be the right moment.


13. Best Film Editing
“The Hurt Locker”- Edited by Bob Murawski, Chris Innis


14. Best Make -Up
Aldo Signoretti, Vittorio Sodano for IL Divo (2009)

Stunning make up job on actor Tony Servillo to transform him into former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti.



15. Best Costume Design
Sandy Powell for "The Young Victoria "-

The Young Victoria is a period piece. A drama in the Victorian Age. The academy loves this type of thing. Plus, it won the Choice award here.

16. Best Music (Original Score)
Michael Giacchino for “UP"

I bet Michael Giacchino scores a well-deserved nomination here for his work on "Up".He has already won the Golden Globe .James Horner's Avatar score was grand but actively forgettable .But he has a slight chance on winning especially since the Academy's orchestra will be playing his music all evening


17. Best Music (Original Song)
The Weary Kind” (Theme from Crazy Heart) from Crazy Heart, Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

A great song that has already captured a Golden Globe, and I’m betting that the streak will continue.


18. Best Sound Editing
Paul N.J. Ottosson for "The Hurt Locker,"


19. Best Sound Mixing
Transformers: Revenge of the fallen (2009), Mixing by Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers

The academy should award Greg P. Russell this time. This man has been nominated for Best sound mixing academy award category for 12 times previously and never won!



20. Best Visual Effects
"Avatar," Visual FX by Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

If there was only one award that Avatar could win, it would be this one.


21. Best Documentary (Feature)
"The Cove”

A powerful documentary about dolphin hunting in Japan. This real life thriller puts other cinematic thrillers to shame. The great risk that the crew of the documentary took to surpass the tight security of Japan, to obtain the footage, itself deserves an award. Also this documentary won the powerful DGA award.





See you on March 7th! The hosts are Alec Baldwin (interesting...) and Steve Martin (Hooray!!). It should be a fun ceremony, even if the whole affair feels fairly mundane and predictable.

Festival Coverage : BERLINALE (2010)

The Berlin International Film Fest commenced on Feb 11 .The festival's opening film "Tuan Yuan" (Apart Together) was attended by the festival’s jury president Werner Herzog plus a starry guest list from across European and Asian cinema.The fest concluded on 21 February. Here are the list of winners in major categories......



1. Golden Bear for Best Film

" Honey "

Dir : Semih Kaplanoglu

Country:Turkey

Honey is the last installment of director Kaplanoglu's autobiographical "Yusuf Trilogy",The trilogy runs in reverse chronological order and Honey explores Yusuf's early childhood. In the remote and undeveloped eastern Black Sea region, a six-year-old boy (Yusuf) wanders through the woods searching for his lost father, trying to make sense of his life. His father is a beekeeper whose bees have disappeared unexpectedly, threatening his livelyhood.A bizarre accident kills the father.


2.Silver Bear - Grand Jury Prize

"If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle "

Dir : Florin Serban

Country : Romania

The film focuses on an incarcerated young man who finds himself in love with a Sociology student, Ana, working in the penitentiary as an intern.He takes her as a hostage shortly before he is to be released from the youth detention center.


3.Silver Bear for Best Director

Dir :Roman Polanski

Film: "The Ghost Writer "

Country :France


Synopsis:When a successful British ghostwriter, The Ghost, agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, his agent assures him it's the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start because his predecessor on the project, Lang's long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident.a former .Also a British cabinet minister accuses Prime minister Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA.As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind.Based on Robert Harris Novel 'The Ghost'.


Trivia :

Director Polanski, who could not come participate in the awards ceremony for reasons by now known to all, sent an ironic message through one of his producers: "Even if I could come, I wouldn't. Because the last time I went to a festival to accept an award, I ended up in jail."
Earlier due to Polanski's arrest, the film's post-production was briefly put on hold, but he resumed work from house arrest at his Swiss villa.


4.Silver Bear for Best Screenplay

"Apart Together"

Dir : Wang Quan'an

Country : China

The film touches on the themes of autumnal romance, bittersweet memory and self-sacrifice. Ling Feng , a civil war veteran who fled to Taiwan after Mao’s Communist revolution half a century ago. Now a newly widowed pensioner, he returns to the mainland with a Taiwanese tourist group with a secret scheme to rekindle his youthful romance with Qiao Yu’e , his great lost love and the mother of the son he has never met. The low-key family drama that follows finds history repeating itself, more as farce than tragedy, with flashes of lyricism and dry humour. Set in an increasingly globalised and modernised Shanghai.


5.Silver Bear for Best Actor

Grigory Dobrygin

Film: "How I Ended This Summer "

Country :Russia

Synopsis :One place. One day. Two men. The place is a polar station on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean. A day up here in the far north lasts weeks, since the sun never sets during the summer at this high latitude. This used to be an important research station but, Sergei, an experienced meteorologist and Pavel, a high school graduate, are now the only inhabitants. Soon a ship will arrive to pick up the two men. For Sergei this will mean the end of a sojourn that has lasted several years. He is anxious about returning to his wife and child on the mainland. And then one day Pavel picks up a radio message that he daren’t communicate to Sergei. Pavel does everything he can to keep the message from Sergei, in the hope that the ship’s arrival will relieve him of this particular task. Fear, lies and suspicions start poisoning the atmosphere.....


6. Silver Bear for Best Actress

Koji Wakamatsu

Film : "Caterpillar"

Country :Japan

Synopsis :Durin the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1940, Lieutenant Kurokawa returns home as a honoured and decorated soldier... but deprived of his arms and legs lost in battle in mainland All hopes, from the villagemen and women to close family members, turn to Shigeko, the Lieutenant's wife: she must honour the Emperor and the country in setting an example for all by fulfilling her duty and taking care of the 'god soldier'.But the war hero turns out to have been a wife-beater and rapist when wearing civilian clothes.


sources: Wikipedia,the guardian.

Monthly Review :The Double Life Of Veronique (1991)

HAVE YOU EVER felt like you have a double in the world? Have people seemed to recognize you, or have you ever lapsed into easy, intimate conversation with a stranger? How did that feel? How would you translate it to the screen? “The Double life of Veronique “presents this typically Kieslowski-an situation of parallel lives, allowing us to experience the elements of connection, chance and fate that direct our lives.




Synopsis:

Weronika, a sensual Polish choir girl with her head in the clouds and her feet in the wet puddles of Krakow. Weronika unsuccessfully explains to her father the feeling that she is not alone in the world. We later learn of Veronique, a French woman with uncanny parallels to Weronika. The two look identical and share (almost) unique personal mannerisms, yet are distinctly different. Their intuitive bond shapes them both, and leads Veronique to a deeper understanding of love and life.

Review:

The Double Life Of Veronique is a film about taking heed of the world around you as well as the messages that find their way to you through dreams & insights of spirit.The story begins in Poland, where we find the adolescent Veronika singing opera with her school choir. After getting caught in a rainstorm she goes home and makes love to her older boyfriend... so already we have themes of sex, music and the passage into womanhood, three very important factors that will resurface throughout the course of the film.

The film also explores how our lives are affected by more than we can ever understand and how we affect others the same way, it is a call for care for ourselves and our fellows. It creates a kind of continuity between the example of the life lived by Weronika and the changes that Veronique is motivated to make. This quality of continuity is emphasised through the use of circular images and reflections and we are often shown views of the world through windows or objects like a glass marble. The story itself delights in chance and mystical motivation, inserting images from Weronikas life into Veroniques dreams and using daring juxtaposition.

Though The Double Life of Véronique revels in the unexplained, it's never pretentiously obtuse. The master's touch that Krzysztof Kieslowski gives to the film is to invoke our power of intuition. He is an expert at showing us in a way that makes us feel the events rather than intellectualize them. The final shots of The Double Life of Véronique are only a couple of snatched, silent moments. It doesn't put the entire picture into a little box and hand it back to us, telling us everything that the story meant, but yet we somehow walk away with a full sense of those things anyway. It's an experience you never forget

Kieslowski summarised the message of his film to be "to live carefully".Attempting to define La Double Vie de Véronique down to any single understandable reading however is not recommended and probably impossible – and you should distrust anyone who attempts to provide a commentary to “explain” this film. This is not a film to be rationalised, but simply felt. Every single scene in Kieslowski’s films is designed to provoke a response in the viewer, but that response is not predefined or predetermined. The director knows there are as many ways to view the film as there are people to watch it and La Double Vie de Véronique consequently touches people in an indefinable and deeply personal way.

Shot half in Polish and half in French, Véronique occupies a unique position in Kieslowski’s career, straddling the director’s early Polish work, where in films like Blind Chance, No End and his groundbreaking Dekalog series, he explored various themes of chance, fate, freewill that draw people together and the social, moral and political circumstances that bind them together– and leading towards his later French work in the films of The Three Colours Trilogy, where he reworked many of those themes, refining his complex ideas and filmmaking techniques to a remarkable level of precision. In between those two periods of Kieslowski’s tragically brief filmmaking career lies La Double Vie de Véronique, and it sees the director at his most challenging, demonstrating the rigour and attention to detail that we would come to expect from his later films.


Irène Jacob is luminous in the picture. She and Kieslowski were amazing for each other. Just like other famous actor/director couplings like Gong Li &Zhang Yimou, Godard&Anna karanena ,Fellini&Giulietta Masina or even De Niro &Scorsese, they draw performances out of each other that no one else can get. As both versions of Véronique, Jacob manages to make them distinctive while giving the two women enough crossover to make it clear they are of the same spirit. It extends beyond the simple change of hairstyle or langauge. It's in how she emotes, how she carries herself.She has an uncanny openness and vulnerability to the camera. She's beautiful, but in a completely unconventional way, and she has such changeable features that our interest is never exhausted. What's remarkable about her performance is how quiet it is; as an actress, she seems to work almost off the decibel scale. And yet she is remarkably alive on screen, remarkably present. She's a rare combination -- a sexy yet soulful actress.


Photographed quite distinctively by Slawomir Idziak, Kieslowski’s DoP on A Short Film About Killing and Three Colours Blue (and subsequently on films as visually striking as Black Hawk Down), La Double Vie de Véronique has a beautifully composed and stylised look, dominated by golden glows and luminous greens in which red is the only colour that stands out.The use of yellow-green filters gives the film a unified air of mystery and spiritual warmth. Images are nothing without sound to complement them. Zbigniew Preisner's score can only be described as haunting. (Well, "mesmerising" works too I suppose.) If you don't love music, you will after th is. Describing music is even more futile than describing cinematography.

Conclusion:

The Double Life of Véronique is why I watch movies. It is once in a lifetime movie going experience. This is a film you must watch alone. Why alone? Perhaps this is odd to say but the loneliness that haunts this film is surprisingly comforting. Only Kieslowski, the magician knows what he intended for the viewer when he made this. For the true answer, go ahead and drift into the unique world that this film offers and allow yourself to be a part of CINEMA'S GREATEST LULLABY.


Title : La double vie de Véronique (1991)

Country :France / Poland

Language :French /Polish

Cast: Irène Jacob ,Aleksander Bardini,Philippe Volter ,Sandrine Dumas

Rated R for sexuality and nudity

DVD Features :Commentary by film scholar Annette Insdorf
Three short documentary films by Kieslowski
Interview with actress Irène Jacob ,cinematographer Slawomir Idziak ,composer Zbigniew Preisner
Documentary on Kieslowski

Trailer Link :www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihZ1TB9KzGQ

Torrent File Name:The Double Life of Veronique *1991* [DVDRip.XviD-FRAGMENT]