Burn After Reading – Movie Review

Burn After Reading – Review ( English Film )

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity

– Charles Mingus

 

Burn After Reading is Joel and Ethan Coen’s first movie after their Academy award-winning No Country For Old Men. A black comedy set in an urban neighbourhood, the directors have woven a simple story with a bit of a twist and of course, morbidity — a Coen trademark.  

 

The cast is absolutely star-studded, with John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) plays a drunkard CIA analyst who decides to quit after being demoted (almost fired) by his boss. His idea of penning his memoirs doesn’t go down too well with his wife Katie (Swinton), who thinks of her husband as a nincompoop. She plans to divorce Osbourne and at the behest of her lawyer, copies several documents from his personal computer onto a CD.

 

Things go haywire when the lawyer’s receptionist accidently leaves the CD at her gym. Physical fitness trainer Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) gets a hold of it and along with his co-worker Linda Litzke (McDormand), decides to blackmail Osbourne. The funny part of it all is that when Osbourne refuses to co-operate, the naïve duo decide to hand over the CD to the Russian Embassy.

 

In the meanwhile, Katie is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), a married womanizer who works as a treasury agent. Harry meets Linda on an Internet dating website and starts dating her too.

 

The CIA, in the meanwhile, is keeping tabs on the Cox household to make sure Osbourne does not prove a serious embarrassment to them — and the complicated plot takes a radical twist with the death of Chad in Cox’s apartment.

 

I won’t reveal any more because this is one of the movies where any kind of explanation fails to do justice — but I assure you its worth a watch. All the actors have done brilliantly well, especially Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand. Burn After Reading is pure entertainment with an added dash of zest. The background score, according to me, is apt and sometimes delightfully deceitful. It’s not another No Country For Old Men, but it’s certainly a classy, light version of the Coen magic. Keep smiling and prepare to be surprised.

 

Rishio Rating – 3.9/5

 

 

 

 

Tingya Review – Marathi Movie

Tingya Review – ( Marathi Movie )

 

Tingya is dedicated to the 1,31,040 farmers who committed suicide between 1993 to 2006 – that is 9,360 a year, 780 a month and 26 a day. In this era of globalization who can be luckier than ‘we, the living’.

 

The movie starts off along these powerful lines. It is one of the few works that has revived a massive interest in Marathi Cinema and has made it to this year’s Oscars as an independent entry. It was also competing for the spot of official Indian entry in the Foreign Film category, but that honour eventually went to Taare Zameen Par.

 

The plot is carefully woven around the plight of farmers in Maharashtra, focusing on one family among many that face the brutal and harsh reality of survival. First-time director Mangesh Hadawale tells the touching story of the relationship between Tingya (the protagonist, a young boy) and his pet bull. The animal takes seriously ill, causing the family a lot of hardship as they can neither afford treatment for it nor buy a new one.

 

Tingya’s father decides to sell the bull to a butcher at the village fair, so that another one can be bought to replace it. This angers the young boy, who is deeply attached to it. Till the very end Tingya hopes for a miracle, so that the bull can remain his pet and not be sold to the butcher. But unfortunately, reality strikes hard and Tingya has to contend with the hardships of life.

 

The movie has been brilliantly shot in the deep farmlands of Maharashtra and is rumoured to have been made at the cost of a mere Rs 27 lakh. The director has taken a very bold step in choosing this script. The cinematography, contrary to some critics’ opinions, is extraordinary. Among the actors, Sunil Deo and Sharad Goekar stand out; they are absolutely fabulous. Technically, Tingya could have done a little better, but with a budget like that, hats off to you Mr. Mangesh. I have also heard that many producers refused to finance the movie after reading the script. My sympathy goes out to them, may their souls rest in peace.

 

The movie has won several national and international accolades and in my opinion deserved to represent Indian cinema at the Oscars. Most filmmakers who are inspired by real-life issues tend to lean more towards documentaries. But Tingya is not one of those — don’t miss it. And don’t forget it was competing with Taare Zameen Par, which had a budget of a whopping Rs 50 crore.

 

Rishio Review Meter – 4/5