09-21-2014, 03:27 PM
Directed by Satyajit Ray. If you don't know international cinema, Ray is like the Kurosawa of India, a dazzlingly powerful director who delivered an extraordinary catalog of films. His Apu trilogy is absolutely brilliant, a haunting period tale of growing up in India that is timeless and a true cinematic classic.
Ray had a lot of other talents beyond filmmaking. He also wrote a YA pulp novel detective series about a sleuth named Feluda. He made two feature films about Feluda. Another director made several more and there were TV serials as well. Elephant God is the second Feluda film. It's in color, although the films is largely overexposed, or perhaps bleached with age in the Indian heat. It's an engaging plot, and I was delighted to have solved it, or at least, fingered the guilty parties before they were revealed. The architecture is spectacular - many scenes captured the feel of India as I remember it - sketchy alleys filled with oxen, odd color schemes that defy categorization, crap in the corners. It's a modest film, one that moves at its own leisurely pace. I can see how Feluda set the stage for Indian detectives to follow (like Dhoom's Jai Dixit), the stoicism, the echo of Holmes, the dogged pursuit of the perp and ruthlessness of the capture. Not a film I'd recommend to many people although S and I enjoyed it (S almost bailed at the hour-and-a-half mark, but then changed her mind and saw it through and was pleased she did). The characters are all charming - Ray's speciality - and it has its delightful comic moments. No sword fights, but some knife throwing. If you want to see what Ray is all about, see the Apu Trilogy.
Ray had a lot of other talents beyond filmmaking. He also wrote a YA pulp novel detective series about a sleuth named Feluda. He made two feature films about Feluda. Another director made several more and there were TV serials as well. Elephant God is the second Feluda film. It's in color, although the films is largely overexposed, or perhaps bleached with age in the Indian heat. It's an engaging plot, and I was delighted to have solved it, or at least, fingered the guilty parties before they were revealed. The architecture is spectacular - many scenes captured the feel of India as I remember it - sketchy alleys filled with oxen, odd color schemes that defy categorization, crap in the corners. It's a modest film, one that moves at its own leisurely pace. I can see how Feluda set the stage for Indian detectives to follow (like Dhoom's Jai Dixit), the stoicism, the echo of Holmes, the dogged pursuit of the perp and ruthlessness of the capture. Not a film I'd recommend to many people although S and I enjoyed it (S almost bailed at the hour-and-a-half mark, but then changed her mind and saw it through and was pleased she did). The characters are all charming - Ray's speciality - and it has its delightful comic moments. No sword fights, but some knife throwing. If you want to see what Ray is all about, see the Apu Trilogy.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
