 Boca-chotas. I start every Bengali thing off with a Bengali curse word. The only one I need to learn another one. What's another one? Just say it. Don't just say it. I know the one you just thought of. Just say it. That's it. No, no, that's Hindi though. Bhanchal. Hi. Welcome back to our stupid direction. It's of course Bhanchal. I know Bhanchal. Yeah, I know that one. Hindi and Bengali have a lot of similarities. Yeah, okay. Anyways, hey, welcome back to our stupid direction. Hi. I'm Rick. Today, she's my andrani's over there going, what am I doing? I know. Your voice saying it. I know. Anyways, today we're doing a movie review of the little Hellions. And right off the bat, forgive us for bad math. Yeah. No, okay, so you probably saw the title and you're like, hey, Hey. I thought it was the 80s. Foul. Foul. See what happened was. It's not a classic. I told Rick and Andrani I was like, hey, we're gonna watch Asajjit Rai next for a classic month and Andrani got excited and I was like, is there anyone that you would want to watch? And she was like the stranger and I was like, oh that was on my list and without thinking because I was like, Asajjit Rai is old. All of his films are probably pre-1980. This was not. And I apologize. It's still old. Yeah. I basically said I texted Corbin I said shouldn't we like can't we let it qualify if it's over a quarter of a century old It can be a classic. It's still 30 years old. Yeah, but I do apologize. I didn't think about it before I said yes Regardless, we were gonna watch a Sachin Rai film. So Eventually might as well have been this one Anyways, but we watched the 1990 not 1991 film The Stranger or is there a bingali title for it? Yes I'm going to a fool of a toke. Yeah, fool of a toke It's directed and written by and composed. Yes, I saw shit I don't know that was and starring Utpal Dutt the punker day Momata Shankar Bikram Bhattacharya Ravi Ghosh Drittum Chatterjee and it's basically a a film about a Guy who comes to meet a family and he's never really met this his niece before and he's like the only family he has 35 years and he's been in it's basically the random a guy coming to this person's house and figuring out if he's actually who He is exactly and they're obviously with all the classics We assume you've seen it if you haven't seen it go watch it come back Yes, but Rick your initial thoughts, please. Well, I have two paragraphs two paragraphs So in its most elevated state cinema like all incarnations of theater is about humanity What it means to be a human being and what it means for all of us to share in this collective human experience and Artistry in its most elevated state is about the sharing of the self the whole self being shared with the rest of us preferably proverbial warts and all and most great artists take the same journey in both life and in their artistry It begins reaching outward and ends looking inward Satyajit Rai is one of the most human film directors the world will ever have the pleasure of knowing and the stranger is to my view Not only his most profoundly personal work, but very likely his best Whereas it seems other every other Rai film is a master class on what it means to be a learning and growing being Striving for excellence while remaining and open-minded and ferociously hungry observer of the world around you as you take in all of the Experiences and then share them with the world the stranger is a work of polar opposites A master class on what it means to be a mortal and moral being Staring into the abyss with wise wide eyes wide open a soul bearing last will and testament of sorts birthed from within a Man who knows he only has a few more breaths left in him to share with generations to come what he not only believes Really matters most to him, but what he wants the world to remember about him most and with his final cinematic breath I believe Satyajit Rai screamed his loudest and most profoundly personal work So you didn't like it Yeah, I enjoyed it as well this one was all of his work have been really good so far I think there's only one I didn't like. Oh, yeah Yeah, that's a weird tip. Yeah, I like that one but everything from to his short film. Yeah Hero and technically we've seen obviously the three of poos Three of that one you didn't like and then I didn't like hero hero in big city Big city and then this one and then the short film too. Okay. There's not another one though No, I mean he did 33 films. So we have a lot more so outside of a two is a short film So we're not including right that's seven That was eight the three the three three. Yeah, the one. I didn't like yeah hero Yeah, this one and big big city seven seven. Okay. Ah, yeah seven down about 25 more to go. Yeah, he has a lot, but they've all been so They've had their similarities in certain aspects like in terms of like he likes to have he likes to He likes to have a message usually. Oh, yeah, he definitely likes to have a message Yes, I mean similar I guess to like a huge man likes to have messages in his films Obviously him being way before and you know the filmmaker He has a lot more control over and what the messaging is and he's there a lot a lot of time very profound This one's very different as well because even though I think overall I think either the hero of the big city are probably my favorite. Yeah, one of those two This one I I love this film as well And it was so different because of how it was made this film was I think I can only remember a score once And I think it was at the end mm-hmm very very Very small amounts of music and there's he just loved always in all of his films But especially in this one, he just has no problem sitting there sitting there sitting there like when they're coming down the stairs at The end. Yeah, no director in their right mind would just follow everybody down the stairs without talking to no music For that long. Yeah, but thankfully it wasn't in his right mind. No, no It was fantastic such a unique director, but yeah this one it was all about Dialogue and the story could have been a play. Yeah, absolutely It was just and you were riveted that about it's like I is this is this yes her uncle Yeah, is it not her is it not her uncle and you he did such a good job of writing because you kind of even though at times You're like the husband's kind of a dick, right, but then also you like Sometimes agree with him. I'm great with him. He's speaking some truth. Yeah. Yeah at times You speak in truth and then obviously All the friends that came over at times it was so At times was very funny like when they she had hair like her actor friend come And then the whole grilling scene was I thought really well done between both those actors Yes, and that was what almost probably I felt like 25 30 minutes almost yeah And like no score and it was just a conversation between two people no with with Him getting up and walking and then coming back and then him getting up and walking and coming back That was it and then the other two just sitting and listening the whole time and the fact that you you can it goes to show It's all about It's your story telling mm-hmm, and you're acting yep To keep you captivated. Yeah for a film. You don't need a whole bunch of stuff No, because it's about the human experience. Yeah, and I really see in the stranger the uncle He he really was voicing everything that was inside at the time of the filming of this. I know from the research Rye was not well and knew this is gonna probably his last one Yeah, he knew he was gonna die when he made this film and this was really very much You know if you if you have that vantage point It allows you that place of saying okay This is the last thing I'm gonna be able to say to the world Cinematically and I really think all out to say he had a lot to say and all of those all of those You know that that argument scene in particular the difference between tribal civilization and are they civilized? Are they not civilized and the difference between science and it's just it's great Just so good so well-written so so good so smart so smart. It's a great line. He's like, okay. It's candle-ism Civilized right you said no, but he's dropping a nuke on it exactly as I civilized wink wink the United States Yeah, it was it was very it was very funny and the line of So would you go to a shaman if you were sick? He said well, I'm in the city stupid I'm not gonna do that now, but I have availed myself of a shaman and I was healed. Yeah Yeah, it was a really it was really interesting conversation Obviously the best part of and I all of that what is his name? Yeah, the what is he played the stranger the lead legend? Yeah, is he relation to any of the dots like the famous like Sanjay? No, okay. I didn't know No, but but apparently right like legendary Screen he has I'd say the it factor. Yeah, he's very he's a very captivating at very captive You know the other two I thought did really well the mom in particular I thought probably the dad was probably the weakest of them even though I thought he did well Yeah, but again, I didn't think he was weak. No, I didn't love them. I agree. I'm going Yeah, who was the week one? Yeah, I guess it would be him, but I wasn't bad at all right But in terms of like so like he popped on screen. You're like, oh, I think you can just tell I really feel like the audience can most empathize with a little boy because we pretty much are that kid wrapped and just listening to every word coming out of uncle's mouth and I love the fact Okay, I don't know about you but when the movie was ending When I found out that he had left a note, I Was really concerned because at that point I thought dying No, I thought everything was perfect at that point that we didn't know and what I was hoping was Please don't admit who you are in this letter Please right. Don't do this. Don't say, you know what it was an imposter, you know something like that. I Did not see coming what's in that letter. Did you yeah, you did you always do that? I love I love I love that I get to have such naivete and ignorance because I get these beautiful shocks Whereas like you and your wife are like, that's what I don't know. I definitely saw him giving all the money to her So you know, but I didn't I thought he was gonna die like I thought he was dying Oh, oh, like I thought it was like I'm dying. I just wanted to meet my family here And yeah, I know I didn't think that that didn't come for a question, but the the whole giving the money I thought yeah, okay. Yeah, I didn't see and I love that. I also loved the the moment Where it's the only really outdoor moment At the tribal. Yeah, the girls dancing and then she joined It was so good and there you've got yeah two classes Two casts two different religions two different skin colors, but unified together in that moment of humanity It was very beautiful. Yeah, and there was From this from the start. I thought it was it was really cheated. What's her name? Sorry? The punk are they the punk are they mom is that the mom? No Okay, oh, oh, that's right. No, sorry. Okay. I can't tell yeah pictures. Okay. That's a guy. Yeah, that makes sense Sorry, the gay is not the guy we first time being introduced to them. Although I did find out some trivia about her Her uncle is Ravi Shankar. Oh, really? Yeah. Thank you and Ronnie. What a famous famous nepotism. Yeah God, yeah, what is it with the world? Ravi Shankar. She's the product of nepotism Yeah, yeah, so she said what she said of course Satya Jirai was gonna have her dance at some point How could you not yeah? No, that was a great scene and in the end scene as you were talking about kind of just went on and they let Them that's right entire that's right. He has no issue if it's done Like it's like we just had obviously this problem with Pushpa, right with just it was dragging dragging, right? But obviously it was this big spectacle film But it dragged as opposed to this film, which is they intimate this is just in a house basically But you riveted for two hours. Yeah, it's the difference. And so that's it's the filmmaker. It's the filmmaker time on film time on film Stagnation in and of itself isn't a bad thing static shots aren't a bad thing It's the it's the reason behind it and the forethought behind it And that's why when you see something like Pushpa, you're thinking this is dragging Whereas you can watch a moment like the first time I ever noticed it with with Satya Jirai was in the opu trilogy And he had so many different shots like the one where he just captured the dragonfly And he's just letting it sit. It's the difference in a drag and a meditation His stillnesses are meditations And you don't want to leave those moments because you really feel the intention behind him every moment He's framing you believe and can sense the intentionality behind the lens of the guy doing it that I thought this through Completely and every single moment. I've captured mean something to me. Yeah Yeah, when basically from the beginning when she was on when she came on screen I thought I could tell that she was really good at what she does as well Yeah, and and she conveyed exactly what she was supposed to and The she wanted to have a relationship show this is a family member. She's never and it showed obviously India. It has very Different approaches because if this happened in America, like who's this random uncle? I've never seen in my life, right? Exactly. I can't stay at my house. I don't know exactly But I I loved I pointed this out at the end when I was talking about it with Andrani because we will always talk talk talk about films after we've watched them and I loved the aspect that This is very different in an Indian context than it would be in an American context for the reason You just stated as well as this brilliant addition to this He ties to things he ties. It's such a joy and that's why I'm also glad We've seen this as number seven and not earlier on deeper appreciation for this film if you know something about him and The way he was so Well-rounded in his appreciation of love for both the West and the East Having this be a stranger. He incorporated both an Indian thing and a Western thing both culturally and religiously because there's a scripture in the New Testament where Paul tells the church that You need to be nice to strangers because many of you have unwittingly entertained angels by doing so and you didn't realize you were Doing it and in India the guest is God Yeah, so those two things are blended together here in terms of the rationale for them in America would be like Screw you pal. Who are you? I don't but they have to deal with the dynamic of It's a guest that means a lot more to an Indian family a lot and it's a possible family member The weight of that decision is so much bigger on an Indian household. It's something that I can't even really comprehend Understand it's obviously been exposed exactly Oh, it is but like if I heard and my itch now that an uncle that I had met when I was two wants to stay in my house Her week. I'd be like, sorry, bro. You can yeah be like don't know you friend Yeah, and I can't confirm and I can't confirm you're my uncle. Yeah, it's sorry man Obviously, it's different now we have technology and all that but still even if I could confirm it I wouldn't do it because I'm like, I don't have a relationship. You can't stay at my house. Yeah Exactly But I loved that it remained that way and that it was that she wanted that relationship so bad So bad he was being the skeptic, which I totally get and I related with him a lot Even though I thought he was being a dick a lot of the times like to her like he was being quite condescending Yeah I loved the goodbye moment when she finally in her tears Calls him uncle. You can see that for her. She's reached that place of You may not be my biological uncle, but I want you to be and if you're not I still wish my uncle were like you so you are uncle to me and I Like to think that maybe he wasn't and that maybe he did come with the idea to scam them And then realize they were such a beautiful family and decided not to and I love that Satya Jitrai doesn't tell us What the intention is he lets everybody come away from that with the sense of was he the uncle now? I know people will say oh it was confirmed. He's the uncle by that visit they made to the that was Funny scene with that guy, too. Yeah I love that first scene when he's trying to verify who he is and he says the word for air I don't know what is but it sounds like Washington and the guy says Washington Just at one point the guy's going into a story and the husband's just there with his head in his hands Just like I can't stand this any longer. So that the comedy aspect of it, too was pretty Fun. Yeah, and if you if you think about this film, right? I think there was They did a scene with I think they did in in the house for the most part It was in like four rooms. Yes. It was like a hallway Then bedroom bedroom, then there was a kitchen and the living room and then the living room And the majority of it was in the living room because there was two Incredibly long scenes in both though when the when the friends came over and then when the guy who was in Terrible young came over and those were basically the longest parts of the film. Yeah That it was it's in like it's just an hour obviously until they they leave And I wonder how much of that was based on what he wanted to do with the telling of the story Which I'm pretty sure that was it contextually, but I also know having done some research. You may have seen this He was so unwell at the time that he was filming quite a bit of it in an oxygen tank Because that's how he died was from the the years of smoking And yeah, yeah, and he he may have in his writing of it Not only took into consideration the intimacy of what he wanted to express because I think it's spectacular in that setting It's like a play and you you keep everything personal familial and No distractions But just for basic working options made it a lot easier for him You could easily make this a play it would make a great you could literally just take the script and put it on stage and you could even take this play and just Contemporize it instead of talking about we've gone to Neptune and just take some of the things He's referring to and add a level of Contemporary to it and it would work today do it in a sered and Sean. Yeah Sincerely that would be beautiful big B. Oh, yeah I would love to see it this made as a current context and have without someone like an a sered and Shaw or an Amitabh Bachchan Play the stranger or you can even keep it in Bengali and do the the actor who played Bob That would be beautiful as a tribute to rye and just and do it in Bengali. Yeah. Yeah. Anyways. Yeah, I Can't really it's not really a negative to this film. No, there's one flaw and it's a completely Excuseable. That's why I almost didn't even bring it up. It's so so so so minimal. There was a moment Where and it's it's kind of endearingly beautiful where you can see the shadow of the boom. Oh really? It's a split second moment. It's it's early It's around the moment where the funny friend has come to visit and he's telling them the story about left and right and There's a shot. That's kind of a farther establishing shot and on the wall above them You can see the boom not the boom itself the shadow Move and obviously he didn't catch it or maybe he did in the editing and he was like dang it But other than that. Yeah, I don't find anything wrong. Yeah, this film was absolutely fantastic I'm glad we were able to get to him But let us know what the next such as Rai film should be or the next Bengali film classic classic or modern We need to get to a lot more Bengali films. I think we've seen Like well, I didn't check the list today. Well, there's seven this one I'd say it probably around 10 to 12 10 12. I'd say Bengali films. Yeah, most obviously such as Rai How could how could it not be and we still have scratched the surface of all of his work, so I think I think I Think Jimmy has gone through like 25 Well, that wouldn't surprise me because they they did all last year because it was like a hundred years, right? I was actually right. I've been a hundred. I think yep And so they did like a whole bunch. Yeah, and that's all that's all I mean That's all they do is watch movies. Yeah, anyways Let us know what the next such as Rai and then it's been golly film and what you thought about this film down down