The pandemic has made us seek optimism and joy, which is not usually a quality you find with “difficult” films. When life has become The Seventh Seal, with many of us playing games with Death each time we step out, the last thing we may want is more gloom and doom on screen.
Sight & Sound magazine recently put up a superb article from its Summer 1937 issue: “Alfred Hitchcock: my own methods”. The Master of Suspense wrote about how he put together his thrillers, and while talking about Blackmail (1929), he made one of the most profound statements I have heard about cinema. He wanted a bleak end. “But I had to change it for commercial reasons… And that shows you how the films suffer from their own power of appealing to millions. They could often be subtler than they are, but their own popularity won’t let them.”
This is the reasoning generally used to explain why any film industry that appeals to the “masses” (the Indian mainstream industries, Hollywood) is usually unable to make really great cinema. And by this, I don’t mean great mainstream cinema or great popular art, but cinema whose greatness is measured by how “difficult” it is: cinema that deals with heavy themes and makes us think about the human condition, and so on and so forth.
Read the rest of this article here: https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/coronavirus-outbreak-in-these-coronavirus-times-understanding-why-the-mind-seeks-lighter-fare-over-heavy-duty-difficult-cinema-8557531.html
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Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
July 4, 2020
Great article on a topic I can well relate to. In the initial days of the lockdown, I used the time to catch up with long pending items in the bucket list like Gangs of New York. And then it was a season’s worth of Peaky Blinders. It then started in trying to choose films my wife would like to watch too. When I am at home, I don’t like to shut myself away for a couple or more hours to watch a film she is not interested. And she is not big on gruesome, bleak crime stories, especially gangster genre. So I had to switch to lighter films. And then I found my own appetite for heavy films drying up. Yes, especially comedy; that’s what I appreciate most now. Even in music, in no mood to listen to heavy and melancholic instrumental pieces; I am way more open to even dance music now than I ever was.
Speaking of music, this association of great with heavy persisted through the classical age in music but was shattered by jazz. There are always snobs who insist on the supremacy of classical but mostly people no longer doubt that jazz in its groovy and lightfooted avatar can still be as technically and artistically rewarding as classical. Movies have never had an equivalent to a jazz moment and the tendency to slot comedy in an ‘inferior’ category has persisted for a long, long time. Maybe this pandemic is going to change that. Tho…pandemic naala enna enna la maaropordhonu puriyala.
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Ramit
July 4, 2020
Well, my ‘self-actualization’ movies come from your recommendations. You recommend, I watch. No questions asked. I sit through the rigor required for it. Because it’s just once a week commitment for me.
By the way, if you are looking for something easy to watch, you may try Modern Love on Prime. It’s an anthology of 8 episodes (30 mins each). It’s one of the warmest and sweetest things I have seen in a while.
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Madan
July 4, 2020
“It has films like Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game: a brilliant satire, no doubt, but not really haha-funny. And it’s the latter I keep looking out for these days.” – On another note, Jim Courier used that exact word when interrogating Murray about signing on Lendl as a coach. Murray said he had met Lendl and found him to be funny and Courier said he had played with and interacted with Lendl and he is not ha-ha funny. It could indeed be a European thing. Britain has somewhere always had a slapstick tradition. And its slapstick doesn’t rely only on situational humour but also witty wordplay.
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JA
July 4, 2020
Oddly, I’ve experienced the exact opposite. I’ve been searching for more heavy cinema than usual. I guess the best way for me to forget my woes has been to throw myself into the woes of others, and heavier cinema works best for that. The more lighthearted films I watched over quarantine were not able to keep me nearly as distracted.
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Marsant G
July 4, 2020
I completed The Sopranos and Curb Your Enthusiasm during this lockdown and found both of them to be absolutely engrossing, ofcourse, Gandolfini’s performance also hugely helped but the point is that both were watchable for their humor. While CYE, is a comedy, The Sopranos despite being a crime/gangster saga, managed to keep me engaged by it’s intelligent use of dumb humor. The characters’ assumed self-importance coupled with their ignorance leads to several funny lines, funny to the audience that is. I tend to go back only to it’s funny moments like Tony’s or L. Carmine’s malapropisms or L.D’s borderline cringey situations, both on the different ends of the comedy spectrum. But I couldn’t watch any serious shows for more than a season, Hannibal, Twin Peaks are all still half-red ,waiting in the netflix pipeline, probably will be taken up after the lockdown. One reason I watch more humor nowadays is because I would to laugh, sometimes, out loud, or share a joke because the opportunities are so less in these times, every smartphone pop-up or newspaper headline makes your head hurt, it is normal to seek refuge in humor or lighter content that helps you forget the maladies of the present world. You know, Quasimodo predicted all this shit.
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Sidharth Malhotra
July 4, 2020
Absolutely true, I found myself seeking out Hollywood comedies and blockbusters. But I would still watch an art film if it has been on my watchlist since the beginning of time and is just about to leave MUBI.
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Prasad
July 4, 2020
On the contrary, I’ve been seeing anything to keep the mind occupied. Have been even rewatching some episodes of GoT , Breaking bad….
Please find below top Amazon/Netflix TV Shows to binge watch.
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Arjun
July 4, 2020
Vadivelu comedy is best for Covid times. Speaking of which,
@BR: Do you have any articles on Tamil film comedy? How about an interview with Vadivelu or Goundamani? Goundamani seems to be the most reclusive among all iconic Tamil film personalities. I think Senthil Goundamani and Vadivelu are the best thing to happen to Tamil cinema after Ilayaraja. Massively underrated trio.
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Anu Warrier
July 4, 2020
This article resonated with me, and how! Covid, of course, like everyone else, coupled with multiple stresses in my personal life has me tapped out. My emotional bandwidth has curled up on itself, and like Punxsutawney Phil at the onset of winter, gone into hibernation. Give me lighter films with laugh-out loud moments, the pure ‘masala’ film, and the light reading – Wodehouse, Heyer, Durrell…
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Anu Warrier
July 4, 2020
Also, some decent web series… Never Have I ever, The Good Place…
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ThouShaltNot
July 5, 2020
If you thought that the virus has been sticking it to us for too long, the place where it all started is now sticking it to the rest of the world in other ways as well. When despair hangs in the air, we look for different escape chutes out of the harrowing reality…light material, dense material, anything that diverts the mind from despondency. The key is to not be defeatist, but to cling to hope. Here are some lines from the Tamizh movie “Indira” that herald impending revival and also the video of the song (the patriotic fervor in the song signifies the occasion). The sentiment “this too shall pass” is expressed with heads held high !
vidiyaadha iravendru edhuvum illai
mudiyaadha thuyarendru edhuvum illai
vadiyaadha vellamendrum edhuvum illai
vaazhaadha vaazkaiendrum edhuvum illai
…
kaalam maari pochchu nam kanneer maari pochchu
naalai nalla naalai endra nambikkai undachchu
…
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Marsant G
July 5, 2020
I second Arjun here, BR it would be wonderful if you could help shed more light on Tamil Comedy.
Vadivelu’s reactions and body language is probably the best physical comedy I have seen and can be easily compared to say Rowan or Michael Richards. And he occupies a very special place in Tamil cinema which is unparalleled, there can never be episodes and punchlines that are as funny and universal as they are relatable to the masses. As someone who grew up frequenting Crazy mohan dramas, initially I thought vadivelu’s was just slapstick, lowbrow humor, but the more I saw him, he became an universal mould whose punchline fit every goddamn situation and just remembering his joke at that moment, made me feel better. I don’t even remember those movies anymore, just him. Many times, he has surpassed the heroes and his jokes are remembered more than the movies. For ex, I don’t even know which movies these are from but can still remember his roles as padidurai pandi and alert arumugam. Even today, people equate comedy with nagesh, but I strongly posit Vadivelu in the same orbital.
And ofcourse, there is Kamal-Crazy combo which are eternally rewatchable feel-good movies. Full length comedy movies are rare in Indian cinema and someone of Kamal’s stature to perform comedy stands testimony to Crazy mohan’s wit.
And ofcourse, there are many more to cover whom I haven’t seem much of but would like to know what they contributed to the world of tamil comedy; Mr Radha, NSK, Goundamani Senthil, Vivek etc.
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Madan
July 5, 2020
Marsant/Arjun: Completely concur. Vadivelu is the pinnacle of slapstick. Maybe only Jim Carrey compares but Vadivelu doesn’t need gross/toilet humour to be funny. He can make a joke out of anything almost. I might also compare Johnny Lever to him but Vadivelu’s height gave him an advantage here. He is not uniquely funny to LOOK at, it’s the things he can do with his face and body, not to mention his voice, that are ridiculously funny.
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vijay
July 5, 2020
Arjun, if you have followed BR for quite some time,do you really think he is the type who is going to interview Goundamani? 🙂 (provocation intended)
Am not a fan of Vadivelu BTW. He may have been a good character actor with an occasional comedic touch if he had decided to pursue that route(which is what his cameo in Devar Magan hinted at) , rather than a full fledged item comedian. His slapstick routines may have been lapped up in some B and C centers, but even there he got tiresome after a point. A one-note comedian, trying to invent different ways to get bashed up. I think Villu must have been his lowest point. If the intended audience was 5-10 yrs old, then his gigs may have worked. Santhanam was much worse.
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vijay
July 5, 2020
BR, difficult cinema to me is not just about the themes, but the form as well. I find abstract cinema(especially where everything is open to interpretation and authorial intent is a mystery) the most difficult to connect with, anytime of the year, not just during Covid times. It is not just about connecting, but I am against the idea of intentional vagueness and leaving everything to the audience to dissect and form their own opinions. I wonder what’s the point then? Is the director holding a jigsaw puzzle contest? Whereas I could watch Tokyo story even now. The theme of old age loneliness/generational gap may not be uplifting but the treatment or narrative style makes it easier to watch.Same for something like say “No country for Old men”. This is not exactly “Fugitive” and there is room for quite a bit of interpretation as well, but still the style is engaging enough to watch Tommy Lee Jones’ plight.Whereas you won’t find me seeking Mulholland Drive or 2001:space odyssey during these times 🙂
On a lighter note, Groundhog day is a recommendation . You get up and go through the same shitty routine every day while being locked up, much like Bill Murray. That sounds like most of us 🙂
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vijay
July 5, 2020
BR, if you are looking out for haha funny, why haven’t you tried or revisited Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan? The title itself gets me all amused. But only if you are the type who enjoys such brand of comedy. Like they say for horror films, this comedy is not for the faint hearted 🙂
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vijay
July 5, 2020
“Oddly, I’ve experienced the exact opposite. I’ve been searching for more heavy cinema than usual. I guess the best way for me to forget my woes has been to throw myself into the woes of others, and heavier cinema works best for that. ”
I agree to a limited extent. IMO, I don’t think,, when you are going through really difficult times yourself(eg. lost a job due to covid, loved one gone etc) you would be in a mood to watch a vadivelu movie(or ANY movie for that matter). It doesn’t just work like that. You will be more stressed up about the problem in hand or the adversity that has suddenly come your way. You may have to be coaxed into watching films by somebody else, like a friend or so. The fact that BR talks about choosing what films to watch now, shows that his life isn’t all that depressing during these times compared to the millions out there who have lost their jobs, or loved ones or don’t even know where their next square meal is going to come from. Try convincing them to watch Monty Python 🙂
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Arjun
July 5, 2020
It’s a gross injustice to bracket Vadivelu or Goundamani as slapstick only. Much of their comedy is as subtle and sophisticated as the best of Monty Python or Yes Minister.
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Arjun
July 5, 2020
I’d say that’s as simplistic and untrue as calling Ilayaraja violin tabla man.
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brangan
July 5, 2020
Actually, I have tried to interview comedians. We almost got hold of Yogi Babu but he slipped away. I get the feeling they are more comfortable with the type of cool/casual interviews you find in Tamil channels.
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Arjun
July 5, 2020
BR: Fair enough. But how about a detailed piece on the history of Tamil film comedy. I couldn’t find one searching through the archives of this blog (it’s possible I missed it). Culturally, Vadivelu is arguably as big an icon as any big movie star in TN,, if not bigger. It is ofc possible Goundamani/Vadivelu style comedy just doesn’t resonate with you and that’s fine if that’s the case.
Just found it curious this aspect of Tamil cinema has hardly received any attention from you.
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Madan
July 5, 2020
“Much of their comedy is as subtle and sophisticated as the best of Monty Python or Yes Minister.” – Ah, but I do consider Yes Minister slapstick. As I would Wodehouse. Slapstick is not a bad thing at all. In great hands, it can be terrific and has been. About Monty Python, I wouldn’t know as I haven’t watched a whole lot of it but the few clips I have seen were pretty straight up too. There is a misconception these days that slapstick means the worst LCD kind of comedy but it’s not like that. Even Chupke Chupke was slapstick and it’s one of the best comedies ever (as are the many Kamal-Crazy/KSR collabs).
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Aman Basha
July 5, 2020
Asides, I have registered to MUBI and for a start, decided to go into the much praised parallel cinema phase of the 1970s. Given how pretty Smitha Patil looked in the blurb, I chose to watch Bhumika and wow, it was astonishing. Just the cinematography is worth watching even today let it be in color or black & white. There’s so much atmosphere and like the lead actress, non fussy, natural beauty to the frames which was much better than the horrible quality of prints available on DD, which was the one time I tried to watch an film of this sort. The themes, performances, subtext make the similar Mahanati seem overblown in comparison. The character, her decisions and circumstances are so involving and it frustrated me to watch her try to break her cycle of unworthy men, only to fail yet again and again. I was so torn apart till I chose not to judge and grew up. I’m using the lock down to find these sort of involving deep cinema and enjoy them, I simply seem tired and annoyed of watching fun stuff or old favorites.
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rsylviana
July 5, 2020
Would Goundamani’s brand of humour be slotted as slapstick though , his was more of Insult Comedy right? I find Nagesh and Vadivelu’s style very similar , infact while watching Thiruvilaiyaadal and Muthu’s comedy stretch recently I noticed that the way Vadivelu jumps up in the air during the drama scene reminiscent of Nagesh’s antics in Thiruvilaiyaadal. Both of them were/are terrific at physical comedy that even the most mundane dialogues and situations are sure to cause us a bellyache. Also , sometimes there is a really throwaway line in Vadivelu’s acts that don’t stick out as funny rightaway but when you actually come back to it later you sort of kick yourself thinking “How did I not notice this one before ?” One such bit is in Chandramukhi where Manobala appears and Vadivelu and Nasser have to accompany him to Chandramukhi’s room. Vadivelu is magnificent throughout the scene and the way he says “Saamy Saamy poruma poruma” is hysterical 😀 I completely missed it while watching the movie and around the time the film’s comedy scenes were routinely telecast in tv but now its one of my favorite Vadivelu moments.
Its sad that there has been no gamechanger like Vadivelu in the Tamil Cinema Comedy scene much like there is nobody to take ARR’s place in Tamil Cinema Music scene. Santhanam, who could be considered as Yuvan to Vadivelu’s ARR, seemed to be getting there but at some point he started getting too repetitive and excessive for the mainstream audience and is now completely focused on leading roles. Soori and Yogibabu seem to be in a “hit or miss” situation perpetually and even when they do hit , its easy to see that its more due to the director and/or the team they are in than because of they themselves. Maybe Tamil Cinema moving away from a separate comedy track is partly to blame?
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Marsant G
July 6, 2020
rsylviana earlier action movies used to have a separate comedy track that may or may not intercept the hero’s journey (Run, Winner etc.), but nowadays, in action movies comedians and even heroines are sidetracked and comedy has been reduced to only pop culture references, political jabs and hero worship.
Santhanam’s condition right now is due to the dearth of good writers/directors. Sundar C managed Kalakalappu and TVSK where he played a major role successfully. He’s trying to do full length comedy movie and has the looks but isn’t looking at good scripts. Him throwing the towel from the comedian’s robes maybe an indication of his frustration at the way comedy is headed right now. His roles in thalaiva and veeram were forgettable and underwhelming. He probably didn’t like/adopt to the shift in structure of mainstream movies and with sivakarthikeyan and vjs ushering in a totally fresh brand of humor, he felt he too had to move away from being hero’s mama vela pakra friend and stamp his personality.
Comedians tend to have a very strong voice, their own brand and take their business very seriously and tamil cinema allows only heroes with those qualities to succeed. That is why we have only handful of super successful comedians compared to heroes. They need to accommodate their ego with the hero’s and to solve this earlier movies had a separate track for them but nowadays comedians are placed closely to the heroes always and humor takes the backseat and suffers to facilitate plot advancement. Apart from enormous talent, Vadivelu maybe had the least screen ego which explains his longevity.
Vadivelu’s success should also be attributed to the sheer creativity of framing his situations, ex. he passes down a street and a shop owner asks him to touch a livewire which results him experiencing shock and vadivelu says enda nee checkup panni pakarathuku en usuru than kedachatha! Now, this situation is unbelievable and ridiculous, but I have referenced the punchline tens of times. These situations are in no way connected to the main storyline but have stayed with the audience, which imo is the hallmark of great comedy, funny and timelessness. And he has probably done every type of comedy possible in tamil cinema: 1. the brandy puns- enna pa whisky whisky nadakara, where the whole stretch could be straight out of a crazy mohan scene, and yes prime minister too has the same gag (but more classy), 2. dark humor: never has a family sat together and laughed at someone raping a newly married woman in an elevator. The guts to even conceive needs recognition and the fact that vadivelu sells with incredibly innocent acting shows he could pull off anything.
All this is obviously said from a fan pov, br, I’m asking you to bring out a more critical piece of these points to help understand the evolution role of comedians in tamil action movies.
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Jallikattu lover
July 6, 2020
Cool beans article.
I read in an interview that Mani Ratnam named Arjun’s character in Kadal as Bergmans as a tribute to both the Bergmans: Ingrid and Ingmar.
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filmarcher
July 7, 2020
Yes to that! I have gone to seeking anime and cartoons if that makes sense! Not that I ever lost my love for that medium but it is now a source of comfort.
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