 That that I like that that that I like that that that I like that that's actually a little slower than that song Have you heard that song yet? No, what is it? It's Si's new song. Who? Si Gangnam style. Oh Is that it's name? Yeah, I know Gangnam. Okay. Yeah, I Didn't know that was his name. He's got a new song called that that I just learned who doge cat was Just yes, like I thought it was past week. I thought it was like the internet cat You didn't realize it was a female pop artist. No, I have a toddler. I know who coke a melon in Hey, welcome back to our stupid direction. It's a Corbin. I'm doge a cat and you false is the ground to that Content I see you had a breast reduction. Yep, and you follow us on ins. Did you say that? Yep, okay? Something about a breast reduction. Yeah hit the like Sorry Penises on the brain. Wow breasts and penises That's a quote from the office in case Today we're doing a movie of you And happy belated birthday to mr. Yeah, sausage it right. Yeah, who we've seen One of his films only one only one and we were gonna do this on the day But we had something else that other stuff came up required us to and so I was supposed to be yesterday on his actual birthday Sorry, we just got to it today, but we are reviewing the 1965 film the coward or do you know the Bengali I don't I do not know the then calling name of it obviously my wife does we watched it together She'd seen it before yeah, yeah And apparently this is a film that was actually two parts That you can see them as separate standalone things, but it's actually one part of the film is The courageous and the second half of the film is the coward and the two-hour short films basically make up a feature Length. Oh really? That's what my wife tells me. Gotcha. Yeah, the name is Capurosh Capurosh sure And it's once again 1965 is directed by Satyat Rai indeed and he was the screenplay writer of this one And he composed it music. Yep. He often does starring Sumitra Chatterjee, Madhavi Mukherjee, Haridhan Banerjee, Santichatterjee. Yeah, and it's a very little cast. Yep. Those are the three main actors And they had a few tiny supporting Yeah, I would even say they're just probably extras. Yeah, then supporting Yeah, but is we a hundred minutes for the view if you haven't watched it go watch it We saw it on HBO Max. Yeah And you can check it out there. It's only 70 minutes this part at least for what you're talking about. Yeah And Rick your initial thoughts please. Well, it's interesting to watch after I've now settled on for after I don't know how many years of My rating system for the way I want to Rate movies and whether they're elevated or not So it just has a real quick rundown look at three categories You look at story performance and technicalities and then measure them by basically five criteria Was the film engaging or entertaining did have a level of Educational value to it was it excellent in a particular way in any of those formats Was it enlightening and then last but not least do you think it's an essential film like on the all-time List needs to never be forgotten This one for me gets four out of five stars for me. I wouldn't give it a definitively across the board Elevative needs to be remembered, but I still think it's in an incredibly good film We'll talk about things that I love about it most especially I felt like I was watching the twilight zone when it started Felt like just straight up rods. It almost felt like he was auditioning for rod sirling with this thing letting him know Hey, I could direct a twilight zone. Yeah, I could definitely see that. Yeah. I enjoyed it as well It's not my favorite. Uh, rye. I like it a lot and I think it's a very very good film Right. That's why it's for there's other films of his that are absolute five out of five I like the big city and I forget the name of the one that the train one The big city the hero. Um, obviously the opu trilogy Those for me are above this but this was still An extreme as was the one we just watched in january The stranger. Oh, yeah, that one's love that one. But yeah, and I'll tell you why they're why it doesn't get five in a minute Yeah, I don't think he he knows how to make he makes such engaging films For the especially the time that they've come out and so different Then everybody else that we've seen out of india almost the world really especially for the time that he was coming out because Like it's very simple story and a lot of his films are very just simple human stories. That's that's all they are Yep, he doesn't he doesn't do the big maybe he doesn't we just haven't seen it But I I would do would shock me like the big big films. He's just I I want to I want to focus on this family. I want to focus on this relationship. I want to um, but he He really engages you very fast. Uh, especially in this by just You know, he you know, it's just his rider and then he comes on to With this guy to a house and then he steps in and then you're like, oh What is this? Yeah And he says so much with saying nothing Yeah, he really is a master at like when we first were introduced to the short film too, which like has No dialogue. Yeah, he's a director that understands the picture paints a thousand words and the value of saying so much With saying nothing. Yeah, and he's a master at that. Yeah, absolutely And he he he doesn't spoon feed you he lets you Kind of get there on your own and he doesn't answer all your questions and And all that kind of stuff and and I really really appreciate that about him But yeah, let's talk about the performances here who with both of all three of actually we've seen before. Yeah They the obviously see me that We've seen him quite a few times now exactly and her that's sartaj's mom, right? Yeah Yeah, it's her silhouette is It just looks like a female sartaj. Yeah is what it looks like It's it's hard to miss it is Now, but I thought she did a phenomenal job. Yeah, it and also Not In conveying what she wanted to With I think maybe she had two pages tops of dialogue. Yeah tops, right? Probably it was mostly just looks Letting it letting us know what she's feeling by just her body language or stuff like that and She has such striking features and eyes that yes, it's it's hard not to look at her when she's on screen agreed But I thought she did a great job. I thought she did a great job, too. I That that was my my only reason for not There was two two reasons I gave like a Lesser score for something was in the excellence level of and you can't fault him for this But I forgot his name the the husband So it was endearing and I enjoyed it, but as far as the believability. He's very theatrical I'm sure very theater trained for back in the day theater. So like his laughs were extremely Big and over the top, but it wasn't enough to like Pull me out in any way Just It really helps when you've got great writing and great directing to allow people to just be because She both of them clearly Have no need to indicate or Let you feel something in some way where they're trying to make you feel anything or even show anything just Like the whole time she's very much a puzzle like you understand why he's puzzled of do you Are you happy? Are you not happy and her asking? Why do you why are you asking? Yeah? She's not giving a clear not giving a clear answer. Uh, yeah, the almost coy with the enjoyment of playing with him Yeah, yeah, absolutely I did really enjoy that aspect of the writing because it let you Piece it all together and and also come to your own conclusion as to why she did what she did and we'll get to the ending Yeah, um here soon, but I thought she did a really good job. You can Even though they weren't like in a love relationship You can you kind of I guess the flashbacks helped but you could see the chemistry They both had as well. Yeah in terms of you could tell they really loved each other Uh, and he kind of you know Fucked up. I guess. Yeah, he he screwed the he screwed the pooch Multiple times which we'll get into that when we talk about story because it's I love the story but for the performances I And I just you give me because Rod Serling all of the Twilight zones feel like black box theater It's usually one or two character driven and there's moral stories and it's always about the human condition And philosophy and that's where I can't imagine Sachi to ride wasn't a big fan of Rod Serling And that that kind of storytelling and he's he's the quintessential I love that word when you talk about somebody who really understands the medium and what it's intended to do at the highest levels which is to either present or Show or question The human condition and things that are universal to all of us and that was also cool His films are definitively Indian. They're definitively Bengali, but then they're also definitively Universally human. Yeah, that's wonderful. I think that's why most people and he was why he was so worldwide known is because You know, obviously sometimes certain Indian films will have very cultural Either religious or just cultural stuff going on that might a lot of people might be like Weary of like, oh, I don't I don't understand. I don't know what's going on but his stories Even though they might have some elements in it sometimes of like that They're just human agree. He just tells you a human story and absolutely relate to a human in South Africa On a lot of levels because they're a human. I'm a human. We have the same emotions He's a this is a great example of his mastery in that regard He does exactly what you said and that he can present you with his culture in a way that it's immersive but not so Unaware of for somebody who's unfamiliar with it that you feel distanced from the people He does the opposite He draws you in and then the more you learn about the culture because I've had You know, we've had the benefit of learning more about India learning more about Bengal Especially me with a Bengali wife There's things that I pick up now that I wouldn't have but even at the outset when we first started watching him There were things that we recognized or didn't even see and found out later. We're definitively Indian or Bengali But it didn't distance us from the connection with the character. His great example is Did you notice how that house was full? Almost every room had either on the floor or on the wall A Bengal tiger skin Mm-hmm. I didn't notice that. Yeah the first time they're sitting and talking I noticed it behind the guy And it was pretty dominant and I pointed it out to Andrani and I went. Oh, wow. Okay Bengal tiger right there and then the next shot there went. Oh, and now there's one on the floor Then they went in the other room. Oh, and there's one on the wall up there too um Wouldn't have necessarily noted that but the fact that I know that they come from there added another level of Almost a disconcerted nature of the sense of what's Something of the self evidence and identifying factor of our characters. Yeah being in danger, especially our main character. Did you Do you think he hunted those or do you think those were just stuff that they bought? I Don't know. I and I think I My suspicion is that he probably hunted them because he takes pride in Being the guy who's teaching the other guy how you know, he gives him some whiskey and he's like now you're a man and he's out playing golf and No, all these manly cultured things. So I suspect that but I don't I don't think that was Relevant whether he they were bought or killed per se as much as it was that Satya Jirai wanted us to know something I something that's a definitive identifier of bengal is dead and on the wall Very much like our main character has something dead inside of him and Is in here and her but most especially for him because he doesn't just screw the pooch with his cowardice to me the movie is about The the imprisoning of cowardice and then the long-term regrets you have of cowardice because Here he was I just I have a favorite moment. Do you have a favorite moment in the film? I have a favorite shot What's your favorite shot? I took a picture of that Oh, that's a great shot. Yes. Yeah, that's a great shot. It was towards the end But literally it was close up on her with her in the back heard those epic glasses I I just I stopped it. I was like, I love this I love the opening shot too when they start from the outside They're working on the car and then they slowly walk in and they keep it as a one shot And they keep it outside then they come up close to the window and everything's just going on inside the window I love that shot. But my favorite moment for this is the very end When he looks up and she's off the train Because here he is presented once again and it He's presented over and over and over and over and over again with opportunities to be brave And to get what he wants and he just Comes up with an excuse or doesn't have the courage to go after it and I mean it's just The first time he sees her the next time she comes in the room You see the opportunities he had in the flashback where she's pretty much She doesn't want to have to beg him to make the decision to say yes, I'm going to marry you and we're going to make it No matter what she wants him to have the chutzpah to do it Then when they're out and about and her husband is falling asleep on the rock She's across the street and all he has to do Go get go walk across the street and get her be brave The only reason he's not doing it is he wants the assurances from her that it's going to be 100% accepted And she doesn't give it to him He has to he has to go out and be brave Yeah, and he never does and then the the cars come so now he has the excuse of well I couldn't get to her because of the cars and I couldn't get to her because of the it's genius Yeah, um, but I think if he did you'd run into some other issues as well though Yeah, but of doing it without asking her permission. Yeah, it'd be obviously it was different time So obviously you can't really put our thinking now right right right onto even though We probably should have still been thinking that way back then right Right, but you know we didn't um, but yeah, there was uh all that stuff I was almost really pissed off at the end Could you because I thought it was going to end the way it shouldn't end I because obviously you were rooting for them the whole time Right wanted it But I didn't want this film to do that and so when she came up and I was like This is going to be a happy ending right. Yeah, I didn't want that either That just left a bad taste in my mouth. Then she left her like, okay good. This is good. Yeah, and she said you you have my sleeping pills Yeah, I was like Yeah It's not what you think man. Yeah, exactly and I would have actually totally been fine if um, like she showed up And it went to black just on his face No, you know why then then the audience can interpret it in a way that puts them together I'm totally fine. Yeah, if it's an interpretation. I'm also fine this way as well I prefer this with uh when she kind of just I much prefer that and she was kind of just shoving it in his face at that point of like You failed and yeah, because like even then She walks up and the obvious thing is she's saying I want my sleeping pills And I think that's really what she meant. She wasn't coming back to give him an opportunity. She's coming to get her sleeping pills. However That's an opportunity Again while he's sitting there regretting. He didn't do anything Another opportunity presents itself And he does nothing again I also have to give a great shout out to the writing in this regard when the moment happened I pointed it out to indrani when they meet for the first time on the train and he buys a ticket for her Because she couldn't find her ticket. Yeah He sits down and they have a just a Quite sweet flirtatious adult Conversation with one another and I said to where I said it's very refreshing to see a moment like this And it's not the junior high school You get pretty higher kind of kind of thing that happens a lot of the time It was a very adult. He was completely composed. He thinks he's very pretty says i'll meet you at four and it's like What happened to the dude? How did he go from Being the guy that sees an opportunity and just gets her ticket sits down says meet me at four To losing her what happened to the guy complacency? I think yeah a lot of things you can you can say Either you're just he might just be somebody with a lot of anxiety or self-worth issues Feels like he doesn't deserve her. Yeah, and now if you say I like that That's actually right and answer those questions and let you kind of fill in the blanks of what why you think He was the way that she and also her as well Yes, obviously She's very jaded from what happened right and obviously she's still very upset with him Even though I think she did give him quite a few chances even then to to do it but And it was also so interesting the way they wrote this in terms of the parallels of what The husband was saying he's like don't make me the villain in the thing and like Like what is screenplay screenplay and the film as a whole technically he would be the villain, but he's not really He's not really. Uh, he's just a he's just a guy really. He's not It's up for debate whether he's bad. He doesn't she didn't really give you an indication of like He abuses me or anything. She reached over put her hand on him Yeah, and so there's all these things like he might be fine Obviously, they probably don't have any like passion almost nothing in common because you know, he's kind of a prick A lot of the time. Yeah, it gets drunk and passes out also doesn't like seem to respect, you know people very much And has weird philosophies But he's he's there. Yeah, and he's committed And he got her. Yeah, and he got her Um, and so there's there's but I like that the fact that such it rye Does what I think what all good filmmakers do unless, you know, the specific film doesn't require that Right, but like in terms of art films They they let you determine a lot of it. They let you be a co-writer Correct both in the outcome of what you think Happened and why but then also leaves enough space for you to find yourself in there In a myriad of different ways and at a myriad of different places in your life or seasons in your life I think this could be watched by somebody in their 20s who would learn a lesson about cowardice and and taking initiative and it could be seen by somebody in their 60s And have a completely different take on that whether you're a man or you're a woman Whether you're poor whether you're rich it really does allow A basic element about the human condition and what being a coward is but people can approach it from all places of life Yeah, and I thought he did a really and we talked about her early But I thought he did a really good job very different as well from like his opu and other stuff that we've seen of him Because he was very timid very shy very kind of Like I don't want to say laid back, but like just timid and shy kind of character And also you saw a lot going on in his head. Yeah, a lot of thinking I want to do it. But like you said I Do I want to risk Looking like an idiot and I want to risk her saying no right tortured by his his thoughts. Yeah, yeah And then also like I think he actually respects her So I think that's one of the things that also keeps him from just Full on going because he thinks if he does it it's going to be almost disrespectful and selfish and as well Yeah, because she's legally married. Well, would that be fair to this nice man that's brought me to his house? Yeah, and I also love how dirty Satya Jitrai will allow his cinematography to be so like he has beautiful shots But then like the moment when he gets up and goes in the bathroom to splash water on his face It's it's just so dirty. He's just it follows him in and it kind of gets him around the corners If you were standing behind the door, it's not lit really well And then he comes through the door and at one point he goes into shade And it's just total darkness and then only part of his face comes out of the shade And that really gives you that fly on. I mean it's a close shot cameras just here But as an audience member you really feel like you're in this deeply everything felt really private in his world Yeah, and he's not very forgiving of I think this is a common thread throughout his films tight shots on the face Everybody everybody every film that we've seen I think he he he kind of like this is an emotional moment You're gonna carry it. Good luck. Yeah, I would I would say probably like we talk about sanjay leela bansali being the the guy who uses light He uses face and especially at a time where You had to be so creative in in your shots because you don't have the technology You don't have the budgets. You don't have kind of any of this stuff to kind of save you right And so you have to engage people in black and white right with just a story about A guy that ran into his ex-lover right make a film. Yeah Yeah Doesn't have any because obviously we have just it's so different now. Yeah the way films are made even like artsy films which I haven't seen but I know about the everything everything all at once. Yeah, it's fun Even though it's like it's like everybody loves this film. It's very artsy, but it still hasn't it's pretty big It's pretty big and it's scope even something like we loved as much as say the lighthouse That's got quite a bit of visual effect working in that thing a lot of where it's not a simple Unlike did you ever get to see mass at all from last year? Mass is like a camera for actors empty room. I guess you can do the what was that doing with frances mcdormand Her most recent one, uh, where she's the no mad land. No mad land. Yeah. No mad. That was very very Sotiget rye. Minari is very sotiget rye in that regard in terms of just it's small which I love family film Just a camera and and artists and let it be a great story Yeah, yeah anyways. Yeah, it's just great movie. I don't I I'd be shocked to find a Sotiget rye film that is it is bad No, I found one that I didn't really like but I can't say it's a bad film I just I personally didn't really like it that much but only one Yeah, and I like that one. Uh, I'd just be shocked. It's like just watching a good actor give a bad performance Yeah, it's it's just it's gonna be rare or or a great great dancer Not dancing well. It's just something would be off. Yeah, being expected. It would be very strange Yeah, one of the greatest directors of all time all time Anyways, let us know what you thought about this film and what should be our next sotiget rye and bengali film that we should watch down below