Eternal class of Kauffman's mind

I was amazed, when I first saw the smirnoff ad where the hero and the heroine escape from a Nazi general ( trivia: this was the first time bullet timing was used in an ad, and this many years before Matrix)

I have equally enjoyed watching the commercials of Air France and Levis for their sheer visualization, but never bothered to find out about the director.

I missed 'Adaptations' but enjoyed 'being malkovich', which I thought was a clever movie for a finite set of viewers, who are bored with watching oversmart heroes single handedly blowing up terrorist's masterplans.

When the director of these ads ( Gondry) and the screen writer of the above movies (Kauffman) get together, it is quite a treat to watch. In a way I feel these two are made for each other. Only Gondry's visualizations can do justice to the ideas of Kauffman and ESOTSM is a showcase for this deadly combination, the way they present dreamlike sequences, challenging your predictable perceptions everytime.

The concept of selectively erasing the memories is not really a new one ( think MIB, think Total recall, or for that matter think Shakuntala by Kalidasa) though the treatment is. faceless characters, childhood memories being mixed up adult images, parodoxical placement of objects ( bed in the beach, sand in the bedroom, door connecting Barnes & Nobles to your bedroom) makes this movie an ideal movie to watch in DVD.

You can rewind and replay so that you dont miss out on the finer points.

Anyway, will look forward to more movies from the duo.

Thiruvasagam by Ilayaraja

Mother and Shiva are two themes that brings the best out of Raja. This is proved once more with Thiruvasagam. ( I equally enjoyed Rajavin ramanamalai)

The biggest annoyance however, is the fact that Raja has sung all the songs (except one) by himself. Raja is a great music director but stretching that Halo effect to the singing department is quite not fair. I am not saying he is unfit to sing. But his voice is a rustic voice that fits folk. This is the voice which you link with a " veetukku veetukku vasapadi vaenum" or a "Nila athu vanathu mele". Listening to thiruvasagam in the same voice makes you feel only as divine as watching Ramya Krishnan or Roja in the 'Amman' attire. Can you imagine waking up to a suprabatham sung by Paravai Muniamma?

To add to the irritation, he ensures his beloved daughter gets to sing some of his best compositions ( remember , Mayilpolae from Bharathi that got her the national award?) I consider, Bhavatharini one of the overrated singer, whose only qualification is being the daughter of a genius. She doesnot fit into a composition like Thiruvasagam. Still we hear her sing one of the finest numbers in the album.

Disappointments apart, I still recommend this to everyone, as it is immenseley enjoyable. Some people are hyping it to be the ultimate divine expression. I beg to differ. Treat it like as a music album, you have value for money. If you want to relate to the lord, I recommend "thevaram" by Dharmapurai Swaminathan.