Grave of the Fireflies and Parzania

This weekend we did justice to our "movie-buffness". We got BigFlix membership. I may be so used to social networking sites that nearly every thought of mine makes way to FB status update, twitter, or blog, as the case may be (and I KNOW it's not a very healthy state of being) but the wonders of web 2.0 still amaze me. One online form, a few hundred bucks worth of online transaction, and you can order unlimited movies! Every single day. All it takes is the click of the mouse. No credit cards, no long, cryptic passwords. Nothing at all! I love the concept (and I so hope India gets Pay Per View real soon).

So... We ordered Parzania last night and then sat down to watch The Grave of The Fireflies. The writer must be a sadist I say. Pragmatically speaking, if there is a war, people will die. And a lot of times, at the risk of sounding like an extremist, wars can't be avoided. But the movie, based on 2 war orphans, really proves the futility of it all. The real after effect. And the worst part is that when it's an animation movie, the cryfest doesn't quite happen. The movie left such a tug in my heart that I almost missed the cryfest! But the sadistic view of the world apart, the movie is BRILLIANTLY made. It's about the bombing of Kobe, an after effect (as far as I have read) of World War - II. Grave of the Fireflies revolves around 2 Japanese siblings that lose their parents during the war. It speaks of their trials as orphans, the sincere efforts they made to survive. And how they lose their lives because of lack food during the war, all the while the children craving for something as basic as rice. You have to see the movie to believe how powerful animation can be. But try not to watch it if you are down and out. It is insanely depressing. And as for R, he felt guilty eating rice during lunch today. A 5/5 for this masterpiece!

And then today. Parzania. I don't think I know anyone who still hasn't seen the movie. So I guess I don't need to write that it was based on the Gujarat riots sparked by Godhra. It did not leave me as shaken as Grave... But touching it was nevertheless. And the irony is, the movie revolves around a Parsi family stuck amidst a battle that was between Hindus and Muslims and how they lost their son to the riots. The movie left me questioning Mr Narendra Modi for the first time. It's foolish to support an ideology without realising what it really entails. So yes, I was being foolish. But the question is, how else do you stop this?

I had started out wanting to write about Bonnie & Clyde food, but it somehow doesn't sound quite right now. Some other time maybe.