For this Friday Movie Night, we’re watching one of the all-time classics of Indian cinema: Nayakan (1987)! Imagine The Godfather, but in Tamil, and with the melodrama cranked to max, and a bunch of song-and-dance numbers thrown in. Dude gets too far in with the mob, and then he becomes the mob. We have not watched much from India, despite the size of its film industry, so we may as well start with one of its most critically-acclaimed, canonical works; nothing but praise for this one from pretty much all corners. It is considered the magnum opus of director Mani Ratnam. Okay, we’ll give it a try. After that will be our obligatory God Damn America entry for the week, with Frances Ha (2012), directed by critical darling Noah Baumbach (Manchester by the Sea, among others) and starring another critical darling, Greta Gerwig, who is now better-known as the director of Barbie (2023). She plays an aspiring dancer trying to launch her career in New York, and finds that showbiz sucks ass. Excellent reviews for this one pretty much everywhere, so let’s give it a whirl.
We’ll start at 9PM EST on Hextube, right here: https://live.hexbear.net/c/movies
Be there, comrades!
Letterboxd:
Doesthedogdie.com links:
CWs for Nayakan:
- Sex. No nudity depicted.
- Blood and gore.
- Beatings.
- Gun violence.
- Death of parent.
- Torture.
- Police brutality.
- A bottle is smashed over someone’s head.
- Vomiting.
- Stabbing.
- Child abuse.
- Cutting of flesh.
- Strangulation.
- Eye trauma.
- Spree killing.
- Explosions.
- Someone is set on fire.
- Profanity.
- Ableist language.
- Drug use.
- Alcohol.
- Death by hanging.
CWs for Frances Ha:
- Alcohol abuse.
- Vomiting.
- Miscarriage.
- Discussion of sex.
Links to movies: