Mayank Shekhar (MID-DAY; February 11, 2020)

The Academy doesn't vote for a film. It films its vote, as a moral zeitgeist of sorts, to the world at large. Does it always get it right with the choice of Best Film, though? Can't. That it is radiantly dynamic and self-correcting, year after year, is its notable achievement.

By the Academy, we mean the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — of America, with a much wider international membership, lately — that we know for the Oscars it hands out. And that has no Indian equivalent. Why? Never mind; enjoy your pan masala.

Mindful of the annual 'statement' the Academy makes with its top winner, must admit we got our predictions wrong ('Toughest race at the Oscars 2020', mid-day, Feb 8). Although only partly, since Bong Joon-ho and Parasite, as mentioned, were indeed most likely to win Best Director and Best Picture in our books; if Sam Mendes and his 1917 didn't. And the Parasite gongs for Best Original Screenplay (and, of course, Best International Feature) tallied with our list.

That said, what did we miss? That the most relevant/urgent American statement to be made from a global platform such as the Oscars was not much on the price of war (1917), or indeed the rise of authoritarian leaderships (Jojo Rabbit).

By picking up the first non-English film, and the first winner of Best International Feature, as the overall Best Picture, the Academy was making a full speech on acceptance. Even as Joon-ho warmed American hearts with his acceptance speech — doffing his hat to Hollywood contemporaries/greats, including his long-time cheerleader, Quentin Tarantino, in the same room.

Note that the 'best foreign-language' category has been renamed. 'Foreign' replaced with 'international'. Xenophobia, or morbid fear of the foreigner, grips Trump's America, and so many parts of the world, including ours, where humans are being indiscriminately called illegal, based on their religion, or place of birth, while the same blood flows through all.

Tcha, it's a movies award; let's talk movies. Was Bong Joon-ho, of all, the one to set record in the Oscars' 92-year history? What about Bergman, Kurosawa, Fellini, Truffaut, Renoir… What about whataboutery (in general, in life)? Times they're a changin'. As they must. How about cheering for that (always)?

Sure Joon-ho is already Hollywood mainstream, with his last two films, Snowpiercer (2013), and Netflix original Okja (2017), essentially in English, starring Tilda Swinton, among other major American talents. The latter was globally pushed by the US streaming giant more than any film I know.

Is Parasite squarely a win for South Korea then? As an Asian, tempted to believe so — more so as an Indian who's watched more Hindi films that were remakes of Korean movies than from any other language past couple of decades. So what exactly happened with Korean cinema in late '90s that explains its progressive prominence?

The government. Seriously! Post the 1997 East Asian financial crisis, the state stepped in to raise Korea's self-esteem with direct, strong investments in its 'soft power' — K-pop bands, upwards. No, really. That's what's now resulted in Hullya (Chinese term for 'Korean Wave' in pop-culture).

With movies, they banned censorship. They injected funds into a Korean Film Council, spent on film training at universities, and facilitated a full-on film-industry, pretty much from scratch. Joon-ho belongs to the generation that directly benefited from the Nobel Laureate President Kim Dae Jung's (1998-2003) staggeringly rare, liberal cultural vision, and state intervention.

Which is to take away nothing from how universal, in its specificity, Parasite is. That half-basement could be in Bandra's Chapel Road (have seen one), and the beautiful house on Pali Hill, and nothing about the story would change. This isn't always true for cinema from Seoul. It's not an easy society/culture to penetrate.

For all the Oscar gongs, the Academy couldn't find one performance in Parasite worth a nomination. I'd find it to hard to tell as well. Spotting good writing/filmmaking is easier. Joon-ho's Martin Scorsese quote at the Oscars podium was spot-on still: "The most personal is the most creative." Shouldn't matter where it's from — so long as you don't fear those one-inch tall subtitles! And you accept 'the other'. Good call, Academy. Better late than never.

Okja is a South Korean-American film directed by celebrated filmmaker Bong Joon-ho. The film will be releasing on Netflix on June 28, 2017 and I was among the lucky few to get a chance to see it on the big screen, courtesy the Jio MAMI Film Club. Okja tells the story of a young Korean village girl who has a massive pig as her friend and what happens when a multi-national company attempts to destroy their worlds. This 120 minute long film provides great entertainment in terms of action, laughs, drama etc. At the same time, it moves viewers with its emotional and shocking scenes. There have been many films that have spoken about animal cruelty but Okja stands out and emerges as one of the best in this regard. Child actor Ahn Seo-hyun who plays the lead role is terrific and has a great screen presence. Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal are over the top but that is the requirement of their respective characters. Paul Dano is quite charming. On the flipside, there are too many cinematic liberties but that’s alright due to the gripping narrative and powerful message. Okja is hence a film that shouldn’t be missed!

My rating - **** ½ out of 5!

Anupama Chopra (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 24, 2017)

The 70th Cannes Film Festival has all the ingredients of a great film — beauty and drama, emotion and magic, a bomb threat and even a tragic, unexpected death.

First the numbers — the 10-day festival, which kicked off on May 17, had 61 films in the official selection. There were new movies from some of the world’s great auteurs, including Michael Haneke, Bong Joon Ho and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. The main competition section featured 19 films (including three by women directors). Iconic Spanish director Pedro Almodovar presided over the competition jury, which included South Korean director Park Chanwook, Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain and Hollywood superstar Will Smith.

Hundreds of films — in the official selection and the Cannes market — were devoured by over 25,000 film professionals and 3000-odd journalists. In snaking queues and over-filled bars, the merits of each title were debated. But beyond the movies, there was another topic of conversation — Netflix.

This was the first year that the festival selected two titles by the streaming giant — Bong Joon-ho’s Okja and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories. The Netflix model of streaming films without a theatrical window puts it at odds with the global theatre establishment here, specifically with French exhibitors. In response to the loud protest (Christophe Tardieu, director of the French National Cinema Center described Netflix as ‘the perfect representation of American Cultural imperialism’), the festival introduced a new rule starting next year - All competition titles will have to commit to a theatrical release in France. But the two Netflix titles remain in the race for the prestigious Palme d’Or.

The first screening of Okja had to be stopped because of a technical malfunction — the first I’ve experienced in several years of coming to the festival. There was loud booing when the Netflix logo appeared onscreen. The cast, headlined by Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal, found themselves fielding questions about the definition of cinema. Almodovar added fuel to the fire by declaring at the jury press conference that he didn’t think a film which would never release in a theatre deserved to win the Palme d’Or.

Sadly, in this landmark anniversary year, the Indian presence was negligible — at least in the official selection. Only one Indian film was deemed good enough to participate.

FTII student Payal Kapadia’s Afternoon Clouds, about an elderly woman who lives with her Nepali maid, was among the 16 films showing in the student film section, Cinefondation. In the last five years, India had made some inroads into the festival so its near total absence was a major disappointment — clearly our films aren’t meeting the festival’s quality standards.

But our industry was everywhere. Deepika Padukone, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor walked the red carpet. A R Rahman and Shruti Haasan were there for the launch of Sangamithra – a two-part, Baahubaliesque fantasy epic. Tiger Shroff was there for the launch of his Rambo remake. Madhu Chopra was networking to spread word about the Sikkimese film Priyanka and she are producing – Pahuna. Nandita Das and Nawazuddin Siddiqui were promoting their new project Manto.



According to the NFDC market guide, over 80 Indian companies had representatives at Cannes. For India, Cannes is still a marketing and networking platform. But if we wish to be serious players at one of the world’s biggest cinema platforms, our films will have to make a bigger impact than our camera friendly, red carpet-ready stars.

Of course the Cannes red carpet is among the most celebrated in the world. This year, the added security gave it even more drama. On opening night, women in expensive designer gowns had their voluminous trains scanned by guards. Getting into a film required two bag checks and two body scans. One morning, as I stood in the queue, I overheard a woman complaining that security guards were even confiscating cough drops. On the fourth day of the festival, there was a bomb scare and a theatre had to be evacuated.

Two days before that, the deputy director of the Busan Interntional Film Festival suffered a massive heart attack and died in Cannes. At an official dinner held for visiting festival heads and programmers, guests toasted Kim Ji-Seok, who was among the founding members of Asia’s biggest festival.

Cannes Festival president, Pierre Lescure, spoke about the passion for cinema that drives film festivals around the world. This passion is the throbbing heart of Cannes. The impossibly glamorous South of France location, the staggering beauty displayed on the red carpet every evening, the designer stores dotting the landscape, the swanky yachts and helicopters are merely peripherals. Cannes is a celebration of cinema unlike any other. As AR Rahman put it — happy accidents happen here! I can’t wait to return.