Friday, September 30, 2011

The Devil's Double

The devil’s double. The body Double of Saddam’s son Uday and Uday are played by Dominic Cooper who I had never heard about prior to the movie. I liked the movie. Cooper is handsome and he draws attention. His depiction of Uday was in my opinion better than his depiction of Latif but this isn’t entirely his fault. The problem with the movie is the sugar coating of Latif, which might be true in contrast with Uday but it was a little sickening. Latif is really quite boring, there is no real reflection of his inner turmoil, however, there are certain hints of him starting to acquire a taste for the material perks that come with his job, which give his character some little elements of credibility.While on the other hand Uday is well put, his drug snorting, meandering gait, roving eye and daddy fearing character seems much more real!



The movie doesn’t say much politically, it doesn’t say- Iraq is fucked up, so come dear Americans, neither is it anti-American. In fact it doesn’t say anything about Americans. I liked the movie; Dominic Cooper is going to make it big!

Amelie

Like a lot of other people, I loved the colors of Amelie. Her bright outfits, bright walls, her shoes, the lampshades, Nino’s bike bags; even the drab cream in the coffee shop comes alive in the movie.



I agree that Amelie’s prying into other people’s lives, messing with their emotions and beliefs was too intrusive. But what is wrong with that? Nowhere does the film sound like a diktat for good living. These are just some things that Amelie does and we all err. Some things work out the way she wanted them to, some didn’t.


The movie is vastly appreciated for the opening and closing scenes. Amongst my favorites from the opening scenes are her drawing little people in the crevices of her body. As a lonely child with no playmate, she is well portrayed with her dramatized conversations with herself, her relation with her fish. The closing scene I like for personal reasons and mostly because of the music which I heard much before I saw the movie.


The scene I cherished the most was her leading the blind man through the street while sharing her vision of the sights around them before dropping him to a known point.


Another thing I loved was the way Amelie seeks herself in the one character that the Glass Man always finds difficult to paint- the solitary girl in the Renoir painting- Luncheon of the Boating party.


I also love Amelie’s clumsily large shoes and the way she gulps wine.


One thing that I remember disliking was the video that the Glass Man sends to Amelie telling her to chase her man before her heart becomes brittle like his bones. I think this message could have been more poetic, the video more elegant than the plain tones offered.