Hustle - The Con is Most Definitely On

HUSTLE

Here's a nice show to kickstart the 'Series' section...

Hustle is a four season British series which features an unlikely group of con artists, situated in London, and their ‘adventures’. Conceived by Bharat Nalluri (who also directed a few episodes), the series owes its popularity to creator and script writer Tony Jordan. Though the episode directors change at random, the show manages to retain its quality.

The group in question comprises five major players: Mickey, Danny, Albert, Ash and Stacie. Mickey (Adrian Lester) is the mastermind behind all the cons and is the leader of the gang. Out with a vengeance to get the system that eventually killed his father, he is well versed in the art of the long con and is an expert at ‘covering all the angles’. Danny (Marc Warren), the new recruit, doesn’t have a fixed position and dons various roles under Mickey’s tutelage. A consummate short conner, Danny is always found vying for Mickey’s leadership. The only female member of the group, Stacie (Jamie Murray), uses her obvious sex appeal to get things done. Don’t be fooled by the looks though, there’s a cunning brain inside the bombshell. Stacie’s general roles include managing the team’s finances. The oldest member of the gang, Albert (Robert Vaughn), is what is best described in conning terms as a roper. Albert is responsible for luring potential victims, or marks, for the long con. Apart from judging a person within a few moments (ala cold reading) Albert is able to play on the mark’s weakness and set up the target for the rest of the team. He commands a great deal of respect from the rest of the team. And finally Ash (Robert Gleinster), the resident fixer. Ash is the proverbial go to guy for arranging everything from currency to conveyance to people to props. Apart from the 5, other fellow conmen make appearances in individual episodes. This guy reminds me of Morgan Freeman’s character from The Shawshank Redemption.

Two things make Hustle very special in my opinion. The first is the superior character selection. Every star seems to have been born for that role. While Danny and Mickey tend to hog the limelight, the other members and even some of the marks will definitely leave a mark on you (bad pun intended). The second is the moral code that runs deep within the gang. ‘You can’t cheat an honest man. It’s never been done before.’ And ‘We give them what they want, and take everything.’ are some among the many oft repeated phrases that you’ll find being employed.

That apart, I think one word best describes the series: style. Characters usually freeze time to explain a scenario and break the fourth wall on numerous occasions. The background score is almost always a peppy number, keeping in pace with the episode. These guys aren’t petty swindlers, they’re grifters. When they con, they con with flair and panache. Expect misdirection, expect hidden details, and expect the unexpected. This (the series) is their world, theirs for the taking.

Look out... THE CON IS ON.

PS: This review is based on my watching the first 3 seasons only.

Driftwood Recommends...

Somewhere to your right is a slideshow titled 'Driftwood Recommends...'. This of course, is a comprehensive list of all my absolute recommends. The 'must-watch'-s. Do not interpret these as the best movies ever to grace the screen; they are simply stuff that I liked. There's a marked difference between the two.

Some of those are stuff I saw recently, while others do represent childhood addiction. These are movies/series that haven't lost their charm from the time I saw them. It is likely that most of the articles in this blog will feature exactly those pictures that you now see in the slideshow.

PS: Is there anyway I can make the slideshow go on forever ala an infinite loop? I know, my HTML sucks.

Cidade de Deus - Brutal... and Effective

CIDADE DE DEUS

Year: 2002.

Country: Brazil.

Alternative Title: City of God.

Director: Fernando Meirelles, co-directed by Katia Lund.

If you run it will get you. If you stay it will eat you.

Introduction

A Brazilian favela (slum settlement) was not a happy place to live in. It was impoverishment personified and was a picture of violence and chaos. Drugs, rackets, mobs, gang wars and the like were the order of the day. And the fact that it housed an eclectic collection of people didn’t help. Numerous favelas were found clustered in and around Rio De Janiero. And it is in one such favela that our story begins.

(The movie is a recount of events that transpired in the ‘City of God’ during the 60s and 70s. It is an adaptation of Paulo Lins’ novel of the same name. Lins was an actual resident of the favela in question.)

Story

‘Cidade de Deus’ is a foray into life in a typical favela. It commences with an amateurish trio stealing from more affluent sources, proceeds to depict a little tyke’s metamorphosis into a notorious gang leader and culminates in a fierce gang war. The movie can be considered a biographical presentation of Lil’ Ze’s life, his rise to fame as an ruthless gangster and his disputes with rival gang lords like Carrot, and Knockout Ned. Interlaced at critical junctures, are shorter stories that play significant roles in contributing to the overall story.

The narrative is set to the voice of Rocket, who despite hailing from the favela, chose to tread on the rarely walked path of non-violence. Within minutes of its commencement, the movie shifts into flashback mode, as it describes the elements and events that have made the favela what it is today. The movie is divided into a number of shorter sub-segments, each with a seemingly trivial name. However, and to the director’s credit, these segments are sequenced quite effectively.

Characterization

To suggest that the film abounds in characters would be an understatement. Characters come and go in a flash, and they are interwoven so intricately around the story that sometimes the viewer is left wondering who’s who. The movie literally teems with characters who are introduced concurrently. Thankfully, most of them are pretty well defined and such strong characterization is one of the film’s fortes.

It would be really futile to attempt to describe ALL the artists who performed in the movie. Leandro Firmino as Lil’ Ze looks every inch a gangster. As a tyrannical leader, Firmino does tend to overact at some instances but for the most part of the movie, he skillfully portrays a man with unmatched arrogance and desire for power. Alexandre Rodriguez as Rocket has no solid role except for that of the narrator and is comprehensively overshadowed by Lil’ Ze and the others. But with what little scope the character offers, Rodriguez churns out a convincing performance. Other notable characters include Carrot (Matheus Nachtergaele) and Knockout Ned (Seu Jorge).
Perhaps the greatest character is the capricious city itself. On some occasions it is festive, and during others, it is a warpath, with casualties reaching all time highs and bodies strewn on every street. Ironically, the city is so alive when wars occur and deaths are frequent. Even more ironical is the fact that the place is named ‘City of God’… would God want to live here?

Screenplay, Cinematography and Background Score

The powerful storyline is accompanied by equally riveting screenplay and cinematography. The dialogues are kept simple but they have a resounding effect on the viewer. The tangential takes and flashback may seem a bit confounding, but they complement each other aptly. The camera seems to be handled consummately, in all scenes, without any discrimination. The accompanying music is pretty alluring and it perfectly matches the mood the movie takes at any given moment. The background score at Benny’s farewell merits special mention.

Personal Opinion/Discussion (Heavy Spoilers)

I liked the movie predominantly for a single reason. It was honest, brutally so. I expected a toned down version of events that transpired in the favela. What I did see, was an in-your-face presentation that is as close as one can get to the real thing.

The movie also portrays the contrasting nature of 2 people who were bought up in the favela at nearly the same time. While Rocket chose the path of non-violence, Lil’ Ze became an infamous gang lord, being the power hungry maniac that he was. To a good extent, the movie also shows gangsters who’d like to shed their violent ways and start afresh. Shaggy and Benny do it for the women they love, while Clipper does it of his own accord (guilt?). Love, lust, power, vengeance, angst… the movie is a skillful combination of these. And more.

Anarchy apart, the movie also had its share of comical moments and subtle humour. Rocket’s attempts to woo Angelica, his confusion when Lil’ Ze’s gang urges him to take more photos of them instead of killing him for publicizing their name, are a few instances. Also funny, to an extent, are the names the characters were given. Rocket, Carrot, Lil’ Dice, Stringy, Goose, Blacky, Shorty and more. The opening sequence is very suggestive too. A chicken that decides that it doesn’t want to die by the knife, is chased by scores of gangsters. Literally, it is hilarious! Metaphorically, this can represent the fact that the City of God provides no alternate choices. And yes, they get you. And contradicting that fact, we have our narrator Rocket, who chose to follow his lifetime ambition of photography and comes out unscathed.

‘I smoke, I snort coke and I have killed. Therefore I am a man.’

Another jarring aspect of the movie was the way it portrayed kids. During the gang wars, everyone who’s someone wants a gun. You see kids handling guns for superficial reasons like ‘he punched me in the face’. And the most poignant moment came at the climax, where the so called runts are shown carrying munitions, making a black list (consisting of enemies, including the Red Brigade). Just when you thought everything was going to be just fine, the movie ends on a pessimistic note. It begets a question: Will life at the favela ever improve? With the fall of one gang, rises another. And another. A vicious cycle.

Conclusion

Two minutes into the movie, this reviewer was sold. A must watch.

I Have a Cunning Plan!

Without further ado... content!

Some of you might be familiar with this blog's title. For the others, here's the reason behind the name...

'I Have a Cunning Plan!' is a trademark statement delivered by Baldrick, one of the many wonderful characters from the successful Blackadder franchise.

Blackadder is a half satirical half subtle British sitcom that was aired way back in the 80s. Comprising a star cast which included Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnerny, Brian Blessed and many others, it was a comical take on historical events. All shows featured Edmund Blackadder (Atkinson) as their protagonist. Other recurring characters were his faithful and bird-brained servant Baldrick (Robinson) and colleague/subordinate Percy (in seasons 1 and 2, played by McInnerny) and George (in seasons 3 and 4, played by Laurie).

Blackadder was portrayed as a cynical human being who cared about himself more than anyone else. His intelligence was depicted to be on a steady increase as the sitcom progressed. As for Baldrick and the other characters, it was quite the opposite.

The sitcom was a integrated collection of 4 seasons namely:
Season I: The Black Adder
Season II: Blackadder II
Season III: Blackadder the Third
Season IV: Blackadder goes Forth

Season I followed the reign of King Richard IV. It was Queen Elizabeth's reign in Season II. Season III portrayed the late 18th century with the Prince of Wales. Finally, Season IV was set during the World War I era.

The series was authored by the script-writing trio of Richard Curtis, Ben Elton and Atkinson himself. The first season was scripted by Curtis and Atkinson and the consequent ones by Curtis and Elton. As for credentials, in 2000, Blackadder Goes Forth ranked at #16 in the '100 Greatest British Television Programmes', a list created by the British Film Institute. Also in the 2004 TV poll to find 'Britain's Best Sitcom', Blackadder was voted the second best British sitcom of all time.

Blackadder is one of the many recommendations that this space is bound to fill up with. If you haven't seen it yet, what're you waiting for??

PS: For all that emphasis on cinema, don't you find it odd that the first post with any semblance to content describes a sitcom? Oh well...

On the Anvil

What’s a blog without an introduction? Hence, here goes nothing…

I’ve been an avid movie fan as far as I can remember. A mammoth share of my life has been spent in front of a screen of some sort, and I don’t regret one bit of it. To put it in a more refined (read sugar-coated) manner, cinema is the one of the very few avenues that has let me imagine, made me think out of the box. Though my tastes have shifted and even matured, if I can say so myself, my love for the medium still remains the same.

And while we’re at it, a word about my tastes. I am absolutely open to all kinds of cinema. Though my exposure has been predominantly English and regional, of late I have developed an addiction for cinema from all ends of the globe. This might help explaining the fact that some or most of the content here will not necessarily be Hollywood, English or Indian. Genre-wise, although I’m definitely more inclined towards comedy, I enjoy action, romance and every other type to a good extent. Through this blog, I hope to share my views on what I watch. As a long term goal, I also hope to get people to watch ‘better’ cinematic fare.

Now that that’s been established, what about cinema am I going to write about? You’ll find the proverbial reviews, previews and the occasional favourites lists. Those apart, I hope to make this space a bit more unique by adding wild comparisons, discussions and the random opinion. Also, you can most definitely expect pieces on series, sitcoms, anime and other things that I view on a regular basis.

To sum it up, this blog is about cinema and almost everything related. All told from the humble perspective and grammatically incorrect and non sequential English of a quintessential movie buff. Don’t expect episodes from my life or other pieces of ‘creative’ writing… trust me; you’re better off not reading those. All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone.

I hope you will enjoy reading this space as much as I think you will.

PS: Actual content will be posted pretty soon… I think. Until then, hurrah for fillers! \o/

The Premiere aka The Beginning of the End aka Are-You-Still-Reading??

First post.

... And now, for something completely routine, run-of-the-mill and mundane.

Coming soon: content.