Here are some quick words about two films you should try to catch tonight (Cairo Station) or before it leaves the theater after Thursday (Gunday).
Cairo Station (Youssef Chahine, Egypt, 1958, 77 min)
Union South Marquee Theater, Wed Feb 26, 7pm»
Youssef Chahine is a leading figure in the history of Egyptian cinema, and I have to admit he has been a blind spot for me. But the Marquee screening of Cairo Station this week inspired me to finally catch up with one of his early classics. On the one hand Cairo Station seems to be a pretty straightforward potboiler, but there are plenty of details that make it very interesting given its context of late 1950s Egypt. Those details include debates about organized labor, anxiety over westernization and secular life, and some decidedly mixed messages about the role of women in society.
The story follows a lame newspaper peddler Qinawi (played by Chahine himself) who is obsessed with Hannuma (Hind Rostom), a manipulative free spirit who defies the authorities at the train station by selling drinks on train cars. Hannuma is set to marry Abu Siri, a porter who is attempting to organize a trade union to improve working conditions at the station. But Hannuma is more than willing to use Qinawi’s feelings for her when she needs something from him. This leads Qinawi to slowly lose his already fragile mind, and he begins to contemplate more desperate measures.
What really seems to push Qinawi over the edge, however, are Western images of pin-up girls, which he collects from the newspapers and magazines that he peddles. While the film seems to be critical of such images, it also doesn’t hesitate to linger on them as Qinawi obsesses over them. Qinawi also watches Hannuma change out of some wet clothes, but this sequence does not make any attempt to protect Hannuma’s modesty. Later, a woman accuses Qinawi of gazing at her too long, but her husband ultimately blames her for not covering herself up. Thus the film shows us many pressure points in the anxiety over the representation of women, but it doesn’t shy away from showing the images that produce that anxiety. One might then accuse Chahine of trying to have it both ways, but these kinds of contradictions in the film make it far more interesting than a straight-forward morality tale.
Once the more melodramatic elements kick in, the plot becomes somewhat predictable, but these ideological tensions and contradictions keep the film very interesting. All of the lead performances are strong (if a bit broad), but Rostum’s energetic performance is particularly interesting; the film can’t seem to contain her just as the train station can’t seem to contain Hannuma. What the film lacks in stylistic innovation it makes up for in very efficient execution of Hollywood tropes, which again is interesting given the internal debate about westernization.
If you miss the screening tonight at the Union South Marquee Theater, Cairo Station is available on DVD.
Gunday (Ali Abbas Zafar, India, 2014, 152 min)
AMC Star Fitchburg 18 Cinema, 9:30 pm shows thru Feb 27»
You know, this is a capsule review. Just go see it. It’s fun. Disregard the low IMDB viewer ratings from people who don’t like Bollywood in the first place. You’re running out of time if you want to see and hear Gunday on the big screen. Go.
But if you need a little more coaxing, Gunday is more interesting than the throwback to the 1970s Angry Young Man films that it bills itself to be. Like many Bollywood films, star power and performances carry the day here, but I was actually surprised which performance I ended up liking the most by the end of the film.
Bikram (Ranveer Singh) and Bala (Arjun Kapoor) begin as orphans in the conflict leading to the birth of Bangladesh (I won’t explore the controversies the film has generated in its representation of that conflict here). They escape to Calcutta, and by overtaking the black market for stolen coal, they eventually build a empire of legitimate and illegitimate businesses. Enter super cop Inspector Satyajeet Sarkar, who is brought to Calcutta specifically to bring down their empire. Sarkar is played by Irrfan Khan, whom many will remember as the grown up Pi in Life of Pi. Khan brings a deadpan intensity to a cast that otherwise relishes in chewing up the furniture if given the chance. Don’t get me wrong, Singh and Kapoor are great movie stars who bring the flamboyant exuberance needed to carry the action, romance, dance sequences. Singh, in particular, really sells every dance move with genuine joy. But Khan is a great actor, who brings a gravity to the role that I certainly wasn’t expecting going in.
Rounding out the cast is Priyanka Chopra as Nandita, the cabaret singer that Bikram and Bala simultaneously fall for, leading to the plot machinations that produce a bitter conflict between the outlaws. As you can see from the image on the left, there’s nothing subtle about Bikram and Bala’s pursuit of Nandita. Nor is there anything subtle about the conflict that divides them apart; it leads to yet another great Bollywood slo-mo oiled-up shirtless fight before the final act. But we don’t go to Bollywood for subtlety. We go for cathartic spectacle, and Gunday delivers.
If you miss the film at AMC Star 18 Fitchburg, keep track of its DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming releases at GoWatchIt: