10 great films by anand gandhi

8/13/2019 10 Great Films by Anand Gandhi

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Du Levande (You, the Living)Roy Andersson50 hyperreal and urbsurd (urban absurdity, a word coined by Khushboo Ranka to catalogue the

specific genre of surreal ironies manifesting in urban settings) vignettes seem to traverse a

range of human misery, from alienation to apocalypse, and still manage to leave you with asense of wonder (and even joy). The coldness of the fourth wall is reinstated in every frame,

distancing the audience from the mirror to their desires, anxieties, insecurities and epiphanies.

The cast of non-actors are studied pathologically in a sort of a human zoo. Every frame is a

stunning piece of art, with a colour palette that can be described only as edible or dreamable,

held together by the zombie like pale make-up worn by the actors.

The Turin HorseBela Tarr & Ignes HranitzkyIf nightmares are our mind's way of preparing itself for eventualities, this one prepares us for theworst - the end of the world, the suspicion that daily rigmarole is indeed absent of purpose, and

the realisation of the complete absence of meaning. The tragedy of day to day existence is the

other side of the inch by inch destruction of the world. From the haunting images by Fred

Kelemen to the hypnotic score by master composer Vig Mihaly, the genius of Tarr and Hranitzky

is in setting up the right triggers for every member of the audience to have their own personal

enlightenment. If there is such a thing as a peaceful, soothing death, Bela Tarr's masterpiece is

an insight into what that might be like. (At the risk of committing blasphemy, may I suggest that

you hold a loved one's hand, as you walk on this edge of the world).

UndergroundEmir Kustur icaThis is one loud drunken Balkan stupor; baroque, gaudy, insane, epic, plenitudinous, layered

with vodka wisdom and plum rakija insights into all things primitive - love, betrayal and war;

produced by a country that exists no longer, directed by the super brat of Eastern European

cinema. It is a celebration of devastation, a distilled (to some, reduced) polemic absent of

political chicanery, a panegyric for innocence and longing. This is grandeur upgraded, it's Fellini

ver. 2.

The White RibbonMich ael HanekeThe American polemist Sam Harris, in his bullet thesis arguing the impossibility of free will,

draws upon an episode of mindless cruelty to penetrate into the nature of choice and action,

and the forces that guide them. It doesn't seem like a coincidence that Haneke chose a very

similar episode in Funny Games to deconstruct the triggers in our environment that compel us


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to choose the course of action we take. From The Seventh Continent to The White Ribbon, the

subject of Haneke's very disturbing constructs of violence, guilt, evil, fascism, conformity, and

fanaticism, is indeed the suspicion of the absence of free will. With clinical observation and

organised spontaneity, Haneke constructs a psycho-socio-political Rube Goldberg machine that

has been set to motion by forces beyond the individual capacities of his characters, and will

inevitably lead to consequences that are now a part of our shameful past. Haneke, whileseemingly cold and punitive, is also an author of great empathy and redeeming power.

Holy MotorsLeos Carax"All art aspires to a condition of music." - Walter PaterIn that, Holy Motors achieves the state of Baroque music. It is a thoroughly engaging, surprising,

ecstatic, tragic, playful and self reflexive magic trick, constantly playing on your expectations

from the real and the imagined. It invites you to participate in solving a complex puzzle, only to

realise that the scope of the puzzle is far beyond the riddles presented by Carax and hisnamesake character (Leos Carax is Le Oscar ax). This film is a field day for a neuroscientist,

especially a neuro-aestheticist. Wonder occurs when the whole is greater than the sum of its

parts, and in that, Holy Motors is also truly wonderful. ---------------

TaxidermiaGyorgy PalfySurreal, grotesque and incredibly inventive, Taxidermia is a bizarre tale of the limits of the

human body, a rich allegory of post war Hungary, and a stunning visual experience that is also

an endurance test.

DogtoothGiorgos Lanth imosDogtooth gives us a glimpse of a new way of looking, while challenging (if not shattering) our

long held beliefs of filial obedience, compliance and sanctity. It's a social satire with two

perfectly delivered experiences - suspense and wonder.

Gulabi GangNishtha JainMy favourite Indian film this year is a richly detailed portrait of Sampat Pal, the founder of the

courageous women rights organisation Gulabi Gang, a document of their struggles against rural

Indian caste politics and corruption, and a re-invention of the detective genre.


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The Act of KillingJosh ua Openheimer

A human experiment in continuum with the infamous Stanford prison experiment and the

Milgram experiment, only far more complex (and certainly not unethical). This film might well bethe beginning of a long pending trial.

4I lya Khrzhanovs kiyThree people walked into a bar. Not a joke, but what a yarn! Old women in a village mourn the

death of a young woman, their livelihood depended on her. It involved chewing bread into wet

spongy paste, with their teethless gums, that she would use to make dolls. Was she one of the

discarded clonal twin? (An indescribable film clearly - let's watch it as we anticipate the

director's epic human experiment "Dau").

10 great films by anand gandhi

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