The fifty-year-old American classic ‘Twelve Angry Men’ inspires the movie 12. The American film is truly a masterpiece that sets as an example of American filmmaking. That is not to say 12, which is a Russian version is not powerful; though you cannot term this as a remake. The director of 12 Nikita Mikhalkov successfully makes a superb movie in spite of getting inspired with another great movie of all times.

Film: 12
Cast: Sergey Makovetsky, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Garmash, Alexey Petrenko, Yuri Stoyanov, Sergey Gazarov, Mikhail Efremov, Valentin Gaft, Alexey Gorbunov, Sergey Artsybashev, Victor Verzhbitsky, Roman Madianov, Alexander Adabashian, Apti Magamaev
Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
Writers: Nikita Mikhalkov, Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky-Vlasov based on Reginald Rose’s script.
Running Time: 2 hours 33 minutes
Rating: 3.5/5

The film 12 discloses a new dimension in the jury verdict where one of the members is not angry like the others but he is more worried.

The story is about a dozen jury members who are boiling with exhaustion and eager to get back home soon. It is preconceived that the young man accused of murder is guilty of the crime. And the voting results show that eleven members vote for conviction while one member is against. This leads to lengthy arguments and the fundamentals of justice are challenged.

Reginald Rose wrote the actual screenplay for the CBS drama showcase ‘Studio One’ in 1954 and was featured live. And Russia got its hand on this film at the right time. The original movie glorified the right to a fair trial where as the Russian film is released at a time when their jury system has emerged after a trail of Communist party show trials.

The accused is a young chap from Moscow is new in town and the film shows hostility for the Chechens and also touches upon anti-Semitism. And the jurors are thinking about instant millionaires of Russia when the land is actually poverty-stricken.

None of the jury member is identified with a name, though the director plays the role of a jury foreman. Eventually each of the jury members narrates a story or unfolds a secret. The fellow jurors are influenced to reconsider their decision to vote for conviction. None of the jury member is weak in character and their powerful role does not drift you to boredom in a 2 ½ long movie.

The jury members are forever in the a school gymnasium that is next to the court room but their stories are intricately performed that the audience will start imagining the settings and it actually feels like play aired on the radio.

There is a superbly shot scene by camera person Lumet when a sparrow flies on the window and is chirping constantly, which is symbolic of the jury’s plight. Along with the director he has done a splendid job and used the camera remarkably following the jurors as they walk around the courtroom.

People who have already seen the American film will know the story as to how it will unfold and also know what will be the ending. The director Mikhalkov has retained all that and Reginald Rose occupies a place in the credits. Mikhalkov has done a commendable job in his own style with real characters and stories and the movie does not make you think about the climax but you will appreciate the way it leads to the end.

The film 12 (one room a dozen men) is rated as PG-13 because of the violent images, sex and drug referencing, smoking and disturbing content.

Steven Soderbergh revisits the myth of Che in 2 episodes of 2 hours each. If the first can be gained by the exaltation of the Cuban victory, the second is lost in the stalemate in the Bolivian conflict.

Rating: 3/5
Cast: Demián Bichir, Rodrigo Santoro, Benicio Del Toro, Catalina Sandino Moreno, María D. Sosa, Raúl Beltrán, Raúl ‘Pitín’ Gómez, Paty M. Bellott, Othello Rensoli
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh

For some, he is a hero. For others, the incarnation of evil. For all, it is, and has remained the strongest symbol of the Cuban revolution. After Walter Salles and his “Motorcycle Diaries”, the turn of Steven Soderbergh (”Traffic,” “Erin Brockovich”) to present his “Che”, with many years of research.

Dividing its ambitious undertaking to recount the two major guerrilla campaigns carried out by Ernesto Guevara – in Cuba and Bolivia – 2 films of two hours each (presented in a separate block with a short intermission), Soderbergh chooses resolutely towards myth than man. Treated as a figure rather than as a being of flesh and blood, Che appears in its most iconic, the most memorable. To learn more about his commitment and his feelings, we must read elsewhere. We are not in a biopic. Like the commitment of his heroes in “Che” are the revolution and inspiring ideas that come first.

In the first part, the process works well. Despite the mounting chaos. Despite the absence of large pieces (the reasons for the involvement of Che, for example). One shudders at the first meeting among friends in Mexico in 1955, between Fidel Castro (Demián Bichir, excellent) and Guevara, the feeling of seeing history written in front of our eyes jumped at the throat. It can be caught by the revolutionary blast leading the 80 men arrived by boat on the island of Cuba.

We admire the ethics and integrity of thought in the process of shaping a new country. It was the breath before the oratory skills of Guevara at the United Nations, extracts of black and white streaky her story. The enthusiasm of the vast history walk takes all in its path. Soderbergh trust our sense of the myth of justice and freedom. Benicio del Toro, who won at Cannes for this role, also producer of the film, is perfect, giving just enough weight and substance to the hero for not letting him go down under the weight of its own idealism.

It’s in the second part, the mechanism starts to creak. After the excitement, the stalemate. The Bolivian campaign, begun in 1967, is a debacle. The local Communist Party drops the guerrilla fighters struggling to convince farmers and Che suffers from increasingly violent asthma.

Soderbergh attempts to transform his film with a kind of clued mysticism, plunging at the pit of harassment and discouragement of a man uprooted, wrongly convinced that the Revolution may extend its tentacles to change throughout the Latin America. Existential poetry was not far away, Terrence Malick would have perhaps found. Unfortunately, it is lost by turning scenes of long and repetitive fighting, filmed without much soul. And it’s not the appearance of Matt Damon that will entertain. The party is well and truly lost. Benicio del Toro remains at the top of his art, fragile and emaciated on the intensity of his incarnation to a climax during a particularly moving final sequence.

A group of Special Ops Reservists on a mission in the harsh and hostile terrain of Afghanistan find themselves lost in a Middle Eastern “Bermuda Triangle” of ancient evil. The Star cast in the movie are Jonas Ball, Matthew R. Anderson, Jon Huertas, Michael C. Williams, Sam Hunter, Jeff Prewett.

Three Jewish brothers escape from Nazi-occupied Poland into the Belarussian forest, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and others in danger. The Star Cast in the movie are Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, George MacKay, Tomas Arana, Alexa Davalos, Mark Feuerstein, Iben Hjejle , Mia Wasikowska

THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from “The Odyssey,” “Huck Finn” and “The Lady with the Little Dog.” Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life – this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna’s past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives. THE READER is a story about truth and reconciliation, about how one generation comes to terms with the crimes of another. The Stars in the movie are Ralph Fiennes, Jeanette Hain, David Kross, Kate Winslet, Susanne Lothar, Alissa Wilms, Florian Bartholomäi.

Rating: 3/5

Tom Cruise in Lions for Lambs

Derek Luke and Michael Pena portray the role of two college students, high on patriotism, inspired by their professor Robert Redford. The movie opens with a heated class discussion initiated by the two on the different aspects of patriotism. They argue that there should be no eleventh grade and that youngsters should join the American war effort in large numbers. Both are driven by ideals of sacrifice and finally enlist in the army to serve in Afghanistan. When this happens, Redford is both proud and distressed.

Meryl Streep in Lions for Lambs

Simultaneously there is a breaking story on air between an upcoming senator Tom Cruise and a senior journalist, Meryl Streep. She aims to learn from the senator, about a new strategy for war in Afghanistan that will have implications on the lives of the two young soldiers, all of course in the name of patriotism. The interview between the two is a match between the journalist’s innocence and the senator’s jingoistic patriotism that makes you want to trust the Government and its policies in Afghanistan.

Cut to Redford with his indifferent student Andrew Garfield. Redford tries hard to jar his student’s sensibilities, as he realizes that present day students just don’t care enough for what goes on beyond their daily lives. He knows it’s his mission to teach future generations about values and ideals, but is fearful that none will stop to pause and listen. This interaction ends abruptly with Garfield displaying some emotion towards the end.

Robert Redford in Lions for Lambs

The film has a stellar star cast that delivers great performances. Tom Cruise is impressive as the senator and delivers an intense performance. The dialogues are a bit long, but manage to convey the contemporary thoughts cutting regarding American presence in Afghanistan, across the political spectrum of America. They are interesting as they form the thread that links the three different situations together. The film tries had to convey a message or to take a stand, but fails to achieve this objective. This is not the director’s fault, given the complex nature of the problem, but overall Lions for Lambs is refreshingly candid and worth a watch.

Rating: 3/5

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Rating: 3/5

When you talk about the film Rescue Dawn, you can’t help but think about the director Werner Herzog’s previous forays into documentaries and docu-dramas such as White Diamond, The Wild Blue Yonder, Grizzly Man and many more. With Rescue Dawn, Herzog presents to us, once again, the story of Dieter Dengler. The latter was a POW who never gave up. Once previously, Herzog has presented a documentary named “Little Dieter Needs to Fly.” on the same subject. This time though, he has Americanized and jazzed the script up a little.

Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn

This film revolves around Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) who is a good old American G.I . and who has been sent for duty to Laos in 1965. One moment, the man is flying in the air and the next moment, he is shot down and lost in the jungles. To top it all, he is taken in as a POW and kept in a camp. Here, he meets other POWs like himself. Only, these men have no hope left and have more or less given up the thought of freedom. In this darkness, he finds Duane (Steve Zahn), who is a helicopter pilot and Gene (Jeremy Davies). Unlike his comrades, Dengler refuses to loose hope and tries to get everyone’s spirits up. Very soon, he hatches an escape plan and the other two lap it up and decide to go for it, though with a lot of trepidation.

Expectedly, the movie has some remarkable force and also sports some very good actors. Christian Bale has given an exemplary performance as the maverick Dengler and adds a lot of American cockiness to the fine tuned version of the actual Dengler. The scene where Bale brashly calls out a loud Howdy to his captors is very well done and says a lot about Dengler’s personality.

Christian Bale and Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn

But one thing that I found odd in this film is that it all seems surreal. Accepted that Dengler’s is a true story and the film Rescue Dawn is based on it. But Herzog has made Dengler into Mr. Perfect. There is no vulnerability in the character. He is always up for a fight, always cheering people up, never sad or down. He has taken away the essence of what being a POW means. So the only thing lacking in Dengler’s character is the human touch. If this little detail had not been avoided so blatantly, there would actually have been no flaw that anyone could point out. So if Mr. Herzog ever comes up with a different take on Dengler, I hope he remembers the man before the hero.

Rating: 3/5

© hamaraphotos.com