THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)

Neha says
From a hot stew to a passionate boil, the chemistry between veterans Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in John Huston’s 1951 classic The African Queen has a delicious, slurpy, cup of sweet hot chocolate aftertaste. The tagline of the film could have easily read Romancing with the Stars!!! When hard-drinking, sea-hardened, riverboat captain Charlie volunteers to transport a devout Catholic and prim English Rose aptly named Rosie it’s only the start of an adventure meets quest journey of romance and self discovery aboard a dilapidated The African Queen. (Think the polar opposite of the opulent Titanic!!!) “Opposites attract” and “fish out of water” rom-com clichés today are given a classic character in John Huston’s handling of it as a series of unhurried, galvanizing and slowly-building moments are peppered with comic zeal, revealing character insights and epic charm. So when Hepburn absentmindedly drop tea; sulks like a petulant child when Bogart refuses to take the boat down the dangerous river; prudishly takes a bath in the river; haughtily with a revealing vulnerability keeps her hair in check- the old English propriety of it all is such a wonderful counterpoint to Charlie’s brashness that has him emulating crocodiles, monkeys and even Rosie’s “that’s an absurd idea” oh-so-pro-pah ways. When confronted by the challenges and contradictions of nature, the fears and weaknesses of these two precious characters are nurtured with as much focus as the bravado and hope that reenergizes them. Faith and destiny add another texture to the film when hopeless moments transform into miraculous escapes. The World War 1 setting and Rosie’s ambitious plan to destroy a German ship pirating the seas makes us wonder where Huston is going with this one but it all comes together quite nicely in a brilliantly witty and well-etched climax that celebrates life, love, spirit and quite literally takes these characters home.

Ira says

“Lady, you’ve got ten absurd ideas for my one!”

Who would’ve thought that forty years before Spielberg gave us his rollercoaster action adventure (Raiders of the Lost Ark) there’d be Houston, out in the wildness of East Africa giving us another, just as exciting adventure and action-packed story. And who would’ve thought he needed just two great actors, two completely opposing characters and an absolutely unlikely relationship between them to do so! The time is 1914, and in the arid regions of East Africa, Hepburn plays prim Rose Sayers, a plain looking English woman living with her brother Samuel as a missionary in a small village. The pair lives in this alien land with a misplaced sense of propriety and a painfully unsuccessful commitment, evident in the opening psalm singing sequence, to converting a clearly rooted and unshakable set of Africans to Catholicism. Enter, lower class Cockney-bred Captain and sailor, ‘Mr. Olnut’, played by Humphrey Bogart who regularly delivers the siblings their mail with news of a War breaking out, a hilarious tea drinking ceremony, a German invasion, the destruction of their village, and the delirium and death of Rose’s brother Samuel and its up to Mr. Olnut and his sturdy boat, The African Queen to save what’s left of Rose’s life, self-worth and happiness.

Houston (The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Misfits) sets it all up with a clean simplicity and clarity in his storytelling revealing the scorching, exotic landscape and the physical, social, cultural, and spiritual climate within the first few minutes of the film. Once its just Ms Sayer and Mr. Olnut on the boat, the adventure is just about to begin. As the writing creates action, tension, and tragedy right from the word go, Houston’s controlled and focused direction reveals characters and relationships with empathy and humor. I loved that the wonderful screenplay, based on C.S Forester’s classic novel balances an insight into human nature with external discoveries and revelations about nature and Africa circa, finally reminding us of the small pleasures of life through the characters of Rose and Charlie and a wonderful, old fashioned romance that blossoms at the heart of the narrative. Using plenty of natural light, a rousing sound score, a superb visual landscape, quiet exchanges that build the central relationship, and a series of extremely well executed action sequences, think predators of the wild like crocodiles, insects, leeches, roaring rapids, thunderstorms and swamps, Houston gives us a unique, uplifting, touching, often humorous account of hardship and love. And most of all, its his leading man and woman, two strong, well-developed characterizations, the adorable growing love between them and their rich performances that make this one a human, relatable, universal story of love that transcends barriers of class and conventions and celebrates a kinship that can form out of the most difficult conditions and in the most unexpected of places.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1992)

Neha says

Raider’s of the Lost Ark (1981) marks the successful collaboration between box-office czar’s Steven Spielberg and George Lucas but that cinematic milestone is defined by the universe they create- a universe that’s a strange potpourri of historical fiction with the Nazi’s playing but obviously the bad guys; supernatural mystique; geeky archeological mumbo jumbo; rustic landscapes rich in ethnic diversity as tribals, Americans, Germans, Egyptians and even an Afro-American add color and texture to Indie’s adventures and have all of these elements collide head-on with jaw-dropping action set pieces, globe-trotting adventures that take us from the jungles of South America to the desert outskirts of Cairo and aboard a pirate ship where we cheer our whip-lashing, fan-boy-delighting hero Indiana Jones empowered not dramatically but by the screen persona and dry wit of a Harrison Ford who owes Spielberg an arm and a leg for this career-defining opportunity and what we have is a true blue action masterpiece that takes the experience of FUN to a whole different level. The fun comes from watching Indie outsmart his adversaries, particularly his arch-rival and fellow French archeologist Rene Bellog (Paul Freeman) in this race to unearthing the lost Ark, “a radio for speaking to God” that’s eluded man for 3000 years. And while Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) plays Indie’s love interest and partner, the romance is most memorable for its “kiss with a funny twist” in Act 3. The joy lies in how Indie navigates his way through death traps, his Achilles’ heel-snakes, lethal spiders and poisoned dates to name a few. Sometimes the solution is as elemental as using a shot gun when a scary, sword swishing, hired Nazi goon goes all Godzilla on him and sometimes as he so rightly puts it he has to “make it up as he goes along” but each time the unexpected Indie maneuver elicits a chuckle and the witty undertones wonderfully offset by the high-stakes, stunt-driven thrills on display, heightened by that brilliant soundtrack leaves you wanting more. Think of Indie as a prodigy from the genetic pool of the best icons out there-he’s got the ruggedness of a cool cowboy, the quick thinking and clever art of deductive reasoning of a Sherlock Holmes, the invincibility of an archetypical comic book superhero, the air of detachment of a James Bond. So it’s no surprise our Dr. Jones (1) is every woman’s dream and (2) every young fan-boy secretly wishes to grow up and become more like Indie.

Ira says

When your hero almost dies in the opening scene and comes out of it with the skin of his teeth and a droll sense of humor intact, you know that the excitement is just about to begin. And when unexpected laughs and those cliff hanger moments just keep on rolling during the first ten minutes and all the way through you know this is going to a total ride. And that, we can be rest assured is what Spielberg gives us. Suspense, mystery, action and romance come together in this nail biting, well-made, first film of the hugely successful Indian Jones franchise that immortalized ‘Indy’ Jones as the professor/ adventurer/archaeologist/action hero and obtainer of rare antiquities, who had both, the brains and the brawn. Well, ladies too. (Remember the student who wrote the words “love” and “you” on either eyelid early on in the film? Nice touch.)

The first of four in the series, and still one of the highest grossing films ever made, Raiders of the Lost Ark is a commercial pot boiler and as fun today as it was in 1981. The narrative traces Indy’s attempts to recover an ancient chest where the Jews locked the ten commandments and which holds a god-like power within it and the plot is filled with chases, fatal escapes, exotic locations and non-stop, and I mean non-stop, action. I loved the sound score, the always-moving camera and the energetic, crisp pace of the film. And I liked that along with a series of heart stopping moments, while characters are on the run, spouting cool one-liners, and moving across all sorts of explosive, far-flung areas spanning England, Nepal and Egypt, they are helped by a solid plot that has enough tension, surprises, meat and drama. Archaeological and political intrigue, an overriding Nazi threat, and broader religious, occult overtones add weight and plenty of international flavor. Performances are wild, fun and often funny and have the same racy energy, tone and mood the film does.

While our hero Indy is played with a cool, nonplussed, macho confidence by Harrison Ford (still known the world over for this, his most famous and popular role) leads the way with his iconic clothes and trademark whip and hat but, he isn’t alone in the game. Arabs, French, and Germans join in the fun and Indy finds a worthy opponent and nemesis in Belloq played with a sinister finesse by Paul Freeman, and a hard-drinking, hard-talking, hard shooting, skinny former lover, and heroine in Marion played with spunk by Karen Allen. Spielberg’s establishing film in a hugely successful franchise plays out as it should, an exciting treasure hunt, but with well-developed characters at its centre, and keeping you thoroughly engaged and entertained from start to finish, it stands the test of time. The best thing about it? It never forgets its hero and neither can we. So matter how crazy or dangerous things get in the film, whether on horseback, hanging from a truck or swinging by a rope, you can count on one thing; Indy Jones will save the day. ‘Making it up as he goes’ as he says. And well, as long as there aren’t too many snakes around.