Expressionism
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MANOOS/ADMI aka Life is for the Living (Dir. V. Shantaram, 1939, India)
Manoos (1939) opens with a deftly staged pre-Bressonian like shot of the camera tracking a pair of naked feet as it enters a brothel/gambling den, surveying the men illicitly playing cards on the floor. But this is a shot that pre-dates Bresson and also the opening shot to Hitchock’s Strangers on a Train, and points Continue reading
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YAADEIN / MEMORIES (Dir. Sunil Dutt, 1964, India)
Set entirely in the confines of a house and featuring only one actor playing out a variety of roles, Yaadein is somewhat of a genuine oddity. Yaadein was the only film actor Sunil Dutt directed. The film adheres to a vivid expressionist style with numerous canted angles and low angle shots that literally imprison Anil’s Continue reading
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Navketan Films: Chetan, Vijay and Dev Anand
NEECHA NAGAR / Lowly City (Dir. Chetan Anand, 1946, India)TAXI DRIVER (Dir. Chetan Anand, 1954, India) Dev Anand in one of his many publicity poses – one of the overlooked stars of 50s Hindi cinema. Trapped amongst the ideological sincerities of Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Guru Dutt was Dev Anand – the suave, sardonic Continue reading
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AMAR (Dir. Mehboob Khan, India, 1954) – Expressionist Idiosyncrasies
Film maker Mehboob Khan reached his artistic zenith with Mother India in 1957 whilst his body of work in the 1940s produced such classics as Aurat (Woman, 1940), Roti (The Bread, 1942), Humayun (1945), Anmol Ghadi (1946) and Andaz (1949). The considerable achievements of Mother India Continue reading
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