My First Movie Festival: MFF Day 1

I have been forever dreaming about attending a movie fest and watch as many movies as I can and talk/write about them. It’s been on my bucket list since the second year in Roorkee after I discovered IFC. All I wanted to do in my life at that time was to work in some place which would make me go to all these fests as a part of my job.

Seven years later, the dream is long forgotten. I don’t watch that many movies any more. I still read about them every chance I get but the frequency with which I used to devour them has reduced. These days I stick to mindless comedy movies like “This is the end”. I am on my way to becoming Mindy from the Mindy Project who is able to talk about pop culture but has no clue about the highbrow arts (not that I ever was, but still I wouldn’t be caught dead listening to Jessie J on full volume on my way to work a few years ago, but now I relish the loud music)

When the opportunity of becoming my old self presented itself I jumped on it. We went and stood in line for almost an hour to get our passes done but that did not deter me a bit. I ran to Metro as soon as I got my pass to catch what’s left of Mood Indigo only to find out that the hall has already been filled. I was mistaken to think Michel Gondry is obscure to this crowd.

I ended up watching two French movies in a row, “Tonnerre” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” in one go. After a really long time I saw movies without checking my watch because I was so engrossed about the characters and the story. It might have been because these stories felt so real. These people could have been someone you would meet on the street. They have their normal lives, simple follies.

Tonnerre:

I dint know much about the movie when I walked into the theatre and was sucked right into it because maybe the protagonist was an affable loser or it looked so low-key that it dint take much effort to get into the story.  The movie was quite a surprise because I had no idea about its tone or the eventual plot line so it took me a minute to adjust to the skewed emotions in the latter half. It is difficult to change your opinion of a character but as the protagonist becomes increasingly off-putting and I did not expect the story to be so inconsistent.  But, by the end of the movie I understood the sad desperation in the characters where they were looking for someone to care about.

Blue is the Warmest Color:

People have been talking about this movie since May when it was shown in Cannes and the alleged reason for such talk, there is a lot of nudity of the female variety involved. These were only parts of the movie where I literally needed to claw my hands at the nachos because these scenes were not dramatized, they were very real. It felt like I was intruding in something very private and intimate.

Coming to the actual movie talk, it’s quite a different experience because the director chose to make it a three hour documentary of Adele. It’s her life, it about how she meets Emma, how she falls in love with her, how she deals with it and how she grows up as a person. The film is, to a compelling degree, the story of Adele’s face—tearful, sniffing, puffed with dismay, spotted and blotchy on a cold day, suddenly ravishing, and reddening in embarrassment.

The main questions in the movie are very tangible. The main issues that Adele faces in the movie can be succinctly: What if love gets in the way? How does the wish to be utterly alone with the loved one, and the dread of being alone when the loved one leaves?

It’s a three hour movie but I dint even realize that the movie was that long because the story seems to have just begun. It talks about first love, that inspiring kind of love which is all but necessary for the protagonist and captured it with such exuberance. After the initial stumble, I dint even think about the characters not being straight, the movie transcends the gender norms.  In short, it’s unforgettable.

P.S. There were so many shots of people eating spaghetti in the movie, that I was craving one as soon as I got out of the theatre. Thanks to Pizza Express which was open at 11 30 in the night, I was able to have the much needed spaghetti.