Tag Archives: Danny Boyle

Capernaum (2018)

Capernaum Review

written by Souranath Banerjee

Rarely does a film have the potential to empower you, aspire you and at the same time make you feel ashamed of the world you are living in!

My Ratings: 4.4/5

A young boy, only 12 year-old sues his parents! The child wants his voice to be heard. He wants the judge to listen to him. He wants all the adults in the world to listen to him. But what is it so important that a dirt poor Beirut street kid has to offer? May be something we all know but choose not to care about.

“I want to make a complaint against my parents. I’d want adults to listen to me. I want adults who can’t raise kids not to have any. What will I remember? Violence, insults or beatings, hit with chains, pipes, or a belt?”

Capernaum is a film that portrays the adventures (hardships to be more appropriate) of Zain, a kid from Lebanon who runs away from his abusive parents and tries to figure out the pitiless world on his own. He meets interesting people on his journey, the old forgetful Cockroach man, and then an Ethiopian woman named Rahil. She is an immigrant without legal papers who lets Zain stay at her place. And in return Zain takes care of Rahil’s toddler while she is out at work. But soon Zain is again on the street, cold hungry and shelterless, with nothing but the toddler and a stolen skateboard – standing all alone against the world outside!

No wonder the film’s title Capharnaüm means ‘chaos’ in Arabic, and is also a reference for the Biblical town cursed by Christ.

Capernaum
Capernaum Official Poster

Directed by Nadine Labaki, Capernaum was the official Lebanese entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA and almost every other prestigious film festivals across the world. Competing for the Palme d’Or, it won the Jury Prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, and received a 15-minute standing ovation following its premiere!

A work of fiction but based on reality! Each character in the film has been influenced by some real person whom Nadine Labaki met and interacted while researching on the plot. Surprisingly all non actors were casted in the film. The shoot went on for six months which gave her 12 hours of footage to edit from. And then the editing process lasted for over two years!

Capernaum
Capernaum movie still

The brilliant cinematography by Christopher Aoun of the Beirut alleys gives the film the much needed documentary like reality and the performances of the actors are unbelievably genuine! Specially the young lead actor is simply terrific, he is an actual Syrian refugee named Zain Al Rafeea. 

For me Capernaum brought back fond memories of Danny Boyle‘s Slumdog Millionaire and Mira Nair‘s Salaam Bombay! But then again it will be an injustice to compare such movies because these are not mere cinema but a shout out to the society we live in. They show us the real world. They show us the mirror. They show us that we have lost the battle. They show us that may be we still have a chance!

If you still haven’t please watch Capernaum. You may be in tears but you won’t regret it. Trust me.

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com

Best Zombie Films of recent times (10+1list)

Best Zombie Films of recent times

written by Souranath Banerjee

The earliest Zombie movie ever made was White Zombie way back in 1932.

Till then hundreds of horror films have been made on this particular concept – reanimation of a human corpse by witchcraft or other White-Zombie-postersupernatural means who again loves eating other humans, turning them into ‘zombies’ as well!

Though entirely fictional but people seemed to be happy enough to watch these ‘bloody’ Zombie-movies and even get terrified by such a possibility in future!

Specially one director who is highly responsible for the popularity of the Zombie-genre is George A. Romero. His films Night of the Living Dead (1968), Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Day of the Dead (1985) are some of the most recommended zombie-horror flicks ever!

A few other famous zombie movies I Walked with a Zombie (1943), The Last Man on Earth (1964) and Zombie (1979).

And finally, let’s have a taste of some of the Best Zombie Films of recent times! 

10. Planet Terror (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yij3I7G44o

Planet-Terror-posterGrindhouse movie directed by Robert Rodriguez and this time he is big time into zombies! 

An experimental bio-nerve gas accident that turns people into flesh-eating, mutating zombies, and then a group of people join forces to save the town from these terrifying creatures.

With a hint of comedy and enough gore, this is a tribute to the 70s exploitation films.

9. Maggie (2015)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ5Vz8qE8R8

maggie-posterArnold Schwarzenegger decides to do a zombie movie, that too free of cost because he very much liked the script! 

A slow emotional father-daughter drama that tries it’s best to focus on the sentimentalities about close relations turning into zombies.

Directed by Henry Hobson, it’s not your regular blood-gore zombie flick – something different to offer.

8. I Am Legend (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtKMEAXyPkg

i-am-legend-posterDirected by Francis Lawrence, this is the latest remake of Richard Matheson’s novel by the same name- earlier ones being The Last Man on Earth (1964) and The Omega Man (1971)

A post-apocalyptic horror film where Will Smith is the last human survivor left in New York City and perhaps in the whole world; everyone else being transformed into mutant victims of a plague. Can he find a cure to this madness?

7. I Am a Hero (2015)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZu3sVK3JOE

I-Am-a-Hero-posterA zombie outbreak happens and an ordinary man turns into a hero while fighting a battle of survival!

Based on Kengo Hanazawa’s massively popular manga by the same name, and directed by Shinsuke Sato, this Japanese zombie film doesn’t at all restrict itself from showing all that violence and bloodshed. Fast and gory, decent performances and pretty realistic effects!

6. Dawn of the Dead (2004) 

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j69OPw9nFHw

dawn-of-the-dead-poster1This one is the remake of George A. Romero‘s zombie classic by the same name. And it is bloody violent and much more realistic!

Zack Snyder‘s directorial debut, this gory film is set when a worldwide plague is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies all over the world and only a few survivors desperate to fight back take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.

5. 28 Days Later… (2002)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ynwAgQlDQ

twenty-eight-days-later-posterAn incurable virus has spread from the apes and now humanity is in the verge of extinction!

Only a few survivors remain and they try their best to survive ‘staying alive is as good as it gets’.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Danny Boyle, the film has the look and feel of a sci-fi, and of course one of the most stylish zombie films I have seen in the recent times.

A sequel that can also be taken under consideration 28 Weeks Later (2007) by director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

4. [Rec] (2007)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGJ_jPKOj1c

[Rec]-posterAn apartment building where something terribly went wrong. A television reporter and cameraman follow the emergency workers into that dark apartment building trying their best to solve the crisis.

Directed by Jaume Balagueró,  Paco Plaza, this thrilling Spanish film is all blood and gore, shot in real locations and also chronologically filmed.

The second part of it [Rec] 2 (2009) and the US remake named Quarantine (2008) is also worth your time.

3. World War Z (2013)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk

world-war-z-posterWhen Brad Pitt stars in some zombie movie you know it will be of epic scale and it was!

Directed by Marc Forster, this story revolves around a man who is up against time to stop the Zombie pandemic threatening to destroy humanity.

Brilliant effects and crowd simulation and it is the highest-grossing film of Brad Pitt’s career!

2. The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGkB_oWTe0

girl-with-all-the-gifts-posterA dystopian future definitely after the zombie apocalypse, an army training base where certain kids are tutored regularly. But these kids are not exactly normal – they are zombies with human brains!

Directed by Colm McCarthy, this unique film is particularly about a zombie kid named Melanie and how she chose her battle of survival tagging along a few humans by her side! 

  1. Train to Busan (2016)

Busanhaeng (original title)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyWuHv2-Abk

Train-to-Busan-posterDirected by Sang-ho Yeon, this film is about a group of people travelling on a fast train from Seoul to Busan while they find out that the outside world is getting affected by a virus that turns people into zombies! 

A kid and his father, a pregnant lady and her husband, a young couple and many more – all fighting for their lives in this horrific mess.

This South Korean zombie flick tops the list because of it’s super tight story line and brilliantly realistic visuals. Gory and believable!

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most crazy one. A must watch)

+1. Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMitSKT-u_k

shaun-of-the-dead-posterAnd to end the list is the best Zombie-Horror-Comedy ever made!

Directed by Edgar Wright, a brilliant comic take on the zombie apocalypse and of course the several tips and tricks on how to survive through it. 

The hilarious combination of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is as always too funny – bloody tasty!  

Other popular Zombie-Horror-Comedies are Zombieland (2009) and Juan of the Dead (2011).

Similar Interest: Best horror Comedies.

Poster courtesy: www.impawards.comwww.imdb.com.