Movie : The Ottoman Lieutenant

Review:
The movie is a love story around World War I, the time when the mighty Ottoman empire (Turkish empire) had just joined forces with the Central Powers, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. A spirited nurse in America is fascinated by a speech of a doctor who runs a remote hospital in the Armenian border, one of the central targets in the impending World War. The doctor claims that irrespective of a Turk, German or a Russian, the hospital treats everyone as equal. The nurse, Lillie Rowe, idealistic in beliefs and positive in life, ventures to travel to the hospital by ship with medical supplies all the way from States to offer her services. She meets a lieutenant of the Ottoman empire at the ship dock, whom she requests to escort her through the desert terrains to reach the hospital.

As they get acquainted, their missions unfold, she seeking to treat the diseased and he on secret ventures to find the weapons of the enemy in various hideouts. They fall in love with each other despite their different political and religious backgrounds. And as every story goes, they have to pay a heavy price, especially because of the precarious environment they are surrounded by.

Amidst the tension of the war, their love is doomed, but they still hold their ideals high offering their services to the countries they serve.

To be honest, the storyline offers nothing new. There are no twists and turns. But The visuals are breathtaking. The formidable Ottoman empire in full glory is a treat to watch. The movie highlights the internal tensions which were majorly responsible for the empire to collapse. 

To summarize, it is a slow paced movie with breathtaking visuals, excellent star cast set on the brink of World War I. If you are interested in war movies, watch this one and you will not be disappointed.


Recommended: 👍👍👍

Movie : Larry Crowne

Starring: Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts
Well, well, well !! That should get the attention. I am a huge fan of Tom Hanks and have never thought twice before picking up any of his movies. He slips into his characters so comfortably that one sometimes tend to forget that he is actually "enacting" a role. He is so subtle, sophisticated and suave and excels in all his roles, be it humor, innocence or weighty. And Julia Roberts opposite him is icing on the cake.

We were looking out for some light-hearted feel-good movies during the holidays and chanced upon Larry Crowne.  It not only has Tom Hanks in the lead, but he has also co-written and edited the script. This is how the story goes.

Larry Crowne is a retired Navy veteran, working in a big retail store as a senior employee. He is the star performer in the store and reaps many rewards for his hard work and exemplary service. One fine day, out of the blue, he is fired from his employment citing his lack of higher education as the reason. The new policies in the establishment demand a basic education requirement for him to continue in his service. Larry heads back home dejected, and with the encouragement of his enterprising neighbor, decides to join college. There he chooses two subjects, economics and public-speaking. He does exceptionally well in economics but fares very poorly in his public-speaking class, whose professor happens to be Mercedes Tainot (Julia Roberts). Mercedes is fighting her own personal battle with her alcoholic husband and is, in general, disinterested and cynical about life. On the Contrary, Larry starts finding his youth back again in college. He sells his car and buys a scooter. He joins a club of young carefree scooter riders, led by Talia and her boyfriend, who want to do something different in life. Talia helps Larry change his wardrobe, his hairstyle and also helps him in decorating his house. Larry's lifestyle is completely changed under the vigilance of Talia. He joins a local restaurant as a cook and starts earning part-time when he is not studying in the college. As an ace student of economics, he figures out that he cannot retain his house under any circumstances and decides to foreclose his loan and moves to a smaller apartment.

As Larry's life gets rosier, Mercedes's sinks. After a nasty fight, she decides to divorce her husband and accidentally encounters Larry on the road. This is the first time where they meet off campus and a series of events further make them change their impression on one another. The term comes to an end, and Larry comes out in flying colors in economics, and to everyone's surprise, even in public speaking.

 All well that ends well, the movie has a fairly tale-ish ending where the "Teaching beauty" finds her prince charming.

To Summarize, the screenplay is a lot more appealing than the script in the movie. The liveliness of the youth, the hustle bustle of the college, the students on the scooter racing on the roads, the after-college cafe-talks, one student helping out another in whatever way they could- this all brings out the charm of the college days back. And for a middle-aged man to experience the college atmosphere again and relishing every bit of it, is a boon by itself.  the movie is so refreshing, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are a treat to watch !!

Recommended : 👍👍👍👍

Movie : Belle

The holiday season we caught up with some good movies. We are glad we picked Belle.

 Rated as one of the top five-period romance movies, Belle is a very fine movie with an excellent plot and solid characterization.

Set in around 1770s, the film is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, an illegitimate,  mixed-race daughter of the nephew of the then Chief Justice of England, Lord Mansfield. Both by birth and color, Belle is considered inferior and beneath the social standards. Lord Mansfield takes her in when she is young and gives her a good upbringing, along with his other fair-skinned grandniece Elizabeth Murray. She is given all the required education and etiquette which befits a lady. However, in any social gathering, she is asked to stay away and is allowed to meet the ladies only after dinner in a private parlor either to play cards or piano or perhaps a long walk in the lawns.

The movie picks up steam with the notorious Zong massacre case which happened in 1781 where more than 100 African slaves were first insured as cargo, later diseased and thrown into the water in the pretext of shortage of water supplies. The traders file a claim to encash 'the human cargo' with the insurers. The insurers refuse to pay the money saying that the slaves were deliberately thrown into the water and it is against humanity to do so. The matter is brought before Lord Mansfield to pronounce the verdict.

Belle, along with Mr.John Davinier, a lawyer who fights for the insurers is instrumental in convincing Lord Mansfield to rule against the traders. The verdict is known in history as a turning point and was a stepping stone for the abolition of slavery in England, though the eradication did not happen for 50 more years.

Belle is shown as a free-spirited rebellious girl, who refuses to accept her disgrace because of her color and birth. She questions everyone, including Lord Mansfield at times, especially when he falters and tumbles under social pressure. Mr.Davinier is a lawyer passionate about his beliefs and works relentlessly to oppose the torture and the brutal massacre of the slaves onboard Zong.

But the man who steals the show is Lord Mansfield, a man who had the power to change the destiny of England. On one side, he had to answer to his own conscience and to his grand-niece 'Dido', to whom his love was unconditional; and on the other, he has to defend his status in a racist society which demanded verdict to let slavery prevail.

The three main protagonists have done a fabulous job. But Tom Wilkinson outshines all of them. The screenplay is excellent and the story flows from one scene to another. There are a few liberties which this film does take,  there are certain scenes which are bold considering the fact that it is a period drama. Especially, the end is a tad too dramatic.

The movie has a fairy tale-ish ending with Belle marrying Mr. Divinier, whose future looks promising with Lord Mansfield taking him as a lawyer into the inner chambers of the court. But on the contrary, this is not the truth.  In reality, Belle remained with Lord Mansfield until his death. He depended on her for all his office work and she was his confidante. In his will, he grants her freedom from slavery and also an annuity making her an heiress.After his death, she marries a Frenchman Mr.Divinier,  a steward to another gentleman, who belonged to the same Parish and bears him three sons. She dies shortly at a young age of 43, just 12 years after Lord Mansfield passes away.

But that does not take away any laurels from a very fine movie which was made on the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle. It brings to light the first verdict which was made against slavery in the history of England.  And as Lord Mansfield says in his own words  "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall".

Recommended : 👍👍👍👍👍

Watch Belle online

Liesure- a poem by W.H.Davis

Tigers for Dinner: Tall Tales by Jim Corbett's Khansama

Author: Ruskin Bond

Overview:
I have been on a Ruskin Bond spree in the holidays, and am so happy to open up this year's reviews with one of my favorite author. His books always make me feel nostalgic, books we have read when we were young and now fortunate enough to read them out to our children.

Tigers for Dinner is primarily meant for children, but adults will love it as much. It is about the author's childhood memories when he recounts the tall tales of his khansama Mehmoud. Mehmoud earlier served as a cook to the famous hunter Jim Corbett, whom he addresses as 'Carpet-Sahib'. Mehmoud had been with his 'Carpet-Sahib' in his various hunting expeditions and has also camped out with him in the nights in the fearsome jungle full of ferocious animals. Later when he joined the household of Ruskin Bond as his khansama, he found a perfect audience in a young innocent boy to narrate his tall tales in which he encounters fearsome beasts and man-eaters of the jungle and boasts about being a hero. Carpet-Sahib would always praise him for his courage and reward him with unique gifts. They were all extraordinary feats of bravery; be it about smashing a tiger with a hot pan and pulling its whiskers away, wrestling a king-cobra barehanded, shooting a leopard with carpet-sahib's gun, escaping from a man-eating tiger which comes to the house seeking revenge, or saving a Maharaja from a wild boar. The boy listens to Khansama's stories wide-eyed and was in awe of his cook's courage. He, in turn, narrates all his stories to his classmates who over a period of time become jealous of him for having a super-hero cook. Only later does he realize that those were tall tales made up and told to him, but still such wonderful stories, that he decides to write a book on it.

Ruskin Bond always keeps it simple, yet beautiful. The same applies to this book as well. The stories are narrated in such simple language but are so vividly described that you wish you were sitting with him and the khansama in the kitchen as their companion and eat the delicacies and drink the seasonal mango milkshakes.

My six year old loved this book. He was listening to the stories wide-eyed and was in awe of Mehmoud who is now his new super-hero along with Jim Corbett. And I have enjoyed reading it along with him, diving into the world of hunters and the hunted, narrated in a lighter vein. Do not miss this book, especially boys under 10 will cherish it for years to come. Let them read and remember Ruskin Bond, as we do, to this day.

Recommended: 👍👍👍👍👍

Buy Tigers for Dinner: Tall Tales by Jim Corbett's Khansama Online