Category: Film

O Kadhal Kanmani (2015) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

OK-Kanmani-Images

Directed By: Mani Ratnam

Written By: Mani Ratnam

Cast:

Dulquer Salmaan – Aditya Varadarajan

Nithya Menen – Tara

Prakash Raj – Ganapathy

Leela Samson –Bhavani

Language: Tamil                                                            Genre: Romance; Drama

 

Mani Ratnam’s recent release O Kadhal Kanmani was slated to release on anniversary of his cult hit Alaipayuthey and uses that film as the framework for O K Kanmani. However, unlike Alaipayuthey, this film has a very simplistic storyline with no damaging twists and not much melodrama, making it a light-hearted and pleasant watch.

Aditya (Dulquer Salmaan) is a computer game developer and Tara (Nithya Menen), an architect. They meet at the train station (like Alaipayuthey) and through a series of meetings; they find a deep attraction for each other. They decide to live in together because their career ambitions will take them to the US and Paris respectively so why not spend the little time they have together?

Their relationship is paralleled with that of Ganapathy (Prakash Raj) and his wife Bhavani (Leela Samson), a carnatic singer. Ganapathy is Aditya’s brother’s ex-colleague at whose place he is staying as a paying guest. Bhavani is an Alzheimer’s patient and this becomes the focus of certain crisis situations. The relationship between Ganapathy and Bhavani is beautifully portrayed.

What you realise is that Mani Ratnam is trying to contrast new age relationships with that of an old fashioned romance, yet he is being neither didactic nor critical. It is a very accepting viewpoint that exposes the pitfalls of something like that in a traditional community.

The sound and visual track of the opening and ending credits are a part of the narrative of the film and give us an insight into the fast-paced and highly simulated & stimulated lives the current generation leads. They only want the thrill, especially the thrill of the chase. Once the prize is in the hand, they’ve lost interest – just like a game. In fact, the game seems to parallel Aditya’s life and his desires. And Tara is a then a character in his game – the prize.

It is also clear in that it explains that if the current generation is like this, no small part has been played in how the previous generation has been such as Tara’s parents who are divorced – her father an idealistic man who nevertheless was unable to take a stand for his daughter, and her mother who tries to make up by building an empire for her daughter, only in the process failing to have a relationship with her.

However, it does beg the question, is the major crisis of the present generation – commitment?

Watch the film for the splendid performances and the warm chemistry between the principal actors; the cinematography and obviously A.R. Rahman’s music. Also a special mention for the animation in the film, it is really quite interesting.

Pizza (2012) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

Tamil Movie Pizza Audio Release PostersPizza-Movie

Directed By: Karthik Subbaraj

Written By: Karthik Subbaraj

Cast:

Vijay Sethupathi– Michael Karthikeyan

Remya Nambeesan – Anu Michael

Aadukalam Naren – Sanmugam

Karunakaran –Raghavan

Jayakumar – Srinath

Bobby Simha – Bobby

Pooja Ramachandran – Smitha

Language: Tamil                          Genre: Suspense; Supernatural-Thriller

The film opens with the story of a group of ghostbusters who go into a haunted house to investigate the claims made by the locals. That sets the stage for the film because the ‘haunted house’ becomes the central motif of the film. This ghostbusters experience is actually a television programme being watched by a nervy pizza delivery guy Michael (Vijay Sethupathi) and his parapsychologist-in-the-making girlfriend Anu (Remya Nambeesan).

His life seems almost yawningly normal till he goes to deliver pizza to a house – and everything goes awry.

Dead bodies that appear and disappear, phone calls that register on a mobile phone but are answered on the landline and the pizza seems steadily eaten. The entire film takes a nightmarish turn when least expected.

The story has a claustrophobic quality that really trips a viewer but just when you have taken certain aspects of the narrative as definite, suddenly the very narrative is questionable. Does Michael really have a girlfriend? Are there parallels between what happens in the house and to his life? Is his boss Sanmugam (Aadukalam Naren)’s daughter being haunted by the child ghost from that house? Or is Michael schizophrenic?

The concept of an ordinary drama becoming a claustrophobic horror story – psychological narrative – leading up to an anti-climatic conclusion is well thought out. It is an interesting study on how fear influences and can be used to manipulate people.

It does not have the usual trappings of an Indian film, there are no dance sequences that take away from the main narrative except for the occasional song that plays in the background or takes the story forward.

However, in certain places the sequences were needlessly drawn out, especially in the house and that begins to labour the point.

The ordinariness of the setting is really interesting and it reiterates the point made in the 1993 Malayalam cult film Manichitrathazhu (which was set in an old palace but was simplistic otherwise) that elaborate sets and over the top special effects are not required to give that jolt to viewers.

 

Mumbai Police (2013) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

Mumbai-Police-Malayalam-Movie-Poster-10

Directed By: Rosshan Andrrews

Written By: Bobby-Sanjay

Cast:

Prithviraj Sukumaran– ACP Antony Moses

Jayasurya – ACP Aaryan Jacob

Rahman – CP Farhan Ashraf

Hima Davis –Rebecca

Aparna Nair – Rakhee Menon

Deepa Rahul Ishwar – Annie Farhan

Nihal Pillai – Pilot

Language: Malayalam                                                 Genre: Crime-Thriller

Rosshan Andrrews’ 2013 crime-thriller Mumbai Police is a psychological study into the drives and motivations of a person. It is about the various masks we wear; how we project ourselves and how guilt and regret when entwined can bring out traumatic responses.

The story revolves around ACP Antony Moses aka Rascal Moses (Prithviraj) a rather aggressive police officer who is known for his ruthless methodology and ability to get work done, the means no bar.

He is investigating the murder of his friend and colleague ACP Aaryan Jacob (Jayasurya) and finds a vital clue to the identity of the murderer and in fact actually knows who killed him but before he can confide everything to his senior officer CP Farhan Ashraf (Rahman) – he is involved in an almost fatal accident. He survives it physically but his memory doesn’t.

Now an amnesiac Antony Moses has to solve this high profile case and figure out who the killer is before time runs out. It becomes a cat and mouse game but what is unclear is who the cat is and who is the mouse.

Antony Moses B, the amnesiac, needs to find out what Antony Moses A knew and bring it to light. Yet he cannot recognise friend or foe and Antony Moses A had a lot of foes. He is randomly attacked by people, yet his kinaesthetic memory of fighting saves him. It also becomes clear that Antony Moses A was trying to protect someone, because the entire investigation is full of subterfuge. So suddenly, everyone is suspicious.

But more than a murder, it is about identity. It is about machismo in all male organisations and what defines masculinity. How aggression can be used as a mask. Also when certain aspects of identity are hidden to us because of a loss of memory then certain behaviour patterns are lost. There are also many references to the duties of a police officer, the oath they take – how everything is a rigidly defined system that has everything clearly stated as rules. And deviations are not allowed.

A telling scene in the film, when Antony Moses B is contemplating who he is and has only questions but no answers. He realises he will understand better only if he dons the uniform. So the shot has Antony Moses looking at his wardrobe and then turning towards his uniform that is propped on a hanger. He walks towards it and his shadow looms over it to form a shadowy head above the collar. Almost like, he is in the dark about the identity of this person and what lies behind the uniform.

What stands out is the very moving portrayal by Prithviraj as ACP Antony Moses; especially when certain damaging revelations are made. Certain sequences seem rather stereotypical but that might have to do with a limited understanding of certain behaviour patterns. Nevertheless, it is a film that gives a rather realistic portrayal of things that are generally left unspoken.

Suspect X (2008) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl Puthur3 Comments

Directed By: Hiroshi Nishitani

Written By: Keigo Higashino; Yasushi Fukuda

Cast:

Shinichi Tsutsumi – Tetsuya Ishigami

Masaharu Fukuyama – Manabu Yukawa

Kou Shibasaki – Kaoru Utsumi

Yasuko Matsuyuki – Yasuko Hanaoka

Miho Kanazawa – Misato Hanaoka

Kazuki Kitamura – Shunpei Kusanagi

Dankan – Kuniaki Kudo

Keishi Nagatsuka – Shinji Togashi

Language: Japanese                                                   Genre: Mystery-Thriller

 

After Drishyam released there were many reports of how the film was inspired by the Japanese film Suspect X. Naturally curious, I decided to watch it. There are conceptual similarities but while Drishyam is the story of a family, Suspect X is a love story.

Tetsuya Ishigami (Shinichi Tsutsumi) is a washed out, reclusive high school mathematics teacher who seems to be shuffling in and out of his house feeling like he has made no impression on the world. He seems to have a soft corner for his pretty next-door neighbour, the owner of a bento shop – Yasuko Hanaoka (Yasuko Matsuyuki), a single mother.

There seems to be limited interaction between them till he overhears a violent scuffle in her house after the arrival of her abusive ex-husband Shinji Togashi (Keishi Nagatsuka). He knocks to find a dead body and then starts the cover up.

The cops, Kusanagi (Kazuki Kitamura) and Utsumi (Kou Shibasaki) are stumped because they cannot break the alibis Hanaoka and Misato, her daughter (Miho Kanazawa) have created. So they turn to the genius physicist of Teito University, Yukawa sensei (Masaharu Fukuyama) for help. Yukawa sensei in the beginning of the film is shown solving a rather complex murder case which was masked as a high profile accident.

Yukawa and Ishigami, known as geniuses in their fields, are revealed to be friends from college. But now, they are on the opposite sides. What follows is a mind game between the two – almost eerily reminiscent of the mind games between Light and L in the manga/anime Death Note.

The whole story begins to take on the form of a power play. Suddenly, everything is suspicious. In every corner, something is lurking and the ever-present sense that something is not quite right – is cloying. Even the fact that Ishigami is helping Hanaoka and Misato – why?

The film throws light on the hidden lives that people live. How being non-expressive for cultural reasons does not imply that people do not feel. In the penultimate moment when Ishigami actually shows emotion, it is a gut-wrenching scene that leaves your senses shocked.

Even if you think, as you watch the film that you’ve solved it, the equation isn’t complete because the X factor is still an unknown quality.

PK (2014) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

pk_motion_amir_khan_poster

Directed By: Rajkumar Hirani

Written By: Abhijat Joshi; Rajkumar Hirani

Cast:

Aamir Khan – PK

Anushka Sharma – Jagat “Jaggu” Janani Sahni

Sushant SinghRajput – Sarfaraz Yousuf

Boman Irani – Cherry Bajwa

Saurabh Shukla – Tapasvi Maharaj

Sanjay Dutt – Bhairon Singh

Parikshit Sahni – Jayprakash Sahni

Language: Hindi                                            Genre: Satirical Comedy-Drama

Hirani’s PK has been in the news for being controversial for its take on religion but I think PK can be considered revolutionary for other portrayals.

The premise of PK revolves on the idea that PK (Aamir Khan) is an alien from another ‘gola’ who arrives naked except for a rather garish ‘locket’ that is actually his remote – a transmitter that connects him to his spaceship. In a predictable turn of events, a poor Indian, desperate to make a quick buck, flicks the green locket and makes a dash for it, leaving PK with no hope of return.

Thus begins his efforts to first understand the culture, the language and the norms of the people. The discourse on language and its nuances is quite interesting. Words can mean different things depending on it context which ties up with the fact that words make up only 7% of our communication. The rest is body language and intonation, which can also be cultural. Which means it can be easily misunderstood.

Now PK’s locket is transformed into a religious symbol by Tapasvi Maharaj (Saurabh Shukla), a guru who has been tainted by his power and does make rather bigoted statements. So PK teams up with Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) and Cherry (Boman Irani), to fight against the blind fundamentalism that dominates religion and mainly takes on Tapasvi Maharaj.

Through this entire section, there is much on fundamentalism, blind aping of rituals, the biases within us about ‘others’ as well as the extreme emotional attitude that accompanies religion. One thing I did take back is the thought that we see God as the Supreme Being who created us, yet we fight to defend Him. The irony.

But while it is a refreshing new perspective (after all, it is a humanoid alien giving us insight into our internal madness) – it is didactic.

The film seems instructive like a street play – bringing awareness and dispelling ignorance. And that can get a little tedious especially when it is already an ongoing debate that people are aware of. But yes, there are sections of our population that are ignorant. The humour of the film was innovative – ‘dancing cars’, the various mishaps but an overplayed joke ceases to be funny. You can laugh the first few times but at the fifteenth time, it is all you can do to stretch your lips into a ghost of a smile. Even the song sequences – they are like advertisement breaks in the narrative, disrupting the flow of the film.

However, the penultimate scene is the one I consider utterly beautiful and revolutionary. It is what I have dubbed ‘The Phone Call’ which is an apolitical dialogue between India and Pakistan. It is almost like the didactic discourse of the entire film is to deliver this knockout blow. It is of course, Indian cinema at its most surreal, imaginative and dramatic best. And I feel if you step into the theatre to watch PK, this scene makes it worth it.

The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

the_secret_in_their_eyes01

Directed By: Juan Jose Campanella

Written By: Eduardo Sacheri; Juan Jose Campanella

Cast:

Ricardo Darin – Benjamin Esposito

Soledad Villamil – Irene Hastings

Pablo Rago – Ricardo Morales

Javier Godino – Isidoro Gomez

Guillermo Francella – Pablo Sandoval

Mariano Argento – Romano

Carla Quevedo – Liliana Coloto

Language: Spanish                                                     Genre: Crime Thriller

 

To see The Secret in Their Eyes as only a crime thriller would be limiting and hence it would be hard to justify the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. To say it was about loss, regret, guilt and most definitely love would come closer to the truth.

The film starts off with a man writing out a story. He is visualising his scene with painstaking detail. It is an ordinary breakfast vividly described because it is the last breakfast Ricardo Morales (Pablo Rago) and Liliana Coloto (Carla Quevedo) shared before she was found raped and murdered. And he is unable to write it.

We then realise, the writer is Benjamin Esposito (Ricardo Darin), a retired investigator and that this was a cold case that stayed with him at the end of his career. The irony is, he is trying to play the omniscient narrator of events that he is not entirely sure how they unfolded. Plus, it is a series of events in which he played a decisive role, so there is no objectivity despite the distance in time.

He approaches the judge who worked on the case with him, Irene Hastings (Soledad Villamil) to discuss his doubts, the subtle melancholia (writers are very lonely people) and his troubles writing. She advises him to start either with the memory he recalls most vividly, since this was 20 years ago or to start at the very beginning.

Largely, the film comes to us in flashbacks and there is a hint of something more than a brutal homicide that drew Esposito to write about that case, especially when we see that the ‘vivid memory’ for him was not Lilana Coloto’s brutalised body but meeting Irene Hastings for the first time. So the film does talk about how memories are much more vivid because we recall minute details as compared to the present, that seems rather plain. The colour palette of sequences in the past are brighter, pointing to the vividness of the memory.

The beauty of the film is that it does not let you dwell on those moments of shock, despair, revulsion because life is made of varied moments so that you could be having a terribly boring day and then walk into a disturbing homicide. And just when it seems that your whole day is marred by that moment, you meet that person you have a soft corner for and everything darker gets blunted.

The film is not a whodunit. Esposito, Sandoval and Hastings know the murderer and have the confession. It is a question of justice being meted out. It is about regret because Esposito revisits this ‘event’ in his life because he knows what Morales did to keep his wife’s memory alive and to see she received justice. But he, on the other hand gave up on the woman he loved, too easily.

And if the film is about the unpredictability of life, then the penultimate moment of the film will throw you off because of what it reveals about the human psyche.

 

 

 

Love in Disguise (2010) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

loveindisguise_ancient4

Directed By: Leehom Wang

Written By: Leehom Wang; Xin-Yi Du; Hung-Chieh Chen

Cast:

Leehom Wang – Du Ming Haan

Liu Yifei – Song Xiaoqing

Joan Chen – Joan

Yike Zeng – Xiaotao

Qiao Zhenyu – Mu Fan

Chen Han-tien – Wei Zhibo

Language: Mandarin                            Genre: Musical; Romantic-Comedy

 

Leehom Wang’s musical romantic-comedy – Love in Disguise is an impressive film by a debutant director.

The storyline is simple, rather clichéd yet the treatment is ultimately what matters and the conviction. Love in Disguise follows the life of famous pop-star Du Ming Haan (Leehom Wang) dealing with the usual pitfalls of fame – two-faced supporters, crazed fans, inquisitive paparazzi and an understanding manager Joan (Joan Chen).

A running gag of the film is DMH’s actual response and what he wishes to do but cannot because it would ruin his reputation and antagonize fans. Such as when asked about his relationship status with another famous personality, in his mind he assaults the journalist but in reality gives a measured response.

Things change when he encounters the music of a guzheng, played by a classical Chinese music student Song Xiaoqing (Liu Yifei). The music calls to him and he has visions. He goes in search of the music to the Far East Music Academy dragging his friend and band member Wei Zhibo (Chen Han-tien) along. They enroll as students, disguised like rustic villagers, which leads to hilarious situations.

The film uses illustrations to express an artist’s imagination and in some places very anime-like emotions. The relationship between DMH and Song Xiaoqing draws on the story of Boya and Ziqi – Boya was a qin player and Ziqi, the only one who could truly understand and visualize his music. They were friends and musical soul-mates. The entire sequence is presented like a traditional Chinese drama.

What stands out is the idea, that your soul-mate need not have a non-platonic connect with you. It just becomes a relationship that draws out the best out of you, and helps you see different heights.

Wang’s music connects because it fuses traditional Chinese instruments with hip-hop, R&B and western classical – a style he calls ‘chinked-out symphony’. For an Indian viewer, it might be a little low on the melodrama and they would want more comic sequences but it is a fun film and the music – let’s just say, I have Leehom Wang on repeat on my player.

 

Australia (2008) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl PuthurLeave a comment

australia_ver5_xlg

Directed By: Baz Luhrmann

Written By: Baz Luhrmann; Ronald Harwood; Stuart Beattie; Richard Flanagan

Cast:

Nicole Kidman – Lady Sara Ashley

Hugh Jackman – Drover

David Wenham – Neil Fletcher

Brandon Walters – Nullah

David Gulpilil – King George

Bryan Brown – Lesley ‘King’ Carney

Language: English                      Genre: Epic Historical; Drama; Romance

 

Baz Luhrmann’s Australia, was his next production after the hugely successful Moulin Rouge. It even starred Nicole Kidman, though alongside fellow Australian actor Hugh Jackman.

The film uses the tropes of oral storytelling and the bright colour palette of a children’s story. The narration is by a child and tells of the rich aboriginal culture that existed in Australia and the white-washing it received with the entry of the white Australians. The story is thus set on the experiences of the children of the Stolen Generations.

The film is well shot and gripping in parts however, it fails in that one thing that makes a Baz Luhrmann film stand out and take the audience away – passion. The film lacked the overwhelming yet focused passion that made Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge such great successes. Both these films seduced the viewer with the frenzied passion, romance and looming tragedy that made up their narrative.

Agreed that Australia’s theme was ‘overcoming the odds’ but the focus slipped and sharpened in the flow of the narrative. Hence some of the adventurous moments take away from the crux of the film. It is a beautiful attempt by an Australian director to talk about the experiences of the Stolen Generation.

What stood out is the characterisation that takes the story forward. Lady Sara (Nicole Kidman) is an aristocratic British lady, who comes to Australia to settle her husband’s affairs and starts a new life. She unlike others of her background believes that the ‘half-caste’ children should not be sent away. But somewhere to emphasise that we will bring some aspect of prejudices from an alien culture, she does not believe Nullah (Brandon Walters) should leave her and go on his walkabout with his grandfather because she possesses western notions of education and safety. Drover (Hugh Jackman) on the other hand, consciously chose a non-white tradition to identify with and is hence more understanding.

It is about how far can you push aside your prejudices, doubts and accept people on their terms. After all, it is not uniformity that will knit us together, but acceptance.

So watch the film for how Baz Luhrmann has made the Australia of multiple narratives stand out.

Brief Encounter (1945) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl Puthur2 Comments

Brief Encounter

Directed By: David Lean

  Written By: Noël Coward; Anthony Havelock-Allan; David Lean; Ronald Neame

Cast:

Celia Johnson – Laura Jesson

Trevor Howard – Dr. Alec Harvey

Stanley Holloway – Albert Godby

Joyce Carey – Myrtle Bagot

Cyril Raymond – Fred Jesson

Everley Gregg – Dolly Messiter

Language: English                                                         Genre: Drama; Romance

 

Milford station refreshment room, where commuters rest while they wait for their trains, is the setting for David Lean’s 1945 black and white film – Brief Encounter. The film is set to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and the haunting melody of the piece which starts with the train steaming into the station, sets the mood of the film.

Starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey, it is a bittersweet romance between two married strangers who meet under the most ordinary circumstances and over succeeding weeks find themselves drawn to each other, unable to let go and unable to stay.

The film could have easily become the sordid love story of a bored housewife but is saved by Lean’s camera work and the poignancy of Celia Johnson’s narration. The beauty of the film is that it functions on one level as a silent film. In the sense that the viewer depends on the subtle but expressive emotions flitting across Laura’s face to really experience the ‘brief encounter’. Even the narration is carefully worded; honestly portraying the confusion, the romantic aspirations and the moral apprehensions of Laura Jesson. You experience her dilemma of being happily married yet in love with someone else.

The basis of the dilemma is “middle-class morality” as Alfred P. Doolittle famously stated in the film My Fair Lady (a role incidentally played by Stanley Holloway). You can see how the romance between Laura (Celia Johnson) and Dr. Harvey (Trevor Howard) is contrasted by the romance between Mr. Godby and Ms. Bagot. Their relationship functions on more liberal lines. The interesting thing is also that Ms. Bagot’s choices take her desires and ambitions more into consideration when compared to Laura.

An interesting scene or rather moment in the film, which can also be considered quite symbolic, is when Laura is seated in her front room, and her mind goes back to the moment when it all began – the scene slowly dissolves into the Milford refreshment room but there is a lingering after-image of Laura staring into the refreshment room.

Brief Encounter is an interesting choice for a DVD on a dreamy afternoon because as a movie it is well made – editing, both sound and film, cinematography and the inspired direction brings the story together but more importantly, for Celia Johnson who gives a moving portrayal as Laura Jesson. Unfortunately, she has a limited filmography, so watch it for her. That’s just in case, you’re not a David Lean fan.

 

Drishyam (2013) #SherylPuthur

Sheryl Puthur2 Comments

1523308_638169002888773_1776440072_o

Directed By: Jeethu Joseph

Written By: JeethuJoseph

Cast:

Mohanlal – Georgekutty

Meena – Rani George

Ansiba Hassan – Anju George

Esther – Anu George

Kalabhavan Shajon – Constable Sahadevan

Siddique – Prabhakar

Asha Sharath – IG Geetha Prabhakar

Language: Malayalam                                                     Genre: Drama; Thriller

 

The film opens with a bus journey and it is when the story progresses that the significance of the event is understood. It then becomes clear that Jeethu Joseph has not wasted even one shot in the film. Everything fits together to form this ‘picture’. In fact, even the word ‘drishyam’ means a picture/visual. The film is then a meta film – a film within a film. Narrative and directorial control is displayed in the film.

Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is someone who spends his life watching movies while waiting for work assignments (he works as a cable TV operator in a small village). But these film-viewing exercises are not only entertainment; he learns a lot from them as demonstrated in a scene early in a movie where he expounds knowledgeably about habeas corpus.

Every scene follows logically and you wonder what jigsaw is it all fitting into. It begins to seem as though the point of no return isn’t happening soon enough or that the setting is taking a while but surprisingly you’re not bored and once the moment comes, the story hurtles forward. The film seems to have created a genre of its own – a how-done-it not a whodunit.

Georgekutty is the second director in this meta film where he directs the action in a masterly fashion and sometimes, like some directors is taken by surprise at the initiative of his ‘performers’. The start of this second film is nicely shown through the closing of his eyelids in the opening sequence, much like a camera and the opening of his eyelids towards the end, stands for the end of his ‘drishyam’.

In essence, it is the story of a family. A family that is slightly dysfunctional with a lackadaisical approach to the duties of family life. It is about how tragedy brings about the realization that they need to reaffirm their bonds as a family and stand together.

Watch it for the well-crafted package it is and the sensitive portrayal of grief, family life – of various kinds of families and what a difference a close-knit family can make in times of adversity. Also, for the well-crafted dialogues that express, yet mask; fail to implicate but do not fail to impress the viewer with its nuances.