A ‘HUNGARIAN GOULASH’ FILM FESTIVAL!

A ‘HUNGARIAN GOULASH’ FILM FEAST!

Hi my dear friends on FB!

I was lucky enough to see three films under the auspices of Banner Film Society here on Sunday the 22^nd—viz. “City Lights” directed and acted in by Charlie Chaplin, Tokyo Story directed by Yasujiro Ozu and The Godfather Part II directed by Francis Ford Coppola. To say that I was floored by this fantastic experience is an understatement.

Film societies in general function in spite of many constraints –availability of projection venue, timely obtainment of the films as such, access to a good reliable projection system etc.–and Banner is no exception to this rule of thumb! FILCA is slightly luckier by comparison.

Charlie Chaplin (whom they say was not identified at first by a group of American journalists and reporters who visited his home of a morning!) is I feel sure in my bones, a true genuine self-made role model for ALL actors and actresses.

His body language and skill in ventriloquism –ALL thespians need both these–he seems to have perfected to a T. He embodied a kind of humor that can be labeled as innocent—nothing bawdy or exaggerated about it. His is a kind of controlled acting with nothing in excess.

The tramp role he plays to perfection in “City Lights” impresses you and me for being gentle, thoughtful, caring, self-abnegating and modest. The flower girl in the film is not unique but a true representative of the differently abled who tend to be clingy upon anyone they feel can help them.

That Charlie Chaplin, if viewed as an all-time great actor, is well-deservedly so is adequately clear in this single film. In the course of the story development—i.e.in the film—he lets his body articulate a thousand different emotions, likes dislikes, attitudes and moods.

Even at the moment climax- the recognition of his true identity by the flower girl, now able to see the world-his acting is severely controlled in tune with his temperament and his relegation as a mere tramp!

“Tokyo Story” directed by Yasujiro Ozu is another classic. It tells the sorry of how a parental couple gradually discovers the futility of giving all their love and attention to their kids in the light of the drastic change that most of them undergo in the course of their individual lives.

The sons are busy and have little time to spare for their dad and mom. One son is gone tangential and appears only after his mom is no more, content with the imperfect world she has seen around in Tokyo.

Even the daughters have undergone change in pursuit of perpetuating their own nuclear households which means that the parents are not getting adequate attention at their homes!

I would like to dwell somewhat at length on that 1974 classic titled “The Godfather Part II”.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, this is a classic by all criteria—even in its cinematography component! – and the story moves at a nail-biting as well as edge-of-the-seat pace too. It opens in Palermo, Sicily, Italy with a funeral procession where the body of the presently young hero’s father is going to be buried and shots punctuate the same killing many.

 

Ciccio, a rival mafia leader has taken his revenge on the Corleone Mafia Family with this unprovoked act merely to display his superiority in criminal professionalism. The mother of the boy- the bereaved wife of the dead man—is soon brought in to the presence of this cruel local satrap.

Lest he—Michael Corleone– be killed the boy is sent away to escape from Ciccio’s vengeance. He escapes to the US hidden under some luggage and there he grows into a mafia leader himself.

“Godfather Part II” demonstrates how he gradually consolidates his power and influence in the US and how he ensures the elimination of not only all his possible rivals and opposed malcontents but also even Ciccio his dad’s murderer at the end!

All of us have at least roads diverging away from each other and leading up to much that is unpredictable in front of us as we grow. One of these two roads is Goodness and Decency and the other is Criminality and Evil.

Thank Jesus most of us, perhaps guided by our parents, opt for Goodness and end up as good–evil compromises of some kind. Our education input also emphasizes in no uncertain terms the need for maintaining this goodness all through to the end.

But wait a bit!

Think of the infinite possibilities—for exploring infernal actions– if we choose Evil and Satan mindsets for a change or for diversion! ”Not to know me argues yourself unknown” declares Satan—in the guise of the Golden Serpent in the Garden of Eden—to naïve Eve!

And this is true; if Godhead is the obverse side of a coin, Satan comes up on the reverse of the same coin called existence!

“The Godfather”—which displays how a simple toddler gradually ends up as a heartless criminal and killer of his own siblings if needed– represents the probable consequences of choosing Evil and Satan over God and Virtue and also tells us much about the negligible priority that criminals give to individual human lives!

Bye!