Scenes from Jacques Tati's ' Mr. Hulot's Holiday '

Outreach programme at Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam , Erode.

It was a wonderful experience for Konangal being with one of the finest schools of Tamil Nadu.The outreach programme on 22.02.2007 at Erode Kalaimagal Kalvi Nilayam , an household name at Erode, has further enthused us to take up the screening of films, as a process of sensitisation, particularly among children. It is sad that we could screen the film "Children of Heaven" only to over 690 students in a school which has a total strength of over 6000 and 250 members of staff.

However, the teachers and the management of the school have acknowledged that this was an enthralling exposure to them and the students. Their resolve to see only good cinema and to nurture such values which will groom the children as humane and socially responsible, has humbled us.
The School Correspondent and Managing Trustee Mrs S. Mangalavathy, in her letter addressed to Konangal has stated that " This film is a real boon to the school children, to imbibe in them all divine qualities like love, helping elders and parents, tolerance and taking efforts to achieve their goal" She has further added that "We really appreciate the intention of those who are involved in this kind of service to Education".

Konangal submits our sincere thanks to the school, particularly Ms. Mangalavathi, the Correspondent of the school for giving us an opportunity to be in the midst of their historical school.

Bergman Retrospective - Dinamalar write up . . .

Dinamalar's write up on the recently conducted Ingmar Bergman retrospective is available here. To read the article, just click on the image of the page given here and you will get the enlarged version of this page.

Magic Moments

Ingmar Bergman's films question faith, mortality and loneliness, writes K.JESHI

"The magic of movements is fascinating... those moving shadows on my screen... whenever I make a film, I have the same difficulty, same unhappiness that I'm not able to express it the way I want it," says legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman in an interview.

Film buffs in Coimbatore got a taste of his magical filmmaking at the Bergman Film Festival held recently at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Trust Auditorium.

This is the first in the retrospective series of world masters organised by Konangal Film Society. A 30-minute film about the filmmaker, who retired at the age of 83 and now lives in Sweden, was an added bonanza.

Mystical transition

If The Hour of the Wolf (horror) traces the agony of an artist, the emotionally packed Cries and Whispers converts reality into fiction with one happy moment in the coda (penultimate) scene.

The award winning The Seventh Seal, set in 14th century Sweden, speaks about a man in search of the meaning of life. Death is personified as a character here.

"The transition from fantasy to reality is muted in his films," says D. Anandan of Konangal. In The Hour... the director narrates the story through the eyes of the artist's wife (Liv Ullmann). Through her husband's diary, she takes you into flashback mode to their life in a lonely castle on an island to her insomniac husband haunted by darkness, demons and other creatures of his imagination and to the full-blooded horror that eventually destroys him.

"Every film is a journey from the unconscious to the conscious. His theory is that endurance is possible through art," adds Anandan.

When someone in the audience wanted to deconstruct the movie to understand its depths, Paul Simon, a final year engineering student, said its beauty lay in its ambiguous ending.

"Bergman is not forcing his ideas on us; instead he creates an opportunity to think and interpret," he adds. In Cries and Whispers, four women get together in a manor house. The unmarried sister, Agnes (Harriet Andersson) is dying of cancer and her two sisters come to ease her pain.

For Karin (Ingrid Thulin), the wife of diplomat and a mother of five, life is nothing but a tissue of lies.

She mutilates herself to show her hostility towards her husband and life. The flirtatious Maria (Ullmann) is taken up with her own beauty; morals don't matter. The fourth woman, maid Anna (Kari Sylwan), shares a relationship with Agnes.

Endurance of women

While female critics say the film projects the fears and desires of men, Anandan says it brings out the endurance of women. "Though Agnes takes us through the painful experience of death, that happy moment when all the characters have a nice time in a garden gives it a fictional twist. There is a dream sequence where the body talks, leaving us wondering if Agnes is dead or alive. And, Anna becomes a mother in her relationship with Agnes," he adds.

Some felt the film analysed sexual instincts in a person who was unwell (an issue that current day filmmakers are just learning to deal with) and spoke about how physical pleasures become important to escape pain. "In love, you need to feel and the beautiful relationship between Anna and Agnes is about this feeling," Paul adds.

The blood red backgrounds and the picturesque landscapes captured by Sven Nykvist were other highlights.

Probing death

To understand the religious criticism in The Seventh Seal, the audience was requested to watch it with an `intellectual blanket'. In this, Bergman, an atheist, probes death and makes a subtle commentary on religion. A knight (Max Von Sydow), hoping to gain knowledge about life, challenges Death (Beng Ekerot) to a game of chess.

"Man is perishable but society lives. Bergman shows humanity is the future by saving three people from death in this film," comments Pon. Chandran of Konangal.

The fear factor

"Fear is the core theme in the three films — of death, of relationships and of the unknown. Bergman describes cinema as an `exciting mistress' and theatre as a `faithful wife'. He uses drama-based narration with a lot of satire. Even his stylised narration was a subject of criticism," he adds.

But, as a film buff put it: "Just let the movies sink in. Don't get into the details."

Courtesy : The Hindu - Metro Plus 17 02 2007

Fellini's LA STRADA ( 1954 ) - screening on Sunday , 18th Feb 2007

Winner of Oscar award and another 8 wins & 4 nominations. La Strada is Federico Fellini's moving masterpiece. As defined by the title, La strada, or The Road, is an episodic journey in the lives of three outcasts. Zampano travels from village to village with his motorcycle and three-wheeled trailer performing a strongman's feat of breaking an iron chain by expanding his muscular chest. His act requires a helpmate so he purchases Gelsomina from her destitute mother for 10,000 lire. (Zampano's former helpmate had been Gelsomina's sister who had died on the road.) Gelsomina becomes Zampano's slave. With much difficulty she learns to beat a drum, announce his act—"Zam-pan-o is here"—, play the trumpet, and fulfill his sexual needs. Zampano lives in a world of physical appetites, while Gelsomina communicates with the sea, the birds, the flowers. For a while they join a travelling circus where Il Matto, the equilibrist, taunts the brutish Zampano, and counsels Gelsomina in the spiritual. After leaving the circus, their paths once again cross with that of Il Matto. Fellini closes his film with a chilling scene by the sea where Gelsomina had always felt at home.

The impact of the film is the result of Fellini's poetic imagery and not any cinematic tricks. The most apparent cinematic device is the moving camera and beautiful photography of Otello Martelli. Nino Rota's enchanting musical score has since become an international classic. Most important to the effectiveness of the film is the acting. Quinn's performance as Zampano is superb and brought him long overdue acclaim as an actor of stature, and Basehart is a commendable and mischievous Il Matto. Most outstanding of all is the wonderful face and pantomime of Giulietta Masina whose comedic abilities were compared to those of Chaplin and Harry Langdon. - from www.filmreference.com
Language - Italian, Sub Titles - Tamil, Run time - 107 minutes.

You can visit IMDB -Internet Movie Database for your queries.
' La Strada ' : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047528/

Screening at Ramu Dairy , (Behind Bharat Electronics) 100 Ft Road, Tatabad , Coimbatore.

FREDERICO FELLINI (1920 -1993) is the dirctor of ' La Strada ' . This Italian humanist director was among the most intensely autobiographical film directors the cinema has known. Fellini made 25 films. Won the first ever Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for La Strada in 1957. His four movies, Strada, La (1954), Notti di Cabiria, Le (1957), 8½ (1963) and Amarcord (1973) won Oscar awards. Fellini was voted the 10th Greatest Director of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

TILT AND PAN - Shot 1

This column is exclusively for links to articles / news / reviews related to Cinema available on the net.
End justifying the means.......
'The film desires a completely unregulated utopian space — a dream every neo-liberal would buy '- A.Srivatsan in his commentary on GURU.
Maniratnam’s film Guru was released recently with such fanfare and hype. How original is the film and what does it convey? Can Maniratnam handle social issues or what does he want to say in this film? Just click on this write up info given below :
Read Neo-liberal icon -A. Srivatsan's excellent commentary on Maniratnam's 'Guru' in the Hindu magazine section.

Dinamalar reports . . . .

Courtesy : Dinamalar Epaper 12 02 2007

Much awaited Ingmar Bergman retrospective is over . . . . .

We are overwhelmed by your response.We thank all the film lovers who came and participated in the retrospective from far and near. We now know that you are all there to support us and that gives us more inspiration and strength to continue our pursuit in introducing good cinema to all. We plan to conduct such retrospectives once in two months apart from our regular bi monthly screenings and we are counting on you for your support.

Our heart felt thanks to the press for their continuous support.

Thank you all so much.