Tibet & Olympics - My Olympic Torch Experience

Olympics have created quite a row about Tibet. I am upset with Indian govt for restricting Tibetans right to protest. There are about 200,000 Tibetan refugees in India. I visited Dharamshala when I was in college. It is home for most of the Tibetan refugees in India. I start missing India if I dont visit the place in two years. I just cant imagine the plight of people who are completely displaced because they cannot live in their home countries anymore and visit their homeland anymore. May be all these have prompted me to be a part of the protest.

Olympic torch runs have been a little troublesome all over the world. When I told my sister that I am going she was a little concerned.

I decided to take Caltrain, as driving and parking on the day was not going to be easy. I blocked my calendar to make sure no meetings are scheduled. Torch relay was going to start at 1PM at Justin Herman Plaza, in front of Ferry building.

I took caltrain from redwood city. The train was fairly crowded with mostly Chinese people. I reached city a little past one. I started walking towards Ferry Building. There was a lot of crowd in front of AT & T park. A chinese guy was saying that 'It is pretty sad that I have to leave the country to be able to speak against the government'. While walking up on Embarcadero I heard another person saying 'Like many Americans are against American Government's policy, many Chinese against Chinese government policies too.'

On my way I spotted a funny board that says 'China you murder in Sudan and Tibet whom do you think you are, US?' I clicked his picture using my cellphone and told him that I liked his board. He replied 'Well, it is true. Sad! But true'.

It took me almost 40 minutes to reach Ferry building with all the crowd. The corner I ended up had a lot Chinese. There were also a few anti china protesters. A Chinese shouted 'Dont believe what western media says about China.' A pro-Tibetan shouted 'How much of freedom does press have in China'. After waiting for sometime a middle aged Chinese guy with Olympic T-shirt almost fainted. Protesters around him helped him to sit down and made sure he drank some water and relaxed. Humanity is always comes before politics, doesnt it?

Only in San Francisco do you see a Chinese Flag and a Tibetan flag together. Both shouting their own Slogans. I mentioned it to a person standing next to me. He replies, 'Yes! I bet you cant do it at Tiananmen Square'. But there were some tense moments with couple of people exchanging some words. After sometime a huge group of Tibetan protesters passed our intersection. A person started shouting ta Chinese 'You know why I hate you, you guys are communists' Another protester tried to calm him down. A small fight broke out and Police calmed them. We figured that they changed the route, I finally got in touch with my friends, met them and left for home.

As many Chinese at the Rally said Politics and Sports should not be mixed. But if Sports can lend some voice to the oppressed, why not?

La Chinoise

Thanks to new wave and beyond festival at Berkeley. I am getting to watch a few great French Films. I happened to watch La Chinoise last Friday.

This film is one of the best films I have ever seen. Though I have heard about Godard before, this is the first time I watched his film. It is story of five roommates who listen to 'Radio Peking' and are influenced by Mao and Communist Manifesto. The film was shot mostly in an apartment with white walls, red doors and some graffiti on the wall. Most of the film takes place in skits and conversations.

Everything about the film was marvelous. First the subject. The movie talks not only talks about influence of Mao on young people, but also about Russian Chinese conflict and Vietnam war. For those who are aware of naxalism in India precisely know what this movie is talking about. As a political junkie I find all movies about politics interesting.

Direction is terrific. Film making was very unconventional. The film takes place as skits and conversations. It was made in 1967. In those times, I am pretty sure the movie would have created has a huge stir. The setting, style lighting and colors of clothing was amazing.

Another highlight of the film is the background score. It was western classical music, mostly violin. It stays with you for a long time.

There was a time I when I didn't care much about French film. When I mentioned it somebody, he said that I did not watch right cinema. After watching Alain Resnais, Jean Renoir, Truffaut and Godard I agree with him.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

I watched this movie at Talkcinema yesterday. For those who dont know what Talkcinema is, they screen movies that havent created any buzz. The screening is followed by a discussion about the film.

This is my first Romanian film. The film is set in 1987. The entire film takes place on one single day. A woman is 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days pregnant. She wants to terminate the child. It was illegal during that era in Romania. The film is not about abortion. The film is about many other things. Relationship, friendship, oppression, and the society in the communist era.

Though I thought this film is more about women, men seemed to like it more than woman some reason. Movie was excellently made. The film is mostly shot with a stationary camera. You see only part of the room and just hear the voices of the rest. Another notable thing is, the movie has no background score.

Some scenes might probably seem unnecessary. From the talk I learned that some scenes were cut and some part of the preceding scenes were left for the sake of continuity. I was expecting story to take some turn to give some dramatic effect(many audience were), but thankfully they dont.

You may like it or hate it, but you will find this movie stimulating.

Shakespeare to Bond

Sometimes you get some impression about an artist, it stays with you till they prove you wrong. The opinion I had about Vishal Bhardwaj was that he was a one film wonder. The only contribution to film industry was his music of the film 'Maachis'.

About a year and half back, I was browsing movie review section and came across the review of 'Omkaara'. When Sulekha.com offered me free tickets, I grabbed them to check out the film myself. First scene, my jaws dropped. By the time movie finished I was totally impressed. It was a brilliant story telling. Staying close to the story, Vishal Bharadwaj added additional complexity to Othello's character. Another additional dimension by showing UP politics and violence that rules that area. Indianizing Shakespeare is not easy. Vishal Bharadwaj does it brilliantly.

I have heard quite a bit about Blue Umbrella. I also like Ruskin Bond. I was awaiting the release of the film, that never happened. I got a chance to watch it at my sisters house.

The movie had a delightful story. Pankaj Kapoor as a greedy shopkeeper and the girl who played Biniya were excellent. Camera work was fantastic. The way the director used seasons to capture the mood of the story was brilliant. The follows complete seasonal cycle, Summer the delight, Fall the theft, Winter the gloom, Spring the hope.

The movie was shot in Chamba Valley and surrounding mountains. I guess the locale was selected to compliement Missouri to capture the mood and weather. I had been to Dalhousie a city that oversees Chamba Valley a couple of times. So I have seen how beautiful the place is first hand. Also fairly familiar with the names of the places and also traveled in those buses.

One thing worth mentioning is the contrast between Omkaara and Blue Umbrella. One is a Shakespeare's tragedy meant strictly for adults and the other is a film that can be enjoyed by both adults and children. One has to be exceptionally talented to be able to do justice to both films. Now I call Vishal Bharadwaj an exceptional film maker.