Change Your Image
simonrqr
Reviews
Pozieres (2000)
An amazing documentary, deserves to be much more widely known
Pozieres is one of the first documentaries I saw to use the "interview" style - using actors to play the characters being interviewed by the documentary maker, and re-enacting scenes rather than simply narrating. The technique has since become much more common and it is very effective in this documentary, allowing the viewer to see the participants as real people rather than abstract figures.
One of the most striking features of this film is the matter-of-fact way the narrator provides a short biography of each of the soldiers "interviewed." It nearly always ends with line "...and will be killed in eight months" (or three weeks, or two years, the recurring theme being that nearly every soldier featured was subsequently killed in action).
It is a very emotional, very personal and deeply moving account of the largely unremembered Battle of Pozieres, where Australia lost 23,000 men in seven weeks, nearly as many casualties as in the entire eight months of the Gallipoli campaign. The final scene, returning to the modern village of Pozieres, examines the legacy of the Australian soldiers that is still relevant today, and is sure to bring a tear to every Australian eye.
Main Hoon Na (2004)
In a word? Fun.
Really liked this movie, I think it encapsulates everything that makes Bollywood great - catchy songs, colourful dances and a plot that is fanciful but never takes itself too seriously.
But where this film really stands out for me is the characters. They are endearing and quirky, and the conversation between them is sharp and witty.
Sushmita Sen definitely shines, as most critics pointed out. But a lot of critics didn't seem to like Amrita Rao's performance, which I thought was just as good. I loved the character of Sanjana - tomboyish but still very "female" in her attitude to Lucky.
I understand it's not everybody's ideal movie, but I guess MHN just had exactly the right combination of parts to appeal to me - the most important being that it's able to laugh at itself and have fun.