 I tell you, I, uh, finally watched, um, killers of the flower, Pune. Millers of the flower, Coon. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. No, I did not know you finally got through that thing. Yeah, I know. I didn't know what you think you really liked it. It's good. Isn't it? I liked it more than I liked Oppenheimer and I liked Oppenheimer. Me too. Me too. I liked Oppenheimer. I like killers of the flower moon more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't, it doesn't feel as long as it is. It's, it's, it just keeps you, it's, it's nice. It just keeps unfolding page after page like a book. Yeah. Yeah. Good stuff. Yeah. Good stuff. And we'll go back to our stupid rags of Corbin. I'm Rick. And you can follow us on Instagram, Twitter for more juicy content. Thank you to everybody who supports us on Patreon. Follow us on our official Twitter account. Subscribe and hit that like button. Oh yeah. Hit the button, baby. Oh yeah. Hit it. Hit it. Good. Hit it hard. Hit it soft. Wait, what? Today, welcome back to Classic Month. It's Classic Month. It's Classic Month where everything is old. In this one, not as old as some of the other ones because it's, it's Malayalam and I've given some stituents for Malayalam because they're classic and golden arrow is a little different than, than, than others. And so we decided to explore a new Malayalam film we have not watched in Mathiluqal. Mathiluqal? Yeah, I like the, that's it's much easier to say in English with the wall, right? Walls. Yeah. Walls. Yeah. The 1990 film by Adore. Say the last name for me. I'm not looking at it. Oh. Gopal Lak. Hold on. I've got it here two seconds away. Um, yeah, it is by, it is, it is, uh, written, directed and produced by Adore Gopala Krishnan based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Vaikon Mohamed Bashir. But it was experiences in present life, basically. Yeah. Uh, starring the, uh, incomparable Mamuti. Uh, and I think this is the, unless that, I think it was a Tamil film about, I think it was the Pride and Prejudice that we, like the remake or that was it the sense of sensibility, whichever one that we did. That's one of those. I think that one's not as old as this one, maybe. I don't remember though. I don't either. But I don't even, I think that was a Tamil film as well. Um, so that, that wasn't even Malayalam. Um, and so I believe this is one of the older, funny enough, only 1990, but one of the older Malayalam films we've ever seen. Um, older Mamuti film. I wanted to explore some, um, classic Malayalam and Mamuti, uh, specifically because, you know, uh, this, this past year, we saw him in two really great films and, um, LJP's film and the, uh, Kothal the Core, uh, which are both brilliant, uh, if you haven't seen that. So yes, some of his classic stuff. So, and this one obviously had been recommended a long, for a long time. And it, uh, we saw the trailer a long time ago. Well, uh, for this, um, I don't even remember us watching the trailer. Yeah. It was, uh, maybe two years ago. Uh, and it was, it wasn't like a real trailer. It was something somebody remade into a trailer. Um, because obviously it was 1990. And so they didn't really do the trailer thing back then for Malayalam film. Uh, right. And so it was just like a fan made makeshift kind of trailer. Um, right that we reacted to, but not too long ago. But anyways, obviously it's came out 1990. If you haven't seen it, please go watch it come back. Um, because we 100 spent spoiler review. So Rick, your initial classic thoughts of the walls. Um, so you know about Michelin star rated restaurants. Yeah. The tires, they, they really like food. Yeah. Um, and, uh, so two things about it that were reminiscent for me watching this film. It's going to sound like a strange connection, but it's, it's, it's real. So if a, if a, if a restaurant gets a single star, it means it's worth a stop. This is according to the Michelin guidelines. It means it's worth a stop. If it gets two, it's, it means that it's worth a detour. If it gets three, it means it's worth a journey to get to it. Right. And what's interesting about the Michelin restaurant review thing is that they only talk about things that were worthy of the stars. They don't bash restaurants that aren't good. They only talk about in the Michelin star things. They don't, they only talk about things that are good. So this one for me is a three star film and I, I have any wonder. I really don't, we don't have much to say. If we don't like a film, you can tell from the length of a review, whether or not, whether or not we like a film, because we just don't want to bash on films. The only time I really feel like bashing on a film is if I utterly hate it and wish it hadn't been made and want those kinds of films to stop being made. But I, I, what is there not to like? What's not to like? Well, there's a lot to say. Yeah. Um, it's, I had heard about this film for, for quite some time, especially when association with Mamoudi, I think when we had talked about what's one of the better ones, that's why we were after the trailer. I know you don't remember it, but, uh, because people wanted us to see it. This is one of, one of, um, I think, I think he won best actor. And I think, uh, the film also won an award or for some awards. I don't know. Yeah. And one at the Venice Film Festival. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and so it had a lot of acclaim back then. Mamoudi obviously is shooting up really fast for me in terms of, and I, I had always known his, his, like his, um, what is the word I'm looking for? Um, reputation, reputation, um, as being one of the greats of all time. Obviously, especially in Malayalam, but in Indian cinema as a whole. But obviously we had just not explored him that much, um, until this past really year, uh, and I'm starting to really see why people are saying that. Cause I, the dude is, one, I like his choices a lot, at least from what I've seen so far, uh, in the little that we've seen, but also he just, he seems to like to do things that are interesting, things that are small, things that are story driven, um, and things that. I mean, he actually likes to do things that are theater. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I know he also has big films too. He has these big massive films and stuff like that, but, but I agree. I, after watching this, my thought was, okay, um, if, if you want to bookend this and cough of the core, if everything in between there is of the same caliber and of the same choices, it's, it says a lot about him in terms of, first of all, his, why the Malayalam industry is what it is and what he has inspired and why we love that industry so much. And then two, uh, I just, I, I just want to watch everything he's done because he's, I mean, this film made me feel like I was watching the same level of importance of a film is when I'm watching Satyajit Rai and how the international community has acknowledged Satyajit Rai, I'm like, if he has a filmography from the walls to cough of the core, that's as good as those films, then the international community should be talking more about this map. Yeah. 100%. Um, and it's, he was, he was so, his charisma was really popping off the screen in this one. Like, like, and it was small. It was like, like, it wasn't like he was like a superstar, Rajnikov going out there, you know, being his super charisma, stylish self, obviously, which is a totally different thing. But like in his just smallness and like his smile, it just gave off star for one, like, like instant, like it factor just by just being on screen. Right. And then this is his younger years. I think younger years, he was older than me in this film. Uh, I think he was like a 39, 38 or something like that during this film, um, but like he gave such nuances to this. He gave such, and it was very different for a prison film because it was so hopeful, like the entire, like there were moments, obviously, that we'll talk about the ending and all that, and all that great stuff. Um, but for the most part, it was very like lighthearted, kind of optimistic a lot of time. And maybe that's because they're political and they want the, especially for the time that this was in the forties as they were getting their independence, they were, they were hoping for the best for the country. And, and, and that's, um, they were speaking out and, and all that kind of stuff, a lot of, a lot of the criminals weren't criminals. Yeah, some were like this man. Yeah, this guy's not a criminal. He's, he's a writer who just said things that the government didn't like. Yeah. Um, but it was so intriguing because one, they just, that his director did such a good job, job taking his time. Um, they had nothing but time in this, uh, from the prison, from the beginning, just walking around the walls before you even got in the prison. And, uh, um, there was so many, so many, so much great dialogue. And I'm right at the beginning, like if this is going to be the entire thing, I was like, for, for a second, I was like, are they even going to get into the jail or are they just going to be walking around the walls for the entire thing? Yeah. Half and half of the film is silence. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. Um, but yeah. And it, this film has probably taken in quarters, probably like, like the first quarter is like getting to it and then acclimating to the prison and, and his, his, his group there. And then when they leave and his like despair of like, oh, I'm still here, like I was so optimistic. And then that he finally saw him kind of breaking down a little bit and losing hope, um, that he had for basically the first half of the film. Uh, and then obviously the, the, the, the, the phone sex scene. Basically, which I loved. We'll talk about that whole thing. Um, because that was such a highlight of the film. Um, but the way it was broken down was, was so well done and you were invested the entire time in just watching. Like it was the definition of a fly on the wall, right? Yeah. And it really did not just convey the reality of what prison life is like, but there's so much symbolism about what life is like and how certain things require. I mean, just his, his making of the flower garden and the, and how that relates to the line when he, when he realizes he's not getting out. He says, maybe I, my, I just, I haven't ripened yet. Um, but at the same time, he can say, it's so easy to give advice to guys and say, smile, even when it's bad, but when you get stuck in it, it's not so easy. Is it just these really honest, reflective, truthful observations that also have linkage to things is, um, beautiful as the time it takes for flowers to grow, the time it takes to get to know somebody, the time it takes to have anything happen. And all the, all you have in prison is time. Uh, I thought it, I love that this is the kind of film that will weed out the people who don't appreciate art, the people who don't appreciate cinematic artistry and, and just beautiful human interest storytelling, about 20 minutes in will probably go because they just don't have the attention span. I don't have the interest and they don't see the beauty in things like a shadow or the sound of a bird or just watching someone think this was very much the kind of film. I could imagine, uh, any great actor, but this role would be beautiful also and very different. But Irfan would have just been great in this. And that was so beautiful about there's no performing. There's no indicating. There's no awareness of camera. It's just this man being this man in this situation and believing every second he's on screen in all the conversations. And I believed, um, the writing was really, I'm sure obviously since it comes from this guy's novel about his time in prison. So I'm sure there were a bunch of them were just real conversations that he, that he had in prison. But it was just so intriguing. And it just took its time and then it took turns and it's like, oh, this is now a different film, uh, than, than what it was before. And, um, like that, the whole sequence with him and the girl just turned into now this love, um, I couldn't believe it. I love film like a, like a, I couldn't, I couldn't believe it came in when it, when it first started to happen. I made a point to look at my time stamp on, on where we were in the film. And I thought, wow, you, you could have made this a bigger part of the film, but obviously you're being true to whatever the timeframe was for this man in prison. And how interesting is it to give us what is for me very much heart of the film with only about 20 to 25 minutes left in the film. Yeah. And then to, and obviously make you feel like he did. It was like, Oh, I just started this. I'm, I've accepted where I am. And now you're ripping it from me, um, regardless of how, you know, it was a real relationship to them because, you know, there was, um, the longing of, you know, lovers in prison and the opposite sex or whatever you're into, obviously, but that whole, that whole thing. And then when he doesn't get it and the heartbreak on his face of, on his face of he's free. And, but it's he's like, oh my, I, I have what I was wanting. I was exactly what is freedom. Yeah. Yeah. What is freedom? And I love the director's choice. It reminded me of one of my favorite choices in the history of cinema by a director. So in the passion of the Christ, right as Jesus dies, Gibson goes to a POV directly above the cross from the proposition of the POV of Father God looking down. And from within the lens, you see a tear or a raindrop form and drop to the ground. And when it hits, the earthquake happens, which is also in the account in the Bible of what takes place, but it's that moment of the tear drop raindrop forming on the lens and dropping. I was reminded of that in the very last frame of the film. We've seen Mamoudi and he's tearing up and we go to his POV looking at the twig that he can't respond to. And they go to soft focus blur, which is very much probably what's happening in his tear filled eyes. Yeah. And the fact that it was it was beautiful that he knows he can't go over to her and she's going to think now she is forgotten after they just had a conversation about, well, you forget me if I die. And now you're going to be at the hospital. I'm the one with the rose. I'm the one with the mole. Yeah. And now he can't go because he's not in the prison system anymore. Yeah. And it's and you're like, oh, they just only knew each other through voice. And for such a little time, one, it was really like it was definitely like total phone sex that they were having just through the wall. It was wonderful. It was awesome. Wonderful. Um, it was like, oh, I'm going to kiss you. I'm going to kiss your bosom. I'm going to like all this kind of, um, awesome stuff that you would naturally do if you were in prison and isolated and longing for, for, um, uh, companionship basically, um, and then also you're just lonely. And so talking to anyone, uh, is, is, uh, stimulating. Um, and to just have it ripped out from under you right as you think it was starting, um, you know, I love those kind of endings. That's, that's, it's very me to be, for everybody to be unhappy, but I, uh, I really appreciated it. Uh, I did too. And the entirety of the movie was like that though. Um, it wasn't like ripping your heart out like then, but it was like just good choices were made by this director and I'm intrigued to see his other things because, um, I think it was a well written. I loved all the, and you could see how like his hierarchy in the prison system and or their love for him, because when he started, he got this soupy rice, right? Disgusting soupy rice that he had to soup, uh, like get most of the water out of and he drank the water happily. And then at the end, he had a full bowl of bowl of rice. It was, it looked like actual rice. Well done. Yeah. Uh, and so like it showed like, it was all those little tiny things, uh, that they didn't really mention a lot of times in his relationships with different people. Um, just beautiful. Yeah, there's, it's, it's really intriguing to me because the Mammoody, you know, there's, there's actors that if I were had the opportunity to meet them and obviously work with them, that's a whole other animal, but just to be able to meet them, there are, there are several, many actors that when I meet them, I'd like to thank them for the film or films that they've done because of what it meant to my life. You know, it's like, I Spielberg, I wouldn't know what to say because he has so many films that have shaped my world. Um, and same thing with Daniel Day-Lewis. I don't know what I would say, but there's a few who have done one or two films and already just, if I met Mammoody, I would want to thank him for Walls and for Cothill the Core because I think they're important films that are deeply impacting that everybody should see. And if the rest of his filmography is as good as these, which I'm suspecting they are, I can understand why Malayalam film is the way it is and why so many stupid babies thank you for these recommendations, the guys. Good classic one so far. And if anybody who doesn't know, it's on YouTube. It's on YouTube. Many forms actually. Good quality English subs. Yeah, um, yeah, we got, it was like 1.3 million views on it. So, um, and it's a good quality with English up title. So you could go, um, go watch it. Obviously, I don't know how good the subtitles are. You guys, Malayalam can tell us if the subtitles do it any justice at all, but it conveyed to us, um, the things that I think it needed to. Uh, it's, it's always hard. Um, even in that, um, Rajnikanth film, we just saw the patrons, like the, the subtitles were dog shit is what they said. Just, yeah. Um, and so it's like, you can't, unfortunately, we, since we don't speak the languages is what we got to do. Who, who was first in Malayalam? Was it Mahmoudi or Mohanlal? Are they coming in the exact same time? That's a good question. Cause I was looking up Mohanlal, well, right after I watched the film and I was trying to decipher that myself as far as the same age, about, I think they're about the same age. I, I, I may be Mohanlals. I, they've got to be within just a couple of years of each other and came in at the same time and have pretty much been the big one, two punch for the Malayalam industry. I mean, I know they've done others than a Mohanlal for sure has, has, has done, you know, other self stuff. And Mahmoudi is 72. Yeah. I knew that. Which is ridiculous, man. Yeah. And he, he's a very, Andrani was shocked when we watched Kothal Bacore because he's playing a man about my age. Yeah. And she believed it. He is 63 Mohanlal. Mahmoudi is. Oh, so Mahmoudi is a decade older. Almost 10 years older. But obviously we don't know who came first, though, obviously. True. True. One could have been younger and been there first. We don't know that that matters. I was just, I was just wondering ready because they're both babies. They're both really talented actors. Yeah, they have shaped, I think, Indian cinema, especially Malayalam cinema for since the 80s, I'd imagine. Yeah, man. I mean, I just, I keep recommending anything we need to see that. I mean, because it's a huge filmography, but anything Mahmoudi's in, I'm excited for, including his new horror film coming up. Yeah. Which hopefully we get because, you know, Mahmoudi, we're Mahmouds now. We're total Mahmouds. Yeah, total Mahmouds. Is that the name of his fans? Let us know. I think they're called Mahmouds. I'm if they're not in the Mahmoudi for a Mahmoudi movie. Yeah, I'm I'm going to hashtag Mahmouds fan club. I agree. Anyways, let us know what the next Malayalam classic should be from Mahmoudi or others. And let us know what the next Mahmoudi film, whether it's classic or not that we should watch is and let us know what you thought about the film down below.