Molly Aunty Rocks! (2012) [Film Review]

Molly Aunty Rocks; or, Revathy vs. the IRS

This time let’s endeavour ourselves to explore the latest film in which Revathy starred as the leading heroine. The movie can’t be anything else than the Malayam picture from 2012, awesomely entitled Molly Aunty Rocks!

Release Info 

Directed by: Ranjith Sankar Starring: Revathy, Prithviraj, Lalu Alex

Language: Malayalam Movie Industry: Mollywood Runtime: 128 min

Synopsis

The movie centres on the character of Molly (Revathy) who is an uncompromising, yet very kind woman living in her family village in the state of Kerala, while her husband and children are in America. When Molly quits her job as a bank clerk and prepares to join them, she receives an invoice from Indian Revenue Service that urges her to settle an unpaid local property tax. Molly having no knowledge of the sum goes to the IRS office and by firmly rejecting the “traditional” way of dealing with such issues (aka *corruption*), she unleashes a living hell upon herself in form of a young, rich, and ruthless bureaucrat called Pranav (Prithviraj).

Rocking experience (of disbelief)

First of all, during the first watching of this film, I had a feeling that this is a letdown. The story is interesting in itself, especially considering the fact that such awful cases happen in real life, but the way it was presented on screen leaves much to be wished for. The first problem is with the character of Molly. Unfortunately, as it turns out, Molly Aunty isn’t as rocking as the title actually says.

In fact, Molly is one annoying nuisance. She leads an American lifestyle and believes in the American way of settling things down, which constantly drives people mad around her. In other words, she is uncompromising, or more appropriately egotistical, which never works to her advantage when confronting Pranav. For instance, Molly’s relatives come up with various ways to resolve the tax problem, including mediation of a priest, intervention of a lawyer, or simply apologising to Pranav, but Molly is far too proud to do something like that. Even the husband (Lalu Alex) is not able to convince his wife, which eventually leads to the final showdown in court.

On the other hand, Pranav is a real douche bag. The guy is a mere loan shark who thinks that has power over people because he is charge of the local tax office. Sure, Molly pissed him off with her impertinence, but it doesn’t give him the right to change the sum of unpaid tax within just overnight. In addition, it turns out towards the end that even he wasn’t so fair and square with his own taxes...

Lastly, there is one more issue to be mentioned. Namely, the reason why Molly wasn’t able to pay up already inflated tax. All of a sudden we get to know that Molly was secretly working for “a noble cause”, hence the case is dismissed and she becomes a hero of the public. I’m aware that the aim of the picture was to present the situation in which a hard-working person gets nearly crushed by ruthless bureaucracy, but such a theme would be more fitting to a drama rather than a family film, in which the approach to the issue is very light-hearted.

However, the abovementioned issues are completely outshone by the brilliant performance from Revathy. The actress saves the rough script with the ultimate display of her overwhelming gracefulness and charm.

Recommendations

All in all, Molly Aunty Rocks! is an ordinary film which you can easily watch with your family to pass the time. It is nothing exceptional, but also nothing horrific. If you are into human interest stories, you’ll surely like Molly Aunty Rocks!.

To righteously grade this picture, I believe that it deserves two scores:

Overall score: 6/10
Score of Revathy’s performance: 20/10!

Women Prison (1988) [Film Review]

Women Prison; or, The real meaning of equality

Straight from the golden era of Hong Kong movies, Women Prison is not just a standard prison-film rip-off but a real, forgotten gem tackling on such important issues as moral justice, living with dignity, and the efficiency of the penitentiary system.

Release Info

Directed by: David Lam Starring: Pat Ha, Carol Dodo Cheng, Bo-Bo Fung, Simon Yam

Language: Cantonese Original Title: Nu zi jian yu Movie Industry: Hong Kong Runtime: 93 min

Plot

A young girl called Kelly Ho is preparing for her wedding day, but the celebration is disturbed by two thugs who come in order to reclaim the debt her fiancé made while recklessly gambling. An unexpected fight breaks out and Kelly hurts one of the thugs, due to which she is sentenced to serve 18 months in a containment facility for women. When arriving there, the girl does not know that she has found herself in the middle of a war for power between fellow inmates and a desperate struggle to hush things up by an incompetent prison superintendent.

Hong Kong Redemption

At first, we get a standard arrival sequence, a bus ride, a strip search,  a medical examination, and the allocation of toiletries. On the surface, the prison seems pretty ordinary, but Kelly discovers the strict and unconformable rule of a two-faced female superintendent, who tries to maintain order in the facility by favouring one of the prison gangs led by the psychotic, but controllable ‘big sister’ Fatty. Needless to say, these actions result in disastrous consequences.

The movie provides probably one of the most vivid and accurate images of prison life exemplified by vivid characters who share the pain and sufferings of Kelly while serving their terms. One could claim that there are too many “innocent” inmates, but the focus of the picture is not ultimately centred on the whole prison, but on the struggle of the weakest (and least deranged) links. Apart from the educated Kelly, we have a strong and tough as nail Lynn, who is on a quest to regain her leadership in the prison society, Jean who cares for her 8-year-old son more than anything else, and Mandy who is caught in the crossfire of gang influences and eventually raped. For a 90-minute picture, this has a wide range of personalities to include.

However, this whole mash-up seems to play perfectly well. Not only due to the well-written dilemmas each character has to face, but also skillful acting by each of the actresses. Whoever was responsible for the casting did one hell of a job. Pat Ha was very convincing as an ordinary girl who got jailed for fighting back. She is our everyman inside the prison and through her perspective we get to know about the formidable conditions of daily inmate existence. The supporting role of Bobo Fung as Kelly’s friend and the loving mother was extremely moving and, without a doubt, realistic. Nevertheless, it is the performance of Carol Dodo Cheng that wipes the floor. Every time she appears, she steals the scene for herself. In contrast to her other roles in comedies or action movies, this time she literally played a female version of Cool Hand Luke. Smooth, confident, cocky, ruthless, but righteous more than anything.

Recommendations

If you are keen on prison films, this is definitely something for you. If you don’t, even better. In my opinion, this is easily one of the best movies of its kind and it can without a shadow of a doubt be placed among other prison classics. Imdb rating gives this one a 5.8 score, but it is further proof not to believe interent ratings. If you have a free evening and want to experience some morally-conscious cinema, give this film a chance. You’ve got to see this for yourself.

Overall score: 8/10

Kill! (1968) [Film Review]

Kill!; or, The Last Boy Scout

     Win or lose, it won’t matter much...

This week’s review will be about not so popular and often underrated samurai film (or rather samurai comedy) called Kill!, directed by Kihachi Okamoto, with kick-ass Tatsuya Nakadai in the leading role.

Release Info

Directed by: Kihachi Okamoto Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Etsushi Takahashi, Shigeru Koyama, Yuriko Hoshi
Language: Japanese Original Title: 斬る Runtime: 115 min

Synopsis

Nakadai plays Genta, an ex-samurai who, disappointed with the deceptive and rotten samurai lifestyle, became a wandering yakuza (in the Edo period: protector of peddlers, armed with wakizashi sword). One day, on the desolated outskirts of Joshu Province, Genta meets a penniless farmer called Hanjiro (Etsushi Takahashi) and also several samurai of the local clan. Shortly afterwards, Genta witnesses an act of rebellion from the side of the samurai group, allegedly supported by the clan’s superior, Ayuzawa (Shigeru Kōyama), against their chancellor. However, it turns out that the superior only wanted to get rid of the chancellor quietly and now turns his back on the faithful samurai, calls them traitors, and sends other members of the clan to kill them. Due to an unfortunate course of events, Genta and Hanjiro end up on the opposite sides of the conflict, which leads to many hilarious situations.

(Anti-)Samurai Film

It should be mentioned that Kill! was based on a novel by Shugoro Yamamoto called Peaceful Days and, paradoxically, the book was also a primary source for Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro (1962). Thus, those who have seen both films can spot some similarities in the plot lines; however, both movies are contradictory with their messages. Sanjuro is more serious in tone and, although its main character is a masterless samurai, the movie in fact celebrates the samurai lifestyle. Yes, some samurai may be bad, but the resistance of a few good men can work miracles.

Whereas in Kill!, the case is completely opposite. From the very start, we have a strong critique of samurai. Sure, not all of them are villains, but the villains are so powerful that they can easily control the weak-minded idealists at the bottom. That is why the seven samurai get into trouble, because they are loyal, honourable and follow the code. Genta saw that tragic irony in his own clan and, therefore, chose to become a renegade. In addition, his friend Hanjiro blindly glorifies the samurai lifestyle, because he remembers how inefficient in a fight his fellow farmers were during the war. Genta constantly warns Hanjiro that “samurai are no good,” but the farmer refuses to believe him, even when considering the travesty of the situation the two have found themselves in.

What is more unique in Kill! is that, in contrast to other samurai films of its time, the overall tone of the movie is very comical. I would not say that the film can be classified as comedy per se, but it has noticeable undertones of subtle mockery and light humour, exemplified especially by the leading characters of Genta and Hanjiro. For instance, for most of the time Genta resorts to playing an absent-minded fool, which allows him to infiltrate enemy areas and stir things up. Hanjiro, on the other hand, tries to become a real samurai so hard that often screws up even the simplest tasks. Additionally, the farmer has exceptional muscle strength that only wears off after a an intimate encounter with a lady...

Tatsuya Nakadai may not be Toshiro Mifune but he does a flawless job as a disillusioned ex-samurai. Genta does not care for himself, but still has faith in the goodness of others and hence struggles to stop the vicious villain Ayzuwa from massacring innocent people. All in all, the message of the movie (at least in my opinion) is that it is better to be a shabby renegade than just a noble ronin. Then, not only will you provide sufficient justice but also find true friendship!

Recommendations

Apart from the comedy vibes, chanbara connoisseurs will not feel disappointed. Kill! is filled with lots of fighting sequences and some good action. When we add to this humour, engaging plot, and brilliant performances of Nakadai and Takahashi, the film will keep you entertained from beginning to the end. If you have already watched some of the samurai flicks and still have not seen Kill!, check it out now!

Overall score: 9/10