Rescue Dawn (2006)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462504/.

Herzog goes to Hollywood? Not quite, though definitely not one of his best. To me Herzog is rain-forests and significant in the protagonist's character, as he takes on the...mountain, jungle, river, whatever. This movie has both. 7.50/10 for me.

Evening (2007)

Story of a woman on her death-bed as she remembers about a "mistake" committed in past, long long time ago. Long long time ago she went to one of her best friend's wedding, whose younger brother had a crush on her. She did not, and ended up sleeping with this guy who both her best friend and her younger brother had a crush on. And the brother died in a hit and run. While she was in bed with this guy, or so she thinks.

Some think its mesmerizing, others find it boring. I find it somewhere in the middle. Good acting by Venssa Redgrave and others. 5.5/10.

Zir-e noor-e maah (2001)

In what I am now discovering to be a typical Iranian style (if it is a formula it is a rather complex one) Seyyed Reza Mir-Karimi's Under the Moonlight starts with a simple trigger and goes on to take serious shape. A madarada student doesn't really want to become a priest and go to back to village finally decides to do it for his father's sake. He buys cloth and shoes for the ceremony, which is stolen by an urchin on the train. The rest of the movie is this guys hunt for the stolen goods, his meeting "people under the bridge" where the urchin hangs out and discovering things more important then ceremonies. Perhaps a little naive, black and white; the poor are essentially nice people suffering for no fault of theirs. Still, very touching. 7/10.

I have seen now a few "hunting for stolen goods" movies. From best southwards, I would order them Nora Inu, Blue Umbrella and then this, Under the Moonlight.

Se, jie (2007)

Completed Ang Lee's much hyped thriller set in WWII China. Definitely very enjoyable but far from a classic. 6/10

Gandhi, My Father (2007)

The subject is close to heart so obviously enjoyed a lot. The making is quite decent. Excellent performances by all four leading actors. But somewhere I felt the movie was unfair to Harilal Gandhi. He keeps saying his parents are responsible for his failures but the movie itself does not demonstrate that, nor does it assert that Harilal is wrong.

Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)

Translation: Lost Moon. Story of a woman lost in the world of 70s (and earlier) Hindi Film Industry. Problem is, so is the movie, lost in the world of the aforementioned. While the same aforementioned is portrayed very well, it is at the cost of story telling. I had a hard time keeping track of the story. Comparing to the other Actress in dirty industry with wolves all around movie, Bhumika, this one can't hold a candle at it.

Sudhir Mishra is a good film maker, but I sincerely did not enjoy this on. Soha Ali Khan is a fine actress, but then I became her fan when I saw her on Sa-Re-Ga-Ma-Pa a few weeks back.

5.5/10.

Khamosh Pani (2003)

AKA Silent Waters. Story of a the emotional trauma of a mother as she sees her son -- and a country -- descend into fundamentalism. The subject of partition is close to heart and therefore appealing. The movie is also well made and we enjoyed watching it. But I think the subject and events are lot more powerful then the making.

The one I watched has a short interview of the lead actress Kirron Kher in the beginning where she says the director Sabiha Sumar is a Pakistani, married to Sri-Lankan, living in Delhi. Talk about regional integration.

The story reminds one of Pinjar, Punjabi girl left behind in Pakistan during partition marries a Muslim and converts to Islam. But the stress is on the woman's emotions in Pinjar while the political implication in Khamosh Pani. Though the making is better here too, I think I enjoyed Pinjar a lot more, probably because I was hearing Amrita Pritam's writing instead of the Dwivedi guy's making.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0357283/. 6/10