Fight Club | The Critique

Rating- 3.5 Stars

Fight Club as a movie falls into many categories:

Firstly it is what is considered ‘cool’ as in it is rebellious, like when your friends tell you, ‘dude have you seen this movie’, ‘freaking awesome man!’.

Secondly, its also a movie that did not work commercially in its time which i think adds to the ‘cult’ status.

Finally, it is also one of the films for which movie buffs normally head-over to imdb.com to get the underlying themes.It is engaging as film even if you don’t look into its themes.

It features Edward Norton as a guy who is affected by Insomnia (or is he?). He discovers that going to support groups, give him release. But then he meets Marla Singer and Tyler Durden, and this changes everything.

Having a psychological aspect it does not go to level of just an individuals psychology like Memento, but instead it captures psychology of a whole generation. It understands current obsession of consumer goods and the cycle of wanting for goods and buying them. This is what makes it profound for me as a viewer.

Only thing i am concerned is, with all the fighting and blood in the movie, it might be taken at face value by many of the viewers

As an after thought, I do not think Farhan Akhtar’s movie Karthik Calling Karthik a ‘copy’ of Fight Club. The idea sure was similar, but films are pretty different.

Written by- ‘Ali Naqvi.

Seven Years In Tibet And The Dragon | Hammers High

China is notorious for being too harsh on censorship guidelines and is often accused for having double standards for Chinese and Non Chinese movies. Anything off the government stand can face the wrath of the censor board and the movie can lose a market of 1.3 billion viewers. A similar thing happened in case of Brad Pitt's Seven Years In Tibet.

The movie is a story of Austrian Heinrich Harrer who escapes from British during Second World War and finds himself safe in Lhasa (Tibet). There he meets a young Dalai Lama. The story is about seven years of ordeal far from home and family. The movie is critical of capitalist intentions and the purpose of war. Movie also raised eyebrows on the way Tibet is being treated by China. These two things ensured a ban on the movie.

Chinese Government objected to the way Military personnel were depicted. They were shown as if they have no empathy with civilians. Apart from that the positive depiction of Dalai Lama was also against Chinese tolerance. The occupation of Tibet by China is also (allegedly) shown in very dubious way. The movie appeared to be a 'Free Tibet' propaganda rather than a realistic piece of art.

Lead actors Brad Pitt and David Thewlis were prohibited from entering China... forever.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh