It was the name that captured my attention first. Ship of Theseus. Sounds like a sci-fi movie. And I am a diehard scifi fan. So when my friend sent me the link to its trailer, I watched it enthusiastically. But the trailer turned out to be anything but scifi... Not that i was disappointed. For there were scenes and dialogs in the trailer that promised a 'hatke' movie experience - something unfortunately difficult to come by in Hindi or indian-made English movies.
My curiosity was piqued. So this rainy and traffic-ridden Saturday (20 May 2013) found me sitting in the PVR Theatre reading the meaning behind the title of the film.
For that's how the movie starts. It displays what exactly the Ship of Theseus means. Its a pretty interesting premise. If you plan to watch the movie, then don't skip this start. Otherwise the basic concept behind the movie and why its named this way, will be lost on you.
If you have seen the trailer you will know that the film has at least 3 central characters. The film gives us a glimpse into the life of each of these characters. Each story is different and unconnected. These 3 stories form 3 different parts of the film. Each narrated at a stretch from an unspecific start to an apparently incomplete ending. There is no visual cue to indicate an end of one story and the start of another. Suddenly the scene changes, the characters and the settings change and the viewer is plunged straight into the next story without warning.
The first story is of a lady suffering from cornial infection. So for all practical purposes she is blind. And guess what she does for a hobby? Photography... Its interesting, even inspiring to see her capturing pictures in spite of her disability. But in some scenes, the movie drags a little. At least I found it a bit slow-going. People having interest in photography and a deeper empathy would find it more interesting than I did.
The next story is about a monk. Frankly speaking, it was this character that I found most fascinating when I watched the trailer. And certainly it was fascinating at the start. There are a lot of philosophical ideas, discussions and debates thrown around during this story. But after a while it became too much for my mind to grasp it all and process it. I was there with 2 friends. One dozed off during this part while the other found it pretty thought-provoking (to quote in his own words he had "goosebumps" and his "mind was numb"). Me, I thought there was a lot of 'intellectual masturbation' (to borrow the term used in the movie itself) going on. But it left me with no release and a mild case of intellectual blue balls.
I finally found my intellectual release in the 3rd story. It was funny and serious, thought provoking and entertaining, unbelievable yet realistic... Everything a good movie should be...
And then there was the climax. It was cherry on top of this tri-layered cake. An expected yet perfect surprise ending that wraps it all up pretty neatly. After the climax, all the 3 apparently incomplete stories become complete.
The movie is full of some pretty serious speculations. It raises some very serious questions. And it tried to give some very important messages. The cinematography is awesome. Some of the scenes are breath-taking. Without much use of CGI or SFX or fancy sets, they have made good use of the real-life surroundings and natural light very effectively. And my friend tells me it was shot entirely using a DSLR camera! The lead actors have done some pretty decent acting. But kudos to the writer-director, for coming up with such thought provoking stories, sketching such believable and well-defined characters and yet managing to keep it all entertaining...
It is not a commercial movie. If you are looking for mere entertainment, please find it else where. But if you like some good thought provoking and eye opener unusual film, then go for this one...
My curiosity was piqued. So this rainy and traffic-ridden Saturday (20 May 2013) found me sitting in the PVR Theatre reading the meaning behind the title of the film.
For that's how the movie starts. It displays what exactly the Ship of Theseus means. Its a pretty interesting premise. If you plan to watch the movie, then don't skip this start. Otherwise the basic concept behind the movie and why its named this way, will be lost on you.
If you have seen the trailer you will know that the film has at least 3 central characters. The film gives us a glimpse into the life of each of these characters. Each story is different and unconnected. These 3 stories form 3 different parts of the film. Each narrated at a stretch from an unspecific start to an apparently incomplete ending. There is no visual cue to indicate an end of one story and the start of another. Suddenly the scene changes, the characters and the settings change and the viewer is plunged straight into the next story without warning.
The first story is of a lady suffering from cornial infection. So for all practical purposes she is blind. And guess what she does for a hobby? Photography... Its interesting, even inspiring to see her capturing pictures in spite of her disability. But in some scenes, the movie drags a little. At least I found it a bit slow-going. People having interest in photography and a deeper empathy would find it more interesting than I did.
The next story is about a monk. Frankly speaking, it was this character that I found most fascinating when I watched the trailer. And certainly it was fascinating at the start. There are a lot of philosophical ideas, discussions and debates thrown around during this story. But after a while it became too much for my mind to grasp it all and process it. I was there with 2 friends. One dozed off during this part while the other found it pretty thought-provoking (to quote in his own words he had "goosebumps" and his "mind was numb"). Me, I thought there was a lot of 'intellectual masturbation' (to borrow the term used in the movie itself) going on. But it left me with no release and a mild case of intellectual blue balls.
I finally found my intellectual release in the 3rd story. It was funny and serious, thought provoking and entertaining, unbelievable yet realistic... Everything a good movie should be...
And then there was the climax. It was cherry on top of this tri-layered cake. An expected yet perfect surprise ending that wraps it all up pretty neatly. After the climax, all the 3 apparently incomplete stories become complete.
The movie is full of some pretty serious speculations. It raises some very serious questions. And it tried to give some very important messages. The cinematography is awesome. Some of the scenes are breath-taking. Without much use of CGI or SFX or fancy sets, they have made good use of the real-life surroundings and natural light very effectively. And my friend tells me it was shot entirely using a DSLR camera! The lead actors have done some pretty decent acting. But kudos to the writer-director, for coming up with such thought provoking stories, sketching such believable and well-defined characters and yet managing to keep it all entertaining...
It is not a commercial movie. If you are looking for mere entertainment, please find it else where. But if you like some good thought provoking and eye opener unusual film, then go for this one...
My rating: 3.5
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