The Lunchbox (2013)

The Lunchbox substantially deviates from the films we use to see. It is like a breeze. It takes place in India. The difference in culture should provide an obstacle to understand the feelings, the attitude, the habits, the relationships, practically everything constituting the movie’s raw material. Yet, Ritesh Batra manages to make a westerner feel at home, understand the emotions and the thoughts of the characters and lose oneself in the plot. An original plot which has become a rarity.

You should not miss the Lunchbox 🙂

My rating: 09/10

 

Life of Pi (2012)

What makes a film special? Amazing scenes of beauty? A script that makes one feel complete? One that addresses its inner questions and wonders? Acting that keeps the spectator pinned down on the story told? The story on top of the obvious story? The hope conveyed despite the ugliness that surrounds us and some times presses on us really hard?

May be all of it 🙂 The “Life of Pi” has it all..

My rating: 08/10

PS. One of the most heartbreaking parts of the movie is the one of the separation of Pi with Charlie Parker. What really hurts there, could not be described better.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

People meet near the end of their lives, going to a distant place for most of them. A place totally different from where they have grown, a place with a different culture, habits, a place that insults the senses as no other place can do that. Yet, it is like a wave: resist and you are lost, go with it and you’ll get to the other side. English self-sarcasm at its best, well portrayed characters, and so much
wisdom in that film that it could not but come from a book.It is not only the tag line I adored in the movie:

• The only failure is the failure for not trying
• The measure of success is the way we deal with failure
• Everything will go alright at the end and if it does not, it is not the end yet!

It is the way they are blended into the plot, the density of the story, the acting, … everything, at the right amount. What could a better closing be than the scene where two cross-cultural, at opposite ages, couples greet each other bike-riding?

My rating: 08/10