#RaminBahrani

[adamwatchesmovies]

The White Tiger (2021)

The White Tiger might teach a dubious lesson but the fact that - even for a fraction of a second - you’d consider following in the lead's footsteps says a lot. For outsiders, it’s a compelling story (whose satyrical nature might fly over their heads). To someone living in India, it might be revolutionary.

Growing up in Laxmangarh, Balram Halwai (played by Adarsh Gourav) never finished school and watched his father die because their town did not have a doctor. As an adult, he aspires to be a chauffeur for the son of the town’s “landlord”. Being close to Ashok Shah (Rajkummar Rao) allows him to escape his village but as he becomes more worldly, he grows increasingly dissatisfied with his position.

I don’t know if the movie's poster is genius irony or false advertising. We see a smiling photo of Balram sitting down, wearing a cartoon crown while his masters Ashok and his wife, Pinky (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) place their hands on his shoulders. All that cyan and yellow makes this movie look cheery and uplifting. It isn’t.

We’re introduced to Balram’s world through a wraparound story of him writing a letter to Chinese premier Wen Jiabao (the story takes place in 2010). Balram compares the Indian underclass to roosters trapped in a chicken coop. They see other birds getting butchered but make no attempt to escape. It’s the perfect analogy because when Balram says he aspires to be a chauffeur… you assume it’s so he can worm his way into a higher circle. Actually, he’s trapped in a mindset of servitude. He never objects to the beatings and insults but slowly, you can see his blinders peel away. Now, he's ready to take advantage of someone else for a change and his persistent loyalty makes him unsuspecting. The question is whether he will realize how little everyone else cares about him early enough to escape from his cage.

Calling this “an extraordinary journey of a self-made man from a tea-shop worker in a village to a successful entrepreneur in a big city” isn’t an incorrect description, but it is misleading. You’d never guess from those words that Balram is kept in check with the knowledge that if he betrays the Shahs, Ashok’s father (Mahesh Manjrekar) will murder his entire family killed. There are a lot of shady characters in the film. Even those who are “good” make dubious choices. If former doormat Balram abuses them, you’re not going to shed any tears. It helps that Adarsh Gourav is very charismatic. I hope this is the first of many films we see him in.

Writer/director Ramin Bahrani offers the talented cast a great screenplay and they all do it justice. The film is stylish, tense, and thought-provoking. You might need to do a bit of research to overcome the cultural barrier but this is one of those movies where you won’t mind doing the extra homework. I think I’d like it even more a second time. (April 29, 2021)

[3sc-me]

The White Tiger (2021) #TheWhiteTiger Director #RaminBahrani
 Writers #RaminBahrani #AravindAdiga Stars #AdarshGourav #RajkummarRao #PriyankaChopraJonas #اقتباس #اقتباسات #اكسبلورر #اقوال #حكم #3SC #QuotesofTheDay #Inspiration #Life #Saying #Love #Truth #BestMovie #Cinema #HighlyRecommended #Explorer #Viral #Quotes https://www.instagram.com/p/Cht68uFvtI9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cinemasniffers]

CSS EXTRA CREDIT / Plastic Bag

Ramin Bahrani, 2009 (watch)

[netflixcenter]

🎬 7 Prisoners [TRAILER] Coming to Netflix November ?, 2021 FULL POST: 🔗 https://netflixcenter.com/7-prisoners-netflix-trailer/?feed_id=1290 Original Netflix Thriller / Drama Film... 7 Prisoners   To provide a better life for his family in the country, 18-year-old Mateus (Christian Malheiros) accepts a job in a junkyard in São Paulo for his new boss, Luca (Rodrigo Santoro). But when he and a few other boys become trapped in the dangerous world of human trafficking, Mateus wi...

[doohicky]

Half casual stroll into sunny Narnia, half hellish descent into capitalist madness - The White Tiger (colonialist fairy tale) #thewhitetiger #raminbahrani #netflix https://www.instagram.com/p/CLj5qtMFboF/?utm_medium=tumblr

[racielneto]

#40🎬 The White Tiger (2021) Não estava nem um pouco a fim de ver esse filme. O Tigre Branco tem um pôster meio sem graça, 5 dias atrás eu assisti “Quem Quer Ser um Milionário?” e tinha achado somente “ok”. Meus maiores problemas com “Quem Quer Ser um Milionário?” tinham sido os flashbacks para a infância sofrida do protagonista e logo de cara The White Tiger apresenta a mesma coisa. Pensei: “ah pronto, vão usar a sofrência do piá como muleta para nos sensibilizar o filme todo”. Tinha até digitado nas minhas anotações. Ainda bem que estava errado. O filme deixa essa linha de lado bem rápido, focando na parte quase adulta do personagem, num período onde ele vê uma luz do fim do túnel da pobreza, tem uma realização e então a sua transformação. A realização é disparada a melhor parte, onde o onde  o próprio protagonista começa a sua reflexão sobre o seu lugar no mundo, porque é tão difícil mudar, como dar o pontapé nas suas transformações e quais as regras morais a seguir. Não conhecia esse aspecto da Índia que é foco do filme e não vou dizer nada aqui sobre isso para não estragar. Basta dizer que a atuação de Adarsh Gourav pareceu representar muito bem essa dificuldade que parte da população indiana enfrenta. Pelo menos estava perfeitamente alinhada com a proposta do filme. Baita performance. Talvez se eu conhecesse mais a história, tivesse visto o trailer e lido a sinopse, eu não teria achado tão bom. Ainda bem que meu conhecimento prévio do filme se resumia ao pôster sem graça. Como é bom ser surpreendido por um filme. Raça Score: Filmão #NETFLIX #thewhitetiger #otigrebranco #adarshgourav #PriyankaChopra #RajkummarRao #raminbahrani #aravindadiga #PaoloCarnera #crime #drama #dicadefilme #cinema #everyframeapainting #streaming #metacritic #imdb #DiaNovoFilmeNovo Ps: Todo aquele blá blá blá de sempre sobre cinematografia, edição e etc é extremamente bem feito Ps2: é do mesmo diretor de “99 Homes” que eu postei no dia 30/01/21 https://www.instagram.com/p/CLF0tBELT33/?igshid=uqvxkwuxs19f

[screenteasers]

The White Tiger | Official Teaser Trailer | Netflix

[3sc-me]

How hard it is for a man to win his freedom in India? Later, I came to realize why! The greatest thing to come out of this country, in its 10,000-year history.. the rooster coop! They can see and smell the blood.. they know they are next, yet they don’t rebel.. they don’t try and get out of the coop. Servants here have been raised to behave the same.. the furniture on his back is worth at least two years his salary, and yet he will faithfully pedal the money back to his boss without ever touching a single rupee. No servant does, why?! Because Indians are the world’s most honest and spiritual people? No.. it’s because 99.9% of us are caught in the rooster coop! The trustworthiness of servants is so strong that you can put the key of emancipation in a man’s hand and he will throw it back at you with a curse! كم هو صعب أن ينال المرء حريته في ”الهند“؟ لاحقاً، أدركت السبب! أعظم شيء أنتجه هذا البلد خلال 10 آلاف سنة من تاريخه، هو قن الديوك! بوسع الديوك رؤية الدم وشم رائحته.. تعرف أنها التالية، ومع ذلك لا تتمرد.. لا تحاول الخروج من القن. لقد جرى تدريب الخدم هنا لكي يتصرفوا بنفس الطريقة.. المفروشات التي يحملها الخادم ��لفه تساوي راتبه لسنتين على الأقل، ومع ذلك يقود دراجته بالمال بأمانة إلى رئيسه، من دون أن يأخذ روبية واحدة أبداً، ولا يفعل أي خادم ذلك، لماذا؟! هل لأن الهنود أكثر الناس نزاهة وروحانية في العالم؟ لا.. بل لأن 99.9 بالمئة منهم عالقون في قن الديوك! إخلاص الخدم قوي جداً، بحيث أنه يمكنك وضع مفتاح التحرر في يد المرء، لكنه يرميه عليك ويشتمك! The White Tiger (2021) #TheWhiteTiger Director #RaminBahrani Writers #RaminBahrani (written for the screen by) #AravindAdiga (based on the book by) Stars #AdarshGourav #RajkummarRao #PriyankaChopraJonas #اقتباس #اقتباسات #اكسبلورر #اقوال #حكم #3SC #QuotesofTheDay #Inspiration #Life #Saying #Love #Truth #BestMovie #Cinema #HighlyRecommended #Explorer #Viral #Quotes https://www.instagram.com/p/CUICxD4lJ03/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cinemasniffers]

CSS: VOL 075 / Man Push Cart

Ramin Bahrani, 2005

[film-book]

THE WHITE TIGER (2021) Movie Trailer: Driver Adarsh Gourav uses his Wits to Break Free of Servitude to his Rich Masters https://tinyurl.com/yaxmyzjz

[netflixcenter]

🎬 The White Tiger [TRAILER] Coming to Netflix January 22, 2021 FULL POST: 🔗 https://netflixcenter.com/the-white-tiger-trailer-netflix/?feed_id=268 Original Netflix Crime / Drama Film... The White Tiger   The ambitious driver (Adarsh Gourav) of a rich Indian couple (Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Rajkummar Rao) uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and become an entrepreneur. The White Tiger is based on the bestselling novel by Aravind Adiga, directed and written for the sc...

[thedonttellshow-blog]

Chop Shop - Ramin Bahrani (2007)

Chop Shop follows the exploits of a young orphaned street kid in Queens, New York who along with his older sister dream of making enough money to fix up their own food truck. 

Bahrani sets his story in a bustling and fascinating location right next to Shea Stadium and builds up this world of wrecked cars and lives being stripped of all their worth with an honest eye. The acting, by non-professionals, gives us a raw neorealist feel but which never strays into the grim darkness too far. Giving us a fully rounded view of the hope still alive in these kids eye's, even when life truly s**ts on them.

A restrained, humanistic snapshot of a world tearing the flesh from the bone.

9/10

#chopshop #raminbahrani #neorealistfilms #queensnewyork #willetspointnewyork #kitchensinkfilms #flyonthewallfilms #sliceoflifemovies #thedonttellshow #reviewsonrealism 

[doomonfilm]

Review : Fahrenheit 451 (2018)

Ray Bradbury’s seminal classic Fahrenheit 451 sits among the upper-echelon of cautionary dsytopian tales.  The story, though seemingly outlandish, is rooted in very real ideas and concepts, thus making it easy to connect with.  Legendary director Francois Truffaut brought a classic version of the story to the film world  in 1966, but after half a century, the times had moved past the film.  Enter HBO and director Ramin Bahrani to bring us the gold we didn’t know we needed in the form of a modern-day remake.

In the wake of the Second Civil War, an event that has turned the future into a dystopia, Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan) is a firefighter known for his commitment to eradicating the ‘wrong’ literature just like his mentor, Captain John Beatty (Michael Shannon).  The duo is known throughout Cleveland and further as a force to be reckoned with, with their TV appearances and monumental book burning efforts making them modern-day legends.  Things change, however, when Beatty keeps Montag away from a key informant named Clarisse (Sofia Boutella).  Montag is intrigued with her and the role she plays, and his intrigue grows when a tip leads to the burning alive (and eventual cover-up) of an informant living with a massive book library.  Montag begins to question what he’s been taught, as well as the role he plays in the efforts he now questions, forcing him to seek out information from the Eels (book-readers) he sits in opposition of.  Through meetings with Clarisse, as well as growing suspicion from Beatty, a chain of events is set into motion that could alter the balance of power and the restriction of knowledge to the masses.

Although a classic in its own right, the Francois Truffaut version of Fahrenheit 451 has been a victim of time, thus dating the film and limiting the overall experience to a degree.  The limitations of the original film are the exact areas where the HBO update is allowed to succeed.  Wonderful modern date updates are made in both direct form and indirectly as well.  One to one connections of the modern day are made via the ‘See Something, Say Something’ and ‘It’s Time To Burn For America Again’ slogans, as well as the reality-TV show aspect of book burning coverage.  The lore is expanded to include the Internet, with The 9 (the extremely restricted version of the Internet) serving as the flow of information.  Youth are indoctrinated early on to hate before they are given the ability to reason, making them blind devotees to the powers that be.

Misinformation and revisionist history also play key roles in the film.  Opinions and outright lies are disseminated as fact, and with the flow of information vastly limited, the people do not have the capacity (or even the drive) to formulate their own opinions.  Any questioning of information is easily debated against, many times by the computers that control the homes, eliminating the need for human watchdogs in all but the most extreme cases.  The overall practice of eliminating diverse thought for the goal of a social singularity is essentially already instilled in the reality of the film.

The original film faced technical limitations as well, but that is certainly not the case in the HBO update.  Simplistic widescreen televisions are replaced with extremely intrusive, paranoia inducing 360 security cameras and flat-screens that take up the sides of entire buildings at times.  The classic shots of book-burnings, the tools used by the firefighters, and even the ever ominous fire itself are all given drastic facelifts with modern day methods.

The original ideas that are holdovers through the HBO version are expanded upon quite well.  The already militaristic firefighter force is made to look like a torch-wielding SS Occupying Force, with their book-burning missions playing out eerily similar to the procedures used by American forces during the Gulf Wars and beyond.  The ideas of entertainment and medication being used to quell the masses are also given greater significance, mirroring our currently reality in a way that is jarring, unsettling and very much a wake up call.

Michael B. Jordan brings a refreshing air of confidence to the role of Montag, making him less of a reluctant protagonist and more of an engine of free will.  Michael Shannon continues his amazing string of compelling antagonists, bringing in elements of character that make him equal parts admirable and despicable.  Sofia Boutella stands out as Clarisse, toning down the militant edges and instead opting to provide her choices with a foundation of basic human need to educate and excel.  The collective Eels that make up famous novels/authors, while not given tons of screen time, all help drive home the fact that there will always be opposition to injustice, no matter how bleak the circumstances seem.

A new version of Fahrenheit 451 may not necessarily be needed, but after checking it out, it’s certainly welcome.  This film definitely would have been drowned out in the noise surrounding major releases, but HBO created a winner for themselves that Netflix may want to study up on for their attempts in the future at original material.

[racielneto]

99 Homes (2014) 🎬 #DiaNovoFilmeNovo: 030 de 365 Mais um filme que vale o investimento de tempo por causa dos atores e enredo.  A premissa é “básica”, mostra uma família americana que está prestes a perder a casa para o banco por falta de pagamento e o drama do filho mais velho fazendo de tudo para resolver a situação. Se isso parece sem graça, a graça logo aparece quando o filme foge do clichê “homem vs sistema” e segue o rumo “homem vende a alma para o diabo” (metaforicamente).  Andrew Garfield faz o papel do filho mais velho e Michael Shannon do diabo. Ambos muito bem, e já era de esperar, mas o Shannon é sacanagem. Cada cena com ele é um espetáculo à parte. Cenas muitas vezes sobre coisas do cotidiano, que poderiam ser sem graça em outros filmes, mas aqui o roteiro e a edição conseguem manter a tensão e a nossa atenção o tempo todo. A edição exagera na velocidade em alguns momentos onde as maquinações do mercado imobiliário são expostas rapidamente, dificultando o entendimento. Como o foco é o drama do protagonista, não chega a atrapalhar o filme como um todo. Se o foco é nos personagens e as atuações são excelentes, então fica fácil recomendar o filme. Mas lembre que é sobre residências, hipotecas e fraudes. O diabo não aparece, não literalmente. #Filme         : 99 Homes (2014) Gênero        : #Drama #IMDB         : 7.1 #Metascore : 76 Raça score: Massa Onde Ver    : #Netflix #99homes #99casas #michaelshannon #andrewgarfield #lauradern #raminbahrani #BobbyBukowski #dicadefilme #cinema #everyframeapainting #streaming #cinematography #metacritic https://www.instagram.com/p/CKsRT8gLqPr/?igshid=1x1b1suuro1pu

[ccollova]

#CannesFilmFestival #FestivalduFilm #Cannes #film #cinema #financing #production #distribution #screen #screening #evening #Farenheit451 by #RaminBahrani based on the novel by #RayBradbury #love #book #bookstagram #filmstagram #booklover (at Palais des Festivals, Cannes)