Sons of Perdition (2010)

Real Life: Supreme Horror Entity

A road leading to nowhere, snow coat on tall mountains, dusk rouge, buffer of clouds within a handycam's focal point and a collection of few houses, some of them one storied some duplex. A young face appears, a little curious, a little intimidated and a little courageous. "There is no truck. I guess mom is not home. Ok, lets go", the young face and his friend jump out of the car and enter a house. A young girl, the boy's sister, runs out of the house. The three slam the doors of the car. "Hurry, go go go." Hillary, one of the hundreds of kids belonging to Foundamentalist Latter Day Saints' (FLDS) cult, has decided to quit her life in Colorado City, Arizona. Tired of FLDS' self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs' tyrannical reign over the 'CRICK' and its habitants Hillary joins the underground clan of exiles. All termed as Sons of Perdition by prophet and his loyal followers. She finds refuge with her brother, Joe, her cousins, Sam and Bruce and an exile helper in a town few tens of miles away from the CRICK. Her father finds the exile refuge within 24 hours to take her back.

Sons of Perdition is a documentary about lives of three exiles who are born in the FLDS cult that believes in polygamy. The primary members, MEN, leaglly marry one wife and other wives are termed as soul companions. The men share their friends' daughters, wives's sisters and their daughters and cousins and evrything that can give birth. Only to be shared later again. All the kids are home schooled about christianity's version entirely from the prophet's point of view. They do manual labor even before they hit puberty. Whoever is an open thinker and does not 'OBEY' the prophet becomes outcast and termed a Son of Perdition. The three exiles under the focus start a journey whose every milestone has its own dirt, grass, heat, rain and dew. Every milestone different from the other.

For these SONS everything they experience after that jump out of the house is for the first time. Right from the experience out of home sewn clothes, slurp of mango soda, hair color and mohawk, Christian church visit, skateborad jump, pool dive, cigerette puff, scream on the roller coaster to 'HOME RUN', everything brings a special meaning and a new memory. A memory that they try and overwrite over horrid moments of past. The moments to see their mothers sacrificing their physical and mental dignity to obey their husbands. The moments where the SONS might see their underage sisters dragged to their future husbands, possibly older than their grandfathers. Moments that are unforgettable. Moments that led them to spread their wings and fly away from that nest.

But how good a wing is if it carries you only to a point where you are left with no choice but to wait paitiently to make it stronger. By means of education in high school and possibly college, a social security number, a work experience, monetary and mental savings the exiles try and make their wings strong enough to carry not just themselves but their family members under torment. A family that they long for. Because buried under those horrid memories are moments of love, compassion and happiness. In the forms of pictures with siblings, choirs with cousins on a CD, memories of coming home from work to spend time with family, maybe holding hand of the mother and a deep seeded feeling for a tiny spark of love for father too. A young soul is a young soul. Sometimes that tiny spark triumphs over a piled up despise.

Sure this documentary brings frames of shock. A young girl begging to cops to take her away from her mother, boys with ploughs, pictures of 'face-to-face' involving underaged. But there are no graphic counterparts. But almost every frame brings a punch in the gut that does not fade before the next one. The documentary had every single reason to make victim portrayal as the punchline. But it does not. Rather it is the quest of those three sons to build stronger wings to grab their moms and sisters and fly far away as a primal instinct of their survival. This instinct, instead of violent means of revenge, becomes the ultimate outcome. Being victims of one of the cruelest horrors of real life all three Sons of Perdition embrace life for the betterment of it.

Trailer: Click Here

How to shake hands with an Oscar winner?

When I got the confirmation of passes to an advanced screening I was excited. That thunder was stolen by a line in fine print on the passes: After screening, Q&A with the director. Now that came as even a sweeter surprise. I waited long for that day. Drove my car fast so to get the best seat possible. Waited impatiently in line for a glimpse with my phone on video mode. No sign. Still. We get in the auditorium an hour before the screening. A man sitting next to me asks," So you are a fan?" "Absolutely sir," promptness could not have been quicker. "I visited the John Blue canyon in UTAH where Rolston was trapped for 127 hours," he added. "No way, really?", I am more curious. He discussed his experience in the canyon further. We both forget the whole reason we are here for. Suddenly lights in the auditorium get brighter waking us from the conversation. An announcer gives introduction, "Shallow grave is one of the best debuts." A figure in the shadows at the door attempts to stride towards the stage. I see a shirt and an evening jacket. Unkempt hair with glasses. All eyes at that entrance. The figure stops suddenly as the announcer is not finished, " Millions, Sunshine and a little something called Slumdog Millionaire," and crowd erupts in joy. And Danny Boyle continues his previously interrupted stride. We wait breathlessly as Danny gives introduction to 127 Hours. A true story of a trapped canyoneer's attempt of survival. I am getting deaf trying to swallow the moment. "So enjoy," Danny finished. Next 97 minutes were one of the nailbiting, exasperating and exhilarating moments of my life as we watched James Franco puts on the mask of Aron Rolston to the tunes of AR Rahman.

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Q&A with Danny Boyle and Christian Colson (producer of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours)(not exact transcript, relying on notes, a video and memory)

Dallas Film Society (DFS): What a fantastic and breathtaking film it was. I was told that when trapped in the canyon Rolston recorded himself throughtout. Did you see those tapes before making and how much it affected your fimmaking?

Danny Boyle (DB): Yes we saw those and it was just an extraordinary experience. Rolston had showed those tapes to his mum and friends. Never released them. Not that he is shy of publicity. He wrote a book about it. So I thought obviously must be hard to watch. You know how jacked, very very upsetting and extraordinary it must be.

DFS: So how was it?

DB: You know he is trying to protect his mother. Because he thinks the last thing she will be seeing is him dying so (he must have thought) I want to say some descent things. Apologise, you know stuff like that. Incredibly moving. He said he would record a video, go back to it and erase it if he doesn't like it. So that gave us the idea of the talk show host like in some sense Aron is performing in those videos. Trying to be spiritual. We did not use the message verbatim. Bend it a little bit. Push the envelope. Main thing was James (Franco), just extraordinary. Because you know evreybody, including who tells the story knows the ending. Even ones who hear the story knows that he got out. But then there is this guy with a little bit of a video camera recording video, leaving a message and he increasingly thinks he is gonna die. He runs out of water. 24 hours he does not get water and its very scary. Not like carbohydrate loss. Really weird and you have got to be very careful with weigth loss through water. He complained that he was maybe 15 min away from a heart attack. So thats why you see James rubbing his chest in the film. Aron was incredibly generous and ofcourse his mum. We had to clear with his mum to allow ousrselves to not to use directly but use those videos as an inspiration.

Christian Colson (CC): It was an extraordinary story and he experienced something that we all are going to experience one day.

DFS: How important was the book (Between a rock and hard place)?

CC: Danny gave me the book and said it was something for pleasure reading. We did not think that this could be made into a film. There was Rolston's experience in canyon followed by chapters of his entrapment and survival. We chose bits of it that we thought could make a flow of it.

DFS: How did you manage to shoot the survival tricks including liquid intake and the scene where he cuts his hand off?

DB: Well we thought that if Aaron can do it then the audience should be able to watch it. We let James do long takes. Then we went back and edited it. The editing was like here is James, now James and then James again. We had to cut the long takes and yet create a flow out of it.

DFS: Was Rolston present?

DB: Yes. We had this interesting mechanism of James' experience vs Rolston's. I made sure that Aron did not overshadow James. Because this was James in that situation too and it was his experience we filmed.

Audience Member (AM): I saw some shots in the film where it looked like James was holding the camera and sometimes not. How did you keep a balance?

DB: You are right. Sometimes James was holding the camera. At times we used maybe a Canon D7 which can take 12 pictures in a second and the put them together and it just turned out beautiful images of James clicking himself as a character. There also was the handycam that James was shooting himself. We also used the camera we used previously in Slumdog Millionaire. That allows extreme control and precision. And there is this movie that released few weeks ago about a guy inventing Facebook. A genius from east coast has an experience and creates a facebook. Then there was Aron Rolston who filmed himself, in 2003 which is about three years before youtube, so you see how this hidden connection we think that connects together.

AM: You usually leave your thumb print in your films. Like Brian Eno's The ascent in 28 Days Later or the commode dive. In your opinion where did you leave a thumb print in this film?

DB: You as a viewer are more apt to answer that. I usually like to iterate and see how it feels like. Some of those are forced and some of those are unintentional. But if I have to choose then I would say the music.

CC: I would say that the thumbprint was the boldness to go with this story. Although there was success of Slumdog Millionaire the studio was still reluctant. Because they were not sure if they want to fund a story about a man trapped in a cave who cuts off his arm. But this is not about a man trapped in a cave wh cuts off his arm. So yes there was boldness of chosing this story.

AM: What was the most difficult part about making the film?

DB: It is kind of a funny story but when we met James Franco I was like is he stoned? Is this guy for real? But then I was told by one of the executives at Fox Searchlight that this is one of his tricks, allegedly (laughs). I mean look at the guy, he looks stoned all the time. But then he performed these acts extraordinarily. So it seemd bit tough first but turned out fine. He is so lose and comfortable. So was Leo (Dicaprio) during The Beach. British actors are so stiff but the American actors seem relaxed and ready. Watching James I learnt about acting.

AM: How did it feel like when you finished shooting the chopping of prostethic arm?

DB: It was quite a long process. James got through most of the arm to the metal rod that was holding it together. Like Terminator. There were some long takes and it seemed like James was perhaps as close as he could have been to a situation we hopefully don't have to face. We had been to the actual place Aron was trapped. After he was hospitalized it took around 12 people to move that stone and get the arm off. They took some pictures and (phew) those were intense. So when James finished chopping it off he looked at it as if it was his.

AM: Would you like to give any tip to any aspiring filmmakers on how to get into the industry?

DB: Well, there is no door. If I say there is a door in a wall you will be standing there and there will be a line but there is no such door. The industry seems difficult to get into. I thought like that too. Only lunatics sit where I am sitting with my fellow producer. One day you might be sitting here and someone will ask you the same question and then you will remember what I said today.

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Now to end this article I have to mention that Danny and Christian seemed very humble and down to earth. Both of them induldged all of the enthusiasts with signatures and photographs. As for me my heart was still beating from the moment I shook his hand till I reached home.

Catfish (2010) *No Spoilers*

A temptation from a human desire for happiness!

"Hello", a girl answers the phone. Boy says, " Megan?". Megan replies," Hi, how are you?" Astounded boy says, "Your voice is not at all what I expected." Follows a introductory conversation for the first time between new York city photographer Yaniv 'Nev' Schulman and a country girl from Ishpeming, Michigan Megan Faccio. They previously knew each other from facebook when Megan was tagged in her 8-yr old sister's pictures. Abby previously requested Nev to send a picture of himself so she could paint it. When Nev recieved the paining in the mail he is instantly feels a friendly connection. Follows a facebook family of Abby, Megan, their mom Angela, her two sons and so on. No need to mention Nev falls in love with Megan and they share text messages over a period of 8 months. Nev almost decides to quit his life in the city to live with Megan as a cowboy. What follows is a series of events over the course of this 'so called documentary'. Anything else and I will be spoiling the 'film'.

Ever since Cannibal Holocaust (1980) premiered documentary style film-making with above average, by Hollywood standrd if I may, storylines and plots were presented to scare the crap out of audiences with a 'how real it is' phenomenon. The Blair Witch Project reached audiences in the farthest corners of the world with film making perspective of handycam that started a series of such films up until Paranormal Activity (2007). The filmakers have always been questioned about the authenticity, if they claimed it is real, of their work. Whatever the respone they had one thing is for sure that these films in a way created a cult following, if not made buckets of money like Blair Witch or Paranormal. Catfish is such a movie/documentary that fits into this genre.

What makes Catfish different than these films is it makes human characters in it extremely believable. It uses those characters and drives the story. A story of some predictable, some unpredictable, some bizzare, some painful, some dissappointing (for all characters), some awkward and one very unique and beautiful outcome. This outcome gives you the meaning of the title and how everyting in this 94 min show bonds together. It may be half filled to some and half empty to others. But the meaning of the Catfish is essential for the film's credibility in its entirety. If you think about it then it could be argued that a celluloid creation that makes a point in the end is usually a 'film'. Not a documentary. Recall Bowling for Columbine, Up series or An Inconvenient Truth. The viewers are shocked and shattered through each frame of the film. They do have a finale but the point is made way before the ending. The whole prospect of following a journey in those documentaries was the pleasure source. Catfish could be true as its makers claim. Catfish does drag you in and deliver. But the avalanche like finale of last 10 minutes almost makes it stand in the category of a film. Like Hitchcock's Psycho. Tony Perkis' character confronts to give meaning to almost every single frame of the film and so does Catfish. Be warned that this does not make Catfish Hitchcockian or with one of the best mysteries. But it is definitely as if the filmmakers previsioned the whole attempt to create their celluloid creation.

It cannot be predicted how true or made up Catfish is. Maybe it is genuine or maybe the creators will take a secret to their graves. It does not matter. It is a thriller that has its source from the very thing that makes us human. The unique perspective on human character and a temptation to human desire for happiness that it protrays makes viewing experience absolutely unique.

(Also posted on PassionForCinema)

The Vulture: My first attempt at filmmaking.

It began in 2004. During the time period between graduation and the first job the evenings teased me to watch movies. The tease was ultra-psychological to write something. An idea for a short scene was burning in my head about two friends sitting on a park bench talking about something that went wrong. The basic plot and assumed twist could not reach to the paper. I trashed it untill in 2007 PassionForCinema (PFC) announced their first one minute online film festival. If my temptation to see through the lense wasn't enough then it was the prize of an internship with one of the Bollywood filmmakers was a strong motivation. I wonder how my idea would have worked. Whatever the heck was it, I wanted to participate in the festival. The idea re-surfaced and I wrote the screenplay. The obvious choice, because of the minus budget, was my wife Nisha. During numerous script reading sessions she never reached to the feeling of an audience might reach as I had expected. It was a disaster. I ran out of time then and decided for something else.

Enter 2008. Swine flu epidemic and the media frenzy was overwhelming. I was speaking with my father and we discussed the same and a thought came to my mind. As soon as I uttered the word he understood and no extra effort was made to be on the same page. I did not think of it until the announcement of the third online film festival on PFC. My urges haunted me again. I came across Jose Martinez, a colleague at UT Arlington. He mentioned once that he composes beats/music on his home computer. I immediately asked him if he is willing to share his composition for a movie I am planning to make. He agreed and brought me a CD. Now I wanted to storyboard the film. The basic premise for a new idea remained and for the finale I thought about few approaches. The deadline for submission was almost 3 days away. One evening I called my friend Ninad Thakoor. He was welcoming in using his Sony DCR VX 2000 camera. Now everything seems to be coming together. Every point of time I thought I am going to jinx it again. I sat down and storyboarded it. 2 locations were finalised and two actors. Obviously me and Nisha. Her scene was shot first. This was the only time I was behind the camera. There were 5 takes and 2 different setups. Her input of Mangalsutra came in handy. I ended up using the 2nd take. Then we shot the 'hospital' scene. Then at home. Food color was used for the blood. The editing was the hardest part. We ended up shooting around 15 minutes and 1 min of it ended up in the final film.

The movie was submitted but could not make it to the final favorites. Yes it hurts but I will always remember what experience it gave me. A taste of filmmaking I had imagined before but never felt until now. For that I want to thank Jose, Ninad and Nisha for their love and support. Thanks PFC for that chance. For this blog post I cannot review my film. This time I leave it upto you.