Mumbai 2012 Day #6: Sleep Deprived!

On the sixth day, finally, the sleep deprivation of the past few days made things immensely difficult for me. I managed to watch five movies, but struggled all day. Since I avoid tea or coffee, there was nothing that could have helped me anyway. What helped, were the movies.

After watching ten modern movies in the last couple of days, I was craving for some classics. So, I watched Stanley Donen's 'Two for the Road' (1967) - an unforgettable romantic comedy in one of the best time-twisted screenplays; and Otto Preminger's 'Laura' (1944) that looked stunning in its restored Black and White glory.

Also watched the quiet and involving 'The Interval' (Italian, 2012) and the political thriller 'The Fourth State' (German, 2012).

But the movie of the day was the Romanian drama 'Beyond the Hills' (2012), the story of two young girls in an orthodox convent in Romania. The film had won Best Screenplay and Best Actress at Cannes this year, and I was eagerly waiting for it. It is also Romania's official entry for Oscars. One unique feature of the film was that each of its scenes was covered in one Master shot. Which meant, the director was not modifying space and time for us, and making the experience live and real-time. It was as if we were there in that monastery, observing the characters like invisible but omnipresent spectators. Not many realize how difficult an aesthetic choice this is - to tell a story as emotionally powerful as this without resorting to a single close-up cut.

After the last movie of the day, I spent some time sitting at the Marine Drive. Festival is not over yet, but tomorrow I won't be coming to this side of the town. So, today, I bid my good bye to the 'main venue' of this year's festival.

P.S. This post was written a couple of days after the 6th day of the festival, for obvious reasons - the title of the post tells it all.