about schmidt \ fahrenheit 9/11

The movies on offer at the theatres were so uninviting that I decided to spend the weekend watching movies at home; and I watched two wonderful movies.

fahrenheit 9/11: director- michael moore

I never felt the urge to see this one before, feeling it was just another documentary - don't we get enough of them on the news channels!

Nonetheless, having nothing else to do this weekend, I decided to give it a try - and boy was I in for a treat!

Moore's film rivets your attention from the very first frames. Displaying footage of Bush's controversial year 2000 win of the US presidential elections, the movie sets the mood for what is to come - september 11,2001. The opening credits are cleverly juxtaposed with the protagonists (Bush, Condoleeza Rice and others) putting on make-up for different television appearances, as the stage is set for the movie.

Then the screen goes blank - and in the darkness we hear the familiar voices of newscasters shouting out news of the september 11 terrorist strikes on the WTC. And in the absence of visuals, your mind recreates whatever you were doing when the news came...and it's more effective than any images! Then the film lays bare all the secret dealings/relations between Bush and the Bin-laden family and stuff. Every single frame drips with sarcasm and the voice-over remarks are real witty and caustic. The tale winds its way onto the war on Iraq and the futility of it all. It is a great commentary not only on Bush's questionable policies but also on society itself which sends to war people from the lower echelons who lead a deprived life and then lay down their lives for us.

A wonderful film, Moore must be given all the credits for bringing to life what would otherwise have been a plain documentary; a must-watch for everyone.

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About schmidt: Jack Nicholson

This simple tale of a quiet person called Schmidt; who loses his wife just days after his retirement and finds his daughter engaged to a person he doesn't approve.

Accidentally he comes across a sponsor-a-child advertisement and decides to sign up for 22 dollars a month. He receives an answering letter with the photograph of a child named Ndugu, the one he is sponsoring, and is requested to write a letter of introduction to the child. Schmidt writes, and it is thorugh his writings that we come to know of the man and how he copes with his depression over the next few days. He takes of on a visit to his place of birth, tries to convince his daughter against marrying the guy she loves, meets lots of interesting people but finally comes back home as sad and dissatisfied as ever.

Schmidt feels that he has spent a futile life, that after he dies, and all those who know him die, it would be like he never existed - he never made any difference to the world. And then he gets a mail from Ndugu; the little guy has sent him a picture he has drawn - of a child and a man holding hands happily in the sun, and Schmidt's eyes moisten with happiness - he finally finds peace.

Jack Nicholson is brilliant as the quiet, sad and troubled old man, judiciously understated; a great movie to watch over a lazy afternoon.

-moviebuff