The Pianist

Last weekend, I watched, in my opinion, one of the finest movies ever made and was thinking had I watched it before, I would have put it the first and foremost in the challenge which I took to list my favorite movies.

The Pianist is a biographical war drama film of a Polish-Jewish Pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman, starring Adrein Brody. It is about Szpilman’s extraordinary survival during the Holocaust.
The film covers the one-man survival through the Nazi invasion of Poland and the perils he has to face just to stay alive losing everything he held dear to his life including his family, his love, his occupation, status, and his passion, the Piano. It brings forward the miseries faced by one race in the hands of another, treated like worms, tortured to death. To this day one fails to understand what made one race morbid with such arrogant power to try to abolish and exterminate another from the planet. This film is the moving tale of one of the darkest times in the world history as seen through the eyes of one Jew.

Watch it, be prepared to shed a few tears, in the least it will tug at your heartstrings ! A brilliant movie, The Pianist !

Check out my review in the imdb critics section at
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/externalreviews….
The full review could be read at
https://theworldofmovies.com/the-pianist-movie-review/

The Song of Achilles

 Author : Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Note : You will need to know about Trojan war to read this book and understand the characters.

Madeline Miller spins her web of magic with one of the most dazzling retelling of the Trojan war and its main hero, Achilles. Majority of people who have read the Iliad will hold Achilles very close to their heart. We cannot get enough of the killer weapon who took down Hector and opened up the gates of hope for the Greeks to claim victory over the Trojans.

This book is about the life of Achilles told from the point of view of his sworn companion and his dearest friend, Patroclus. The relationship between Achilles and Patroclus has been interpreted differently by various artists through ages. Though Homer’s Iliad terms it as friendship, many artists and poets have long speculated them as lovers.

Madeline Miller explores their romance in great depths in this book. Their love and feelings towards each other are very aesthetically portrayed in the book.

Patroclus is an exiled prince who is granted asylum by Peleus, the king of Phthia and father of Achilles. Achilles takes him in as his sworn companion. As they grow up their friendship deepens and they become inseparable and develop romantic feelings towards each other.

Then the fatal day comes when all the Greek heroes are called upon to fight for the pride of their motherland; A Trojan prince Paris has abducted a Spartan queen Helen. The Greeks have to avenge the insult and plunder Troy.

War does not spare the heroes. Patroclus goes to the battle field disguised in Achilles armor, and dies in the hands of Hector, the Trojan heir. Vengeful and filled with sorrow, Achilles chases Hector, kills him and brutally drags the noble prince’s body tied to his chariot for everyone to witness.

The wrath of God Apollo knows no bounds when Hector dies. He instructs Paris to shoot Achilles with his arrow and deflects the arrow towards his heel, the only vulnerable part of Achilles’ body. The world sees the end of one of the greatest heroes who ever walked this Earth. Achilles,” Aristos Achaion”, the best of Greeks.

It is indeed one of the best books I have ever read in Greek mythology. But one word of caution to the readers, please do read Iliad first before “The song of Achilles” as there are lot of variations in this book compared to the original epic.

Achilles was certainly claimed by Patroclus, his mother Thetis, and also by few women, Deidamia and Briseis for a short period of time. But glory was what the fates promised Achilles, and glory is what claimed him after the war, his name ringing loud alongside iconic Greek heroes like Perseus and Heracles with eternal fame.

And by the time you close the book mourning the death of Achilles, Patroclus and Hector, these words from the movie Troy ring in your ears.

"If they ever tell my story, let them say I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say, I lived in the time of Achilles."

Rating:👍👍👍👍👍

Buy the book online

The Alchemy of Secrets

Read the complete review at:
https://bengalurureview.com/the-alchemy-of-secrets-a-riveting-read-with-genuine-bengaluru-flavors

"war against Corona Virus"- A poem

https://www.amarujala.com/kavya/mere-alfaz/anantha-reviews-war-against-corona-virus

1917

Read the complete review at
https://theworldofmovies.com/movie-review-1917/

Midway

"The sea remembers its own".
If you like war films, do check this space. Had published review of Dunkirk few days back. Midway is another brilliant war movie which is based on the Pacific war between US and Japan, after Pearl Harbor and before the Hiroshima Nagasaki attack.
Check my review in IMDb Critics at
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6924650/externalreviews….
The actual review can be found at
https://theworldofmovies.com/midway-2019-movie-review/

Dunkirk

A special tribute to a special director. Read my complete review of Dunkirk (2017) in IMDb critics .
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5013056/externalreviews… through Theworldofmovies.com.

The review could be found at
https://theworldofmovies.com/dunkirk-2017-movie-review/

Tanhaji

Check out my review in the critic reviews of IMDb through theworldofmovies.com.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8108274/externalreviews…
The detailed review can be read at
https://theworldofmovies.com/tanhaji-movie-review/amp/

Crash Landing on You

Donning the critics hat for IMDb , my review on Crash Landing on You got published under critic reviews on the IMDb site through TheWorldofMovies.com.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt10850932/externalreviews?ref_=m_tt_ov_rt

The actual review can be read at

https://theworldofmovies.com/crash-landing-on-you-review-netflix-series/amp/

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Author : Haruki Murakami

Plot review:

A full blown Murakami experience, I spent late nights and early mornings reading this book. Too surreal, twisted, complex, there are times when I failed to understand what is going on and why I am reading this book, but it is so addictive I could not let go of it.There were bits and pieces which were too lengthy, and most of it other than the central piece is entirely unexplained even in the end. I thought I was a novice and hence could not decipher Murakami's extraordinary intelligence, but figured out through other reviews that no body actually understood this book. The book leaves you with so many questions unanswered.

A 30 year old man, Toku Okada,is living a peaceful life until one day his cat disappears, followed by his wife. In his quest first to find the cat and later his wife, Okada encounters several bizarre characters and finds himself in strange circumstances , where he has to travel to another dimension to reach out to his wife. The characters practice divination, spiritual healing, mystic powers in other dimensions which separate body and mind. The story progresses through different perspectives, one of them being the aftermath Japan faced after the second world war.

Thus I enter the complex web of Murakami's world . 

To summarize, to hell with the logic, I loved reading it !! The book has a magnetic charm to it and Murakami, is one author who demands the reader's attention. You cannot skip a single page, lest some important plot development happens somewhere in the vast labyrinth the master story teller weaves for us !

Recommended: 👍👍👍👍

Buy The Wind Up Bird Chronicle online