Article written by B Sreejan in the New Indian Express
Expresso supplement on 20th August 2008 about A.Chandrasekhar’s
Bodhatheerangalil Kalam Midikkumbol
Journalist and critic A Chandrasekhar’s new book offers a
profound insight into the part-tyrannical, part-romantic hold of time on
filmmakers
Book
Can camera Freeze time? Or
does it depict time as such? The book ‘Bodhatheerangalil Kalam Midikkumbol’ (When
time ticks on the shores of Consciousness) by journalist and film critic A.Chandrasekhar is a sincere effort to study the relevance
and influence of time in cinema and television.
‘Time has been an enigma to man from the day when he began
the process of thinking,’ observes the author in the sixth chapter of the book.
In 10 chapters , he tries his best to untie the compled knots that time had
tied around cinema, television ad films and above all around our thought
process. The book deals with the classics from around the world.
The best feature of the book is the pain undertaken by the
author to patiently dissect a number if major films and identify the influence
of time and consideration of time in the realisation of a film project. Comparisons
linking the master cinematographers and the present day realities in television
and cinema are beautifully woven into the book/
In the first chapter while speaking about time slots,
Chandrasekhar brings Tarkovsky into the scene. nIt was the Russian master who
perceived cinema as a sculpture chiseled out of time. Referring to the
excellence in the editing of ad films, he observes that “the grammar of ad
films is a tribute to Takovsky. Here, editing is becoming a juggle with time”.
The author cites ‘Hiroshima Mon Amour’ by Allen Rene as an
example of how a film can manipulate time. ‘the director throws away time as pieces
in this movie. The unique way of realizing this film has made it the first step
towards modernization,’ he observes. Italian film ‘Life is Beautiful has been
cited as the best example of a movie that had used time in a romantic manner.
Like the subject it handles, the book offers a little complex
reading. But with a right mix of film, television, FM radio and extracts from
screenplays, the author tries to ease the effort of readers. An amateur cover
that may dissuade the reader from opening it is the only notable hitch of the
book
B Sreejan
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