Cinespecs

Cinespecs, Short Stories

Sully: Kelly Sullenbeger

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On 15th January 2009,  US Airways Flight 1549 which, three minutes after take-off from New York City’s LaGuardia, struck a flock of Canada Geese just northeast of the George Washington Bridge and consequently lost all engine power. Unable to reach any airport, pilots Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles glided the plane to a ditching in the Hudson River off midtown Manhattan. All 155 people aboard were rescued by nearby boats and there were few serious injuries. It was reported that immediately after the bird strike, Captain Sullenberger contacted the Air Controllers and obtained permission to land in the Teleboro Airport as he felt it was impossible to land back at LaGuardia airport as the altitude was very low. But unfortunately Captain felt that the altitude was very low to land it in Teleboro Airport too and hence decided to land it in the Hudson River. This incident was called as the “Miracle of the Hudson” and “The most successful ditching in the Aviation history”. A investigation was made on the incident and later on it was concluded that landing in the Hudson River was the best option that the Captain had to save the 155 passengers on-board. This incident propelled Captain Chesley Sullenberger to national fame. A Movie, directed by Clint Eastwood, was made on this incident [ Sully(2016) ]. Amongst the lot of emotions that was running in my mind after watching the movie, I really wanted to know about the emotions that Kelly and Kate, the 2 daughters of Chesley Sullenberger, would have had in those days of turmoil after that life changing event, when they had to face some events that no one ever imagined would happen. It is hard to replicate the feelings of a person whom i hardly know and who’s miles away from me. So I tried to collect as many information, it was possible to collect through the internet, and give a near perfect culmination about the emotion that was going through in the minds of Kelly Sullenberger. I read blog posts posted by other people who knew Kelly,and her neighbour; I stalked their Instagram and Facebook accounts to find something which would help me write this. So every detailing i have done is very precise to an extent, like the sense of humour of her sister Kate or the fact that her most memorable family outing was to the Disney Land. So let me tell you that this just an imaginary writing and it is not meant to disrespect or to harm the person concerned or any other person related to her.   Hello there. This is Kelly Sullenberger. I have always been reluctant to share my experiences during the famous January 15 2009 event and what happened the days following that. But after all these years , now feel like expressing all those emotions through this post. This is about the daughter of a famous pilot who landed a passenger Airbus US Flight 1549, which was in a very critical state after a bird strike left both the engines damaged, on Hudson River to save 155 lives. This is about a 14 year old girl who lived through an incident which endangered her father’s life and also which made her witness her hero become her nation’s hero. But more than that, this is about a daughter who was worried a bit more than any other day, about her father who worked as a pilot. I still remember what we were doing that day. Kate and i were talking about the newly opened restaurant in Danville near our school.  We were just playing around when Mom got a call. After brief moments she asked us to switch on the T.V and Kate immediately switched it on. That was a moment, a pilot’s kids should never ever witness. We couldn’t believe what the flash news was about.  A huge passenger Airbus was floating on a river. There was no news flashing about the details of the passengers. I was worried about the people who were in it. The news reporter started reading out the report and i immediately increased the volume of the television. As the news reporter read out that the captain of the Airbus who decided to land it on the Hudson river was Chesley Sullenberger, i started contemplating the possibilities of what would have happened and about the news that the phone call passed on to Mom.  Kate and I couldn’t control any more. We looked at mom. She would have understood how we felt. With a voice filled with firmness she said, “Daddy’s fine. He was the one who called” A fresh breathe of relief we had. I distinctly remember the days that followed the incident. Kate and I were glued to the televisions. There was a huge crowd of reporters and media persons outside our house. We couldn’t go out even to our neighbor Kelsey Ott’s house. Dad was the talk of the week in Danville, in San Francisco bay, and in America. Dad called mom the next day and informed that it would take some more days for him to come as there was an investigation scheduled. Kate overhead mom talking to someone about how dad was finding it difficult to sleep. We were worried a lot and we couldn’t sleep properly for some nights thereafter too. Kate and I used to talk a lot and were supportive to each other during those days. Kate’s sense of humour came to good use during those days. Being the daughter of a pilot is very tough. It takes a lot to understand when your dad is out there risking his life to make good lives for your family. During one of those days, as i had to be homebound due to the huge crowd out there and since I was sick of all those theories flashed in news which were against my dad, I sat home and read all those short quotes and pictures I designed to show

Cinespecs

IDHAYAM IDAM MARIYADHE – FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE LYRICS

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IDHAYAM IDAM MARIYADHE- FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE LYRICS I have had big ‘crushes’ on songs – so much so that they would make me come back to them, every single day to rethink the relationship I share with them. I never felt this tugging, intense love for any other song, a love that provides a psychological edge over the deepest emotions my mind dares not to venture. I fell in love with this song. Intense love, it is. Not because it gave me what i felt i wanted, but it changed my perception on what i wanted out of the song. I’ve lost sanity over the reflections of the deepest emotions. Yes, the objects in the reflection were closer than they appear. What emotions were they? Love? Lust? Anger? Desperation? Solitude? It was a combination of all these. And I did not want to venture deep inside these emotions, fall in love/ feel lustful/ Relish rage/ Dethrone desperation/ give a flying kiss to solitude. I just wanted to know how it would feel and i got it through the reflections. I fell in love with the lyrics of this song. So let me try to my best of writing knowledge to take you into a journey of how i fell in love with her, the lyrics. She doesn’t give a huge, dramatic entrance. She’s like that next door girl you see every day. “இதயம் இடம் மாறியதே.. விழிகள் வழி மாறியதே இதுதானே காதல் என்று அசரீரி கேட்கின்றதே” Yes she’s beautiful. But you start to wonder if it’s a trick to mesmerise you. You start over thinking as to what will follow. But she doesn’t give a damn about what you feel. She’s going to go in her own elegant way. “இந்த பூமி முழுவதும் அழகாய் மாறிபோனதேனோ என் வானம் மீது புதிதாய் ஒரு மேகம் மிதப்பதேனோ” Now her features seem to synchronize with your present state. Suddenly you feel that you concentrated an inch more than what you should and your world has been captivated by music and sheer peace. “மனமே மனமே எதனால் இத்தனை உற்சாகம் உணக்குள்ளே புதுவித தடுமாற்றம் உனக்கென்ன நடந்தது சொல்வாயோ? ஓ… மனமே மனமே எதனால் இத்தனை கொண்டாட்டம் கண்ணுக்குள்ளே கனவுகள் கொடியேற்றம் உனக்கென்ன நடந்தது சொல்வாயோ?” You ask yourself now and give a tad at the back of your head to assure you that you’re human. So human, that you never realized the attraction. You seem so addicted that you feel the scent of madness and mystery from her. But she has already decided not to spare anyone. She isn’t going to stop for a fool who seems to have fallen in love with half her beauty. She is going to kill him. The musical veil of the princess is now taking it’s share in this dangerous mind game. As the beat keep increasing, and the rhythm shakes hands with the chorus in the background, you seem too excited to look at that woman one more time and she doesn’t disappoint you. “செஞ்சூரியன் ஜோதியில் சந்திரன் ஒளி சேர்ந்ததோ அசைந்தாடும் ஆழியில் அழகிய நதி கலந்ததோ காலமென்னும் நதியில் விழுந்து இரவும் நகர்ந்தது… பகலும் நகர்ந்தது.. இதயமும் நகர்ந்ததுவோ… இதயம் இடம் மாறியதே.. விழிகள் வழி மாறியதே இதுதானே காதல் என்று அசரீரி கேட்கின்றதே” She seems to be taking in the musical nectar offered to her. It makes her flow like a summer breeze. You lose your concentration and you start focusing on the musical ramp gifted to you. And towards the end, she gives back the very same look. The same looked that nearly swept you off your feet. But this time you feel very familiar with it and it doesn’t cause you any trouble. It smooches your senses and passes by. And a new fresh musical tune seems to start. As of now you seem to know what might happen next. You start imaging what she would do. But she has other plans of presenting herself to you.. ” அலைப்பாயும் காதலே.. அணையாத தீயா.. வலித்தாலும் காதலே..இனிக்கின்ற நோயா” Yes she appears with a different, magnificent look. She appears with KC Chitra’s voice. You are speechless. You never saw her, this beautiful. Ever. Can elegance consume elegance to such extent? Kaalamennum nadhiyil vizhundhu azhagai azhagaakinaalo? How can i explain this beauty? Maybe i can sing Muzhumathy avaladhu, from the same album and describe her beauty to perfection? “இசையோடு சேரும் தாளம் ஸ்ருதியோடு பாடும் ராகம் அதை போல எந்தன் நெஞ்சம் உன்னை சேர்ந்ததே, உள்ளம் சாய்ந்ததே காதலின் கால் தடம் தந்ததும் தீயா.. தந்ததும் தீயா. தீயை தொட்டு ரசித்தால், வந்ததும் நீயா” And she proves yet again to you her character. She’s as beautiful in the inside as she looks outside. You marry her at this moment. She’s all yours now. But she’s not any other mystery girl. She seems to have more surprises and many other faces to show. The musical thickness recedes and singer Kartik goes into a familiar tone of story telling with a rhythm fitted with it. “எந்தன் கணவிலோர் பூந்தோட்டம்… பூக்கள் பூக்கும் பெண்ணே உன்னாலே… பூவின் வண்ணம் மட்டும் என் சொந்தம்… பூவின் வாசம் எல்லாமே உன் சொந்தமே” You start wondering the depths of meaning to this new form of a tale she has taken. The slow narration has pushed you to a pond of thoughts. And yet again the musical veil appears and the beat increases. But you are not very surprised as you go on to kiss her and seal the moment. “புது யுகமே பிறந்ததோ பரிமாற்றம் நிகழ்ந்ததோ இரு துருவம் இணைந்ததோ இடைவெளிகள் தொலைந்ததோ காலமென்னும் நதியில் விழுந்து இரவும் நகர்ந்தது, பகலும் நகர்ந்தது, இதயமும் நகர்ந்ததுவோ” இதயம் இடம் மாறியதே.. விழிகள் வழி மாறியதே இதுதானே காதல் என்று அசரீரி கேட்கின்றதே மனமே மனமே எதனால் இத்தனை உற்சாகம் உணக்குள்ளே புதுவித தடுமாற்றம் உனக்கென்ன நடந்தது சொல்வாயோ? உனக்கென்ன நடந்தது சொல்வாயோ? As she asks you this, you can now go on in an endless journey to search the answer. “உனக்கென்ன நடந்தது சொல்வாயோ?”

Cinespecs

​MONA LISA SMILE (2003) & DEAD POET’S SOCIETY (1989)

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MONA LISA SMILE (2003) & DEAD POET’S SOCIETY (1989) People who have watched these 2 wonderful movies will agree to me if I say that both these movies, stories of which are set up at schools, are like 2 beautiful stones with similar appearances, yet with different distinct characteristics. When I watched Mona Lisa Smile (2003), I was able to connect a lot of it with the Robin Williams starrer, Dead Poet’s Society(1989), and was amazed at the contrasting features that the movies had which made them overcome the similarities and stand tall as 2 unique pillars in world Cinema. The story revolves around a teacher (Keatings / Katherine) and a group students. The biggest positive these movies share is the wonderful characterisation they have. The characters of the students (5 boys in DPS and the 5 girls in MLS), in both the movie strike a resemblance, with their activities as the movie steers forward. Here are some of the similarities. Neil Perry ( DPS) and Betty Warren ( MLS) are like puppets to their parents. They had to follow the instructions to fulfil their parent’s wishes/dreams. In Betty’s case, towards the end of the movie, she voices out against her mother and files for a divorce with her husband and hence the character trail seems to end quite happily. But with Neil, even though he does voice out against his father, nothing seems to work his way towards breaking his shackles, and the character ends up on a tragic note. Knox Overstreet and Connie Baker are the romantics of the 2 movies. Both their Love Stories seems to travel almost the same way, except for the fact that, in Connie’s case, the director ends it up with a direct happy ending , while in Knox’s case the story hints out at a positive ending, yet ends up abruptly. The characters of Charlie Dalton and Giselle Levy are like that of a spoilt brat. Their naughty, grey characteristics travel right till the end of the story. The base of the story of both these movies is about a teacher who goes about in his/ her own style of teaching, even if sometimes it is against the standards of the institutions and about how these teachers affect the lives of a group of students. All through our lives, we would have seen characters that are so unique in their way of doing things amidst a world that runs in set patterns. These people become underdogs and they are not usually celebrated, but something about them inspires us. Either it is our jealousy about their unique characteristic or about their courage to go up against the stereotypical notions posed by the institutional doom above their heads, or it is the charisma and confidence they have in their way of doing things. In these movies, John Keatings and Katherine Watson are those characters, who are fortunately celebrated towards the end by their students. John Keatings, an English professor wants to teach the true essence of poetry. He wants his students to understand that poetry is something beyond what they know it as. He tries to “suck the marrow out” of their views about Poetry. He goes on instructing them to rip off a page about a graphical theory on poetry from the book as he feels that such theories are too stupid that it restricts people to enjoy the true essence of poetry. Katherine in MLS wants her students to understand the true essence of Art and understand the Art of Life. The scenes depicting Keatings explaining “Carpe Diem : Seize the day” to his students and Katherine asking them to observe a modern piece of Art shows how unique their teaching styles are and how much they want to impart about the subject, not constraining to the Syllabus in hand. Both Keating and Katherine have affected the lives of their students so much. Keating helps Todd come out of his Shell and advices Neil to follow up with his dream of becoming an actor. Katherine advices Joan to join Yale University and pursue Law, and states that marriage is not the end of the world. In the above cases though the subject matter differs, the nature of their activities seems to match. Both the movies have imageries which seem to have a link with their titles too. The Mona Lisa’s picture, the scene between the Betty and her mom, the scene where they’re discussing about the Mona Lisa Smile shows us how much the imagery of Mona Lisa fits inside the theme and story line of MLS. The imagery in DPS is the 1st page of a book gifted by Keatings to Neil. It has verses about sucking the marrow out of life, which is to be recited at the start of every Dead Poet’s Society Meetings. Another thing to notice, During the send-off scene at the end, it was Todd who starts off the send-off gesture by standing on top of his bench and spelling out the phrase, “O captain , my captain”. In MLS, it was Betty Warren, who seems to lead up in the send-off gesture, another important character that seemed to be affected a lot by the teacher. The screenplay and narration of the movies are quite similar too Even through such similarities both these movies seems to have quite contrasting elements which I leave it up to you to ponder over. If any of you haven’t seen both these movies, let me give a suggestion. After you finish watching the movies, ponder over how much it would have taken to cast these actors to these characters. The Casting in these movies, according to me, is a benchmark. Wonderful actors, playing extremely great characters in 2 very beautiful stories.

Cinespecs

Rocky 4 & Ip Man 2- Analysis

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  “If i can change, if you can change, then everybody can change” and that’s how Stallone (Rocky Balboa ) ends his speech after the final bout with Russian muscle tank, Ivan Drago in the 4th sequel of the Rocky series. A very connecting and inspiring quote. It has been a well-known fact that over the years Sports Films have had a deep, long lasting impact on the minds of the audience so much so that over the decades a different kind of sports film is something of a rarity, given the number of such film we get. But to fans across the globe if they take a survey on the top 5 sports movies they ever watched, I’m dead sure at least one of the films from the Rocky series will be there. Today I felt why not let’s write something about these sports movies and about my stand on the saying that “sports teaches life” or “sports films are a metaphor of life” and I’m going to do that with reference to 2 of my most favourite movies, Rocky 4 and Ip man 2. Firstly, about whether “Sports films are a metaphor of life”. And i would say yes, very much of a metaphor of life. One thing that everyone should understand is that any pictorial representation gives us freedom to directly derive whatever you want from it. Be it a painting or a movie. And sports movies actually lay down the characteristics of life quite directly. If the movie was to be made without this base or objective, there can be no other objective with which it can be done..I will explain taking the example of Rocky 4. Now the story of Rocky balboa is itself a very relatable and grounded one. You are a successful person, happy guy who likes the life you’re living and suddenly a bad thing affects a friend of yours and it snatches him right away from you (death or separation) Now you’re are sure of the fact that whatever happened to your friend is going to happen to you too and that you have to fight for it. Come on if you say you haven’t faced similar situation, then i would say you haven’t actually felt the least unfortunate “gifts” that life can give. You can replace the Friend with any relationship and it will suit you. The reason be it death, separation, or anything. The character of Ivan Drago is a direct shot at our minds to understand most of the things about ourselves. He’s a sportsperson who at mind thinks is very strong, but in truth he is boosted up only because of the steroid he takes in. The difference between him and Rocky is that Rocky has a pure heart and he has no Ego about the phenomenon he is. We all would have felt at many instances that maybe we are so good in faking our strength. And many a times that’s supplemented with Ego. The film shows a lot of emotional relationships, like how a partner should be and how a partner should not be, etc. The final bout shows us so much about the importance of mental strength and confidence. We can understand this from the changing opinion about the characters on one another. At 1st Ivan says that he can break Rocky and that he’s soft. Rocky, at that juncture, feels that Ivan is winning. Later on, Ivan quotes that “He is not a human. He is like a piece of iron” and Rocky realises from his coach that indeed, Ivan is a Human and not a machine. And that’s where Ivan starts to lose the fight. The way Rocky falls down and gets up at the start of the 12th round like a lightning, brings a feel of tonnes of testosterone filling up your body. The natural boxing cinematography showing the trading of punches with a synchronised music itself shows a lot of messages to take in. And hence i would say that yes sports movies (which need not necessarily be a biopic), can a called as “metaphors of life” Secondly i want to show some interesting Similarities between these 2 movies, thereby to bring out a conclusion on whether it depends upon the so called “template” which depends upon the fate of a sports film.. So here are the Similarities. Both the films are revenge stories. The ultimate fight in the climax is between the lead and an opponent who is of a different national, and the lead wants to avenge the death of a friend (who also was an opponent earlier) who was killed by the very same opponent in the early portion of the film. Before the fight, both the heroes would have sacrificed their time with their families so as to prepare in Solitude .The set up and the events in the last match too seem to match. There will be a huge change in the mood of the crowd before and after the match, so much so that they will give a standing ovation to a lead hero who just defeated a person from their own soil. Both the films will end up with a speech by the hero in his mother tongue, about how important it is to respect each other. Both the films end up with a scene or shot which later turns out to be a historic event or the base for another sequel, ie. In ip man 2, the final shot is about a young cocky kid named Bruce Lee, asking ip man if he would teach him wing chun and ip man refuses him and asks him to come back when he is older. In the case of Rocky, he tells his son who his back home that he loves him so much and Rocky Balboa (5th sequel) has a base theme which is about the love between him and his son.. So if both the films are so similar, what makes

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