My Top Five!

1.Inherit the wind-Based on the famous ‘monkey’ trial which pitted a diminutive high school biology teacher who had the cheek to teach evolution, against the full might of the Christian right, this classic still packs enough wallop to ruffle some feathers today after half a century. Spencer Tracy, loosely modeled on Clarence Darrow, gives one of his finest performances as the agnostic defense lawyer who has zero tolerance for religious humbug. 'In a child’s power to master the multiplication table, there is more sanctity than in all your shouted ‘amens’ and ‘hosannas’'- he thunders at the jury. But it’s us he is really pointing the finger at. Its not just the fiercely evangelical prosecutor that he has to counter, but the whole town itself where people consider 'evolution' to be as much of an anathema as 'nigger loving' or homosexuality. Some scenes, for instance, the one where Tracy puts the prosecutor himself on the stand and grills him, maybe a bit far-fetched but back in 1925, trial procedure was an informal business with frequent scuffles between the lawyers. What makes this movie so important is the lamentable statistics you could hear today about how 44% of Americans still believe that life started 4000 years back, that humans and dinosaurs lived alongside each other( Flintstones anyone?) and how god took a day off on sunday; so on and so forth...In short, watch this movie if you enjoy watching a good trial or the next time you see a white fat woman on tv with a poster that says 'JESUS LOVES YA', protesting against stem cell therapy.

2.12 angry men – Sidney Lumet must be out of this world. There is no way anybody could make an entire 2 hour movie about twelve men stuck in one room and still have a rapt audience! Yet that’s exactly what he accomplishes. One of those rarities, that features in best lists both amidst critics and your lay movie buff, this is the best trial movie ever without once featuring the actual trial! Confused? You ought to be. Henry Fonda as the lone dissenting juror countering 11 headstrong men, must do the most difficult thing imaginable, to save a boy’s life hanging in the balance….he has to change their opinion. On a limited time frame at that! And boy, he does it with élan. This movie is at once a depiction of the many faces of human prejudice and more importantly, a scathing critique of the American judicial system.

3.Dalapathi – For the odd Rajnikanth apostate out there or the occasional sceptic who secretly wonders what the big fuss is about, with the ‘palabishekams’ and what not, my suggestion is, go watch this movie and join the rest of us on this side of belief. Probably the most apt rendition of Mahabharata attempted on screen or anywhere else, this is considered by many to be Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus. Rajnikanth’s portrayal of the pathos of being an illegitimate son is pitch perfect and the evolution of his friendship with Mammooty’s character is heart wrenching. As usual Ratnam’s recurring themes of parallel government and alternate justice abound in this film. The famous temple scene with the train chugging in the background should have been neck and neck with the Odessa steps of Potemkin as one of the best scenes of all time. But who said life is fair anyway?

4.Oldboy- If you have a weak stomach, this movie is a definite no-no. but you’d never know what you’d be missing. This Korean masterpiece is as much a treatise on the psychopathology of vengeance as it is an instance of faultless film making. Its also an endurance test for the viewer and even a self-professed liberal will find himself cringing in his seat when the feral climax scene unfolds and you suddenly wish you hadn’t seen this movie. Choi-min-sik plays the half-crazed protagonist who is looking for answers to why he had been kidnapped and incarcerated in a cell for 15 years by someone whose identity itself is not revealed to him. And the answers that he does find in the end are quite probably the most shocking moments of Cinema. The film is also known for its famous 'octopus' scene where the protagonist gorges 3 live ones!( only after making sure the buddhist actor said a prayer for each, before taking the shot). Will smith and Spielberg tried everything possible to remake this movie, but no production house would hear of it. The west, apparently was not ready for this movie yet.

5.Schindler’s list – The metamorphosis of Oscar Schindler (played by the suave Liam Neeson) from greedy opportunist to good samaritan is all the more gripping because it’s based on true events. This movie shot entirely in black and white is Spielberg’s painful tribute to the holocaust. Arriving at Nazi occupied Poland to exploit cheap Jewish labour amidst the ravages of war , Schindler's cynical pragmatism breaks down in the face of the horrors that he witnesses. Bribing his way through the Nazi echelons of power he creates the ‘list’ – Jewish lives to be saved. “And the list”, as Ben Kingsley, playing Schindler's conscience keeper says at one point, “is an absolute good”. Also, with this movie, Spielberg gave to cinema, one of the greatest villains ever in the form of the decadent nazi general Amon Goeth, played by the versatile Ralph Fiennes. I still cant decide what was more riveting; the complex chemistry between Goeth and Schindler or the many subtle moments of kindness between him and Kingsley's character. The climax, though a little overwrought emotionally, is the only way an epic such as this could be culminated. Vintage Spielberg!