City of Life (2009)

Country: United Arab Emirates

Language: Arabic, Hindi, English

Actors: Sonu Sood, Alexandra Maria Lara, Saoud Al Kaabi, The Narcicyst, Susan George, Jason Flemyng, Ahmed Ahmed, Jaaved Jaffrey

Director: Ali F Mostafa

This is the second time I watched this movie. The first time was at DIFF (Dubai International Film Festival) quite some time ago. The first time I watched it there was a certain amount of awe, a WOW factor enveloped me. A film from & about the place I live in, Dubai. By a Emirati director, an young director who was trying to break the stereotype and addressing issues that are discussed a great deal and detail within and outside Dubai.

This time I watched it as another international movie. There were some things in common I found both times I watched this movie.

It is a good movie, gripping storyline and it is very well done. The director I’m sure did a great deal of research to chisel the characters to perfection, you can feel it when you watch the movie. All three protagonists, the Emirati youngster, the taxi driver & the airhostess remain in your mind for a while after you’ve finished watching this movie. You should also commend the director for his narrative, that is another reason why the characters and story get etched in your mind for a while.

May be this movie would have been a bit more interesting if the 3 episodes were treated as standalone rather than running all three stories in parallel. When I try to visualize this movie in my head as a pulp fiction it sounds as interesting as a Amores Perros. When I say this don’t try to compare the storyline, just imagine treating "City of Life" the Iñárritu way. Doesn’t that sound exotic ? That would have raised this movie to the next level, a SuperWatch.

Very well done movie, surely a good watch. Highly recommended.

Incendies (2010)

Language: French / Arabic

Country: Canada

Actors: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Rémy Girard

Director: Denis Villeneuve

A story based on the play Scorched by Wajdi Mouawad. It was on the shortlist for an Oscar as the Best Foreign Language movie in the 83rd edition in January 2011.

A complex storyline about fractured relationships and how the death of a woman tries to fix those fractures. The first half an hour was ordinary (for me) and then the movie gathers momentum to become one of the best movies of recent times.

One should credit the playwright, Wajdi Mouawad for giving us such a wonderful story and Of course the director, Denis Villeneuve for extracting the maximum out of the story. Unfortunate this brilliant movie had to lose out to another brilliant movie, Hævnen / In a better world from Denmark.

The one drawback I can think of is the jerk I felt getting into and coming back from flashbacks. I thought the transition gave me a bit of a shock every time it happened, may be the director intended it to be this way. This little thing can’t take the sheen out of this superb movie.

Lovely movie, loved Grégoire Hetzel’s music.

Very highly recommended.

Hors La Loi / Outside The Law (2010)

Arabic / French from Algeria, Rachid Bouchareb.

It's about the struggle for Algerian independence... This would beat any Western / Gangster movie hands down.

Amazing !! I stil wonder why this movie lost out in the Oscar race 2011. Much recommended

Ajami (2009)

Arabic / Hebrew by Scandar Copti & Yaron Shani. A pulp fiction, superbly done... Has a documentary feel so it seems more realistic than a normal movie #SuperWatch #Movie