Some lesser works of greater artists.

Mostly films are seen as a source of entertainment. Some of them get a lot of commercial success and are considered Blockbusters. However, I believe that most film-makers as well as movie stars would agree that while they work on a film they have no idea as to how the film would perform once it hit the theatres. It is also true and has been found in abundance that many films that had been worked upon with the greatest dedication and by the best people in the business disappointed the cash counters or were not as impressive in their collections as well as their impact on the audiences. On the other hand, movies that were made in haste or with a constraint on the budget turned out to be big surprises. Not that they were less wonderful in any way, but the expectations were low from them and also perhaps, a reason for low expectations, they did not involve the best people in the business.

I have always felt that some movies are so well ahead of their times that they fail to enthrall audiences at all. Later on, these films go on to become cult movies. A brilliant example here is that of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) which was the last directorial venture of the great film-maker Stanley Kubrick. It is brilliant yet not considered close to his 'usual' hits like A Clockwork Orange (1971) or The Shining (1980). I believe that the movie has created a niche for itself over the years and, well, maybe some years later it might get tagged as a 'Cult Classic'.

One other recurring thought that I always have is that some movies just like cult hits are not there in the popular culture as much as their other counterparts. For example, if one were inquisitive enough to inquire into the war movies which Steven Spielberg has made over his entire career, one would usually get recommended a Saving Private Ryan (1998) or a Schindler's List (1993). But a warm and brilliant movie of the same genre was also directed by Spielberg that was called Bridge of Spies (2015). A special thing about such movies is the change in perspective that these movies bring about. They are informative, entertaining as well as low-key. 

Often I doubt whether the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is perhaps the best way to go about getting movie recommendations. Or a movie critic like Roger Ebert could be given such a huge responsibility as to deciding whether a movie is fit to be viewed or not. Well !

Here are some movies that I found great, entertaining as well as informative. However, the love of audiences as well as critics has not been as eloquent for them as it has been for the other works of the same people involved in creating them. 

BRIDGE OF SPIES (2015)

I have to admit that I reckoned the movie to be a typical world war thriller at the first instance. But as I reluctantly moved with the movie I found it totally amazing. The plot of the movie along with some superb cinematography makes the movie stand out amongst all the acclaimed world war movies.

It is basically about an American Tax Lawyer who takes up the case of an accused Soviet spy for the sake of providing him defence in the case to uphold the American values of Justice. He makes progress by getting him off the electric chair (death sentence) by getting a term of life imprisonment for him. He receives a lot of flak and even his family’s security gets threatened since the public gets angry. All for being dedicated to his job, however dishonourable it might have seemed. He finally succeeds in exchanging his client for an American spy.

It changed my entire thought process regarding the limits of dedication which one can stretch beyond any paltry lines of popular acclaim and wealth. The character upholds the highest virtues of professional ethics and loyalty to justice despite suffering initial dents on his personal and professional life.

SCHINDLER’S LIST (1993)

Steven Spielberg made this black and white movie out of a Booker prize winning novel. This film is about a German industrialist who saves the lives of some thousand jews during the holocaust after witnessing their persecution in concentration camps. He does so by employing them in his factories.

It changed my perspective on the impact of the efforts of a single person. A single person who was able to save thousands of jewish lives actually saved several future jewish generations! The part being most commendable is the fact that the person himself was a native German.

THE BIG SHORT (2015)

This epic film is actually a string of stories of some people involved in making money from the Global Sub Prime Mortgage Crisis of 2008 that started in the US and spread throughout the world in varying amounts.

This changed my perspective on globalization and capitalism. As can be found in the movie, we see how greedy bankers sold sub prime mortgage bonds by repackaging them into seemingly safer CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligation) taking advantage of the real estate bubble and their deeds brought the entire financial community to a standstill. Supporting such practices were the trusted rating agencies which mislead the society by rating such bonds highly.

A FEW GOOD MEN (1992)

A legal thriller with Tom Cruise as the leading man in his good old days is a treat to watch. That too a movie based on something sensational like what happens behind those closed military doors.

This movie is about a reluctant lawyer (Cruise) taking up a case for the court-martial of two U.S. marines charged with the murder of a fellow marine. Apparently the deceased marine transgressed some norms for which he was ‘disciplined’ by the two accused marines on the orders of their Colonel. The act leads to some unforeseen consequences leading to the death of the marine.

The movie is a rare glance at the legal complexities involved in a court martial. It offers an insight into the workings of an entirely opaque system held in the highest esteem.

THE INSIDER(1999)

It is one of the two movies of Michael Mann which I find very cool and timeless. The other one is Heat (1995).

It is a docu-drama centered around the billion dollar tobacco industry. It is about a former executive of a tobacco major who is trying to let off some steam regarding the alteration of the chemical composition of tobacco products by his company, enhancing them to an extent where they might get addictive. Russell Crowe gives a very commendable performance here. I loved him in Gladiator (2000) too.

It brings to light issues such as malpractices in the processing industry, deliberate usage of contents to increase tobacco use (read abuse), failure of judicial and regulatory authorities to curb such practices and also the involvement of money so huge that the settlement of the issue highlighted in the movie was to the tune of some 60 billion US Dollars.

HER (2013)

The movie is basically carried on his shoulders by the brilliant Joaquin Phoenix, perhaps one of the most underrated actors of all time alongside Robert Duvall. I found him at his glowing best in The Master (2012) and Gladiator (2000).

The story revolves around a lonely letter writer, going through a divorce, who finds solace and company in an operating system designed to interact with people by gradually evolving as the interaction between the system and the human grows. What happens next and so forth is worth a watch.

The film throws light on the changing nature of human relationships and how we as humans are dealing with issues like seclusion and loneliness. The impact of technology on dealing with these issues is both drastic as well as dangerous.

JFK (1991)

This less popular but an extremely definitive movie by Oliver Stone is centered around the events and circumstances of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.  Seen from the perspective a New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, it only offers glances at various angles to the assassination . The perpetrators of the assassination are yet to be discovered and the case got closed due to lack of any definitive evidence. Some people were found to have a hand in the event but that was it.

It is revealed in the movie that there could a conspiracy by the Arms Industry and the U.S. armed forces to kill Kennedy since he was a supporter of lesser military interference in other countries like Vietnam. This could have been detrimental to the position of both the actors involved in the conspiracy. A lot needs to be learned regarding the power battle that U.S. and its associates have waged for more than half a century now.

TAXI DRIVER (1976)

I have to admit that I am a little biased towards this movie. I keep talking about it in every movie discussion that I undertake and also in everything I write. I guess a part of it comes from the De Niro worship (Robert De Niro : Actor, Taxi Driver) and some of it comes from the magnificence of the film itself .

The movie centers around a young taxi driver who is an ex U.S. Marine back from the Vietnam War. He likes to drive around for long hours at night and seems disappointed and frustrated with the state of things in the city. This leads to some drastic consequences.

The movie helps develop a perspective, though not a very definitive one, on the issues which soldiers and military men involved in long wars like Vietnam face. Issues like loneliness, difficulty in adjusting to the societal norms, frustration and psychological disorders are some of them.

CITIZEN FOUR (2014)

To be very honest I am a not a big fan of documentary films for the reason that they are boring. Basically a series of interviews clubbed together under the garb of a film! But not this one. A real and gruesome account by Edward Snowden, an ex N.S.A. (National Security Agency , U.S.) employee, about the N.S.A. spying scandal. It is brilliant and horrifying at the same time.

It just brings to the fore the horrible as well as illegitimate spying of the agency on the vulnerable private lives of billions of individuals in the name of cyber counter intelligence: something that emerged in the aftermath of the 2001 World Trade Centre Terrorist Attacks.

Governments do need to put effective checks on the overreach of the intelligence and security agencies which have, many times in the past, gone extremely overboard in meeting their mandates.

P.S. I am limited in my perspective since anyone can only tell from his limited knowledge, which keeps growing and evolving as time passes. I will try and update this post if I find something worthwhile.

Originally written here.