Monday, May 09, 2005

Bad language

"Do you know why I am here?" Sibylla asked Balian sultrily in the dead of night in Kingdom of Heaven after entering his room in her nightie mere scenes after they shared special smiles. Balian, played by Orlando Bloom, said nothing. Perhaps it was the query. Preoccupied with heavy questions about god - He loves me, He loves me not - redemption and protecting the peace, our young crusader, who would take on the might of Arabia after the interval, was thrown off by this. In any case, Sibylla spelt it out to him and they then rolled about a bit before the Indian censors cut to the next morning.

Couldn't that cut have come a minute earlier? When she opened her mouth, for instance?
The movie was littered with similar sledgehammer instances. Whatever happened to silence and a look that said everything? Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love, for example, spoke with their eyes and bodies. They spoke gently, aware that their own marriages were in peril, as if words would break what held them together. It was subtle, it was beautiful. But then again, Kingdom of Heaven is one of this year's first summer blockbusters.

And subtlety, romantic as it is, isn't a prerequisite in money-spinners.

3 comments:

amit varma said...

Dude, you got the quote wrong again. If you like it so much, remember it. :)

Rahul Bhatia said...

Right. She said, "Why do you think I'm here?"

But you got the gist of it. And plus it was 2am. Sleep was coming.

Anonymous said...

Not to forget the stirring speech to the townsfolk:
"I say to them...come on!"
"come on!"
Inspiriational, soul stirring, brave in the face of all odds, challenging the might of an obviously stronger enemy...
"Come on"...?
(Kham on, aiee sayh!)
(and Mr Varma, don't hold me to that dialogue)
:)