Mid August shows

1) Bad Guy (2001 movie directed by Ki-duk Kim): Rating 8/10

A man sees a college girl sitting on a bench. He is infatuated with her. So he sits up close to her on the bench. She is uncomfortable and promptly gets up when her boyfriend approaches. But the guy steps up to the girl and forcibly kisses her. The boyfriend gets made and gets into a fight. The guy gets beat up the gathering police as well. He wants revenge. So by some carefully arranged events, the girl ends up in a prostitution house. Initially, the guy just watches her, does not touch her. When the girl finds out, she is upset as expected. But for some reason, a bond develops between the two.

It is an interesting movie which is nothing like the shocking posters of a nude girl on the cover. In fact, there is very little nudity in the movie. It is a slow paced movie which grows on you. Like his previous movie, the Isle, the movie shows a love relationship tainted by pain and torture.

2) Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder): Rating 9/10

The cold stare. That wicked cold stare which judges, which humiliates.
On a rainy day, an older German woman walks into a bar. The bar is playing Arabic music. And the mostly Arab occupants of the bar stare back at the woman. Ali goes up the woman and asks her for a dance. During the course of their conversation, they strike up a friendship. And Ali ends up sleeping with the woman. Their age gap and race division becomes the hot topic for the woman’s family, co-workers and social circle. She is isolated, stared at and humiliated. This is Germany in the 70’s when racial discrimination was very common. And Fassbinder has crafted a powerful yet simple movie. Punctuated by the long cold state! And the camera angles are just perfect.

3) Coupling – Season 2, 3 and 4:
Well the British comedy Coupling only last four seasons. In reality, the first three seasons were stellar with the fourth one not being on the same wavelength. One of the reasons why the first three seasons were good was because of Jeff Murdoch (played brilliantly by Richard Coyle). After Richard left in the fourth season, things were not the same. That being sad, it is still an excellent show. A cross between Friends and Sex and the City but much better! Because the series shows both sides of male-female relationships as opposed to a single sided approach (like Sex and the City).