Mirrors (2008)

Genre: Horror
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton,
Language: English
Runtime: 110 min.

Dull horror movies fall in a range of categories: movies that have got a good setup but don't make use of it, movies that have got nothing much other than gore, movies where nothing happens, etc. To this list, Asian horror remakes now add a new category: movies that nobody is clear what they're about. Alexandre Aja's trial at supernatural horror falls into this category.

Based on a 2003 Korean film "Into the Mirror," Mirrors reflects the life of Carson. Carson is a troubled ex-cop recovering from alcoholism. His wife and kids stay away from him and he desperately needs a job to reunite with his family. So he joins as a night watchman, a local shopping complex that was burnt down in a recent fire accident. On his first day he notices a peculiar thing - among the scorched remains of the complex, the mirrors alone look completely unscathed. The alternate shift in-charge tells him that the previous watchman, whom Carson has come to replace, was obsessive in keeping them clean. The intrigued Carson soon starts noticing strange things whenever there's a mirror nearby. He gets more and more involved with the mirrors to the extent of putting his family in a grave danger.

The movie starts promisingly. We see a man gruesomely killed by his own reflection in a mirror. Titles starts appearing against a backdrop of reflected skyscrapers, accompanied by Javier Navarate's excellent title music (the starting resembles John Carpenter's classic theme music of Halloween). But the promise starts fading soon. A familiar bell rings somewhere inside our head when we meet Carson as a troubled cop. Why cop protagonists of horror movies are always troubled? So that we can fairly guess what will happen to them? Soon come the mandatory scenes of Carson exploring the dark complex with a torch. Feeble lighting, grungy set design and ambient music come together in these scenes to form a decent build up of atmosphere and some mystery. While the atmosphere fades out quickly the mystery remains. For a while the movie plays out as an investigative procedural and at last everything gets resolved. The only problem is we are not sure what is getting resolved and what the resolution is.

The movie fails simply because it has got the basics wrong: the script doesn't stick to a single supernatural theme nor does it create the ground rules that are indispensable to follow the plot and to make sense of it. The happenings are so unrelated that we are left with no clue of what to make out of the ending.

For gore lovers, there is one standout sequence involving a bathtub and mandible. It would have been a little better if not for the conspicuous special effects. Carson's family and his bonding with them are not emotionally well developed, which results in an impression of too much time getting wasted in his mundane and drab interaction with his family. In addition, there is no shortage of clichés. Sample: When Carson shoots a mirror in the complex the bullet holes in them disappear, but when he shoots a mirror in front of his wife to make her believe the supernaturalism of mirrors, we know we've seen the result countless times. No idea when moviemakers are going to grow tired of this cliché but we are long dead tired.

The script doesn't allow much in the area of characterization. Keifer Sutherland has nothing much to do other than roam around with a torch and look anxious but he sufficiently fills in the troubled cop template.

Mirrors is a half baked attempt at horror that loses track halfway and never finds it. In effect, it's just another addition to a genre that's already oversaturated with junk.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

Genre: Drama
Director: Michael Cimino
Cast: Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep
Language: English
Runtime: 182 min.

In the long line of movies based on wars, The Deer Hunter is another allegory of the psychological and life changing effects of war. A movie that could've been a rather powerful one is betrayed mostly by the usual culprit - running time.

It revolves around three friends Mike (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher Walken) who leave for Vietnam from their quiet little American town. For them, their town is the entire world. They work in the local steel factory and after work shift they drink, bicker with each other, sing along with radio and do everything that characterizes an uncomplicated town life. One night they attend Steven's wedding ceremony and party; the next morning they leave for a deer hunting trip; the next day they leave for Vietnam to serve their country. The three are captured by the Vietnamese and held as POW under a mid-river hut where Russian Roulette will change their lives forever.

The movie is noteworthy for its oblique treatment of its subject. Throughout the movie not a single word is spoken of the futility or cruelty of war; the scenes do all the speaking. The very elaborate first act literally places the audience among the townspeople. The work at steel factory, wedding party, Mike's feelings towards Linda (Meryl Streep), teasing Axel (Chuck Aspegren) by moving the car just when he's about to open the car door, Mike's refusal to lend Stan (John Cazale) his hunting shoes and many other small details firmly establishes the typical town life of the three friends. These seemingly trivial details are the ones that contrast the nature of their life in Vietnam so powerfully. And their life in Vietnam, the second act bashes us with: when Steven says they don't belong to the war field, we can't agree more with him, for we know exactly what their life back at home was.

The strong foundation laid by the first two acts is not developed into a solid whole by the third act. The actions of Mike and Steven are understandable but the motivation behind Nick's strange behaviour is not explained well and we're left to grope in the dark for psychological explanations.

Acting is consistently good. Christopher Walken makes Nick memorable while crying at the hospital in Saigon and in the climax (won Oscar for best supporting actor). Robert De Niro is excellent as the tough guy who is unperturbed by the brutality and madness going on around him in the death camp and singlehandedly keeps up the morale of his comrades. In the same sequences, John Savage too does well as a man driven crazy by fear and stress. Meryl Streep and John Cazale fill in their roles adequately.

Cinematography and production design perfectly build the overall mood of the film. While the fog permeated stillness of mountains, the unfrequented road to the mountain, calm streets and the skyline at sunset, mellow us with the serenity of the town, the congested military hospital in Saigon, thousands of refugees leaving their towns and the muddy river, thrust us into the harsh reality of Vietnam.

But all the positive qualities put together cannot counterbalance a big negative factor - its length. Three hours is too much time for what is dealt with in the movie. By cutting short lengthy sequences that are less expository, the director could have easily given a tauter product. Leisurely pace and a weak third act prevent this good drama from being great.

Review: Scarface (1983)

Genre: Crime, Drama

Director: Brian De Palma

Cast: Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Steven Bauer, Robert Loggia, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Paul Shenar

language: English

Runtime: 170 min.

Scarface is about the rise and fall of a small time crook fuelled by greed, and fall of Brian De Palma fuelled by the same greed - greed to create an epic crime saga out of virtually nothing. Just a long running time and some skillful camera movements alone cannot make an epic. Without the faintest hint of emotional underpinning, this movie is just an empty vessel that creates too much noise.

Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is a Cuban refugee cum criminal with a big aim - he wants the world itself. His opening comes when he gets a chance to run a deal for a mid level drug dealer, Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia). When the deal goes awfully wrong, he and his friend Manolo (Steven Bauer) escape with the money and cocaine. Frank is impressed and Tony starts working for him but not without laying eyes on his mistress Elvira (Michelle Pfeiffer). Shortly, a profitable but risky deal from Bolivia comes their way, Frank feels it’s too risky but Tony wants to accept. Frank warns, “the guys who last in this business are the guys who fly straight, lowkey, quiet. And the guys who want it all chicas, champagne, flash - they don't last”. So we now know what to expect; dispute leads to Tony leaving Frank. Later, Frank comes to know of Tony's intentions towards Elvira and tries to kill him. But Tony escapes, kills the ex-boss and marries Elvira. He accepts the Bolivian deal, starts ascending the underworld and goes on to build a drug empire. Though, he doesn’t remain at the top for long. Trouble brews and then starts his descent.

The problem with this movie has its roots in the lead character. Tony is an utterly despicable character with not a single redeemable quality. He is a dispassionate killer and a man who’s drenched with greed. He is tender towards his mother and sister, but that doesn't make him a normal man. With no way to emotionally connect with such a character, it becomes very difficult to watch his rise or fall for three hours, accentuated not by a lesser degree that he fills the screen for almost its entire running length and that he’s an irritating chatterbox.

But he's a man of guts. During his first drug deal with Columbians, the double crossing Columbians tie his companion to a pole in the bathroom and saw off first his arm and leg using a chainsaw. When they tie him next and bring the chainsaw near him, he shouts "F--- you!". It is this admirable quality that makes the first 100 minutes that illustrate his rise, relatively engaging compared to the later part. An hour before the end, it becomes too tiring to sit through and the incessant flow of the f-word makes it all the more irritating. It is surprising that the characters talk our mind. Elvira tells “Can't you stop saying "f---" all the time? Can't you stop talking about money? It's boring, Tony.” Exactly. This and other scenes towards the end make us wonder if De Palma intended the entire movie to be a sort of parody.

The above mentioned chainsaw encounter is the only memorable instance. A few shots of horrified expression in the eyes of the gagged victim, chainsaw nearing his arm, spatter of blood and the utterance of “now the leg", put together form a montage that evokes an acute sense of horror. It is a perfect example of the dictum that true horror is not in the eyes but in the mind. Only if the present day gore-fest directors could learn this valuable lesson.

As Tony, Al Pacino proves himself again, as he did earlier as the diametrically opposite Michael Corleone in Godfather series. Michelle Pfeifer has the thankless job of playing a literally dimensionless role. Her character could've very well been a doll. In a scene near the end her blank expression when simultaneously using cigarette, drinks and cocaine together, epitomizes the futility of this character. Others adequately fill in their roles. Paul Shenar stands out among them as the Bolivian drug manufacturer. His soft spoken and mild mannered behavior oozes an evil charm that makes him immensely watchable.

Technically there is nothing outstanding. The usual camera movements and sets of De Palma films are present here too.

Scarface is a 3-hour-long scar on the audience’s time.