Motor Cycle Diaries
When the benevolent Father Benny Benedict, the most unpriest-like priest I've ever come across told abt the screening of Motor Cycle Diaries at the Janasamskara Kendra, I rushed to the place inspite of my fatigue and ennui.Dragged Jo along for he was gushing abt the musical score in the film.Normally I have a dislike for watching movies that are adaptations of books.Somehow the movies lack the vibrancy that u feel when u first read the book.
Books, when adapted to the movies, lose some of the charm and scope for fancy and fantasy in the mind of the reader. I have rarely come across a flick that has done justice to the book. On the other hand, some books,when visualised, deviate form what the author has been apparently trying to convey and take on the hue of the Director's personal interpretation.
"Agnisakshi" of Lalithambika Antharjanam was one such experience for me where the protagonist of the book Thethi ,or Thethi Edathi,or Devaki Manampilly, or Devi Behan, or Sumithrananda fade into the background in the movie. The way the novelist marks the evolution of the character who duly passes through turbulent domestic, social, & political phases to finally reach the spiritual calm is truly spell-binding.
But curiously, when the movie came out through the young (if u cud call a thirty plus man young, Shyam was young when the movie came) ,promising(?) hands of the director, somehow the centre stage was occupied by none other than Thethi’s husband Unni who was more than ably portrayed by Rajit Kapur.No I wont attempt a feminist reading of the coup that was effected when the book passed from the hands of the women-writer to the man-director. Shobhana was a total disaster as Thethi. She could not even hold a torch to the spirit of Antharjjanam’s most famous creation.
So, what I am trying to tell u is that fate, or rather Jo took me to this film that promised to give us a glimpse of the pre-revolutionary days of the most idolized revolutionary of last century. I had gone there expecting to see some red-hot fiery revolutionaries who might shout slogans at the sight of their leader. Probably they would have been too embarrassed to watch their hero gasp for his breath like a small kid.(By the way, Che was a Doc,an asthmatic one at that…revelations…revelations…)
But in their stead all I could see was some bearded intellectual types who kept scratching their chins ,trying to sport a deep thoughtful look on their lifeless faces.
Beautiful movie. And what visuals! fantastic cinematography.Music blending with the scenes.This time I was happy that I found the movie first and not the book. The movie shows a young Ernesto with his friend Alberto making a trip across Argentina, Peru, Brazil , Chile…and Ernesto’s metamorphosis into Che is accepted by the audience without any murmur.
I found myself weeping as he swam across the metaphorical river that divided the sick and poor from the healthy, the rich. Of course he was swimming towards the bleaker side of the river. On one side his friends asking him to be careful shouting cautions his way…on the other , the cheering crowd of lepers welcoming them into their midst .But wudnt he have felt lonely in the dark cold waters?
What grit! What a life! What a death!
Though not a Che, take the plunge , I must. But dare I?
Books, when adapted to the movies, lose some of the charm and scope for fancy and fantasy in the mind of the reader. I have rarely come across a flick that has done justice to the book. On the other hand, some books,when visualised, deviate form what the author has been apparently trying to convey and take on the hue of the Director's personal interpretation.
"Agnisakshi" of Lalithambika Antharjanam was one such experience for me where the protagonist of the book Thethi ,or Thethi Edathi,or Devaki Manampilly, or Devi Behan, or Sumithrananda fade into the background in the movie. The way the novelist marks the evolution of the character who duly passes through turbulent domestic, social, & political phases to finally reach the spiritual calm is truly spell-binding.
But curiously, when the movie came out through the young (if u cud call a thirty plus man young, Shyam was young when the movie came) ,promising(?) hands of the director, somehow the centre stage was occupied by none other than Thethi’s husband Unni who was more than ably portrayed by Rajit Kapur.No I wont attempt a feminist reading of the coup that was effected when the book passed from the hands of the women-writer to the man-director. Shobhana was a total disaster as Thethi. She could not even hold a torch to the spirit of Antharjjanam’s most famous creation.
So, what I am trying to tell u is that fate, or rather Jo took me to this film that promised to give us a glimpse of the pre-revolutionary days of the most idolized revolutionary of last century. I had gone there expecting to see some red-hot fiery revolutionaries who might shout slogans at the sight of their leader. Probably they would have been too embarrassed to watch their hero gasp for his breath like a small kid.(By the way, Che was a Doc,an asthmatic one at that…revelations…revelations…)
But in their stead all I could see was some bearded intellectual types who kept scratching their chins ,trying to sport a deep thoughtful look on their lifeless faces.
Beautiful movie. And what visuals! fantastic cinematography.Music blending with the scenes.This time I was happy that I found the movie first and not the book. The movie shows a young Ernesto with his friend Alberto making a trip across Argentina, Peru, Brazil , Chile…and Ernesto’s metamorphosis into Che is accepted by the audience without any murmur.
I found myself weeping as he swam across the metaphorical river that divided the sick and poor from the healthy, the rich. Of course he was swimming towards the bleaker side of the river. On one side his friends asking him to be careful shouting cautions his way…on the other , the cheering crowd of lepers welcoming them into their midst .But wudnt he have felt lonely in the dark cold waters?
What grit! What a life! What a death!
Though not a Che, take the plunge , I must. But dare I?
posted by Achinthya at 9:37 PM
4 Comments:
If you think, if you calculate, then you may have lost half the battle. I think the truly committed do not see a "plunge" as a plunge, it is probably more of a reflex for them. Someone, who touches a hot object and pulls back his hand, does not agonize about whether it was proper to recoil, does he?
In any case, since this is an old diary, I hope you have already decided one way or the other about the plunge. Every decision, of course, is the right decision.
I guess u r right. AndI did take the plunge,and as u said, it was the most unpremeditated one.Something that was totally in the opposite direction of what I had always thought to be mine. No regrets either.Thanks.
ങ്ഹും!
നന്നായിട്ടുണ്ട്ട്ടോ...
നാടുവിട്ടതിനുശേഷം നല്ല സിനിമകാണൽ ഇല്ലേ!
There is another interesting film on Che.The film simply titled,'Che' is directed by Stefen sodderberg.
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