Revolutionary Road ( 1st attempt at movie review)

Repost from FB notes: 

After The Titanic, it is most refreshing to watch Kate and Leonardo in a less than fairy tale relationship. This couple has one of the best on-screen chemistry, and did well to bring much emotional depth to the saga of a suburban married life.

To me, the title Revolutionary Road is an apt name for the movie, although in spirit, the story was more revolutionary in the emotional journey rather than in the life paths undertaken by this stormy but passionate couple. Leonardo's and April's life was enviable to many in the 1950s. He, barely in his thirties, was an upcoming hotshot in a large company and continuing the legacy of his old man's job while she  was not just an ordinary housewife in a  nice suburban house. She has artistic passion, tried acting, could dance rather well and carried herself with an elegant dignity. Married with two young kids, it was the quintessential American dream came true. It was easy to believe this couple had it all. Beneath the nice façade however, simmered much unfulfilled youthful passions and unrealised dreams. April (Kate) wanted to seek life elsewhere while Leonardo felt trapped in a white-coloured job that he hated. They both felt they were special and could have asked for a lot more in life, but surrounded by a boring staid and emotionally sterile neighbourhood, they struggled and fought for the conviction to leave the sinking ship (Titanic pun intended).

It is not a new storyline but the acting was superb. Interwoven into the domestic boring realm of couplehood, were occasional sparks of emotional brilliance that touched one heart. What I enjoyed most was the presence of a mentally ill friend who ironically and wonderfully injected sanity to the whole existence. As expected, Kate and Leonardo carried the show with their larger than life personas. Sadly, the whole road turned out to be more tumultous than revolutionary, an unfortunate one that is paved with tainted trust and decaying love. It revealed how the bonds in marriage could both be binding yet choking. Trust Sam Mendes (American Beauty) to bring out the pent up emotions of a bottled life, and showcased the destruction of love almost too hauntingly.

I just found out that Sam Mendes and Kate Winslet are real-life married couple (ooh, must have been amazing for Leonardo to be directed by the husband in those intense love-making scene!). We have seen more glamorous marriages falling apart like War of the Roses, but Revolutionary Road seems more real and the conversations were more heartfeltly penetrating. It raised more questions than answers and leaves one wondering if marriage is all that suitable for everyone with a simmering dream.

Departures ( the best human drama that I have seen)

( a repost ) - the movie that made me cried buckets

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Death is not an easy topic matter to deal with in almost all realms, so I was deeply moved by this Japanese movie that managed to showcase this taboo topic with as much humour as dignity, much tenderness as well as poignancy.

Daigo Kobayashi was a sensitive, soulful cellist who had dreams of performing around the world but as it turned out, he was jobless and had to return to his late mother's home in the tranquil Japanese countryside. For a man who proposed to his wife that he would take her on a world tour, the journey home was difficult enough without one fated job interview that landed him an unexpectedly gruesome job.

Hence we are not surprised that knew that beneath the stoically pleasant Japanese veneer, Daigo was struggling with issues aplenty. The musician turned mortician was not only physically repulsed by death, he also had harboured enormous guilt - of not being there when his mother passed away and not being able to provide for his sweet faithful wife with a socially acceptable job. He also harboured deep-seated anger against his father who deserted his mum and him when young. But, money was tight and faced with little choice, Departures showed us how Daigo made an inward journey towards self discovery, redemption and eventual personal healing with death in the constant background.

Over time, it turned out that he was perfect for the mortician role. Learning after his well-meaning mentor, Daigo handled emotionally difficult situations with professional composure and humane equanimity. Not only he bade farewell to the departed with dignity and respect, every gesture and touching stroke was performed artfully, humbly and almost reverently, as if he was playing his cello. Whether the deceased was a stranger or an old family friend, there was peace in the departures. Even as his wife threatened to leave him after discovering his real profession, he remained unwavered in his new calling (although I could not identify with this .....)

There were many beautiful moments in this movie. The sounds of the cello amidst the natural beauty of Japanese countryside, the beauty of human friendships forged amidst presence of death and finally, the beautiful existence of a tightly clenched pebble. The emotional climax of this movie had to be the encounter with his own father in the presence of his returned pregnant wife. How does one say goodbye to a forsaken love? It seems that this was Daigo's real and final calling. As he bade his final farewell to his father, as anger and regret ebbed away, it occurred to me that death also brought about completeness and new lease of life for him, in his newfound job and in his family life. I found the juxtaposition between death (anger, regret) and life (forgiveness, the unborn baby) very achingly beautiful. I also found the love displayed by his devoted wife truly inspiring even as it was originally conditional.

Two truths hit me:

#1 Whatever the reasons may be, one should not walk away from love, especially one's children.
#2 As hard as it is to believe, death brings about a beautiful completeness to life.

This movie should have won Best Picture instead of Slumdog....... its truely amazing that there is a movie out that that brings out the heart in us in the dying moments.